January 1: Cantatas BWV 82 and BWV 199 (Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson & Emmanuel Music Orchestra)

This is the my favorite vocal recording of Bach, and the first vocal program of Christian sacred music that moved me. (I grew up in a conservative Jewish home in New Jersey.) The laments of the piercing oboe in the opening movement of Cantata 82 (“Ich Habe Genug” — It is enough) welcomes us with beauty and dread. The biblical text is bleak: “With joy I greet my death; would that it were here already; then I shall escape the distress which afflicts me here on earth.”

Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson’s warm mezzo-soprano expresses not quite joy, and not quite resignation — the emotions she conveys are conflicted, and relatable. She conveyed these feelings on stage as well. (She died in 2006 at 52; I was lucky to see her perform a Britten song cycle at Lincoln Center in 2003.)

Listen to her control and beauty in Part II of Cantata 199:

In Cantata 82, I love how the opening theme prefigures and complements the theme of Part III. This is one of Bach’s best party tricks, and it’s great every time:

Opening:

Part III:

The orchestra is paced well throughout this recording. It’s also the right size: not too overwhelming for this set of sad pieces. Throughout the year, I’ll be coming back to the other Bach works recorded by the Emmanuel Music Orchestra conducted by Craig Smith in search for more gems.

Highly recommended, and a great Day 1 for my Year of Bach.