Pre-Order: Bach: Mein Geist [CD]

Following the departure (of his own accord) of it's founder Damien Guillon, Le Banquet Celeste has reinvented itself as a collective of musicians and singers, all committed to continuing to explore the Baroque repertoire with the stylistic rigour that has established the ensemble's reputation. For this first recording by the "new" Banquet, Bach is in the spotlight, with Cantatas BWV 85 and 115 featuring violoncello piccolo obbligato: 'Smaller in size, the violoncello piccolo has a truly special timbre that can be grave and passionate, but also wiry and sensitive. In the arias where it engages in concertante dialogue with the vocal soloist, it most often embodies the voice of tenderness and consolation, and the confident promise of the hereafter', writes musicologist Corinne Schneider. The Sixth Suite for Cello, BWV 1012, completes the programme: 'Radiant and joyful, it sounds like a deliverance, in perfect accord with the themes developed in these two cantatas,' she concludes. Celine Scheen, Alexander Chance, Thomas Hobbs and Benoit Arnould are the vocal soloists, and Julien Barre plays the piccolo cello.