Ton Koopman is working hard on his CD series with the complete oeuvre of Dietrich Buxtehude; this sixteenth CD in the series features one of Buxtehude's most famous vocal works, the Membra Jesu Nostri. Many recordings of this special cantata cycle have already been released. Of course, Ton Koopman does not care about the spirit of the times and goes his own way. He uses (with good arguments) a choir
… instead of a single ensemble and plays the work in a high pitch, although he is not the first (see for example DBX10391 and DBX9839). It is a pity, however, that the amount of carelessness on this recording is too great to really listen to the beautiful music undisturbed. The choir is often not completely pure, and the soloists are not all of the same level in this respect. For that reason alone, this recording compares poorly with the competing productions. After all, it is of course a matter of taste, but Koopman occasionally allows himself a lot of freedom - note, for example, his improvisation in the continuo part of the beginning of Ad Genua, the second cantata. (TC)more
