John Eliot Gardiner's original Millennium Bach Cantata Pilgrimage plan intended weekly Deutsche Grammophon recordings of all the concerts; unfortunately this did not prove practical. This CD of Bach's Ascension Day cantatas dates from 1993 and 1999. The pride of the disc is BWV11: the opening chorus is an adrenalin-fix of blazing, suitably ascending motifs led by studio-immaculate baroque trumpets. Thereafter the mood changes. The alto aria "Ach bleibe" (actually the great Agnus Dei from the B Minor Mass) is, in countertenor Michael Chance's silky throat (1993 model), a poignant drooping song of sorrow for the departed Lord.

Chance's 1993 fellow soloists are Nancy Argenta, Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Stephen Varcoe. They sing BWV43 Gott fähret auf and BWV37 Wer da gläubet with clear enjoyment. Argenta also sings in the 1999 session for BWV128, Auf Christi Himmelfahrt with colleagues Robin Blaze, Stefan Genz and Reinhard Hagen. The latter has a low F sharp that is truly bearded. --Rick Jones