Steve Martin wrote:

>After hearing John Elliot Gardiner's wonderful recording of the
>Magnificat, I assumed that JEG would be the guy for more recordings
>of the cantatas.  I picked up a FULL-PRICE CD of BWV 240 and BWV
>247 ignoring the fact that this CD was only about 45 minutes of
>music.  ....Expensive, short and just plain dreadfully awful IMHO.

I guess Steve didn't like this disc.  I bought it a few years ago, and my
memories of it are just fine.  I don't think Gardiner is as good with the
cantatas as with Bach's other sacred works, but he's no slouch either.
Also, I think the cantatas on the disc are BWV 140 and 147.

Alternatives?  Herreweghe is great in the cantatas, so is Rifkin for
Decca.  And then there's Koopman, Thomas, Suzuki, etc.

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]