Track Listing

1. Aria: Ich habe genug, ich habe den Heiland
2. Recitativo: Ich habe genug! Mein Trost ist nur allein
3. Aria: Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen
4. Recitativo: Mein Gott! wann kommt das schöne Nun!
5. Aria: Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77490 in Music
• Released on: 2004-11-09
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Cantatas 56 and 82 have often been paired on disc - recordings by such great bass-baritones as Hermann Prey and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (several times) come to mind. Now the magnificent Thomas Quasthoff adds his unique combination of dark tone, intense delivery (just listen to his very first words in No. 56--"I will gladly bear my cross"--sung with such weight one can almost picture the cross itself), and technical perfection to the batch. His delivery of 56's aria "Endlich, endlich" is quick and impeccably delivered, long runs and all. Or listen to the lullabye in No. 82, "Schlummert ein," so gorgeously, seamlessly intoned, that it brings peace and beauty all by itself. All three cantatas are expressions of suffering, and Quasthoff conveys it perfectly, but always with his eye on the prize - salvation. His diction is so clear that the German text might as well be English. The Berliner Barock Solisten play with unmatched beauty and the solo oboist deserves special praise. These are ravishing performances of three great works and this CD cannot be recommended highly enough. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Soaring and uplifting
J.S. Bach, my favorite composer,wrote mostly religious music. It is no surprise, then, to read that Thomas Quasthoff says that music is his "religion." It follows,also,that Quasthoff's interpretation of Bach's great works is achingly beautiful , as if from this great baritone's soul.
My favorite Cantata 82, is sung by Quasthoff with such tender spirituality and beauty. He sings masterfully and liltingly with a choir and the marriage of his voice and their voices, is a portrait in timing and sensitivity, resulting in pure music at its best. The range of Quasthoff's voice is great: he can be tender and soft or commanding and powerful. And he is always in total command of his powerful instrument.
It has been said that choral music is praying twice. Well, to listen to Thomas Quasthoff - solo or with other voices, is to witness a prayer.

Classic beauty
Brilliant recording of a fine and sensitive artist and some of the most magnificent music ever written.

Consummate Artistry Perfectly Captured on this Recording
Thomas Quasthoff is one of the more musically intelligent singers before the public today. His repertoire is fascinatingly large: he sings Mahler and Schubert and Bach and yes, love songs! with equal success. For those fortunate enough to have been in Los Angeles this past season during his Artist in Residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and chamber ensembles this will come as no surprise. But with this release of Bach Cantatas, Quasthoff enters that realm of singers who command respect and engender compassion for the power of vocal communication.

This recording includes all three of the cantatas Bach wrote for Bass/Baritone and ensemble. Here Quasthoff collaborates with the Berlin Baroque Soloists, which seems to be the perfect pairing: Quasthoff sings with contemporary technical production of sound and the ensemble plays on contemporary instruments (albeit with the influence of technique revered by Baroque scholars). The result is a full-bodied sound that goes past 'authenticity' to the more important level of communication of the words as Bach intended. These three works are heart-wrenchingly beautiful and at least for these ears, I have never heard them more simply and honestly sung. The impact is one of wonder.

These three works are about man's longing for death and accompanying redemption: this reading offers the underlying faith that rests in the soul of Bach's music. This is music very right for the Easter season upon us, but it is also right for anytime that clarity and consummate artistry as contained in this perfect CD is heard. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, March 05