Elisabeth Hermans is a Belgian soprano. A graduate of Lemmensinstituut in Leuven and the Antwerp Conservatory, she began performing with ensembles such as Collegium Vocale Gent, La Chapelle Royale, La Petite Bande, the Huelgas Ensemble, and the Netherlands Bach Society, but in more recent years has gained acclaim as a soloist especially singing the cantatas of J.S. Bach. [1] [2]
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings.
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2 is a chorale cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the second Sunday after Trinity in 1724. First performed on 18 June in Leipzig, it is the second cantata of his chorale cantata cycle. The church cantata is based on Martin Luther's 1524 hymn "Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein", a paraphrase of Psalm 12.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen LandenBWV 51, in Leipzig. The work is Bach's only church cantata scored for a solo soprano and trumpet. He composed it for general use, in other words not for a particular date in the church calendar, although he used it for the 15th Sunday after Trinity: the first known performance was on 17 September 1730 in Leipzig. The work may have been composed earlier, possibly for an occasion at the court of Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, for whom Bach had composed the Hunting Cantata and the Shepherd Cantata.
Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for which he is also recording Bach's concertos, orchestral suites, and solo works for harpsichord and organ. He is also an artist-in-residence at Yale University and the principal guest conductor of its Schola Cantorum, and has conducted orchestras and choruses around the world.
Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) is composed of an orchestra and a chorus specializing in Baroque music, playing on period instruments. It was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki with the purpose of introducing Japanese audiences to European Baroque music. Suzuki still remains its music director. The ensemble has recorded all of Bach’s cantatas, a project that extended from 1995 to 2018 and accounts for over half of its discography.
Joshua Rifkin is an American conductor, keyboard player, and musicologist, currently a Professor of Music at Boston University. As a performer he has recorded music by composers from Antoine Busnois to Silvestre Revueltas, and as a scholar has published research on composers from the Renaissance to the 20th century. He is famed among classical musicians and aficionados for his increasingly influential theory that most of Bach's choral works were sung with only one singer per choral line. Rifkin argued: "So long as we define 'chorus' in the conventional modern sense, then Bach's chorus, with few exceptions, simply did not exist." He is best known by the general public, however, for having played a central role in the ragtime revival in the 1970s, with the three albums he recorded of Scott Joplin's works for Nonesuch Records.
Herr Gott, dich loben wir, BWV 16, is a church cantata for New Year's Day by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first performed on 1 January 1726 in Leipzig, as part of the composer's third cantata cycle. Its libretto is by Georg Christian Lehms, opening with the beginning of "Herr Gott, dich loben wir", Luther's German Te Deum. The cantata's text was completed with a stanza from Paul Eber's "Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen" for the closing chorale.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn, BWV 132, in Weimar in 1715 for the fourth Sunday of Advent and led the first performance on 22 December 1715.
Jan Kobow is a German classical tenor in concert, Lied, and Baroque opera.
La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in music of the Baroque and Classical era played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, Bach, Haydn, and Mozart.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162, in Weimar for the 20th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it in 1715 or 1716.
Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, BWV 153, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the Sunday after New Year's Day and first performed it on 2 January 1724.
Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren, BWV 154, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it for the first Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it in Leipzig on 9 January 1724.
Marius van Altena, born Marius Hendrikus Schweppe is a Dutch tenor. He was one of the pioneers of historically informed performance of Baroque and Renaissance music. He has also sung Baroque opera, worked as conductor and as an academic teacher.
Leonhardt-Consort, also known as the Leonhardt Baroque Ensemble, was a group of instrumentalists which its director, the keyboard player Gustav Leonhardt founded in 1955 to play baroque music. The Consort was active until around 1990, although some members including Leonhardt himself continued to perform after that date.
Hana Blažíková is a Czech soprano and harpist. She is focused on Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music, appearing internationally. She has recorded as a member of the Bach Collegium Japan, among many others.
Akadêmia is a French early music ensemble founded in 1986 by conductor Françoise Lasserre. The initial group of singers were formed from members of Philippe Herreweghe's Chapelle Royale.
Max Ciolek is a German tenor, conductor and photographer. He is the founder of VokalEnsemble Köln. As a singer, he is noted for his recordings of Bach works, particularly the Evangelist in his Passions, but he has recorded music from all periods of classical music and has appeared internationally.
Hildegard Heichele is a German soprano in opera, concert and recital. A member of the Oper Frankfurt from 1974, she has appeared in major European opera houses, concert halls and international festivals. She is known for Mozart roles such as Susanna, Blonde and Despina. Heichele is featured on opera recordings, including a DVD of Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss from the Royal Opera House in London, and singing concerts, such as the opening of the Alte Oper with Mahler's Eighth Symphony in 1981.
Bach composed Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, as chorale cantata for the Marian feast of the Annunciation, for a first performance in a church service in Leipzig on 25 March 1725. The cantata, for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, four-part choir and Baroque orchestra, takes around 25 minutes to perform.