The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage was an incredibly ambitious project undertaken in 2000 in which John Eliot Gardiner, with the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, performed and recorded all of J.S. Bach's cantatas in a variety of European churches on the liturgical feast days for which they were composed. The results were released on the label Soli Deo Gloria in 27 sets, and this album, Eternal Fire, includes 14 choruses from the cantatas. The technical and musical assurance of these performances comes as no ...
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The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage was an incredibly ambitious project undertaken in 2000 in which John Eliot Gardiner, with the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, performed and recorded all of J.S. Bach's cantatas in a variety of European churches on the liturgical feast days for which they were composed. The results were released on the label Soli Deo Gloria in 27 sets, and this album, Eternal Fire, includes 14 choruses from the cantatas. The technical and musical assurance of these performances comes as no surprise given the track record of Gardiner and these stellar groups. It would be easy to imagine, though, that in such an intensely packed schedule of recordings, the performers might not have the luxury of time, much less stamina, to fully exploit the individuality of each of the cantatas. The care that they give to these choruses is remarkable, both as a demonstration of their discipline and of the imaginative thinking that went into their distinctive and varied interpretations....
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