(++++) FOR ALL SEASONS

Bach: Easter Oratorio; Magnificat. Nola Richardson, soprano; Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, countertenor; Thomas Cooley, tenor; Harrison Hintzsche, baritone; Cantata Collective conducted by Nicholas McGegan. AVIE. $19.99.

     It is a tribute to Bach’s extraordinary creativity that his intensely religious Lutheran compositions, written within the conventions of the 18^th century (although sometimes stretching them), continue to have both musical and liturgical appeal 300 years after their creation. Even in contemporary times that are so much more secular than Bach’s, the emotional intensity of these works is uplifting – even to audiences that do not share Bach’s beliefs and may not even know or understand the words he set, much less their purpose within the ecclesiastical year. No small part of the never-ending appeal of this music are the advocacy and excellence of historically informed performances by ensembles such as Cantata Collective under Nicholas McGegan – interpretations that resolutely refuse to regard Bach and his music as fusty museum pieces and that breathe new (or, rather, continuing) life into Bach’s works by recognizing them as deeply felt expressions of faith that can and do reach out far beyond their original audiences and intentions.

     McGegan and Cantata Collective have already produced exemplary recordings for AVIE of two of Bach’s largest religious works, the St. John Passion and Mass in B Minor. Their new release includes two somewhat less-expansive pieces that nevertheless have grandeur of their own. Both the Easter Oratorio (1725) and the Magnificat (1723/1733) are festive works that call for large orchestras including trumpets, timpani, flutes, recorders, oboes and bassoon as well as strings and continuo. And both have specific seasonal purposes: the Easter Oratorio, obviously, for the celebration of the central mystery of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus; and the Magnificat for the Feast of the Visitation (July 2) and also for Advent and/or Christmas. The works differ in significant ways: the Easter Oratorio largely rearranges music Bach had written earlier, and the text is in German, while the Magnificat is filled with new music and is in Latin (a less-common language in the Lutheran faith). But these historical matters are of no significant consequence for modern performers and listeners – which is exactly the point for interpretations like McGegan’s, which are historically aware without being historically insistent in a way that would make them time-bound.

     What listeners hear in McGegan’s Easter Oratorio and Magnificat is celebratory music delivered with understanding, suitable intensity and an unerring sense of style. In the Easter Oratorio, the four soloists – representing Mary Magdalene, “the other Mary,” Simon Peter and John the Apostle – carry forward the story after the chorus initially urges everyone to “hurry and run” to the now-empty tomb of Jesus (the chorus does not reappear until the very end of the work). The emotional underpinnings of the story are well communicated by the sensitivity of the singers, from Mary Magdalene (here sung, interestingly, by a countertenor rather than the more-usual alto) exclaiming about the “cold hearts of men” to John the Apostle being “delighted that our Jesus lives again” and the chorus, at the work’s end, rejoicing that “Hell and the devil are conquered.” And in the Magnificat, the back-and-forth between chorus and various solo and duet parts enlivens the recitation of the formulaic words of praise and helps give them depth of feeling and conviction. The simplicity and purity underlying Quia respexit humilitatem, and the unusual use of three accompanied high voices in Suscepit Israel, are among the elegantly realized touches in this performance. But such details are always subsumed within the work’s overall structure, which is as it should be. Like the prior Bach recordings by Cantata Collective, this one combines a well-sized chamber choir with a well-balanced instrumental ensemble, with all performers collaborating with great sensitivity to the music as music – and to the messages Bach intended to convey. Those messages are scarcely irrelevant to believers in modern times – but even for those who are not believers, or whose beliefs are not in line with those expressed by Bach through these works, the music, as performed here with expressiveness and sensitivity, conveys heartfelt joy and emotional engagement in ways that reach out across the centuries and well beyond the context in which these works were originally created.