The charismatic baritone Benjamin Appl has been an advocate for broadening the audiences for classical vocal music, taking it out of the concert hall into unconventional venues. The same spirit is evident here, although there's nothing unconventional about the tracks on the album singly. Appl is accompanied by the historical-performance group Concerto Köln, which also breaks up the program with instrumental tracks. What's unusual is the broader concept: the idea of a Bach recital, extracting arias from cantatas and the St. ...
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The charismatic baritone Benjamin Appl has been an advocate for broadening the audiences for classical vocal music, taking it out of the concert hall into unconventional venues. The same spirit is evident here, although there's nothing unconventional about the tracks on the album singly. Appl is accompanied by the historical-performance group Concerto Köln, which also breaks up the program with instrumental tracks. What's unusual is the broader concept: the idea of a Bach recital, extracting arias from cantatas and the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, is not one that's often done. Certainly there are Bach greatest-hits albums, but that's not what Appl is up to here; instead he's after an appreciation of the range of Bach's musical expression. The instrumental movements play a key role here, breaking up the program into self-contained groups of pieces, each of which may have sharp contrasts. Far from greatest hits, Appl chooses unusual number such as the title movement from the secular, Saxon-dialect Mer...
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