Bach: Cantatas Vol 3 (BWV 12, 54, 162, 182) /Bach Collegium Japan * Suzuki

This probably was the first disc to bring serious attention to the talented Japanese countertenor Yoshikazu Mera. This diminutive, baby-faced young man has quite a voice--sweet, very nimble, and with real body on low notes (a rarity among countertenors); he does a smashing job with the solo cantata No. 54, Widerstehe doch der Sünde ("Then resist sin"), as well as in the animated alto/tenor duet in cantata No. 162. Yet Mera is far from the only pleasure to be found on this disc. Cantata No. 12, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen ("Weeping, complaining, worries, fears") opens with a beautifully plangent sinfonia for oboe and strings, while the title chorus (performed with more emotional tension than one might expect from these musicians) later became the "Crucifixus" of the Mass in B Minor. Best of all is the sprightly Palm Sunday cantata Himmelskönig, sei willkommen ("Be welcome, Heavenly King"), which features an elegant opening sinfonia featuring recorder and violin, radiant fugal choruses, and several movements with delicious obbligato parts for recorder, which are played with real charisma by Yoshimichi Hamada. --Matthew Westphal