J.S. BACH: ACTUS TRAGICUS (BWV 106); HIMMELSKÖNIG, SEI WILLKOMMEN (BWV182); KOMM, JESU, KOMM (BWV239)

This CD from Amici Voices is a triumph. Since their founding in 2012, Amici Voices has pursued the path of one-to-a-voice Bach – and from the evidence of this disc, with great success. Bookended by two pre-Leipzig cantatas is a lithe and expressive reading of the double choir motet Komm, Jesu, komm, which, despite one or two slight lapses of intonation, catches the spirit of the piece. No less successful are Amici Voices’ readings of the cantatas – though they may be thought emotionally cool by some, this reviewer found their balanced no-nonsense approach refreshing. BWV 106 is a chamber piece whose very particular instrumental sonority (recorders and violas da gamba or viols) is here memorably realised. BWV 182, composed in Weimar for Palm Sunday 1714, is a substantial and richly varied cantata, beginning with a French Overture-inspired sinfonia and including no fewer than three generous choral movements. The solo arias are neatly dispatched, and throughout this well-planned CD one has the sense of an ensemble with great things ahead of them.

PHILIP REED Read the full review on Agora Classica