Italianità

With Diego Fasolis, the Ensemble Vanitas (this is not, or not yet, I Barrocchisti) and the Swiss Radio Choir, Bach's music becomes solar, enthusiastic, clear, and full of sound bouncing charm of an effervescent life. There is a closer orientation of Italy than northern Germany, very audible in the choir. This is not paradoxical for Swiss musicians, since they are based in Ticino in Lugano, where Fasolis Diego was born. I had already seen this musical trend, which could overshadow somewhat the character of the funeral Ode Bach: Cantatas BWV 198 "Trauerode", BWV 106 "Tragicus News", BWV 196, BWV 53.

I first appreciated that unlike some baroque musicians like Gardiner, Fasolis did not confuse speed with haste. The Magnificat old easily reached the half-hour, and no longer so. With over 26mn, is fast, but it can breathe. This is certainly a very harmonious and friendly version of the Magnificat, which does not forget the contrasts. The audible approval would be impossible without an excellent command of the instruments here, it is obvious.

Cantata BWV 21 boasts many of the same qualities and the motet BWV 225, which is probably not the most austere of all, draws something that can fail causing the genre (I Barrocchisti were then all motets BWV 225-230, so there for the first another interpretation of Fasolis). The singers are quite good and the soprano Antonella Balducci, alto Ulrike Clausen and especially the tenor Frieder Lang outweigh the bass (baritone); the team is half Italian and half German and it will be the same for the four additional singers required for the motet. There is a chorus, so it is not "one vote per party."

But, especially for the cantata, the religious aspect can be further elsewhere. The religious music of Bach is not without vehemence and the Christian may be anxious for his salvation, it suffices to read the text, since the manual gives him with his English translation. Here, it is not absent, especially as the notes are there, but it's a little gummed at times, either by the expression of singers, or by instrumental environment so seductive. If we know only this version, you do not notice, so there is nothing shocking, especially since it is less clear than in the disk containing the funeral Ode; but I systematically compared to the more austere version of Harnoncourt. But, it is a beautiful drive.

The recording quality (San Francesco church in Locarno, 1994) is excellent, very "natural" free of mannerisms; it highlights the desired clarity. The disc is also well filled: 74mn.