J.S. Bach - Cantata 199 - IV. Aria 'Tief gebuckt und voller Reue'

[hhyten]

Knowing well the CD of this performance, I can tell you Flash format in YouTube literally leaves a lot to be desired. Still, stunning performance, thanks for the video.

[counterpoint85]

@hhyten Ya, I've been meaning to re-upload this to take advantage of YouTube's recent higher quality.

[MrRinaldo1983]

Please can I know the tonality??? Thank you very much!!!

[1banders]

@MrRinaldo1983 The aria is in C minor @A415

[heymarkdg]

Gorgeous singing and singer! I absolutely love this Cantata.

[papillondenuit1970]

Pour moi c'est parfait , tout y est .Elle fait vivre Bach merveilleusement.....J'adore !

[Rhoda444]

I lover the colour she gets in this piece. Beautiful. My only criticism is the breath in the middle of the long sustained "Reue" phrase, but otherwise faultless.

[penntowers]

Effortless . . fantastic! To die for.

[javierpe9103]

exquisito performance fluidez absoluta bach

[bodgecrab]

Some of the most exquisite music sung on earth with an angelic voice in one of the most extraordinary cathedrals in Britain.

[Altivelzian]

For an alternative, more dramatic interpretation, listen to Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who brings so much emotion to the performance. Both interpretations are equally valid - merely for different days.

[wcbroccoli]

Why would a more dramatic interpretation be desirable?

This is not a drama. Not a 19th c. Italian opera.

Not a musical like "Phantom of the Opera". It's not even a concert piece.

This is a liturgical composition.

[Altivelzian]

Every performer brings something different to a musical performance; this is one of the great joys of the human voice especially and can be thought provoking and life enhancing. It is something to be celebrated; unless of course you are an intellectual and spiritual bully.

[wcbroccoli]

Like I said, we're not listening to "Phantom of the Opera".

This isn't an evening at the Met.

This piece wasn't conceived as a showcase for divas.

This is about the music of Bach, not about the performer.

[Altivelzian]

For me, Bach is the greatest composer of all time; but no musical performance is just about the composed music, Bach or anyone else for that matter; there is always interpretation. Performing arts take creative arts many steps further. Why shouldn't liturgical compositions be performed in a dramatic manner if it serves the text? The St John Passion was done at English National Opera to great acclaim. The text of Cantata 199 is very dramatic and so is the story of the life of Jesus Christ.

[wcbroccoli]

This is already a dramatic interpretation.

Yet you seem to want an even "more dramatic interpretation."

Why is MORE drama needed, or even desirable?

"To great acclaim?" Is that how you measure the quality of a performance? The greater the melodarama and theatricality, the better the performance? It seems you confuse sentimentality with sentiment and melodrama with expressiveness.

[wcbroccoli]

Contrary to what you seem to believe, the drama of the passion story is not the focus Bach's Passions. If it were, he would not have repeatedly interrupted the story with hymns and meditative da capo arias. Nor with he have divided the Passion into 2 parts to allow the continuity and "drama" of the storytelling to be further interrupted by a 1 hr. sermon. Nor would the end of the Passion have been followed by a Latin motet, a Collect Prayer, a reading of Bible verse, and hymn singing.

[wcbroccoli]

Or did you think Bach divided his Passion music into 2 parts to allow for an "opera" intermission? Here's the dramatic "opera" program for the Good Friday Vespers (1:45 PM) in Leipzig's main churches in Bach's time: Hymn "Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund" Passion (Part 1) 1 hour sermon Passion (Part 2 ) Motet: "Ecce, quomodo moritur justus" Collect prayer Bible verse: "Die Strafe liegt auf ihn" Hymn: "Nun danket all Gott" This dramatic "opera" program ran for about 5 or 6 hours.

[Altivelzian]

Fascinating. As I remarked earlier, intellectual bullying. Here in the twenty-first century these works are generally PERFORMED and many different performance practices are employed; for both the artistes and listeners a spiritual dimension may or may not exist. My first comments stand: both performances are valid and commendable, as are many others. Its a shame you display such vituperative rigidity of thought. Now I have a life even if you dont and this correspondence is at an end.

[wcbroccoli]

The issue was not whether you have to be religious to appreciate liturgical music. I introduced facts that expose the difficulties posed by your notions about the nature of Bach's Passions. These difficulties exist whether the Passion is done in a church, an opera house or a concert hall.

Vituperative rigidity? Comments can be vituperative, rigidity cannot.

As for my life, you know less about that than you know about the nature of Bach's Passions.

[frantic223]

@wcbroccoli

Why should it not be dramatic? As the text is. Does the church not desire dramatic emotional interpretations.. as is the bible itself full of drama, sentiments and emotion.

And.. it does not at all sound like a 19th c. Italian opera.

[SqOcelot]

At 0:40 the intensity just gives me chills.

[Lindsey412]

Phenomenal performance. So much refinement, yet with passionate abandon... Glad I came across this.

[SqOcelot]

I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH.

Seriously. I just can't get over how phenomenal this piece is.

[DJSayho]

Incredible lyrics & melody

[kimata1967]

Beautiful singer and violinist!!! BEST BACH CANTATA VIDEO !!!!!!