I've seen a few mixed reviews about the quality of this recording; personally I'm familiar with Koopman's renditions of Bach. His soloists are very good singers and his ensemble is wonderful; these are the first period-instrument renditions of the Easter Oratorio and Magnificat I've ever heard, and they are really well put together! Listen and enjoy. Read more

This recording is full of energy and joy. The period instruments sound so wonderful and lush. It was recorded in just the right environment and sounds superb.The approach to both pieces is spot on and you will want to listen to this recording many times just for the sheer fun of it.The provided booklet provides some helpful notes on the background of the pieces - when and why Bach wrote them. And also the libretto (which is ALWAYS nice to have). I like to have all that information available and knowing when and why can deepen our appreciation of the music. However, the first and most important thing is to hear the music.This recording is among the best of these works. So, you would do well to begin here! Read more

A Treatise on Baroque MusicianshipNot only do I love this recording with all of its spontaneity and "accidents" (sometimes sublime and sometimes surprising), I even use this recording as a sort of primer for my organ students for Baroque technique. The best way to understand Baroque music is to start with the truly great compositions. Bach's Easter Oratorio is one of those pieces of mature Baroque music in which the drama of the Italian Opera, the refined subtleties of French instrumental music, and the passionate conviction of the Reformation have all come together in the form of some of the most creative vocal and instrumental lines ever written. Completed in its current form in 1738, it represents Bach at the prime of his career.What is really important about this performance, however, is that the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Ton Koopman has succeeded in finally surpassing the old dry, academic playing of most "historical" performances and are bringing musicality back into Baroque music. They are certainly not the first to do this, but this balance of historically informed playing and the crafting of beautiful musical lines is rarely achieved at this level. The fabulous flute solo in the soprano aria "Seele, deine Spezereien" is full of beautifully shaped lines (which often cross the bar lines) and is a showcase of natural, unaffected playing that is so rare. (Baroque keyboard players take note!) As to the criticism from some who claim that the performance is "mushy" or "non-distinct" (I believe those were the words) one only needs to listen to the beatiful aria "Saget, saget" from the Oratorio, or the "Et Exultavit" from the Magnificat to hear the perfect precision of this band. The recent trend of going back to fewer players per part has finally allowed them to stop playing like typewriters, and start to sing! Speaking of singing, Lisa Larsson has one of the most perfect "period voices" I have heard: a pure and light tone, which also contains such passion and a large palate of tones. The sound produced from the blending of unison violins and recorders in the tenor aria "Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer" is very hypnotic.There are some things which are a bit unpleasant in the recording. For example the difficult aforementioned aria "Sanfte" seems to low for Mr. Gerd Türk, but any of the unpleasantness is completely lost in the overwhelming combination of top musicianship from each of the orchestra members, singers, and their fearless leader. Mr. Koopman's fearlessness is at times unsettling for first-time listeners (his enthusiastic improvisation in the continuo seems at times distracting) but we must remember that it is his style of playing which drives the energy and improvisatory spirit of the whole performance. And it is exactly this type of enthusiasm that I imagine audiences in Bach's time and ours enjoy immensely. Read more

Ok, I don't speak German. It doesn't matter.The opening bars of this CD are so pleasing, excited, joyous, thrilled they break the language barrier. You know easter is here. Then they turn to the Magnificat. A wonderful rendition.This is the version that will be my standard. Read more

This Erato recording is one of the mushiest and least distinct recordings of Bach's Easter Oratorio and Magnificat I have ever heard.The tone has been pitched to the half-step lower Baroque pitching which has been done before. That is not the problem.What is the problem is an Orchestra and Choir that fight itself in tempi,where bowing and enunciation is lost in a cacaphony of muck and mire.The Oratorio fares better than the Magnificat which this listener would never recommend to any serious listener.Stick with the Lausonne version.It is clear and crisp and not so frenetic.Not at all recommended. Read more