Bach: Cantatas for soprano Carolyn Sampson, Freiburger Barockorchester and Petra Müllejans

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Weichet Nur, Betrübte Schatten, BWV 202:
• 1 I. Aria "Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten" 06:37
• 2 II. Recitativo "Die Welt wird wieder neu" 00:25
• 3 III. Aria "Phoebus eilt mil schnellen Pferden" 03:31
• 4 IV. Recitativo "Drum sucht auch Amor sein Vergnügen" 00:37
• 5 V. Aria "Wenn die Frühlingslüfte streichen" 02:52
• 6 VI. Recitativo "Und dieses ist das Glücke" 00:42
• 7 VII. Aria "Sich üben im Lieben" 04:19
• 8 VIII. Recitativo "So sei das Band der keuschen Liebe" 00:23
• 9 IX. Gavotte Sehet in Zufriedenheit 01:40
• Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152:
• 10 I. Sinfonia 03:18
• 11 II. Aria "Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn" (bass) 02:40
• 12 III. Recitativo "Der Heiland ist gesetzt" (bass) 02:00
• 13 IV. Aria "Stein, der über alle Schätze" (soprano) 04:36
• 14 V. Recitativo "Es ärgre sich die kluge Welt" (bass) 01:21
• 15 VI. Aria "Wie soll ich dich, Liebster der Seele, umfassen?" (duetto) 04:23
• Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199:
• 16 I. Recitativo "Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut" 02:00
• 17 II. Aria "Stumme Seufzer, stille Klagen" 07:46
• 18 III. Recitativo "Doch Gott muß mir genädig sein" 01:00
• 19 IV. Aria "Tief gebückt und voller Reue" 07:51
• 20 V. Recitativo "Auf diese Schmerzensreu" 00:12
• 21 VI.Choral "Ich, dein betrübtes Kind" 01:45
• 22 VII. Recitativo "Ich lege mich in diese Wunden" 00:44
• 23 VIII. Aria "Wie freudig ist mein Herz" 02:10
• Total Runtime 01:02:52

Info zu Bach: Cantatas for soprano

For biographer Philipp Spitta, Bach's period as organist and later Konzertmeister to the Duke of Weimar (1708-17) was the time of his ‘early mastery’. Nowhere is this more evident than in the small but highly distinguished body of cantatas he wrote there, whether for the court chapel – the Himmelsburg or ‘Castle of Heaven’ – or for some clearly very joyful wedding (BWV202). From the ravishing duets for soprano and oboe of the latter to the penitential strains of BWV199, the radiant voice of Carolyn Sampson and the virtuosos of the Freiburger Barockorchester do full justice to Bach's inventiveness.

Soprano Carolyn Sampson has been proclaimed "the best British early music soprano by some distance" by the editors of Gramophone. A native of Bedford, she studied voice with Richard Smart at the University of Birmingham, and made her debut with the English National Opera in a production of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea and continues to appear with this company with regularity in addition to appearances at the Paris Opera. The vast majority of Sampson's singing has been heard in concert engagements with period ensembles, and by 2006 she had appeared with most of the best-known groups of this sort, but especially the King's Consort, Collegium Vocale, and Ex Cathedra. Sampson has recorded extensively for the Hyperion, BIS, Harmonia Mundi, and Deux-elles labels.

"Sampson’s pure, shining tone matches the finesse of this repertoire and her lower range sometimes has the softness and subtle qualities of a deep flute” (BBC Music Magazine)

“[Sampson is] in excellent voice, her tone clear and silvery, her upper registers exquisite...sends shivers down your spine with its floated high pianissimos and suggestive portamentos” (Gramophone Magazine)

Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Andreas Wolf, bass-baritone
Freiburger Barockorchester
Petra Müllejans, conductor

Carolyn Sampson
Equally at home on the concert and opera stages, Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable successes in the UK as well as throughout Europe and the US.

On the opera stage her roles for English National Opera have included the title role in Semele and Pamina in The Magic Flute. For Glyndebourne Festival Opera she sang various roles in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, now released on DVD. In 2012 she sang Anne Truelove The Rake’s Progress in Sir David McVicar’s new production for Scottish Opera. Internationally she has appeared at Opéra de Paris, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Montpellier and Opéra National du Rhin. She also sang the title role in Lully’s Psyché for the Boston Early Music Festival, which was released on CD and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy in 2008. In the 16/17 season she debuts the role of Mélisande Pelléas and Mélisande for Scottish Opera.

Carolyn Sampson’s numerous concert engagements in the UK have included regular appearances at the BBC Proms and with orchestras including The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The English Concert, Bach Collegium Japan, Britten Sinfonia and The Sixteen. She is a frequent guest with the Hallé and has performed with City of London Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras. In Europe her many appearances have included concerts with Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerische Rundfunk, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Gürzenich Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra.

In the US Carolyn Sampson has featured as soloist with San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, St Paul Chamber Orchestra and is a regular guest at the Mostly Mozart Festival. In October 2013 she made her Carnegie Hall recital debut to a sold-out audience in the Weill Recital Hall.

Carolyn works with conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Markus Stenz, Ivor Bolton, Philippe Herreweghe, Harry Bicket, Trevor Pinnock, Riccardo Chailly, Louis Langrée, Harry Christophers, Robert King and William Christie.

A consummate recitalist, Carolyn Sampson appears regularly at the Wigmore Hall where a recital of lute songs with Matthew Wadsworth was recorded on the Wigmore Live label and released to huge critical acclaim. She has given regular recitals at the Saintes and Aldeburgh Festivals as well as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In the 14/15 season Carolyn was a “featured artist” at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Carolyn has built up a partnership with the pianist Joseph Middleton over recent years. Her debut song recital disc, ‘Fleurs’, with Joseph was released early in 2015 featuring songs by composers from Purcell to Britten, and was nominated in the solo vocal category of the Gramophone Awards. They recently released their second recital disc together, ‘A Verlaine Songbook’, exploring settings of the poetry of Paul Verlaine for BIS Records.

Carolyn’s Harmonia Mundi recording of Poulenc’s Stabat Mater and Sept Répons de Ténèbres was awarded the Choc de l’Année Classica 2014. Other recordings include Mozart’s Requiem with Bach Collegium Japan and her recording of Purcell songs for BIS which was selected as Editor’s Choice in the December 2007 issue of Gramophone Magazine. Her many recordings for Hyperion with The King’s Consort include a highly acclaimed CD of Mozart sacred music ‘Exsultate jubilate’ which was selected as BBC Music Magazine’s “Record of the Month” and was also the recipient of an ECHO Award. She recorded a highly-acclaimed CD of Stravinsky’s Les Noces and Mass for Harmonia Mundi and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly for the Decca label.

Her recent recording with Ex Cathedra on the Hyperion label, ‘A French Baroque Diva’ – celebrating Marie Fel, a star soprano of Rameau’s time won the recital award in the 2015 Gramophone Awards.

Recent highlights include Carolyn’s debut with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, concert performances of Semele with Concerto Köln and Ivor Bolton, recordings and concerts with both Bach Collegium Japan and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, two BBC Prom 2016 performances (Mozart’s Mass in C minor with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov, and a duet programme with Iestyn Davies), a tour of Orlando (Dorinda) with the English Concert, concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, as well as further recording plans and recitals with Joseph Middleton and Matt Wadsworth including the Lincoln Centre New York, San Francisco, Wigmore Hall, and Japan.

Booklet für Bach: Cantatas for soprano