- “Une Cantate Imaginaire”.
The idea behind this recording is quite creative: Select movements from a wide group of Bach’s cantatas and other works, and form them into an “Imaginary cantata”; this is just the sort of thing Bach did himself.
The challenge, of course, is to make the selection diverse, so the result is not a collection of frequently heard “Bach’s greatest hits”.
The resulting “Imaginary Cantata” offers the following:
Bach, J S:
Sinfonia from Cantata BWV42
Cantata BWV30 ‘Freue dich, erlöste Schar’: Kommt, ihr angefochtnen Sunder
Cantata BWV133 ‘Ich freue mich in dir’: Getrost
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV1068: Air (‘Air on a G String’)
Bist du bei mir, BWV508
Sinfonia: Cantata BWV174
Cantata BWV21 ‘Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis’: Sinfonia
Nichts kann mich erretten from Cantata No. 74
Cantata BWV33 ‘Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ‘: Wie fürchtsam wankten meine Schritte
Cantata BWV18 ‘Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt’: Sinfonia
St Matthew Passion, BWV244: Erbarme dich
Cantata BWV169 ‘Gott soll allein mein Herze haben’: Stirb in mir, Welt
Cantata BWV191 ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’
Cantata BWV85 ‘Ich bin ein guter Hirt’: Jesus ist ein guter Hirt
Cantata BWV182 ‘Himmelskönig, sei willkommen’: Sinfonia
Vergiss mein nicht, BWV505
Cantata BWV147 ‘Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben‘: Jesu, bleibet meine Freude
Performed by Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto/conductor), with the Orfeo 55 ensemble.
Nathalie Stutzmann’s imaginary cantata includes vocal arias that she sings, but also instrumental pieces and even chorales. She wanted to “pick a bouquet of … beautiful flowers” from Bach’s huge collection of music.
The resulting collection emphasizes Ms. Stutzmann’s unique contralto voice, and leads the listener through some wonderful music.
Here is Nathalie Stutzmann in J. S. Bach’s “An imaginary cantata”. It opens with instrumental playing and moves soon to feature Ms. Stutzmann’s amazing, lush voice:
And next, here is Contralto and conductor Nathalie Stutzmann in George Fredrick
Handel’s “Cara Sposa” from a presentation in Paris of her l’ensemble ORFEO 55:
Tags: Nathalie Stutzmann, J. S. Bach, “An imaginary cantata”, Orfeo 55, Une Cantate Imaginaire
