Johann Sebastian Bach - Cantatas BWV 134 and 67 (soloists: mezzo-soprano Marie Henriette Reinhold, tenor Patrick Grahl, and baritone Tobias Berndt).

Premiere album, released on January 16th

In 2023, marking three centuries since the great German composer Johann Sebastian Bach began his activity as music director at St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig, the renowned German ensemble Gächinger Cantorey, conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann, launched a large-scale recording project intended to include the complete cantatas composed by Bach during 1723-1724, his first year in Leipzig.

Featuring live recordings made during a concert series held in Stuttgart, this collection, entitled "Vision. Bach - The First Cantata Year," is produced by the German label Hänssler Classic, and the most recent disc, the ninth in the series, was released on January 16th.

From this album, I propose Cantata BWV 67, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the first Sunday after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and a sacred cantata created for the third day of Easter, "Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiss," first performed in Leipzig on April 11th, 1724. More than three hundred years after these first performances, the Gächinger Cantorey ensemble offers convincing interpretations of the cantatas, distinguished by freshness, clarity, and sonic consistency, while remaining firmly rooted in Baroque performance traditions.

The Gächinger Cantorey ensemble, founded in 1954 by the late conductor Helmuth Rilling, who passed away in February of this year, is based in Stuttgart and since 1965 has regularly performed together with the orchestral ensemble Bach Collegium from the same city. Since 2013, Gächinger Cantorey's principal conductor has been Hans-Christoph Rademann. Under the direction of this renowned German musician, the ensemble has also carried out its extensive recording project dedicated to the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1724.

From the album booklet we learn that: "On May 22nd, 1723, Bach arrived in the vibrant university city of Leipzig, leaving behind his position as Kapellmeister in the quiet town of Köthen. Every Sunday and feast day, it was his duty to conduct cantatas at St. Nicholas and St. Thomas churches, having at his disposal pupils and students eager to improve their musical skills and take part in Leipzig's great cultural tradition." Thus were born these Baroque masterpieces, which still enliven European cathedrals and concert halls three centuries later. The Gächinger Cantorey ensemble deserves credit for bringing these cantatas together into a unified recording collection and for offering them remarkable interpretations under the baton of conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann. Soloists: mezzo-soprano Marie Henriette Reinhold and tenor Patrick Grahl.