Peter Neumann ist der erste, dessen Aufnahme die zweite Fassung der ›Johannes-Passion‹ in einem Durchlauf hören läßt. Dies ist insofern wichtig, als durch die Änderungen die Aspekte ›Schuld‹ und ›Sünde‹ stärker akzentuiert werden, die theologische Aussage des Werks also in eine etwas andere Richtung weist. Das eigentlich Bemerkenswerte der vorliegenden Einspielung ist der Einsatz einer großen Kirchenorgel als Continuoinstrument, was den Arien und Chorälen eine ganz eigene Färbung verleiht.

The tenth volume of the complete recording of Bach's cantatas contains a final group of works (BWV 44, 73, 119 and 134) from the first cycle of 1723-1724. It continues with the first of a substantial series of chorale cantatas that give the second Leipzig cycle of 1724-1725 its particular character. This volume ends with the serenata BWV 134a, which completes the secular cantatas in Volumes 1 to 3; it provided the musical model for the Easter cantata BWV 134, which was composed in 1724. Bach's commitment in composing this second cycle of cantatas went well beyond his undertaking in the previous year. Whereas in the first cycle, existing cantatas from the Weimar period could be found alongside new pieces, the second cycle contains a sequence of newly composed works that continued uninterrupted until the spring of 1725.

George Frideric Handel and Hamburg town councillor and poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes were students at the same time in Halle, and it's probable that they knew each other and were perhaps even friends. Brockes wrote a nine-volume anthology, from the first volume of which Handel, between 1724 and 1727, set his Nine German Arias. In translation, the Brockes work is titled "Earthly Delight in God, Consisting of Physical and Moral Poems," the texts reflecting pleasure in the glory of God's natural creation. Handel had been writing opera in England since 1710; the reason behind the composition of these arias, his last works in German, and which were unpublished in his lifetime, remains unknown.

The crusaders' dilemma is clearly exemplified in the song Seigneur, saichies by Thibaut de Champagne. "He who does not leave at once for the land where Christ loved and died, and takes the cross … will hardly go to paradise" and yet in the words of another song by Thibaut "God, why did you create foreign countries? It has parted many lovers who have lost comfort of love and forgotten its joy." There was, though, a joy greater than this: "It is good to be God's servant, and not to be touched by danger or chance; Serve well and be rewarded well." (Conon de Bethune). It is still, even at a distance of 800 years very touching to read these words and to hear these songs; they retain a strong quality, which, in these performances, is captured very well.

German Baroque composer Johann Friedrich Fasch organized a music exchange service between Dresden, Darmstadt, Hamburg, and other cities, which allowed him to know exactly what was new and upcoming. His style, then, often seems to be rooted in his own period, while looking forward to the classical era. He enjoyed writing for the chalumeau, an early French two-keyed clarinet, and this mellow yet agile instrument is featured on three of the pieces here, most notably the concerto in B-flat. Gili Rinot proves a worthy player of this curious instrument, playing with virtuoso flair, yet able to float long, lyrical lines so lovely and sweetly that they seem to hang in the air.

Mackerras’s series of opera recordings, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, has a character very much its own, deriving from his natural feeling for the dramatic pacing of Mozart’s music and the expressive and allusive nature of its textures, as well as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s sensitivity and responsiveness to him. These are not period-instrument performances (except in that natural horns and trumpets are used, to good effect), but Mackerras’s manner of articulation, and the lightness of the phrasing he draws from his strings, makes it, to my mind, a lot closer to a true period style than some of the performances that make a feature of period instruments and then use them to modern ends (I am thinking less here of British conductors than some from Europe).

The marvelous voice of tenor Ian Bostridge could not be more perfect for this program of Bach cantatas and arias. Like Hans Hotter before him, Bostridge's voice has a unique ethereal quality, a hollow distance that identifies less with the character and more the spirit of the subject. His singing clearly captures the "disembodied presence", as Michel Roubinet aptly puts it in the booklet's notes, of the mortal somewhere between resignation of the world and the ultimate union with Christ–the theme that links every selection here.

