JS Bach - Cantatas for soprano

The Guardian 80

Carolyn Sampson, Freiburger Barockorchester/Müllejans
(Harmonia Mundi)

Bach was young, his burgeoning family still small, during his time in Weimar, a turning point in his early career. He wrote several fine cantatas there, including Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199, its remorseful, lamenting powers wonderfully expressed here by the English soprano Carolyn Sampson. It’s a tribute to her linguistic as well as bright-voiced musical talents that she is the chosen soloist with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. The German period ensemble’s energy and precision is ever evident, especially in the woodwind-dominated Sinfonia of Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152 (with bass-baritone Andreas Wolf). The third cantata on this absorbing album is the radiant Wedding Cantata BWV 202.