More often than not, a sacred song like “Mein Jesu! was vor Seelenweh” (BWV 487) appears as an appendix to a carefully planned program, or as a bonus digital track on streaming services. It appears that the Erato team knew they have something special because as an opening track it immediately captures the attention, highlighting Sabine Devieilhe’s voice in all of its glory – Pure, captivating and multilayered.
Continuing in the same dark key of D Minor, the opening sinfonia of the Cantata Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (BWV 146) will be instantly familiar as the opening movement of the D Minor Keyboard Concerto, the original solo instrument of which is still debatable. Here Matthieu Boutineau takes on the soloist role on the organ, and together with Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion gives a thrilling performance as any on record, accompanied by an enthusiastic continuo group of harpsichord, lute and double bass, which give an extra rhythmic edge.
Cantata BWV 199 Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut received performances from best of sopranos over the years, but this seems to be at a different level. Devieilhe is extraordinary both in the recitatives and the arias, including superb collaboration with solo instrumentalist here and on other tracks. Pygmalion incorporate some of the best baroque soloists in Europe, including violinist Sophie Gent, violist Lucile Boulanger and lutist Thomas Dunford, and we are lucky they have a chance to shine in these works.
Related Classical Music Reviews
- Review: Chanson d’Amour – Sabine Devieilhe, Alexandre Tharaud
- Review: “Libertà!” – Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
- Review: Amazone – Lea Desandre, Mezzo-Soprano
Handel is represented in segments from the Brocke’s-Passion and “Giuliano Cesar”, where Devieilhe sings the role of Cleopatra. Here, too, it’s not just the soloist that projects the character’s combination of strength and vulnerability, but also Pichon and his ensemble, not afraid to come to the forward when Devieilhe takes a background role.
I would leave it at that, but the generous album of 84 minutes includes the Cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen! (BWV 51). This cantata is special in that it includes long dialogues for soprano with trumpet in two movements. Here my first choices are Dame Emme Kirkby, is one of her best Bach efforts with John Eliot Gardiner, or Natalie Dessay with Emanuelle Haim (also on Erato), but Devieilhe brings a special delicacy to this work, particularly in the viola da gamba accompanied aria (track 22, with Lucile Boulanger).
The booklet includes a very short text by Devieilhe and the sang texts with translations. No background information is given about the works, which is a pity considering the high value of the production. A superb album nonetheless.
“Bach – Handel“
Sabine Devieilhe – Soprano
Pygmalion
Raphaël Pichon – Conductor
Erato, CD 9029667786
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