J. S. BACH
Bach St John Passion Midori Suzukui (soprano) Robin Blaze (countertenor) Gerd Turk (tenor) Chiyuki Urano (bassbaritone) Stephen MacLeod (bass) / Bach Collegium Japan, Masa [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2006 ] Bach's St John Passion is performed here by the Bach Collegium Japan at Tokyo's Suntory Hall on 28 Jully 2000. Masaaki Suzuki conducts. |
J. S. BACH
Bach - Secular Cantatas VIII: Celebratory Cantatas Hana Blažíková (soprano), Hiroya Aoki (alto), Charles Daniels (tenor) & Roderick Williams (bass) / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 24/May/2017 ] "This is a superb issue in a superb series." MusicWeb December 2017 |
Japan
Tin Drum [ Virgin / CD - released 29/May/2006 ] Partially growing out of their success in the country they were named after, as well as growing friendship and affiliation with such bands as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan, on Tin Drum, made its most unique, challenging, and striking album. It was... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Secular Cantatas Vol V: Birthday Cantatas [BWV213 & BWV214] Joanne Lunn (soprano) Robin Braze (counter-tenor) Makoto Sakurada (tenor), Dominik Wörner (bass) / Bach Collegium Japan directed by Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Nov/2015 ] "Makoto Sakurada's lucid tenor is particularly effective in the rhetorical and declamatory recitatives, while bass Dominik Wörner paints the words to vivid effect." BBC Music |
JOE HISAISHI
Dream Songs - The Essential Joe Hisaishi Joe Hisaishi (piano, work arranger, melodica) / London Symphony Orchestra / New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra [ Decca / 2 CD - released 21/Feb/2020 ] Joe Hisaishi, the acclaimed Japanese composer behind some of the world's best-loved animé films, has released his new album, Dream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi in which he celebrates his diverse and distinguished catalogue of compositions |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Verbum caro factum est - a Christmas Greeting Bach Collegium Japan Chorus / Masaaki Suzuki (direction), Masato Suzuki (organ) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Oct/2018 ] "The performances are typically classy, and punctuated by a selection of Daquin's 'Noels' for solo organ, played with peppery registrations by Suzuki" BBC Music |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
J.S. Bach: St Matthew Passion Benjamin Bruns, Christian Immler, Carolyn Sampson, Damien Guillon, etc / Bach Collegium Japan chorus & orchestra / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "The musicians convey it with infectious zeal...Generic early music politesse is relegated to the shadows" Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Choral |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Secular Cantatas, Vol. 9: The Contest Between Phoebus and Pan [BWV 201 & BWV 207a] Joanne Lunn, Robin Blaze, Nicolas Phan, Katsuhiko Nakashima, etc / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 15/Dec/2017 ] Most of Johannes Sebastian Bach's secular cantatas were written for specific political, academic or private festive occasions. In the case of Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde, BWV 201, however, it may well be that Bach composed it for his own sake:... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Motets Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2010 ] "The performance is, as you'd now expect from [Suzuki's] Collegium, excellent. Voices range from delicate soloists to a splendidly light and transparent 18-strong chorus." (BBC Music Award WINNER 2011 Choral) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Ann-Helen Moen (soprano), Roxana Constantinescu (mezzo-soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor) / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 9/Feb/2018 ] "All performers are in superb form and recorded with pristine clarity and balance. This is a must-listen - a different Beethoven comes forth with sublime beauty and insights beyond the symphony." (Nicholas Butler) |