Bach Bwv 159

Ophelie Gaillard has made recently a deep impression with the Suites for cello solo by Jean-Sebastian Bach. On this new recording, dedicated to the Cantor of Leipzig, she gathered her close team from the Pulcinella Ensemble and invited some of the most talented soloists: Sandrine Piau, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Christophe Dumaux. This programme gives a vision of the most beautiful cantatas written by Jean-Sebastian Bach in Leipzig from 1723 to 1750, interspersed with some of the masterpieces from the 'Schübler' Chorales and Orgelbüchlein. With a passion for Baroque music played on period instruments, Pulcinella is a group of virtuoso soloists, gathered in a chamber spirit around cellist Ophélie Gaillard.

The cantatas of volume 19 can be relegated to three groups: Four works (BWV 72, 88, 129 and 193) belong to the third Leipzig series, lasting from 1725 to 1727; five (BWV 145, 159, 171, 174 and 188) belong to the group known as the Picander cycle of 1728-29, which was not completed or has not survived complete; two works (BWV 51 and 117) belong to the period after 1730, in which Bach composed new church cantatas only sporadically.

German baritone Benjamin Appl is Gramophone's "Young Artist of the Year 2016" and one of the stars of the European "Echo Rising Stars" concert series. He is also a former chorister of the famous German choir Regensburger Domspatzen, and now one of the most interesting artists of the new generation, with a great voice, charming personality and great stage presence. The new album presents wonderful music by Johann Sebastian Bach from famous as well as less known cantatas but also from the St. Matthew Passion. It was recorded with the renowned Ensemble Concerto Köln, one of the leading ensembles for historically-informed performance practice.

Hermann Max and the Rheinische Kantorei set out on new paths toward the interpretation of Bach's motet cosmos. The present CD also includes the Motets BWV Anh. 159 because Bach scholarship has come to regard these works, long ascribed to Johann Christian Bach, as compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach as they clearly bear his musical signature.

The ultimate collection of the complete music of J.S. Bach. Having all of Bach's music at my fingertips is a dream come true. This astonishing collection of music is a historic event. Teldec has compiled an excellent collection of all the works of J.S. Bach, from well-known to the obscure, performed by a wide variety of highly respected musicians. There are many, many treasures included in this collection, for example: the cello suites performed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt now on cd for the first time. And the 4-cd set of chorales is stunning.

Brilliant Classics embarked on a daring project in the year 2000, the year of the 250th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's death: this budget label decided to release a complete set of Bach's works. They were not the only label to do so - Teldec and Haenssler both did as well - but the Brilliant Classics set stands out for several reasons. First, they attempted (though did not fully succeed) to create a complete set entirely recorded on period instruments, using historically informed performances.

This release offers four works [by] Johann Ernst Bach (1722-77), Johann Christoph Altnikol (1719-59), Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749), and Georg Gottfried Wagner (1698-1756)…The level of craftsmanship in these works is indicative of Bach's art. Stylistically, they range from the foursquare formality of the baroque to the charm of the emerging rococo…The singing is light-toned and agile, with proper weight of emotion and excellent dynamic range…

Another entry in Harmonia Mundi's ongoing Bach Edition, this recording from 1993 exemplifies both the consistently high standard of performance we've come to expect from Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale and the astonishing musical variety and emotional/spiritual depth of Bach's vocal works. As usual in this series, the program reflects a theme, in this case the feast of Ascension, for which Bach wrote what proved to be his final oratorio (improperly catalogued as a cantata in the original edition of Bach's works) and at least three cantatas. The oratorio contains both original music and, as has recently been shown, several movements taken from cantatas no longer extant. It's a compelling and inexplicably underperformed work, far shorter than Bach's other oratorios, complete with some terrific orchestral music, two wonderful festive choruses, a tenor Evangelist narrator, a charming little duet for tenor and bass, and arias for soprano and alto.