Le Banquet Céleste

Hana Blažíková, soprano/alto. Thomas Hobbs, tenor. Benoît Arnould, bass. Le Banquet Céleste. Georg Philipp Telemann. Cantata TWV 4-17 "Du aber Daniel, gehe hin". Johann Sebastian Bach. Cantata BWV 106 "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit" (Actus tragicus).

Cantata BWV 161 "Komm, du süßes Todesstunde". Meditation on death takes on fundamental importance during the Baroque period, and Bach addresses this subject repeatedly in his cantatas.

A work of youth yet already of absolute mastery, Cantata BWV 106 known as "Actus tragicus" is directly linked to death, having been written in 1707 or 1708 for the funeral of a personality whose name remains unknown.

By turns solemn, intense or tender, this cantata must have been dear to Bach since, ten years later, he returns to a similar ensemble (notably two eloquent flutes) for Cantata BWV 161, which describes the believer weary of the world's corruption and calling for death as a wish.

Bach is not alone in evoking the Reaper: his colleague and friend Telemann offers with his Cantata "Du aber Daniel" a moving lament also inspired by the death of an unknown personality.

Gathered ensemble of singers and exceptional instrumentalists, Le Banquet Céleste continues its exploration of this fascinating universe in which it establishes itself as an undisputed reference.