Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter first reached an international audience as part of the cast of Georg Solti's recordings of Bach's St. Matthew Passion and B minor Mass in the early '90s. Since then, however, von Otter has stayed away from Bach, preferring to explore a wide range of more recent repertoire from Mozart through Brahms to Weill and beyond. Thus, when she did return to Bachwith this 2009 Deutsche Grammophon disc of arias and duets, it was inevitable that someone would say she was going back to Bach.
But von Otter is less about going back to Bach as it is about getting down to Bach. In the nearly 20 years since her previous Bach recordings, her voice has darkened and deepened. But, it must be added, it has also grown lovelier. Mixing selections drawn from cantatas as well as the B minor Mass, the Magnificat, and the Matthew Passion, von Otter's choices show off her voice to best effect. With her technique still in fabulous shape, she negotiates the music's procedural and expressive difficulties with ease, phrasing her lines with graceful effortlessness and making Bach's music sound timeless in the best sense of the word. With the expert accompaniment of the Concerto Copenhagen under the direction of conductor and organist Lars Ulrik Mortensen, von Otter turns in a disc that will please her many fans along with anyone else who enjoys Bach's vocal music.