Sensei-Tional Bach

Thursdays 4 and 18 February 12 noon

I assert that there is always a need for the classical world to have its assumptions tested and its traditions up-ended. When the successful agent of change is a Japanese conductor and ensemble, all the better! We used to, perhaps unconsciously, assume that the only serious performances of Bach’s cantatas could emanate from European ensembles; so when in 1995 the Swedish label BIS signed up Sensei Masaaki Suzuki (where the Japanese term ‘Sensei’, in this particular context is equivalent to ‘Maestro’), and the ensemble he founded, Bach Collegium Japan, to record the cantatas of JS Bach, it perhaps showed courage but also great judgement. Whilst this signing engendered some controversy at the time, criticism has been effectively silenced by the originality and quality of the conception and of the performances issued since then. Some of these recordings have won international prizes, and the performances have certainly won international acclaim and a great following.

When in 2009 BIS issued a four-box set containing nearly three-quarters of Bach’s sacred cantatas by Suzuki and this ensemble, I was inspired to put forward a programming proposal to broadcast the entire set in twice-monthly instalments. The presentation of this series will be slightly more detailed than usual and hopefully it will illuminate some aspects of the music.

As the project of recording the complete cantatas continues, it may be that several more volumes will have been issued by this ensemble by the time the contents of the current boxed set have been broadcast, and these may also be broadcast in this series. – Andrew Dziedzic