The Financial Times

SDG150 - Bach Cantatas Vol 17 (23 Jan 2009)

Gardiner's epic cantata pilgrimage has reached New Year's Day and the following Sunday, for which Bach wrote contrasted music suitably festive on one hand, surprisingly stern on the other. The four New Year's Day cantatas include an early work, exuberant but of suspect authenticity, and the top-quality "Jesu, nun sei gepreiset" from Bach's early Leipzig years. The performance typically clean and crisp, achieve a degree of spirituality only when Ruth Holton sings the central soprano aria in "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid".