…Masaaki Suzuki brings… a textural clarity and a lightness of tread which makes more sense of Bach's often strongly chromatic music than any rival recording that I can recall. Singing and playing is of a very high standard almost throughout. German soprano Dorothee Mields' light, ethereal singing and pleasingly textured voice is ideal in this context...

The theme of these four works from Bach's second cycle of cantatas at Leipzig is almost universally concerned with the journey from despair towards longed-for reconciliation and the victory over sin. Masaaki Suzuki has chosen three works from the Trinity season of 1724, and the Epiphany cantata, Ach Gott, wie manchesHerzeleid (No 3) from early 1725. Again, no Japanese soloists appear in this volume, yet the singers all produce worthy contributions in arias which mainly provide solace after the gloomy sentiments of the opening movement.
The chorus of No 2 is a case in point, a chorale fantasia whose austere and semi-inspired (it's all comparative) motet style can appear, in less capable hands, dour to the point of inertia. The work is soon lifted by the revelation of God's cross in 'Fire purifies silver', a strikingly contrasting à la mode aria sung with compelling involvement from Gerd Türk. The patience of Suzuki's glowing chorus with its doubling trombones builds with sustained gravitas here and in the highly suggestive contours of No 38, Austiefer Not, a work inspired by Luther's Phrygian hymn and where succour is harder to unearth.
One really can't but admire Suzuki's judgement when confronted with the contemplative.
There are high-points in all the choruses: No 3 arches with eloquence, the hopeful but longsuffering oboe sequences countering the biting, dissonant language. Likewise, the pacing of AchHerr, mich armen Sünder (No 135) results in a naturally incremental voyage of genuine discovery.
Occasionally the arias pursue generic smoothness over greater articulation of sentiment.
Such is the case in the fine duet 'Wenn Sorgen' (from No 3), where the strings never make the most of the wonderful 'leap' of joyful praise to Jesus. In sum, another serious addition to this most consistent of Bach series.

One really can’t but admire Suzuki's judgement when confronted with the contemplative. There are high-points in all the choruses: No 3 arches with eloquence, the hopeful but long-suffering oboe sequences countering the biting, dissonant language. Likewise, the pacing of Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder (No 135) results in a naturally incremental voyage of genuine discovery.