A predecessor to Bach in Saint-Thomas in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau was an immense character in his day: an all-around musician of course, but also an eminent polyglot—Latin, Greek, Hebrew—, writer, jurist, theoretician and mathematician. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of his body of work is now (or, let’s hope, for now) lost, especially his operas, a Passion, many cantatas (from which only the text remains and not the music), and several major didactic works. Damn… Let’s rejoice however that at least these few cantatas and sacred works are given to us here—of whom two are world premiere on disc—moreover, performed by the excellent ensemble Camerata Lipsiensis, while the organ sections are played on a Silbermann in its original condition from 1721, in the Saint Georg church in Rötha, Thuringia, fives leagues to the South of Leipzig. It is a small sound marvel that, it must be said, had cost a great fortune to build almost three hundred years ago, and you can hear it. As for Bach’s fans, they will discover in the course of several sections of Kuhnau some very recognizable things… the turns were probably bequeathed from a Cantor to another! The fact remains that Bach held Kunhau in high regard, and he was right to do so. © SM/Qobuz