June 25: Cantatas (Bach Academie Stuttgart; Hans-Christoph Rademann, conductor)

The unexpected pleasures of iciness

You get one guess as to what the Apple Music algo is recommending to me these days. I’ve become an easy mark, it’s okay.

So, courtesy of my very particular “For You” page, we will be listening to new cantata recordings from a most excellent German chamber orchestra and chorus: the Bach Academie Stuttgart with the Gächinger Kantorei conducted by its musical director Hans-Christoph Rademann.

This group just completed a 23-concert cycle in honor of the 300th Anniversary of Bach’s arrival in Leipzig. That year Bach premiered sixty major choral works, just chugged them out, unreal. The Hänssler Classic label is releasing recordings of these concerts in ten volumes. (Everything JSB is necessarily epic.) We’ll hear excerpts from Volumes 2 and 3 today, which cover BWV 25, 46, 69a, 77, 105, 119, 136, 167, 179 and 186. (Volume 2 on YouTube; Volume 3 on YouTube.) Volume 3 was released just two weeks ago, hot off the presses label’s upload button.

Tails in the woods!

This band is a little cold — I like it! The room doesn’t boom, the instruments are tight and so are the mics. The playing is straight down the middle, very direct and well rehearsed, no muss, no fuss. It’s almost aloof and a touch dry, but somehow it’s not clinical, all of it feels brimming with life. The overall vibe is of a group of serious professionals brought to your living room; they’ll eat your catered lunch, but don’t expect any chit-chat. No levity, no moping, just serious music.

This doesn’t sound like it adds up to a ringing endorsement. Somehow it all works, five stars.

It’s funny about taste: I’ve previously highlighted Karl Richter’s ahistoric, lush, and smeary 1970’s cantata recordings as favorites. A totally opposite approach from Rademann, but so great too! It’s like pitting a jelly spreader against a Japanese chef’s knife — you need different tools for different times. I’m glad I have high quality specimens of each in my drawer, depending on the mood and whatever’s for lunch.

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Highlights from these recordings are below, headphones on for max effect. N.B., these performances may be inappropriate for summer weather. Perhaps revisit them in October.

The fifth movement of BWV 167 epitomizes the dispassionate vibrancy of this band. Pure excellence:

Prepare for liftoff at the opening of BWV 77:

There’s a drunken, sliding chromatic line that weaves through the opening of BWV 179:

Rich harmonic work underneath the vocals of the fifth movement of BWV 179, Bach’s casual genius on display here:

In the following movement, Bach pulls the prog rock move of the big group dropping out for a solo organ lick:

Nice pivot midway through the opening movement of BWV 105 (0:20):

The oboe chases the vocal in the third movement:

Beautiful high note for the tenor in the second movement of BWV 46 (0:06):

The opening of BWV 25 aims epic — there’s so much going on here:

I like the ‘talky’ tenor of Julian Habermann in the fourth movement of BWV 186. I’d love to have this voice:

I’ll conclude this recap with the carnivalesque, slippery melody of the eighth movement of BWV 186:

Hope you enjoyed these fresh recordings as much as I did. A mid-year recap of the project is coming soon.