The Leusink Bach cantatas revisited

[Mandryka]

Poor Premont the completist.

Of course there are things to enjoy in Leusink's set.
I just dislike some of the voices, IMO there's too much superficiality with some insecure singers and I definitely don't like the uneven and often unpleasant choir sound.

Anyway, I listened to BWV 54 (Widerstehe doch der Sünde) this morning, inspired by Mandryka's recommendation.
Despite a small problem with the balance between voice and instruments in the first aria, I think it's a good performance. Again, with bargain-counter counter-tenor Buwalda singing like a man who knows what he's singing about. But then came BWV 44 and after 10 seconds of Knut Schoch I decided to switch off.

I'm glad you enjoyed it -- I checked to see whether I still did after everyone saying they didn't like Buwalda. And I still think it's outstanding -- but I'm no connoisseur of voice, the art of singing.

It would be interesting to see whether you think the BWV 6 is special -- given that Leusinck singled it out as something he's proud of.

[Sean]

Leusink's No.8 is the best I know, exactly the right tempo to convey the extraordinary and magical opening, the most heavenly in the entire cycle; again clarity of presentation scores over other approaches.

[Mandryka]

Leusink's No.8 is the best I know, exactly the right tempo to convey the extraordinary and magical opening, the most heavenly in the entire cycle; again clarity of presentation scores over other approaches.

Thanks for that. I very much appreciated the way Marcel Beekman sang Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen. Like Marc said about Buwalda in Widerstehe, he was singing like a man who knows what he's singing about. You feel as though he's talking to himself, consoling and reassuring himself.

[Sean]

Yes indeed...

[Marc]

I.c. Leusink in BWV 6: the superb opening chorus is taken too slow for my taste, which makes it dragging along too much. I don't hear the urgency in the supplication "bleib bei uns", either.

Buwalda is doing a good job (again) and Van der Meel, who was one of the disappointments to me in this set, is doing rather fine here, at least much better than the bleating Schoch. I immediately admit that Ruth Holton has a pleasant fresh and boyish voice, but the chorale "Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ" is another example of a completely expressionless execution. She's just singing her notes, that's all. The violoncello piccolo accompaniment (Frank Wakelkamp) is played very well, though.

All in all, not bad a bad performance, but nothing really special to me, and the choir is singing both opening choir and closing chorale mostly in mezzo-piano, which creates a more pleasant overall sound, but also makes both movements rather shallow.

My favourites in this mighty fine cantata are probably Christophe Coin (label: Astrée/Auvidis) and ... good old Helmuth Rilling, with an emotional opening chorus and with a splendid Adalbert Kraus in the tenor aria.

[Mandryka]

I.c. Leusink in BWV 6: the superb opening chorus is taken too slow for my taste, which makes it dragging along too much. I don't hear the urgency in the supplication "bleib bei uns", either.

This is in line with what I felt, though I feared I didn't give it the attention it deserved.

[Florestan]

Marc & Ken B

I wanted to destroy point by point that sorry excuse of an article about Bach being an atheist in disguise as soon as I read it, but since I am an unabashed Christian it might have sounded pro domo so I refrained from it. But you guys have made my day. Kudos to both of you! 

[Chaszz]

As mentioned previously, I too find the boys' choir ragged and unenjoyable to listen to. Overall many of the interpretations sound mediocre to me, uninspired and rote... lets get this one done, we've got the next one this afternoon. But the deal-breaker for me is Buwalda. His voice is too broad and flat for me. Not flat as in out of tune, but as in one-dimensional, without depth and resonance, without any quality of timbre. I simply cannot listen to him, and therefore cannot listen to the whole set. So the set sits there unplayed, as I explore the cantatas one by one in other interpretations. In good condition. Any reasonable offer will be considered.

[Mandryka]

Re Buwaida, one person says he's not out of tune but he is one dimensional. Another says he sounds like he knows what he's singing about, a third says he's affected  and a fourth says he's out of tune.

[Sean]

Chaszz, the overall achievement is important here and the interconnections that Leusink can bring out as a result of working with all the material so closely- it's a unified experience that seethes with Bach's inspiration across this accordingly well defined body of music.

