Bach Cantatas with Sigiswald Kuijken

With a somewhat vast collection of recordings to listen to, I tend to follow my nose (or, rather, my ears) when it comes to selecting something I want to hear. Returning home from three weeks away in France, Laos and Myanmar, I was thirsty for music. Fortunately, at some time in my life, I acquired eight CDs of Bach cantatas (Accent) conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken with his Petite Bande and an array of soloists. Each CD has around three cantatas each. The performances are sane, well played, well sung, and well recorded. The music is, of course, Bach. I am happy to sit back in my chair and listen to cantata after cantata. Kuijken uses soloists for the “choir”, a cost-cutting exercise that normally perturbs me, but it does not matter too much in the cantatas where the choral role is normally not too vital (it is a different matter, of course, when we come to the Mass in B minor, or the Passions). A happy event when these purchases from the past fill a necessary need. I often wonder why on earth I continue to buy recordings, when I have more excellent ones on my shelves than I can possibly listen to.