Bach didn't compose many cantatas for solo soprano, but the few he did write are gems and have long been popular with performers and listeners alike. The secular works, such as the wedding cantata Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten and Non sa che sia dolore, Bach's only cantata in Italian, were probably written for his second wife, Anna Magdalena, who was a singer at the court in Cöthen when Bach was there. (It has been suggested that Bach composed the sacred cantatas included here for Anna Magdalena as well, even though women weren't supposed to sing in church at that time.) She must have been very skillful indeed to negotiate the long lines of Weichet nur and the high-flying coloratura fireworks of Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen for soprano with obbligato trumpet. It seems that virtually every soprano ever to have recorded Bach has had a go at Jauchzet Gott, from Elisabeth Schwarzkopf to Kathleen Battle and even super-mezzo Marilyn Horne. Canadian soprano Nancy Argenta came to prominence with the Baroque instrument revival of the 1980s; her Jauchzet Gott is worthy to stand beside even the spectacular performances of Julianne Baird and Emma Kirkby. (Argenta's "Alleluia" is jaw-droppingly fast--and sung flawlessly.) Equally impressive is Ich habe genug, a work better known in its incarnation for solo bass and oboe. Bach recast the cantata for soprano with flute; Argenta colors her voice to match the Baroque flute exquisitely. She and the marvelous Ensemble Sonnerie do just as well by the remaining cantatas on this two-disc reissue.