Bach: Bass Cantatas • Greco
On the heels of the album of a young man's back gracing the cover of Viennese lute music, this album cover caught my attention too, although the depiction of a small church has a more direct connection to the music. This album launched an exploration of the ensemble accompanying David Greco: Van Diemen's Band. The playing was very fine, and I learned they are a baroque ensemble from Tasmania. I wouldn't be surprised if you see more reviews featuring this ensemble.
I try and avoid albums like these, just pulling a few disparate pieces from Bach's collection of cantatas. The program best resembles a concert presentation, where a particular artist is the focus. I wouldn't describe the singer's voice as a profound bass; he himself characterizes his range as baritone. It didn't take long, traversing into the opening track from BWV 162, to find I could tolerate a disc devoted to Bach by this singer.
Violinist Julia Fredersdorff directs, and the tempos are chosen in service of the music. There's a lightness to the character in the second track, Auf Gott steht meine Zuversicht from BWV 138. Greco commands my respect with how he utilizes vibrato. There's plenty on tap, but he can pull back when he's in the mood. In this particular aria, there are some very obvious attempts to bring real character to certain words.
Probably the most famous cantata offered here is the Ich habe genut, with the band in good form; the contributions from Greco even stronger. The balance comes off a bit strong for the voice in a few spots, but the singing for me was not only well done, but exciting.
The musicians offer the 5 movements of BWV 56, Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen. For comparison, I queued Stephan MacLeod's recording on the Claves label, released in 2022. Gli Angeli Genève offers a bigger, wider soundstage. MacLeod is an accomplished singer and conductor; I ultimately found the opening Aria sung by Greco to be my favorite. His performance is quicker, shaving a minute off the performance time, and his voice has an affective timbre that, to my ears, was easy to admire.
The next aria features solo oboe, which comes off strongly. Again there's a lightness about how the entire team approaches the music; that lightness is present in the foundation, in the oboe solo, and from Greco.
In the final chorale, Greco is joined by more voices. The mood Bach sets in "Come, O Death, Sleep's brother" is affective. The light treatment continues, however, and I found MacLeod's weightier treatment of the chorale probably more appropriate, given the text. Van Diemen's Band, with single voices, still offers a gorgeous sound.
Two movements are offered from BWV 159, Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem. The approach with the aria Es ist vollbracht is slow and smooth, a bit of a departure from the lightness I spoke of earlier — and, for me, appropriately matched. The second movement pulls in the additional singers for the chorale Jesu, deine Passion ist mir lauter Freude. The blend of voices and purity of sound, with one per part, is a sound I got used to easily. I could entertain an entire Bach chorale album with this group.
There are a few tracks offered that are played just by the band. One is the opening sinfonia from BWV 21 with strong oboe playing; another is my favorite sinfonia from Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196, featuring the strings. Again, tempo choices are spot-on and the playing has a bounce and lightness that I found quite attractive. Finally, the organ solo in the sinfonia from BWV 35 is another favorite. I like how the entire band sounds in this one; the balance feels natural.
The album, too, offers good sound, engineered from a performance at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Ultimo Centre in Sydney. We feel close to the musicians; there's good transparency.
