Description
J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 80 "Ein feste Burg" & BWV 147 – Kertesi, Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Naxos (CD)
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Product Details
- UPC: 4891030506428
- Catalogue Number: 8.550642
- Brand/Label: Naxos
- Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performers: Ingrid Kertesi, soprano · Judit Nemeth, alto · Jozsef Mukk, tenor · István Gáti, bass
- Ensemble: Hungarian Radio Chorus · Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Budapest
- Conductor: Mátyás Antál
- Release Year: 1992 (recorded January 1992)
- Genre: Classical – Choral/Cantata
- Country of Producing: Germany
Product Features
- Format: Audio CD, DDD (fully digital recording), Stereo
- Total playing time: 53:48
- Cover artwork: The Sermon of St. John the Baptist, by Bruegel
Overview
These are two of Bach's most enduring church cantatas, paired for good reason — both build around a single, instantly recognizable chorale melody. BWV 80, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott," takes Luther's own hymn and turns it into a full-scale reformation anthem, opening with a chorus that layers the tune against dense contrapuntal writing. BWV 147, "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben," is better known today for a single movement most people have heard without knowing its title: the closing chorale, familiar in English as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Hearing it in its original context, as the culmination of a full cantata rather than a wedding-processional excerpt, changes how it lands. The Hungarian forces here — Ingrid Kertesi's soprano is a particular highlight — bring clarity and good ensemble balance under Mátyás Antál, recorded at Budapest's Festetics Castle in January 1992. A solid, accessible way into two cornerstone works of Bach's sacred output.
Interesting Facts
- BWV 147's tenth movement is the chorale known worldwide as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," though it's rarely heard in its original cantata setting.
- BWV 80, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott," is built around Martin Luther's own Reformation hymn of the same name.
- Both cantatas use the technique of chorale fantasia, where a well-known hymn tune is elaborated with independent orchestral and vocal counterpoint around it.
- This recording was made at Festetics Castle in Budapest, an unusual and acoustically distinctive venue for a Naxos cantata recording.
- The Failoni Chamber Orchestra, based in Budapest, was a frequent collaborator with Naxos on baroque and classical repertoire during the label's early Hungarian recording era.
Track Listing
Cantata "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott," BWV 80
- Chor – 4:50 · 2. Aria – 3:37 · 3. Recitativo – 1:52 · 4. Aria – 3:46 · 5. Choral – 3:36 · 6. Recitativo – 1:13 · 7. Duetto – 3:35 · 8. Choral – 1:32
Cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben," BWV 147
- Chor – 4:42 · 10. Recitativo – 1:25 · 11. Aria – 2:59 · 12. Recitativo – 1:24 · 13. Aria – 4:49 · 14. Choral – 3:17 · 15. Aria – 3:19 · 16. Recitativo – 1:53 · 17. Aria – 2:39 · 18. Choral – 3:23
Publishers
Naxos, part of the Naxos Music Group, recorded at Festetics Castle, Budapest (producer Tamás Benedek, engineer Gábor Mocsáry, music notes Keith Anderson). Distributed by MVD Music and Video Distribution GmbH, Unterhaching/Munich, Germany.
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