How wonderful it must be to be
Ton Koopman. Not only is he capable of playing every Baroque keyboard instrument at a virtuoso level, but he is recording the complete Cantatas of Bach with his own handpicked singers and instrumentalists with
Koopman himself providing the keyboard continuo. In other words,
Koopman gets to know one of the greatest series of sacred music ever composed by the last great composer of sacred music who was also one of the greatest composers of all time. How wonderful it must be to have all that in your head.
In the sixteenth volume of his recordings of the complete Cantatas of Bach,
Koopman once again seems to be able to express the whole range of Bach's sacred music from spiritual exaltation to religious terror, from giddiest joy to deepest sorrow, from festive celebration to personal mortification. For the most part, though,
Koopman once again stresses the clarity and humanity of Bach's sacred music. With a small choir and a small orchestra recorded in an intimate acoustic,
Koopman's performances have the clarity of a chamber music ensemble. And working with the same singers and the same instrumentalists as an instrumentalist,
Koopman's performances are imbued with the humanity of the musicians. Through the clarity and humanity of their music-making,
Koopman's performances seem to express the essence of Bach's sacred music, its exaltation, its terror, its joy, its sorrow, its celebration, and even its mortification. And, once again, no matter what company is issuing them,
Koopman's recordings are wonderfully balanced in a luminous acoustic.