J. S. Bach
Solo Cantatas for Bass
Sinfonias
Michael Volle
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
„Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis“, BWV 21 – Sinfonia
„Ich habe genug“, BWV 82
„Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbaths”, BWV 42 – Sinfonia
„Der Friede sei mit Dir“, BWV 158 *
„Gott soll allein mein Herze haben”, BWV 169 – Sinfonia
„Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen“, BWV 56
Members of the RIAS Kammerchor
Robin Johannsen, soprano (*)
Raphael Alpermann, organ and musical direction
Next to the big choral works like the Mass in B minor or the St. John and St. Matthew Passions as well as his a-cappella motets, Johann Sebastian Bach’s over 200 preserved cantatas represent the corpus of his sacred choral and orchestral music. Written in an almost weekly cycle for every Sunday of the Christian year, their musical diversity and beauty is astounding.
Among the cantatas, three are written for solo-bass, to which Michael Volle regularly lends his warm yet powerful voice in concerts all around Europe. In December 2016, he recorded them at the Christuskirche Berlin, together with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, one of the world’s leading orchestras specialized in historic performance.
Recorded at the Christuskirche Oberschöneweide, Berlin
December 2016
In these performances, Michael Volle’s outstanding voice, the excellent playing by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and a beautiful sound recording perfectly match and ensure an exceptional musical experience. Pizzicato
German baritone Michael Volle hast just the kind of voice that serves the best interests of Bach’s music. His declamation is clear and lightly articulated, his vibrato tightly controlled and his intonation impeccable. [..] Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin gives fine accounts of the sinfonias, setting the seal on a fine release. Performance: 5 stars, Recording: 5 stars BBC Music Magazine
The art of Volle’s phrasing is simply magnificent, the comprehensibility of the text is fantastic. The Akademie für Alte Musik accompanies him with a finely balanced, noble discreetness. [..] The musical collaboration [..].] The musical collaboration [..] is congenial. Music: 5 stars, Sound: 5 stars Fono Forum
