Description:

The core of the Baroque Lutheran music for an exceptional feast was the cantata (concerto, motetto). We are quite familiar with marvelous cantatas for alto solo written by Bach; still there exists one that is rarely performed or recorded: the alto version of the famous bass cantata Ich habe genug BWV 82. Scored for voice, oboe and strings, the cantata consists of three arias completely different in character and expression with two short recitatives between them.

The ouvre was composed for the feast of Purification of Mary (2nd February) and its text concentrates on the subject of welcoming death according to the words of old Simeon who met Mary with the lifelong expected Messiah in the Temple. While the feast of Purification was one of the most solemn occasions in the Lutheran liturgical calendar, there is a strong argument to complete the program with figural Latin mass parts.

All musical works are interpreted on period instruments by the ensemble „La Tempesta“ under the artistic direction of Jakub Burzyński, who is not only a very renowned conductor but also an excellent countertenor. He is singing the alto parts in this wonderful production among other brilliant soloists like Julita Mirosławska (Soprano), Mariusz Cyciura (Tenor) and Artur Janda (Bass-Bariton).

Don’t miss this wonderful recording, presented by ARTS with 24bit/96kHz multichannel sound on a Hybrid SACD.

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Music, that could have been performed for the feast of Purification of Mary in Leipzig, ca. 1740.