Komm! Bach Cantatas with Recorder
The first album in a series featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas with recorder, recorded under the direction of Andrzej Kosendiak and featuring Giovanni Antonini, the NFM Boys’ Choir, and the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble, released by Alpha Classics.
Komm! Bach Cantatas with Recorder
The first album in a series featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas with recorder, recorded under the direction of Andrzej Kosendiak and featuring Giovanni Antonini, the NFM Boys’ Choir, and the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble, released by Alpha Classics.
Date of release: 9.10.2026
Publishers: Alpha Classics, ALPHA 1285, NFM 104
Conductor: Andrzej Kosendiak
Performers: Giovanni Antonini, Sheng-Fang Chiu, Stanisław Adamus, Daniel Elgersma, Piotr Olech, Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak, Maciej Gocman, Florian Cramer, Tomáš Král, Jaromír Nosek, Chór Chłopięcy NFM, Wrocław Baroque Ensemble
This album is the result of a long-standing collaboration between Giovanni Antonini, the ensembles of the National Forum of Music (NFM), and Andrzej Kosendiak. Antonini chose to participate in the recordings as a recorder virtuoso; he considers the recorder parts in Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas to be a crucial element of the repertoire for this instrument. “In Bach’s cantatas, the recorder is never merely an ornament: at times it becomes the ‘voice of the spirit,’ the breath of prayer...” writes Piotr Maculewicz in the booklet. The album features three cantatas by the Baroque master—Komm, du süße Todesstunde (BWV 161), Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (BWV 106), and Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (BWV 182)—as well as the hymn Komm, süßer Tod, komm, selge Ruh! (BWV 478).
Following the performance practices of Bach’s era, the works were recorded in chamber versions using a vocal ensemble comprising boys and men. Consequently, the soprano parts, in both tutti and solo parts, were entrusted to singers from the NFM Boys’ Choir. The creators aimed for an interpretation focused on conveying the texts, while selecting singers capable of blending seamlessly with the children’s voices to create a cohesive sound. This approach stems from the premise that Bach’s cantatas, being liturgical works, were not conceived to showcase the dazzling vocal virtuosity often found in the operas of that period.
