This very well performed and recorded program offers 10 rarely heard solo cantatas and other sacred vocal pieces from several significant German baroque composers. Since the general tone of these works reflects themes of “mourning, sorrow, and lamentation”, listeners should be prepared for a rather somber 67 minutes, albeit faithfully encompassing the most authentic expressive mannerisms in this favored Baroque artistic realm. Most of the pieces display beautiful melodies as a matter of course, but none is more poignant than Johann Fischer’s in the cantata Klag-Gedicht, an intensely moving “evocation of a Christian’s death and resurrection”. The simple, mostly chordal style of the accompaniment gives focus to tune and text, and the setting proves an inspired creation that calls out for repeated hearings. Christian Geist’s O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid exemplifies the common Baroque practice of word-painting, effectively using chromatic devices to help us feel the “sadness” (Traurigkeit) and “heartfelt pain” (Herzeleid) of Christ’s death.
Carlos Mena is a world-class singer, one of today’s premier countertenors whose affinity for this music is clear from the very first lines in Johann Christoph Bach’s lament Ach daß ich Wassers g’nug hätte. So artful is his expression and so technically sure is his delivery that we need not know the meaning of the text (which is about tears and sorrow) to understand its sentiment. Of course, as mentioned above, the mood–as well as the dynamic and vocal range–is unvarying and as such takes its toll on your attention after the first 30 minutes or so. Further, Mena’s voice, although very lovely, seems to have acquired a quivery edge that I did not detect on his earlier solo recital for Naïve (type Q6055 in Search Reviews).
The pieces by a couple of Bach family members are interesting, and it’s nice to hear the cantata Schlage doch, previously attributed to J.S. Bach (as BWV 53) but now assigned to Melchior Hoffmann. Not only does its single aria offer an appealing melody, but the persistent ringing of the clock-chime–the text’s speaker yearns for the “final stroke of the clock”–is an unusual and delightful feature. The sound is full and resonant, with the strings and keyboard instruments well balanced with the voice.
