Kevin Sutton writes:

>I have noticed that the Gardiner cantata set on the whole has been a
>dud in the sales dept.  I have heard a couple of them, and I must say,
>that my old enthusiasm for JEG is waning.  I find that Rilling, Herreweghe,
>and Suzuki are producing much more interesting Bach.

I might just have a soft spot for Gardiner, but I think that his on-going
series holds up pretty well to the other period instrument sets and
recordings.  None of them is perfect or outstanding; this is definitely
a case where "mix and match" is in order.

Gardiner has had problems with vocal soloists and lack of drama and depth,
Herreweghe can be wayward in tempo and not very festive, and Suzuki is
sometimes not animated enough and his vocal soloists not the best.  As for
others, Koopman can be too smooth and Parrott undernourished.  I find that
Rifkin, overall, pleases me the most, but he has recorded only a very small
percentage of the cantatas.  The way I look at it, I get them all and enjoy
the best that each has to offer.  I don't have any Rilling cantata discs,
but what I've heard leads me to stay distant from these modern instrument
accounts.

Concerning sales turn-over, what I've seen in the stores is that none of
them sell quickly.  There's a large "glut" of the cantatas in recent years
with all the single discs and cylces being issued.  At one local store,
there must be at least 40 different Bach cantata recordings, and over half
of them are from Rilling.  Every week, they just sit on the shelves looking
lonely.

Don Satz
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