J. S. Bach - Violin and Voice (2010)

Arias and Duets for Soprano and Bass with Solo Violin obligato

1 	»Gebt Mir Meinen Jesum Wieder« (St Matthew Passion) 	2:59
2 	»Wann Kommst Du, Mein Heil?« (Cantata BWV 140) 	5:44
3 	»Die Schätzbarkeir Der Weiten Erden« (Cantata BWV 204) 	4:13
4 	»Hier In Meines Vaters Stätte« (Cantata BWV 32) 	7:09
5 	»Angenehmer Zephyrus« (Cantata BWV 205) 	3:29
6 	Laudamus Te (Mass In B Minor) 	3:50
7 	»Ja, Ja, Ich Halte Jesum Feste« (Cantata BWV 157) 	6:18
8 	»Die Welt Mit Allen Königreichen« (Cantata BWV 59) 	3:06
9 	»Ich Bin Vergnügt In Meinem Leiden« (Cantata BWV 58) 	3:44
10 	»Wenn Trost Und Hülf Ermangeln Muss« (Cantata BWV 117) 	4:03
11 	»Welt, Ade, Ich Bin Dein Müde« (Cantata BWV 158) 	5:50
12 	Erbarme Dich (St Matthew Passion) 	6:29

Hilary Hahn - violin
Christine Schäfer – soprano
Matthias Goerne - baritone
Münchener Kammerorchester
Alexander Liebreich – conductor

Recorded At – Himmelfahrtskirche München-Sendling

Bach single-artist recitals from DG have only enjoyed intermittent success. Christine Schäfer, Thomas Quasthoff and Anne-Sophie von Otter have all released such discs amounting to rather less than the sum of the parts. Hilary Hahn, however, has moulded an attractive landscape in which to celebrate the lyrical weave and dialoguing panache of Bach’s violin obbligato writing within a selection of soprano and bass arias, sung by two eminent artists.

Largely drawn from the mature Leipzig cantatas, this attractive programme reminds us of the consistently reflective, genial and assuaging emotional world to which the solo violin is most usually attached – if without the heart-stopping examples afforded to Bach’s prince of “obbligatists”, the oboe. There is also a similarity of aria here which doesn’t afford a compilation of this kind with ideal variety.

The full orchestra (a sleek, bass-resonant designer modern band) is employed only sparingly; more usual is the intimacy prevailing in chamber-like devotions such as the delectable duet “Wann kommst du” (from BWV140) in which Schäfer and Matthias Goerne – as Soul and Jesus – become one. Goerne moves to ever greater heights in his relaxed, supremely controlled and cleanly nuanced aria from Liebster Jesu (BWV32). He also irradiates the ingenious chorale-duet from the least ubiquitous of the bass-dominated cantatas, Der Friede sei mit dir (BWV158) with tender eloquence.

Alas, Christine Schäfer is a disappointing match for Goerne, despite glimpses of her undoubted quality. She seems caught between a half voice, which loses focus in the lower register, and a tendency to force elsewhere (especially noticeable in the pitching of the secular arias, BWV204 and 205). However, the upper reaches are often luminous and compelling, exemplified in a breathtaking “Erbarme dich”.

Hahn’s immaculate playing is the binding element, always logical and exacting if too rarely escaping the shackles of geometric rhythmic order and predictable articulation. For all the special colours of her modern-instrument playing, there is a shortage of the vocalised spontaneity of the best examples from the stables of Fritz Werner, Helmut Winschermann and the like. There is still beautiful music-making in this recital to match its thoughtful conception. --- Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, gramophone.co.uk

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