ConcertPulse
Buxtehude: »Membra Jesu Nostri« Cantata Cycle
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
Vocal ensemble Voces Suaves, praised for its emotionally direct interpretations of early music, enriches Lent on Maundy Thursday with an exceptional work by baroque composer Dietrich Buxtehude: the cantata cycle »Membra Jesu nostri« reflects the dramatic scene of the crucifixion of Jesus and combines biblical texts with medieval, extremely vivid poetry. The singers are accompanied by baroque violin star Amandine Beyer and her ensemble. Each of the related seven cantatas focuses on a part of Jesus’ body, starting with his feet right up to his heart and face. Buxtehude’s most comprehensive oratorio work wonderfully depicts adoring devotion and love alternately from instrumental symphonies, polyphonic sections and poignant arias for each of the five singers. Voces Suaves, founded in 2012 by students of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis – one of the best universities in the world for early music – is still based in Basel, Switzerland. The singers make music without any fixed artistic direction – the creativity and initiative of all of its members feed equally into their programmes. Also experts in early music are the musicians who joined forces around violinist Amandine Beyer in Gli Incogniti. The ensemble director gives concerts in numerous projects and teaches as a professor at the very university where the members of Voces Suaves got to know each other.