Bach Collegium Japan’s “J.S. Bach: The Complete Choral Works” – A culmination after 30 years of practice with Bach

Masaaki Suzuki
ⒸMarco Borrgreve

The Box set kindly has a thick booklet of descriptions on each composition taken from the program notes of concert series and production notes by the conductor Masaki Suzuki (the founder of BCJ). The production notes as the voice of the performer describing the conditions of the scripts (urtexts) and the practical ideas of the performance furnish considerations from many angles. All Lyrics with translations are available, too.

The directions of the performance of BCJ that reject theatrical gestures, fill the ensemble with the beauty to become transparent and genuine and assimilate the interpretations of texts are enough persuasive to be the standard of Bach performance today. While there are not less ensembles in pursuit of operatic effect, BCJ pays close attention to details of Bach’s tangled polyphonic textures and unveils the essence. The clear and accurate utterance of German of the choir gains a high profile in Germany and other countries.