G.A.P. Ensemble - J.S. Bach & Shostakovich- Salvation (2024) [Official Digital Download]

‘I play Bach every day,’ said Shostakovich in 1950, at an event to mark the bicentenary of Bach’s death. ‘For us, Bach's legacy is an embodiment of flaming emotion, soulful humanity and true humanism, which stands in contrast to the dark world of raw evil and contempt for humanity.’

Taking their inspiration from these words, and from the palpable influence of Bach on the solid forms and fluent counterpoint of Shostakovich’s own music, this quartet of musicians presents an entirely original pairing of the two composers, in which cantata arias and a major song-cycle are linked and interspersed by instrumental interludes.

The German soprano Dorothee Mields is renowned for her piercing musicianship and luminous tone in the music of Bach, working with such illustrious conductors as Rene Jacobs and Philippe Herreweghe. Her contributions to recent recordings in this field have been called ‘sensational’ and ‘ravishing’ by Gramophone.

Here she sings recitatives and arias from seven cantatas, including the meditative opening movement of ‘Ich bin in mir vergnügt BWV204’. The trio-sonata accompaniment brings her expressive handling of the text to the fore, and prefaces the arias with the G major Sonata BWV1021 for violin and continuo, while Luca Quintavalle contributes the sixth Prelude and Fugue from Book 2 of ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’. Switching to piano for Shostakovich, Quintavalle plays the D major Prelude and Fugue from the Russian composer’s counterpart to the WTC. The early Piano Trio No.1 makes a Romantically yearning preface to the late settings of Alexander Blok which Shostakovich composed alongside the song-cycle Fourteenth Symphony. These songs find the composer at his most introspective, unsparing and yet rewarding of the subtlety which Mields brings to them. The idioms of Bach and Shostakovich complement as much as they contrast, and they are drawn together here by performances of powerful eloquence

TRACKLIST

1. G.A.P. Ensemble - Sonata in G Major, BWV 1021: I. Adagio
2. G.A.P. Ensemble - Sonata in G Major, BWV 1021: II. Vivace
3. G.A.P. Ensemble - Sonata in G Major, BWV 1021: III. Largo
4. G.A.P. Ensemble - Sonata in G Major, BWV 1021: IV. Presto
5. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantata "Ich bin in mir vergnügt", BWV 204: I. Recit. "Ich bin in mir Vergnügt"
6. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantata "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid", BWV 58: III. Aria. "Ich bin vergnügt in meinem Leiden"
7. G.A.P. Ensemble - Prelude & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 875 from the Well Tempered Clavier Book 2: I. Prelude
8. G.A.P. Ensemble - Prelude & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 875 from the Well Tempered Clavier Book 2: II. Fugue
9. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantata "Komm, du süße Todesstunde", BWV 161: II. Recit. "Welt, deine Lust ist Last"
10. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantata "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott", BWV 80: IV. Aria. "Komm in mein Herzenshaus"
11. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantata "Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm", BWV 171: III. Recit. "Du Süßer Jesus-Name Du"
12. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantata "Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm", BWV 171: IV. Aria. "Jesus soll mein erstes Wort"
13. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantate "O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit", BWV 210: V. Recit. "So glaubt man denn, dass die Musik Verführe?"
14. G.A.P. Ensemble - Cantata "Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge" BWV 120a: III. Aria. "Leit, o Gott, durch deine Liebe"
15. G.A.P. Ensemble - Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8 in C Minor "Poème"
16. G.A.P. Ensemble - Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major from 24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano, Op. 87: I. Prelude
17. G.A.P. Ensemble - Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major from 24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano, Op. 87: II. Fugue
18. G.A.P. Ensemble - Romances on Poems by A.Blok, Op. 127: I. Ophelia's Song
19. G.A.P. Ensemble - Romances on Poems by A.Blok, Op. 127: II. Gamayun, the Bird of Prophecy
20. G.A.P. Ensemble - Romances on Poems by A.Blok, Op. 127: III. We Were Together
21. G.A.P. Ensemble - Romances on Poems by A.Blok, Op. 127: IV. The City Sleeps
22. G.A.P. Ensemble - Romances on Poems by A.Blok, Op. 127: V. The Storm
23. G.A.P. Ensemble - Romances on Poems by A.Blok, Op. 127: VI. Secret Signs
24. G.A.P. Ensemble - Romances on Poems by A.Blok, Op. 127: VII. Music



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