Dunedin Consort - Bach: Ich habe genug - The Scotsman

Recordings of Bach by the Dunedin Consort are the gift that keeps on giving. This latest Linn recording features three remarkable cantatas – Cantata No 82 “Ich habe genug”, No 32 “Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen” and No 106 “Gottes Zeit”, otherwise known as “Actus Tragicus” – each of which is a brilliant exemplar of Bach’s innate ability to dig way under the surface of a text and enrich its meaning. From the opening solo cantata, depicting Simeon’s fatalistic contentment in witnessing the infant Jesus, to the fuller textures of No 106, and the transformational arc from darkness to light – even where death is under the microscope – of the earlier “Actus Tragicus”, John Butt’s stylish ensemble delivers nothing short of perfection. Bass Matthew Brook and soprano Joanne Lunn are monumental among the five-piece vocal team. The instrumental support is silken but never without clarity, poise and purpose. A truly moving and beautiful disc.