Brilliant BACH: Bach Cantatas

For more than thirty years, the Taipei Chamber Singers has focused on the two ends of the choral spectrum, moving freely with pure voices between the ancient sacred music of the Renaissance and the experimental language of contemporary music. Holding 15 first prizes from major European international competitions and a record at the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music, we often ask ourselves: where do we go next? This time, we move from the Renaissance into the Baroque, reaching back three hundred years to explore the essence of music.

The early-music ideal of “authentic performance” is flourishing in Europe but still taking root in Taiwan. We long to understand the soul of the music: beyond the question of 440 Hz pitch, it lies in the breathing and flexibility between phrases, in singers listening to one another, and in a deeper interpretation of the text.

In 2021 we launched Authentic Music in Action, a three-year project learning from Europe’s great early-music masters. Together with Gramophone Award winner Pierre Hantaï, four German and Austrian soloists, twenty-seven of Europe’s most distinguished early-music instrumentalists, and sixteen singers of the Taipei Chamber Singers, we set out to uncover the treasures of Bach’s music—like gazing at the surface of a raw, irregular pearl whose shifting contours give off a wondrous, moving light.

The culmination of this journey is captured on our thirteenth album, Brilliant BACH. Recorded at the Concert Hall of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), it marks our first international collaboration with PARATY, a French label under Universal, and was released worldwide on CD and streaming in September 2025.

The album was recorded during the September 2024 Taiwan tour; for performances and program, see the Brilliant BACH concert.

Production Team

Conductor｜Pierre Hantaï
Chorus Masters｜Matthias Vieweg, Tuan-hoe Koh
Soprano｜Dorothee Mields Mezzo-soprano｜Margot Oitzinger
Tenor｜Florian Sievers Baritone｜Matthias Vieweg
Orchestras｜Le Concert Français, Formosa Baroque
Choir｜Taipei Chamber Singers

Recording Engineer｜Céline Grangey Editing, Mixing, Mastering & Artistic Direction｜Pierre Hantaï
Recording Venue｜Concert Hall, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) (September 2024)

Nominated for Best Art Music Album and Best Vocal Performance at the 37th Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music.