[ Harmonia Mundi / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 5 April 2024
In this new series, Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants invite us to follow the creative itinerary of J. S. Bach through the times and cities in which he lived. The first instalment introduces us to a young master who remained faithful to the north German tradition of the sacred concerto, but already displayed an intensely personal invention.
"With just one or two to a part, each musician is a leader here. The purity of the singers' straight tones and the immediacy and depth of their individual reactions to lexical meaning are bracing, yet held within a delicately balanced ensemble...Hats off to Les Arts Florissants for daring to make Bach a man of the theatre." Five Stars BBC Music
"These are beautiful, text-centred performances, and while I find several movements too fast for my taste, they are always engaging. There are some extraordinarily good solos throughout, and I keenly anticipate the next volume." Gramophone