Rejoice in the spirit of JS Bach and his sons
Paul Riley is swept up by the joie de vivre of these performances by Jonathan Cohen and his musicians
JS Bach Magnificat in D, BWV 243 JC Bach Magnificat in C, E 22 CPE Bach Magnificat in D, H 722
Joélle Harvey (soprano), Olivia Vermeulen (mezzosoprano), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Thomas Walker (tenor), Thomas Bauer (baritone); Arcangelo/jonathan Cohen Hyperion CDA 68157 76:48 mins Four decades. One family. Three settings of the same canticle. If you needed an aural demonstration of how the musical tectonic plates were shifting in the years spanning JS Bach’s arrival in Leipzig and the emergence of the young Mozart you would be hard pressed to find a more illuminating disc than this latest offering from Arcangelo. And as high Baroque glides seamlessly into the ‘sensitive’ style and into unapologetically Italianate ‘galanterie’, the Bach family DNA is not to be contradicted.
Its text parcelled into five compact movements, JC Bach’s thrustingly up-to-the-minute Magnificat was probably composed in 1760, the same year in which he assumed the post of organist at Milan Cathedral. CPE’S much more extended setting (by the clock four times longer) is given in its 1779 respray, though Jonathan Cohen retains the ravishing original 1749 ‘Et Misericordia’. It’s not difficult to hear why.
Papa JS’S Marian contribution, meanwhile, is the familiar D major revision rather than the E flat original, but there’s nothing over familiar about the captivating freshness and buoyancy that both chorus and instrumentalists bring to a much-loved warhorse. How incisively the strings dig into ‘Et exsultavit’, ideally counterpointing the rich mezzo of Olivia Vermeulen. Cohen plays the theatricality of the JC Bach to the hilt, while acknowledging the homage to JS in the opening of CPE’S setting.
A couple of minor solo vocal issues might give pause for thought, but can’t undermine the sheer joie de vivre and accomplishment of the disc as a whole.
PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ RECORDING ★★★★★
Both chorus and instrumentalists bring captivating freshness
Hear extracts from this recording and the rest of this month’s choices on the BBC Music Magazine website at www.classical-music.com