The title Small Gifts is taken from the frontispiece of Bach’s six Brandenburg concertos, Nos 2 and 4 of which feature here. Seasonally or not, it makes sense for this choice selection of arias, chorales and instrumental works including the solo cantata Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, and the much loved Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben. Uniting their own particular talents, countertenor Andreas Scholl, voice fresh and unblemished as ever, and recorder player/director Dorothee Oberlinger are in their element. Oberlinger’s small, Cologne-based chamber ensemble plays with lithe precision, each musician a soloist. Quite large gifts, it turns out.
