Recently, students from the University of Oxford have blessed the city with several performances of cantatas by the great Johann Sebastian Bach. On Wednesday 7th May, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment collaborated with the Choir of New College in three cantatas exploring the theme of ascension. Last Monday, my own early music ensemblem, Vocatio:Responsio, performed the famous Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, paired with a cantata by Christoph Graupner, the two composers being candidates for the Thomaskantor position in Leipzig in 1723.
And then, in a late-night concert at New College’s stunning chapel, it was New Chamber Opera’s turn. With three more Bach cantatas, it’s fabulous to see such enthusiasm for this broad range of repertoire covering such a variety of themes, while also providing immense reward for performers. NCO’s cantatas appeared to discuss the theme of God being above all else – how humanity should strive to walk with and in God’s footsteps as opposed to any other external forces. This is my own theory, though, with no clear programmatic motivation indicated at any point.
The first cantata, BWV150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (For thee, O Lord, I long) spoke of a feeling of uplift, strength and power, for with God at one’s side he acts as a shield against the outside world. The opening movements were weak as the adrenaline of live performance kicked in and the ensemble adjusted to the acoustics. The Sinfonia was untidy and not together, and in the following chorus the bass instruments were overbearing in volume. However, the group quickly focused, and the soprano solo movement featured Alaw Grug-Evans’s understated excellence; her stunning tone made her one of the concert’s standout stars.
Apart from an extremely messy Terzetto movement where the three soloists failed to coordinate, the rest of the cantata was assured. I especially admired how musical director Rudyard Cook maintained the cantata’s momentum by minimising the gap between movements. This allowed the narrative to maintain its trajectory, with soloists even moving during the final orchestral ritornello.
The second cantata, BWV106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbesteZeit [God’s time is the very best time] was intended for a funeral: known by the name “Actus Tragicus”, it speaks of joining God in heaven, gaining wisdom and strength in entering God’s home. This featured two recorders, played by Molly Skeil and Matt Rogers, who were both excellent. However, they could have perhaps stood up for a greater projection over the ensemble, especially in the sonatina.
In the solo for four voices, Cook used his stage ingeniously in placing the soprano on the opposite side against the alto. Meanwhile, the tenor and bass soloists were kept on the left, as musically the soprano sings the chorale melody over commentary-like figures from the other three. If only the transition had properly worked, as the tenor and bass initially didn’t give room for the alto singer to join them. Some audience members were left momentarily bemused by the situation.
Being one of the rare cantatas that omits violins, violists Ynyr Pritchard and Julius Klin brought their trademark characterful playing, boasting an exceptional tone and intonation throughout. Nevertheless, they were guilty of overplaying less important lines and rushing their fast passages. As a result, there were sometimes losses of balance and of coordination that should have been avoided with more sensitive accompaniment.
The final cantata, BWV182, Himmelskönig, sei willkommen[King of heaven, welcome] was composed for Palm Sunday. With themes of Jesus’ strength as he faced death alone, the cantata is characterised by a series of three solo arias in succession with dwindling accompaniment forces (representing reduction from full crowd to individual believer). Ed Freeman’s bass aria was well delivered, but the tempo was slightly too fast with the venue struggling to accommodate the forces at play. This particularly affected violinist Jemima Price:, a slower tempo would have given her time to provide more shaping to the phrase and produce a more gorgeous sound.
Alto Anneka Vetter was next, who’s acting skills drew the audience into her plot. Even better, though, were the fantastic embellishments in Skeil’s recorder accompaniment. Although sometimes slightly overdone in getting in the way of the text itself, they were still beautifully tasteful. The last of this triplet was Elliot Gregg’s tenor aria, who exhibited remarkable musicianship and storytelling in his dramatic piece. Perfectly accompanied by cellist Miriam Alsop, she was outstanding all evening, keeping everything grounded as a solid and virtuosic continuo player. My only general complaint was the transition between arias being too hurried, as these are much longer pieces than in BWV150 and the soloists didn’t allow the audience to fully recover from the preceding movement’s mood.
One last word must go to the musical director, Rudyard Cook. Cook is clearly a more technique-focused conductor, boasting clear, precisely indicated cues. He also exuded confidence on the podium with a strong handling of tempo. To take a group of singers and instrumentalists from scratch and produce such an accomplished intonation, blend and tone (in only two days of rehearsal!) is a remarkable achievement that Cook should be proud of.
However, his less existent musical gestures (rarely demonstrating things like dynamic variation, balance regulation or phrasing) limited what his ensemble could achieve musically. Particularly in the longer choral movements, where there is less musical variety anyway, I could sense things were plodding along in a “samey-samey” manner. Unfortunately, this eventually spiralled into a cauldron of noise that the acoustic (and the performers) struggled to regulate.
On the one hand, in terms of technical execution, NCO’s performance of Bach cantatas was among the greatest triumphs I have seen here. On the other, the musical interpretation was often bland, and NCO must take greater care in this area to progress further.
