NCC, IBO/Hillier

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Bach

– Cantatas 131, 6, 4

In the same month that saw the conclusion of the Orchestra of St Cecilia’s 10-year survey of the complete Bach church cantatas, Dublin concert-goers showed they still had plenty of appetite for this repertoire by filling Christ Church Cathedral for yet another all-cantata concert.

An extra lure for the audience this time was the particular performing forces. The period instruments and style-savvy of the Irish Baroque Orchestra bring an exotically authentic colour to 18th-century music that a modern-instruments ensemble like the OSC simply can’t match. Similarly hard to rival is the application of trained voices to historically aware style you can get with a professional choir.

Under conductor Paul Hillier these proved the main strengths of this concert. The IBO’s special sound was buttressed by sensitive continuo and adorned with refined obbligato solo-playing from oboe da caccia and violoncello piccolo, and the National Chamber Choir proved worthy and worthwhile exponents of Bach.

At the same time, Hillier did not always maintain optimum balance between players and choir. Soloists were drowned by the bloom of a single cello in a duet from BWV 131, in which work also the entire choir was all but lost to over-loud playing in the second chorus.

It was also in the final chorus of this cantata – switched to first on the night instead of last as advertised – that the choir was least effective, seeming to struggle, albeit in extremely complex choral writing from a time when Bach was yet to master vocal counterpoint. After that, however, the NCC gave every chorus and chorale with conviction, energy, and apparent ease.

Adding to period authenticity was the decision to use soloists from within the choir. The trade-off was that, just as the professional NCC was one league up from amateur choirs, its soloists were one league down.

The difference was chiefly manifest in one aspect only, the animation of text – not helped by Hillier’s balance issues, worst of all for the bass in BWV 4. Although good in places, it remained unequal to the level of communication you could expect from cantata soloists like Alison Browner or John Elwes. Nonetheless, other aspects of the singing – such as vocal quality and musical engagement – meant that this element of the concert remained well worth hearing.