Though no doubt sincerely spiritual, what one often admires most in
Masaaki Suzuki's recordings of Bach's cantatas is their intense humanity. With his adept and idiomatic
Bach Collegium Japan plus the services of soprano
Carolyn Sampson, counter-tenor
Robin Blaze, tenor Gerd Turk, and bass Peter Koooij,
Suzuki turns in skillfully directed performances deeply grounded in humanity in Vol. 39 of his survey of Bach's cantatas. The ardent alto aria with a pair of oboes in Ich bin einer gutter Hirt, BWV 85, the mournful tenor aria with obbligato violoncello piccolo in Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (BWV 183), and the joyous soprano aria with a trio of oboes in Gottlob! Nun geht das jahr zu ende (BWV 28) are all wonderfully expressive, catching the emotional authenticity behind the text's pietistic poetry. BIS' super audio digital sound is transparent but also immediate. Those who have followed
Suzuki's cantata series so far need not hesitate, and those looking for a place to get on could do worse than to start here.