Bach - BWV 1, BWV 127, BWV 42, BWV 103 & BWV 28 - English Baroque Soloists & Monteverdi Choir - Masaaki Suzuki - St. Martin-in-the-Fields

19 June 2025, 21:00

I have long been an admirer of Masaaki Suzuki’s recordings with Bach Collegium Japan, so it was an enormous pleasure for me to play for this champion of Bach interpretation when he directed the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir for a performance at London’s St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Thursday 19 June 2025 (an exceptionally warm day).

The artfully crafted programme featured four of Bach’s cantatas that were first performed in 1725 (300 years ago), as well as the opening ‘Sinfonia’ from Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats (BWV 42). The four cantatas were: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (BWV 1), Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott (BWV 127), Ihr werdet weinen und heulen (BWV 103), and Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende (BWV 28).

I played cornetto in 465 Hz, i.e. in cammerton, in the first movement of BWV 127 and I transposed to play with the chorton instruments—a common practice in Bach’s time. I played a trumpet in C in the movement entitled ‘Wenn einstens die Posaunen schallen’, and slide trumpet (Zugtrompete) in the closing chorale. I played a trumpet in D for the obbligato fifth movement of BWV 103, ‘Erholet euch, betrübte Sinnen’, with Guy Cutting (tenor), and slide trumpet in the final chorale. I also played cornetto in the chorus and chorale of BWV 28. Incidentally, I’d never played any of these cantatas before, but I was particularly pleased to play BWV 103, as I have often cited it as an example of Bach’s word painting, since an E-flat, a non-harmonic series tone on the trumpet, aptly accompanies and embodies the word ‘betrübte’ (‘struggling’ or ‘troubled’).

With horns in BWV 1, cornett and sackbutts (alto, tenor, and bass) in BWV 28, and the aforementioned cornett, trumpet, and slide trumpet parts in the rest of the programme, the concert featured an almost complete selection of the brass instrument that would have been known to Johann Sebastian Bach. The oboists also showcased various period instruments, including oboe, oboe d’amore, and oboe da caccia.

‘Indeed, at intervals, some brilliant interventions from the band almost stole the show. Easton’s violin; the supremely accomplished Mark Baigent’s oboe and oboe da caccia; Russell Gilmour’s trumpet; the horns of Lionel Pointet and Joseph Walters: all seized their moment and added dense splashes of colour to the entire sonic tapestry.’ Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk, Friday, 20 June 2025

In addition to a stellar line up of instruments and instrumentalists, the Monteverdi Choir featured stand-out (and outstanding) soloists Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Rebecca Leggett (alto), Guy Cutting (tenor), and Matthias Winckhler (bass). According to Boyd Tonkin, writing for The Arts Desk, ‘Throughout, the polish and power of Matthias Winckhler’s bass built a solid foundation for the cantata narratives. In his ferocious evocation of the Last Judgment in 127 (“Wenn einstens die Posaunen schallen”), with the players around him (trumpet included) summoning doom, he thrilled, and chilled. That strikingly solemn passage varied the mood of an evening otherwise marked by warm, serene, and often joyful, music-making. Amid the heat, Suzuki and his company had found the perfect temperature for Bach.’

‘A bass recitativo and aria gave Matthias Winckhler an opportunity for sonorous expression in a vivid evocation of the Last Judgment, Russell Gilmour’s trumpet adding much to the drama.’ David Truslove, Opera Today, 21 June 2025

They say you should never meet your heroes, but Masaaki Suzuki was absolutely wonderful. He was a calm and clear musical director with highly refined musical taste and rehearsal technique. We finished a run through of one of the cantatas (written for new year) and he said ‘happy new year’, gave a warm smile, and called an (early) end to the rehearsal! That kind of trust is always appreciated and respected by professional musicians. There is a tendency for other directors tend to stifle by over-stipulation. Suzuki did not; he permeated a sense of freedom that I have seldom before and I felt as free, unfettered, and relaxed as I can remember in any performance.

‘On paper, this meeting of the giants, between the august founder of the Bach Collegium Japan and the world-leading period ensemble, had looked like a dream date. And so it proved: they clicked, and we had fun.’ Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk, Friday, 20 June 2025

Russell Gilmour

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