In the autumn of 1726 Bach embarked on a series of solo and dialogue cantatas for the first time, in which the virtuoso skills of individual soloists were given pride of place rather than a choir. The poet of this impressive series of solo and dialogue cantatas has recently been identified as the Leipzig theology student Christoph Birkmann (1703-1771), later a pastor in Nuremberg. He reported that he "diligently kept company with the great master, Herr Director Bach, and his choir, and also attended the Collegia Musica in the winter". Among the ‘Ich’ cantatas of late autumn and winter 1726/27 are the two works recorded here, which have been regarded ever since as pearls of Bach’s oeuvre.

Twenty five years after harmonia mundi issued the solo cantatas for bass with Peter Kooj, Collegium Vocale and Philippe Herreweghe, Matthias Goerne, together with Freiburg Baroque, presents two cantatas intimately linked to the celebration of the Lutheran Reformation, as we celebrate its 500th anniversary. The recording has had a long period of fruition, what with Schubert, Schumann, Mahler, and soon Wagner, but this new disc should make its own mark on the discography, just as permanently as its illustrious predecessor.

“Freiburg Baroque are at the top of their game: lithe, shapely, tuneful...And the singing? Matthias Goerne is all breath and vowels and gravel and intensity...There is suave bluster in Mein Gott! wenn kommt das schöne: Nun! and well-fed elation in Endlich, endlich wird mein Joch.” The guardian.

“Goerne gives us a deeply human protagonist whose struggles against the dying of the light are not quite over...Despite the years of singing highly declamatory roles on stage, his command of line remains superb (everything is shaped off with tender loving care, with no bumps or bulges in the phrasing, intrusive vibrato, or audible gear-shifts at either end of the voice).” Presto classical.

Bach, J S:   Cantata BWV21 'Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis': Sinfonia

                     Cantata BWV56 'Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen'

                     Oboe d'amore Concerto in A major,BWV1055

                     Cantata BWV82 'Ich habe genug'