Lobgesang, Mendelssohn's ''Hymn of Praise'', is no longer a rarity on disc, with a dozen versions listed. That makes it timely that Spering, following up the success of Herreweghe's Harmonia Mundi version of Elijah (4/94), here presents a performance in period style. When the composer's preference for fast speeds is well documented, and has so convincingly been followed up by his latterday successor at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Kurt Masur, it is perhaps surprising that Spering is far more relaxed in his choice of tempos. His overall timing—64'48'' as against Masur's 58'32''—shows what a wide discrepancy there is, and in no way does he let the music drag or become sentimental. For with clean, crisp textures this is a most refreshing performance, full of incidental beauties, of a work that for several generations was regarded as too sweet on the one hand, over-inflated on the other. Spering's clean directness and his obvious affection for the music reverses that jaundiced judgement.

its many virtues include a formidable Queen of the Night in Luciana Serra, an adorable Pamina in Kathleen Battle, and vivid, primary-colour designs by David Hockney. James Levine paces everything to perfection.

BIS have come up with that seasonal rarity: the intelligent, considered and beautifully presented Christmas album. Emma Kirkby's pure tone, keen intelligence and utterly natural musicality need no introduction - she has, after all, been delighting us all for decades now. No admirer of either baroque music or Emma Kirkby will want to miss this impeccably programmed disc. The short Böddecker piece acts as a perfect warm-up. It is gentle and pure - the ideal vehicle for Kirkby's voice. Listening to the Cantatas of Alessandro Scarlatti takes us to another, altogether more exalted world.

It's a truism by now that countertenors have made a notable comeback in our time, but David Daniels isn't about to rest on his laurels. As if his recent successes weren't enough to set him apart, on this recital album Daniels forays beyond the countertenor's stereotypical domain of the baroque to interpret lieder of Beethoven and Schubert, as well as French mélodies and Vaughan Williams. A stunningly beautiful disc.

J.S. Bach’s talent seems to flow in his grandson’s blood at least as strongly as in any of his sons. Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach’s two symphonies (as well as the vocal works featured here) inhabit the sound-world of mid- to late Mozart, albeit without the brilliance (in every sense of the word). This Bach’s wind writing is tasteful, and makes good use of the (then) newly-arrived clarinet. The Andante of the C major symphony is quite beautiful, with a dolefully sweet oboe solo throughout the movement. The period strings of Das Kleine Konzert are lively, clean, and in tune, although the violin soloist is not quite up to the rapid passage-work at the end of the G major symphony.

Letzten Monat konnte ich Ihnen den letzten komponierenden Enkel Johann Sebastian Bachs vorstellen, und diesen Monat können sie die lohnende – und spannende – Bekanntschaft mit einem seiner Zeitgenossen machen, der ebenfalls aus der weitverzweigten Bach-Dynastie stammt: Johann Michael Bach (1745–1820). Er gehört ebenfalls der Enkelgeneration Johann Sebastians an; der hessische Bach-Zweig, aus dem er stammt, hat sich jedoch so frühzeitig von den thüringischen Hauptlinien getrennt, dass heute das genaue Verwandtschaftsverhältnis zu Johann Sebastian nicht mehr geklärt werden kann.

John Eliot Gardiner has returned to the form reminiscent of his earliest days with the Monteverdi Choir, when performances were bright and fresh and taut and, well, really good. Of course, he’s working with some really fine music, his soloists are all top-notch, and he’s recording in a familiar place (London’s St. John’s Smith Square) with several of the industry’s most seasoned recording wizards at the controls (especially the two Mikes, balance engineers Mike Hatch and Mike Clements). The music, four of Bach’s Whitsun (or Pentecost) cantatas, shows the composer at his most creative in terms of text setting and structural formulations.

According to German theological tradition, which Bach knew very well, the alto voice was the very symbol of the Holy Ghost. Bach's three solo cantatas for alto demand enormous vocal virtuosity. Their extraordinary musical variety embraces sublime consolatory lullabies, a faithful echo of an organ concerto and the dramatic qualities of an oratorio. Andreas Scholl is the featured soloist in this reissue, backed by Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale Gent.