Director/harpsichordist Jonathan Cohen and his elite period ensemble Arcangelo have shaped this engrossing disc, of three Bach cantatas and two instrumental Sinfonias, around the British countertenor Iestyn Davies. Two of the cantatas (BWV 170, Vergnügte Ruh’, beliebte Seelenlust, with its tender, lullaby-like opening, and BWV 54, Widerstehe doch der Sünde, a spicy, energetic challenge to the devil and all his works) were written for alto voice. The best known of the three, BWV 82, Ich habe genug, was originally for bass voice, reworked for soprano. Davies’s singular gifts of open-hearted expression, reined in to perfection and with no excess or indulgence, are expertly balanced by Arcangelo’s prominent solo musicians. Early in the year, a favourite disc already.
