St Ann's Church, Dublin: Bach— Cantatas 28, 121, 90, 140

Of the 50 concerts in the Orchestra of St Cecilia’s Bach cantata cycle, a considerable share has fallen to conductor Blánaid Murphy, who in company with her Dublin Bach Singers will bring the 10-year series to a close on March 7th.

This third-last tranche of the 200 church cantatas marked the last of many regular appearances in the series by the Pro Cathedral’s Palestrina Choir, of which Murphy has been director since 2002.

Bach probably had just this combination of men’s and boys’ voices in mind when he composed the choruses of cantatas 28, 121 and 140. With the intricacies confined to the alto, tenor, and bass sections, the top layer consists simply of a slow-motion hymn-tune.

For the Palestrina trebles, this was a walk in the park, but their even and ample tone-production, confident entries, and disciplined diction made for a fair match with the adroit lower voices.

There was sustained and simple melody, too, in the movement from cantata 140 that Bach recycled as the celebrated organ prelude on Wachet auf. Here, though, the tune went to a tenor section that seems still to echoe with the choir’s famed alumnus Count John McCormack.

The arias and duets were tackled with graded results, some missing, some gradually finding, and others hitting the mark of Bach’s elusive imagery.

Bass Jeffrey Ledwidge did forcible battle with a burnished trumpet obbligato in cantata 90. His two duets with soprano Lynda Lee in cantata 140 were respectively dispassionate and convivial.

Lee had launched the proceedings on top form, bringing to the challenging aria that opens cantata 28 the unusual yet sure sense of joy in a minor key.

The most distinctive solo contribution, however, came from tenor Jacek Wislocki, who in a fire-and-brimstone aria of cantata 90 took his part fearlessly to the brink.