The 22nd and final volume in Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir's series of recordings of Bach's cantatas includes two of his final Lutheran cantatas, all four of his short Catholic masses based on movements taken from earlier cantatas, and an early secular version of one of the sacred cantatas plus arrangements of two movements of the other sacred cantata by Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann. And like every other volume in this series, it is a thorough-going triumph. In the extremely well-known Ein feste ...
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The 22nd and final volume in Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir's series of recordings of Bach's cantatas includes two of his final Lutheran cantatas, all four of his short Catholic masses based on movements taken from earlier cantatas, and an early secular version of one of the sacred cantatas plus arrangements of two movements of the other sacred cantata by Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann. And like every other volume in this series, it is a thorough-going triumph. In the extremely well-known Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A mighty fortress is our God) BWV 80, Koopman and his forces turn in a performance as celebratory as it is soulful. In the extravagantly festive Freue dich, erlöste Schar (Be happy, saved crowd) BWV 30 -- or in the equally extravagantly festive Angenehmes Wiedrau (Most charming Wiedrau) BWV 30a as it's known in its secular transformation -- their performances are as sublime as they are joyous. In all four masses, their performances are as devotional as they are...
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