CANTATAS VOL.4

Bach cantatas vol 4

il Gardellino, dir. Marcel Ponseele

Sorrow and meditation on the meaning of death: a rather not attractive theme for our times, but it was a recurring subject of Lutheran piety during Bach’s time. This recording brings together 3 cantatas around this subject where the affliction is transformed into confident hope and spiritual joy. The cantata 146 Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (We must go through great hardships before we enter the kingdom of God) opens with an impressive sinfonia which is none other than the first movement of a concerto for violin and strings, which Bach later reworked into the famous concerto for harpsichord and strings, and here for the organ. As for the admirable opening chorus, Bach brought in the second movement of his concerto to express the intense suffering endured by man. Lorenzo Ghielmi is the soloist on wonderfull organ of Giovanni Pradella, famous thanks Ghielmi’s multi-awarded recordings of Haendel’s concerti.

Vocal soloists of this recording include Damien Guillon and the young Belgian tenor Reinoud van Mechelen.