Craig Smith and his Emmanuel Music--the resident choir and instrumental group at Boston's Emmanuel Church--have been performing Bach cantatas every Sunday for years (they've done the complete cycle twice and continue the tradition to this day), and Smith is one of today's undisputed experts on Bach style and performance (his excellent notes on the music are nearly worth the price of these CDs). His choir contains "ordinary" first-rate singers along with some of Boston's recognized professional soloists, including alto Gloria Raymond and tenors Frank Kelley and William Hite. The five cantatas on this program are not among the more frequently recorded or even most beloved of Bach's creations in this genre, but they are certainly some of his most profoundly moving and musically ambitious--and not surprisingly contain some supreme gems within their series of arias, choruses, and orchestral movements.

While any such collection will have its hits and misses regarding soloists--and everyone will have his or her own favorites in this regard--overall this set represents Bach's works with unfailing faithfulness to the textual meaning and full appreciation of the coloring inherent in the instrumental scoring. We're hit with the immediate drama of every chorus (try the opening of BWV 20) and just as impressively are treated to the most subtle expressions of oboe (the alto aria in BWV 39) or declamations of trumpet (Jeffrey Work is spectacular in BWV 20 and 75). The chorus is excellent--obviously deeply involved and well-versed in both the intricacies and more overt demands of Bach's vocal lines--and the orchestra is likewise technically expert and attuned to important details of balance and style.

As mentioned, the quality of the solo singing varies quite a bit, and your personal tastes will determine which and how many of the arias and recitatives will make your approved list. For me there are no standouts, but neither are there any notably inferior performances--each piece goes together to make a satisfying whole. Although all of the recordings were made at Emmanuel Church, the sound varies slightly throughout the two discs--sometimes the perspective is closer and at others the performers are more distant, cast in a more resonant environment, one that tends to compromise the distinctness of the lines in full chorus sections. Overall, however, this is a fine collection--a reliable addition to any basic Bach cantata library.

--David Vernier