Soprano Patrice Michaels on an 'Ingenious' Bach Cantata

Soprano Patrice Michaels, an international concert and recording artist described as "a formidable interpretative talent" by the New Yorker, returns to the Bach Week Festival on April 25 as a soloist in Bach's Cantata, BWV 147, "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" ("Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life").

She explains her enthusiasm for this work:

“The solo that I’m privileged to sing from Cantata BWV 147 reminds me in some ways of the more famous “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” from St. John Passion. The character of the piece is gratefully reflective, trusting, and full of humility. The dual solo lines alternate between violin and voice, ingeniously intertwining as the text is presented in repetition.

"The general range of this piece sits rather high for the soprano and features a lyric line punctuated by even higher notes, which Bach has set almost always on unstressed words or syllables. I'll be paying particular attention to balance both the soaring quality of those notes and the line which moves lyrically toward and away from them.

"One of the things I love about Bach cantatas and about Bach Week in Evanston is hearing the orchestra, soloists, and chorus alternate in expressing the joys and struggles of the human spirit.

"This cantata has such a wonderful alternation of assignments, I can’t wait to hear everyone’s individual and collective contributions!”