Peter Kooij, Mieneke van der Velden & L’ Armonia Sonora – Telemann: Solo Cantatas for Bass (2018) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

No-one will be surprised to learn that Telemann, himself a baritone, has dedicated a substantial part of his output to cantatas (some 1400 works in total!) for baritone, as the convention in the Protestant world at the time was that the character of Jesus was reserved for that same baritone voice. And so here is a series of deeply intimate Passion cantatas for solo bass, with a sense of immense pain sketched out masterfully by a composer who knows how to always stay original. This is almost a kind of religious play, in which the plot is relayed through short, sober recitations, and then illuminated through staggering arias that border on musical painting. Dutch bass-baritone Peter Kooy (or Kooij), a follower of the legendary Max von Egmond, whose career took off from the 1980s with Herreweghe in the La Chapelle Royale and the Collegium Vocale of Gent, gives us a velvety reading, against an instrumental backdrop provided by L’Armonia Sonora. We are given a breather between cantatas in the shape of several instrumental sonatas. The album closes on an aria taken from the great Passion oratorio Seliges Erwägen des bittern Leidens, “Gute Nacht, ihr meine Lieben”. It is hard not to think of Bach with his “Gute Nacht” – Bach had already been evoked in one of the cantatas, Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen whose lyrics and spirit come close to Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne Tragen of the Cantor of Leipzig (itself also for solo bass!), note the little differences in formulation between Bach and Telemann, who were colleagues and friends.

Tracklist:
01. Cantata, “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus”, TWV 1:364: I. “Die stille Nacht umschloss den Kreiß der Erden”
02. Cantata, “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus”, TWV 1:364: II. “Ich bin betrübt bis in den Tod”
03. Cantata, “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus”, TWV 1:364: III. “Er rung die heil’gen Hände aus überhäuftem Schmerz”
04. Cantata, “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus”, TWV 1:364: IV: “Mein Vater”
05. Cantata, “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus”, TWV 1:364: V. “Allein, die Angst nahm jeden Nu mit Haufen zu”
06. Cantata, “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus”, TWV 1:364: VI. “Kommet her, ihr Menschenkinder”
07. Cantata, “Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen”, TWV 1:884: I. “Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen”
08. Cantata, “Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen”, TWV 1:884: II. “Ach, wer die Frucht des Kreuzes”
09. Cantata, “Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen”, TWV 1:884: III. “Ich küsse die Rute”
10. Cantata, “Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen”, TWV 1:884: IV. ‘Und zwar, was sag ich weiter’
11. Cantata, “Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen”, TWV 1:884: V. “Ach, mein Heiland”
12. Sonata a 4 in G major, TWV 43:G10: I. Vivace
13. Sonata a 4 in G major, TWV 43:G10: II. Andante
14. Sonata a 4 in G major, TWV 43:G10: III. Vivace
15. Cantata, “Reiner Geist, laß doch mein Herz”, TWV 1:1228: I. Reiner Geist, laß doch mein Herz
16. Cantata, “Reiner Geist, laß doch mein Herz”, TWV 1:1228: II. ‘Du allerwehrtester und reinster Geist’
17. Cantata, “Reiner Geist, laß doch mein Herz”, TWV 1:1228: III. “Mit dem heiligsten Entzücken”
18. Cantata, “Reiner Geist, laß doch mein Herz”, TWV 1:1228: IV. “Ach weiche nicht!”
19. Cantata, “Reiner Geist, laß doch mein Herz”, TWV 1:1228: V. “Ich recke schon die schwachen Hände”
20. Sonata a 6 in F Minor, TWV 44:32: I. Adagio
21. Sonata a 6 in F Minor, TWV 44:32: II. Allegro
22. Sonata a 6 in F Minor, TWV 44:32: III. Largo
23. Sonata a 6 in F Minor, TWV 44:32: IV. Presto
24. Geistliche Arien (1727): “Machet mir das Sterbebette”
25. Triosonata in C Minor, TWV 42:c8 : I. Affetuoso
26. Passionsoratorium Seliges Erwägen des bittern Leidens und Sterbens Jesu Christi: Gute Nacht, ihr meine Lieben