One of the world's brightest Baroque ensembles performing with one of the world's most admired Baroque sopranos is an enticing proposition.
What's more, the solo cantatas on offer here are two of Bach's most moving: No 82, Ich habe genug, that serene contemplation of the afterlife; and No 199, Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, a relatively early work with a text that moves from the wallowing self-pity of the sinnner to joyful relief in God's mercy. Each contains music of great humanity and beauty, and each, too, contains an aria of aching breadth and nobility – the justly celebrated 'Schlummert ein' in the case of Ich habegenug, and in Mein Herze the humble but assured supplication of 'Tief gebückt'.
Both could have been written for Emma Kirkby, who's perhaps at her best in this kind of long-breathed, melodically sublime music, in which pure beauty of vocal sound counts for so much. The support of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is total, combining tightness of ensemble with such flexibility and sensitivity to the job of accompaniment that you really feel they're 'playing the words'. The Freiburgers also give one of the most satisfyingly thoroughbred accounts of the Violin and Oboe Concerto on disc. Add a recorded sound which perfectly combines bloom, clarity and internal balance, and you've a CD to treasure.