Search - J.S. Bach, Scarlatti, Forster :: Cantatas

Johann Sebastian Bach in merry mood.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 11/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's worth a long search to obtain and enjoy these works, even if only for the rare chance to hear Bach in merry mood. Of course it is not his fault that about half of his secular cantatas have been lost. Amongst those that survive, two of those included here in matchless performances from the early 1960s conducted by Karl Forster, will bring smiles to your face and dance steps to your feet. Amongst the singers, Fischer-Dieskau and Lisa Otto are especially lively, and Fritz Wunderlich's singing is little short of miraculous. It is in Cantata 208 that the aria known as "Sheep May Safely Graze" occurs. Cantatas by three of Bach's older contemporaties are also included, all sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Everything is in good stereo, recorded in Berlin locales, and digitally remastered in 1998."