The soprano Martina Janková, a Zurich Opera soloist since 1998, has been a frequent guest of the Salzburg Festival and worked with conductors of such renown as Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Fedoseyev, Herreweghe, Rattle, etc. She also participated in Gardiner’s acclaimed Bach Cantatas project.

On this recording, Janková returns to the Bach repertoire alongside the distinguished Czech Baroque ensemble Collegium 1704, conducted by Václav Luks. Their different purposes (the first being a wedding cantata, the other two sacred works) notwithstanding, the three cantatas featured on the album have something in common: each of them in a way treats one of the possible forms of joy.

Bach’s musical world is close to Martina Janková’s sensibility and voice – both in virtuoso coloratura passages (Jauchzet Gott) and fine expressive nuances (Ich habe genug). The live recording further augments the immediate experience with encountering Bach’s beautiful and inimitable music.

Recorded live at the Church of St Adalbertus, Opava, 2012.