Classical music listeners who feel they're living in a dry spell would do well to consider that our time has its advantages like any other. The range of ambitious, entirely distinctive recordings of Bach's vocal music would be one -- any of the cantata series going on would be cause for celebration in itself. The cantata recordings of historical-instrument specialist Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan excel not in the humanistic warmth of a John Eliot Gardiner, but in sheer, chiseled detail that almost makes you ...
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Classical music listeners who feel they're living in a dry spell would do well to consider that our time has its advantages like any other. The range of ambitious, entirely distinctive recordings of Bach's vocal music would be one -- any of the cantata series going on would be cause for celebration in itself. The cantata recordings of historical-instrument specialist Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan excel not in the humanistic warmth of a John Eliot Gardiner, but in sheer, chiseled detail that almost makes you feel like you're one of the performers. This set of four essentially nonchoral cantatas (no choir is present here) provides a chance to hear Suzuki in the small-scale environment in which he is arguably at his best: each aria seems to float over a constellation of murmuring instruments, each of which has its place in Bach's cosmos. Suzuki has used various soloists and has been able to intelligently match them with repertoire, and nowhere more so than here. British soprano Carolyn...
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