The crystal clear quality of Dorothee Mields’s singing has already graced many albums of German mid- to late-Baroque music. Her vocal quality, secure intonation and tasteful use of ornamentation characterise performances that are further enhanced by her sensibility to music and text alike.

In the depth of its expression and richness of form Johann Sebastian Bach's music has no equal. This becomes especially clear in the famous cantatas for solo soprano, as can be heard in this recording, featuring Ich bin in mir vergnügt BWV 204 and Mein Herze schwimmt in Blut BWV 199 (Weimar version, 1714). The recording is rounded off by a performance of the famous soprano aria Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn BWV 1127. Once again Dorothee Mields shows that she is one of the leading interpreters of our time for the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Performed with LOrfeo Barockorchester, under the direction of Michi Gaigg, this is an exemplary interpretation of these seldom heard solo cantatas.

In the Baroque and Classical periods, it seems like anyone who was famous in the world of opera did something with the story of Orpheus. Retrospectively, it is sometimes really hard to see why this appealed to so many. To be sure, the symbolism of the power of music, not to mention the tragic story of love lost, won again through hardship and devotion, and finally and irrevocably lost, seems ready-made for opera. Moreover, any composer would love to set the scenes of Orpheus in Hades. But the plot really seems to need something, like a happy ending, extra characters, or lots and lots of dances to pass the time. Georg Philipp Telemann’s excursion into this story certainly has its share of things.

There's nothing meek or morbid about Telemann's 'Jesu' in this passion oratorio. This is a confident muscular Jesu, closer to the Saxon Heliand than to the Man of Sorrows depicted on the CD cover; the first aria proclaims Him a hero: "Du Held… du kannst und willst mein Schutzgott sein." (You Hero… you can and will be my Protector-God.) Before that, the Siegfriedesque cantabile for horn that opens the composition sounds not so much like a lament as a call to don one's spiritual armor, and throughout the whole text Jesu is portrayed as indomitable amid the torment and agony of his followers. Specifically, He is the Lion of Judah, the model of Christian fortitude against all enemies. Yes, there are also moments of anguish in the text and poignancy in the music, but overall this is a depiction of the Passion as a Triumph. Whether that concept accords with your personal theology, dear Music Fan, is your own concern. As for me, I love the music too much to be antagonized by mere dogma.

Georg Philipp Telemann's late work is almost inexhaustible in terms of surprises. How many times have I written this and yet I am not yet embarrassed to proclaim it again. With which creative power the 80 year old opens new worlds of expression at the end of the 18th century, one can only be astonished by his last oratorios. One of the very last - from 1761 - is his Easter oratorio "Die Auferstehung" (not to be confused with the "Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu", 1760). There is no longer a rigid sequence of recitatives and arias: flexible, almost through-composed, the music follows the strong affects of the (excellent) libretto, always in search of unconventional means of expression, such as a dramatic accompaniment, accompanied only by a highly virtuosic solo violin becomes. Or the beginning of the words: "Du tiefe, tote, grauenvolle Stille" …