Carolyn Sampson has risen to the top of the heap of Baroque-oriented singers over the years with her consistently strong performances in Masaaki Suzuki's Bach Collegium Japan Bach cantata cycle and under other high-profile conductors. Sampson maintains a balance between technical brilliance and thoughtful approaches to the text, and when everything falls into place the results are immensely satisfying. That shows signs of happening in the first two of the three cantatas here, all of them written during Bach's youthful ...
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Carolyn Sampson has risen to the top of the heap of Baroque-oriented singers over the years with her consistently strong performances in Masaaki Suzuki's Bach Collegium Japan Bach cantata cycle and under other high-profile conductors. Sampson maintains a balance between technical brilliance and thoughtful approaches to the text, and when everything falls into place the results are immensely satisfying. That shows signs of happening in the first two of the three cantatas here, all of them written during Bach's youthful Weimar period. Sampson sounds great in Bach's often thorny vocal lines, and her ability to interact with an ensemble shows in full color in the unusual instrumentation of the Cantata No. 152 for soprano and bass ("Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn"), BWV 152. The precise, punchy sound of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Petra Müllejans doesn't fit these rather delicate works 100 percent (Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202, is a wedding cantata). But all reservations will be forgotten...
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