Bach: Sacred Vocal Works [Box Set]
![Bach: Sacred Vocal Works [Box Set]](/images/Bach-Sacred-Vocal-Works-Box-Set-B00008RWR9-L.jpg)
List Price:
Our Price: $43.87
You Save: $28.11 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $20.00 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Performer: Olaf BärPerformer: Andreas Schmidt
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner
Performer: Michael Chance
Performer: Ashley Stafford
Performer: Patrick Collin
Performer: Anne Sofie von Otter
Performer: Carol Hall
Performer: Mary Nichols
Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists
Performer: Nancy Argenta
Performer: Ruth Holton
Performer: Katie Pringle
Performer: Barbara Bonney
Performer: Ann Monoyios
Performer: Gill Ross
Performer: Gillian Rose
Performer: Lynne Dawson
Performer: Jean Knibbs
Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set, Collector's Edition
CD Release Date: 2004-11-09
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Free Music Notes for Bach: Sacred Vocal Works [Box Set]
Free Music Review: A Formidable Bargain
Hit: 5 Stars
Gardiner's recordings of Bach's "sacred masterworks" were considered near-definitive when they were initially released during the 1980's. Since then numerous other "period performance practice" versions of these works have appeared, yet despite competition from such early-music luminaries as Suzuki and Herreweghe (to name only two), Gardiner's have retained their benchmark status.
The earliest performance in this compilation is the *Mass in b Minor* (dating from 1982). This remains an extraordinary account of a much-recorded piece. Gardiner manages to integrate drama, exultation and contemplation in just proportion (something surprisingly few conductors achieve in this work). His tempi are often brisk, but never breathless, and his choir sings with admirably clear diction and astonishing agility. The only qualification concerns the soloists who, though good, are surpassed by those on many rival recordings; the problem is that their rather wan timbres don't fit well with Gardiner's bold, vivid conception of the work.
Next came the *St John Passion*, and it set new standards for period performance practice. Here the soloists declaim the text more expressively than in the Mass; Rolfe-Johnson, in particular, proves an oustanding Evangelist. The contribution of the choir is, once again, a great asset, and Gardiner leads an interpretation notable for its dramatic intensity. Even those who usually prefer a more traditional approach will find that Gardiner doesn't stint on excitement or inwardness.
Gardiner's *Christmas Oratorio* marks an even higher order of achievement. If your benchmark in this work is Karl Richter's 1965 recording, you will find Gardiner even more thrilling: he lifts Bach's dance-rhythms with a heady exuberance that makes Richter (whose rendition has always been the most festive among modern-instrument versions) seem square and stolid. Compare, for instance, Richter and Gardiner in "Ehre sei Gott" (the angelic chorus in Part II) and you will see what I mean. Gardiner's soloists (Rolfe-Johnson/Bär/von Otter/Argenta) stand up remarkably well, too, in comparison with Richter's admittedly stellar team (Wunderlich/Ludwig/Crass/Janowitz). Since the *Weihnachtsoratorium* is close to the top of my short list of favorite Bach, I have heard nearly every recording (modern and period performance practice), and I can confindently say that none comes close to conveying Gardiner's sense of exultation.
The *St Matthew* was last to be recorded, in 1989. By then Gardiner had mellowed somewhat in his approach; rhythms are sprung less insistently, tempi are a wee bit more relaxed, and he favors some legato phrasing (without obscuring the all-important motivic cells) that might have seemed out of style earlier in the decade. This is the kinder, gentler Gardiner one recognizes from his *Bach Pilgrimage* cantata performances of 1999-2000 (also highly recommended). Admittedly, I rather miss the more abrasive style Gardiner favors in the *St John*, but this *St Matthew* is still a superb performance. Perhaps because the "Great Passion" is intrinsically a more expansive, less concentrated work, Gardiner emphasizes its prayerful and penitential aspects over its spectacular musico-dramatic effects. The effect is less bracing than we might have expected from him, but no less enjoyable in the long run (even if it takes a while longer to warm up to this peformance than to the others in this set).
The recordings are beautifully balanced, intimate, yet conveying a welcome ecclesiastical ambience. Gardiner would remind us that these are essentially liturgical works, for all their dramatic, even epic, splendor, and it is gratifying to hear them as if placed favorably within a medium-sized church acoustic.
Universal missed an opportunity by not including Gardiner's fine *Magnificat* and Cantata BWV 51 (featuring Emma Kirkby, unique in all the world), which Phillips recorded around the same time as the B-Minor Mass. Since Universal owns the copyright on Phillips as well as DG/Archiv, there would have been no obstacle to their inclusion. More serious is the omission of texts and tranlations. But these are minor quibbles in light of such a formidable bargain. Urgently recommended to neophytes and veteran collectors alike.
NOTE: DG/Universal have recently (August, 2010) reissued all of this material yet once again in a huge bargain box, but now including the aforementioned Phillips recording of the *Magnificat*, Emma Kirkby's inimitable traversal of BWV 51, plus at least two dozen more cantatas (some studio recordings, but many live from Gardiner's "Cantata Pilgrimage" expedition of 2000). Though I haven't invested in this new box (since I already own most of the recordings in question), I can strongly recommend it to those who have an interest in this repertoire. Though Gardiner doesn't always find the majesty in Bach's music, he does elicit delightfully upbeat, frequently exciting, and often poignantly expressive performances from his historically-minded forces.
Classical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.62
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Mozart: Great Mass in C minor / McNair * Montague * Rolfe Johnson * Hauptmann * English Baroque Soloists * GardinerRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $10.12
Price in other shops:
Radu Lupu - The Complete Decca Solo RecordingRelease date: 2010-05-11; Music CD
Best price: $28.99
Price in other shops:
The Chopin CollectionRelease date: 1991-10-07; Music CD
Best price: $18.34
Price in other shops:
Beethoven: The SymphoniesRelease date: 2010-03-30; Music CD
Best price: $16.48
Price in other shops:
![Beethoven: Piano Sonatas [Box Set] Image](/images/Beethoven-Piano-Sonatas-Box-Set-B000ICM0YY-X.jpg)
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas [Box Set]Release date: 2006-11-14; Music CD
Best price: $37.71
Price in other shops:
Mozart: Requiem / Bonney, von Otter, Blochwitz, W. White, GardinerRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Monteverdi: Vespro Della Beata VergineRelease date: 1990-10-12; Music CD
Best price: $18.91
Price in other shops:
Emerson String Quartet, Johann Sebastian Bach - Bach: The Art of FugueBACH,J.S.; Release date: 2003-08-12; Music CD
Best price: $9.80
Price in other shops:
Martha Argerich - Martha Argerich: The Collection 1: The Solo RecordingsARGERICH,MARTHA; Release date: 2008-09-30; Music CD
Best price: $20.29
Price in other shops:
Bach: Sacred MasterpiecesRelease date: 2000-10-10; Music CD
Best price: $46.65
Price in other shops: