Isabel Schicketanz, Elizabeth Mücksch, Britta Schwarz, Tobias Hunger, Christoph Pfaller, Tobias Bendt SSATTB, Collegium Vocale Leipzig, Merseburger Hofmusik, Michael Schönheit
106:34 (2 CDs in a box)
cpo 555 365-2
A slightly older contemporary of J S Bach and Handel, Georg Friedrich Kauffmann has passed under the radar for a number of reasons, being born, living and dying in relative obscurity. Four decades spent composing for the court and chapel in Merseburg must have resulted in many more sacred pieces than have survived, all of which appear on this 2CD set. To compound Kauffmann’s ill fortune, several boxes of his music were sent to Dresden, where they were subsequently consumed by the firestorm which destroyed much of the city towards the end of WWII. One tantalising what-if in Kauffmann’s career was his application for the post of Thomaskantor in nearby Leipzig. If the committee preferred the slightly younger J S Bach, it seems a little unfair that Kauffmann has suffered from this comparison with the great Bach ever since. The present recording has mustered excellent forces from Merseburg and Leipzig to present highly impressive accounts of Kauffmann’s surviving oeuvre, opening with an undoubted masterpiece, the oratorio ‘Rüstet euch, ihr Himmelschören’ for six soloists, four-part choir and a large orchestra with trumpets and drums. This piece, surely not the only such piece he wrote, but sadly the only one to survive, speaks to the resources of the Saxe-Merseburg court but also to the inventiveness and imagination of the composer in his deft handling of these lavish forces. Equally adept in his handling of the large vocal and instrumental forces is the director of these performances Michael Schönheit. He and his impressive line-up of musicians are not content to produce a big sound, but provide wonderfully nuanced accounts of Kauffmann’s music. Expressive solo singing and beautifully defined choral contributions are effectively complemented with precise and musical instrumental support. The rest of the two CDs is devoted to Kauffmann’s surviving cantatas, again surely a tiny remnant of what must have once existed. Certainly, the composer’s facility with this form suggests considerable experience, and these surviving works range in scale from solo cantatas to one which matches the oratorio. Having heard some of Kauffmann’s sacred music serving as concert and CD ‘fillers’, the present collection featuring his entire body of sacred music and in first-class performances serves to shine a spotlight on this neglected master and allows his music to shine in its own right.
D. James Ross