Bach – Birthday Cantatas BWV213; BWV214
Bach Collegium Japan; Masaaki Suzuki
BIS-2161
Most of Bach’s cantatas were written for church performance but he also composed a number of secular works. Masaaki Suzuki has completed his recordings of the religious works and has now turned his attention to the secular cantatas. The first on the disc, Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns wachen, was written in 1733 on the occasion of the 11th birthday of the Saxon Electoral Prince Friedrich Christian. It dramatizes the Greek myth according to which Hercules was met by Lust and by Virtue. Forced to make a choice, he predictably chooses Virtue. Bach set the part of Lust for a soprano (Joanne Lunn) and that of Virtue for a tenor (Makoto Sakurada). Hercules himself is an alto (Robin Blaze) and the part of Mercury is sung by a bass (Dominik Wörner).
The second cantata, Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!, also has four soloists (sung here by the same singers): the Goddess of War is a soprano, the Goddess of Arts and Science is an alto, the Goddess of Peace is a tenor and the Goddess of Fame is a bass. It also dates from 1733 and was written to celebrate the 34th birthday of the Prince-Elector’s wife. Much of the music in both cantatas was adapted by Bach later and became part of the Christmas Oratorio.
These are fine performances. In the first of the two cantatas I regretted that Hercules made his decision so soon as it deprived us of Lunn’s lovely soprano voice. I also liked Wörner the bass, a singer whom I had not previously heard. Among the orchestral musicians, two stand out: Masamitsu San’nomiya, who plays first oboe as well as the oboe d’amore, and Jean-François Madeuf, who plays both trumpet and French horn.
