Bach's solo cantatas for higher voices were not written for castrati nor, for the most part, for female singers, but rather for boys on the cusp of puberty. Some of them, to judge from solo cantatas like those performed here by English countertenor Iestyn Davies, were apparently singers of considerable talent: all these works demand wide vocal ranges and the ability to produce a good deal of power at both ends of the range. Ich habe genug, BWV 82, is one of Bach's most famous cantatas, with its half-in-love-with-easeful ...
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Bach's solo cantatas for higher voices were not written for castrati nor, for the most part, for female singers, but rather for boys on the cusp of puberty. Some of them, to judge from solo cantatas like those performed here by English countertenor Iestyn Davies, were apparently singers of considerable talent: all these works demand wide vocal ranges and the ability to produce a good deal of power at both ends of the range. Ich habe genug, BWV 82, is one of Bach's most famous cantatas, with its half-in-love-with-easeful-death theme ("I rejoice at my death," runs the final aria). Bach apparently valued the work himself, making soprano and alto versions of the original bass vocal line. The delicious equation of sleep and death in "Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen" makes a good place to start sampling: Davies' voice is hard to match for sheer tonal beauty, and he delivers it here as the vocal line drops to the bottom of the alto's range. His gentle, lyrical style, standing in contrast to the more abstract...
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