Japan is between 1 and 2 percent Christian, but conductor Masaaki Suzuki is among that group. This Christmas release has a personal flavor, especially coming as it does on the heels of the completion of his monumental cycle of Bach cantatas with his Bach Collegium Japan. The selections are pieces that have been performed at a series of Bach Collegium Japan Christmas concerts at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, and they are an intriguing combination of standards and almost unknown music, mostly from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. ...
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Japan is between 1 and 2 percent Christian, but conductor Masaaki Suzuki is among that group. This Christmas release has a personal flavor, especially coming as it does on the heels of the completion of his monumental cycle of Bach cantatas with his Bach Collegium Japan. The selections are pieces that have been performed at a series of Bach Collegium Japan Christmas concerts at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, and they are an intriguing combination of standards and almost unknown music, mostly from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The standards are arranged by Suzuki's son Masato Suzuki, who also plays the seven 18th century, French organ Noëls by Louis-Claude Daquin interspersed among the vocal pieces; these too are unusual. The arrangements of the likes of Silent Night and Hark! the herald angels sing stretch them slightly harmonically; they are distinctive but restrained. Some things haven't changed: the choir sounds as precise as ever, and the elder Suzuki's ability to drill singers to the point of good...
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