Everything also remains very transparent and distinct even if ensemble isn't a hundred percent all the time- there is contrapuntal clarity that no other cycle finds, getting at the heart of the compositional project. Others indeed are more concerned with polish, anachronistic ideas about spirituality, and making sure the hairstyles are just right for the video recordings.

Mandryka, Bulwalda can do it, as everyone on the team, with nothing standing out as major qualification- unlike the boy soloists for L-H for instance. He sometimes isn't as careful as he could be, he has a large voice, but I've also got to like it more.

[prémont]

Re Buwaida, one person says he's not out of tune but he is one dimensional. Another says he sounds like he knows what he's singing about, a third says he's affected  and a fourth says he's out of tune.

Well, I am the one, who says he is affected (like his teacher Jacobs). But I agree with the one (Marc), who says that he knows, what he is singing about, and generally he is in tune. I recently listened to his Widerstehe doch and found it very expressive in a good sense. Thanks for pointing to that particular Cantata.

[Wakefield]

Re Buwaida, one person says he's not out of tune but he is one dimensional. Another says he sounds like he knows what he's singing about, a third says he's affected  and a fourth says he's out of tune.

A fifth here: his voice is simply ugly, utterly ugly.

[Marc]

Maybe it's got something to do with personal taste, personal preferences, personal eardrums and ....

[Wakefield]

Maybe it's got something to do with personal taste, personal preferences, personal eardrums and ....

No doubt, I'd never suggest something different, even if - in my experience - your appreciation of Sytse Buwalda seems to be a minority (inside another minority listening to this stuff).

But, again, quantity considerations have very few to do with artistic matters; other way, Billboard's "Hot 100" would be our everyday listening guide. 

[Ken B]

Maybe it's got something to do with personal taste, personal preferences, personal eardrums and ....

An idea so crazy it almost makessense.

[Marc]

No doubt, I'd never suggest something different, even if - in my experience - your appreciation of Sytse Buwalda seems to be a minority (inside another minority listening to this stuff).
[....]

Indeed.
Of the, IMO, rather weak set of Leusink, I certainly do not find Sytse Buwalda the weakest link.

But he's definitely not my favourite countertenor.
I prefer Carlos Mena, Andreas Scholl, Gérard Lesne, Michael Chance, Paul Esswood and others to him.

As I prefer Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt, Sigiswald Kuijken, Philippe Pierlot, Hermann Max, Masaaki Suzuki, Ton Koopman and others to Leusink.

[Wakefield]

Indeed.
Of the, IMO, rather weak set of Leusink, I certainly do not find Sytse Buwalda the weakest link.

But he's definitely not my favourite countertenor.
I prefer Carlos Mena, Andreas Scholl, Gérard Lesne, Michael Chance, Paul Esswood and others to him.

As I prefer Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt, Sigiswald Kuijken, Philippe Pierlot, Hermann Max, Masaaki Suzuki, Ton Koopman and others to Leusink.

It's crystal clear. 

[Turner]

One should certainly hear Mr. Buwalda before investing in the set.

[Mandryka]

I was on a train to Paris a few months ago and I found myself sitting next to a British flautist who specialises in early music, on her way to a gala concert at the Châtelet. We got talking about the state of the music business, and what you have to do to earn a living, and I mentioned Leusink, I said that I'd heard he'd found a viable business model.

Her reaction to the mention of his name was astonishing. She loathed Leusink.

He doesn't pay enough, he expects you to work hard, you have to go to cold halls and work in uncomfortable conditions, he doesn't know much about Bach, he gives very little direction apart from directions about tempo and dynamics, he's a prol, a truck driver by métier and by nature, he's just capitalising on the passion that the Dutch have for Bach

I think that he has pissed off some people.

[SimonNZ]

I find the Bach cantatas much more diverse than Sean would seem to allow. They are, for starters, as different as the varying requirements of the church year, from deep mourning to rejoicing, from inward reflection to pure joy. There are also a number that aren't centered around liturgical practices. My dream Cantata set wold actually be made up of a variety of recordings from all sets or stand alone albums and from across the many decades of recordings - as best fit the unique needs of each work. Leusink making everything sound so similar is, for me, a mark against it.

I had the Leusink set some years back and found it perfectly servicible, but seldom matched or bettered recordings I was hearing elsewhere, and eventually sold it.