The final concert of this year’s Toronto Bach Festival was Voices Lifted; a presentation of four of Bach’s chorale cantatas at Eastminster United. These pieces typically use the classic Lutheran chorale text sung quite simply to bookend material reworked from biblical sources into a mixture of arias, recitatives and duets. The chorale parts were sung here with two singers to each part. Accompaniment was a small period instrument ensemble anchored by Christopher Bagan on organ and conducted by John Abberger.

The four works presented were:

• Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91
• Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’Mensch und Gott, BWV 127
• Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV 93
• Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140

The soloists were Sherezade Panthaki (soprano), Nicholas Burns (alto), Asitha Tennekoon (tenor) and Stephen Hegedus (bass) doubled in the chorales by Jane Fingler (who also got an aria), Peter Koniers, William Salinas-Crosby and Alan Macdonald. The ensemble was directed by John Abberger; who also played oboe, with Julia Wedman as Concertmaster.

It was all pretty impressive with fine ensemble singing which managed to be heard even over the horns in the first cantata and some really excellent solo singing. There’s lots of variation in the middle parts of the works; sometimes singers are doubled by a solo instrument, sometimes a larger group accompanies and there’s usually a continuo playing. All in all, quite interesting.