Lothar Odinius (tenor), Roxana Constantinescu (alto), Markus Eiche (bass), Letizia Scherrer (soprano), Michael Nagy (bass), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor)Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, Stuttgart Bach Collegium, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling
Hänssler · 98279 · 78 minutes
Helmuth Rilling has spent a lifetime living inside Bach’s music, and you can feel every one of those years in how naturally this performance breathes. The ensemble of soloists is genuinely stellar — Schmitt and Odinius bring real warmth to the tenor lines, and Constantinescu’s alto is just gorgeous throughout. If you’re looking for a Bach recording that feels both scholarly and deeply human, this one earned its Building a Library crown for good reason.
Awards:
- Building a Library — March 2015 — First Choice
Leighton Pugh (narrator), Benjamin Frith (piano), Robin Tritschler (tenor), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Sonntraud Engels-Benz, Peter Holder, Stephen Tharp, Takako Nishizaki (violin), Laura Hicks, Peter Nagy (piano), Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Auer String Quartet, Kodály Quartet, Slovak Philharmonic…
Naxos · 8578373 · 70 minutes
What a delightful grab-bag this Naxos release turns out to be — it’s got that wonderful "greatest hits" energy where you keep getting surprised by the next track. At 70 minutes it’s a seriously generous listen, pulling together an impressively eclectic mix of performers from Takako Nishizaki’s warm violin playing to the always-dependable Robin Tritschler on tenor. Whether you’re dipping your toes into the classical world or just want something that covers a lot of ground in one sitting, this one earns its place in the rotation.
Marlis Petersen, Christine Schafer, Sibylla Rubens, Ingeborg Danz, Dietrich Henschel, Markus Ullmann, Matthias Goerne, Andreas Schmidt, Michael Volle, Thomas Quasthoff, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling
Hänssler · HC23011
Helmuth Rilling bringing together that kind of cast for Bach is just something special — Matthias Goerne, Thomas Quasthoff, and Christine Schäfer all under one roof feels almost unfairly good. The Gächinger Kantorei anchors everything with that warm, grounded choral sound Rilling has always coaxed out of them so naturally. If you want Bach that feels both scholarly and deeply human, this is exactly where you want to be spending your time.
