Bach: Cantatas, Vol. 55 – BWVV 69, 30 & 191

There are just a handful of conductors who have recorded all of Bach’s surviving cantatas. And that’s little surprise: there are more than 200 of them, each one a fully fledged choral work requiring musicians of the highest caliber. Eighteen years in the making, the 55-album cycle by Masaaki Suzuki, the Bach Collegium Japan, and a roster of dozens of internationally renowned soloists makes for a lifetime of fulfilling listening. Fittingly, this final album in the series, released in 2013, ends on a triumphant note. The magnificent *Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 69* joins the irrepressibly joyful *Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191*, the music of which later made its way into Bach’s great *Mass in B Minor*. These thrilling performances are captured in richly detailed sound.