Bach Amore traditore BWV 203 Van de Woerd and Henstra, Netherlands Bach Society

From Bach s time in Köthen we know of two cantatas in Italian. Although they have not survived in Bachs own hand, many researchers regard them as sufficiently Bach to be authentic. The secular cantata Amore traditore, here performed by Mattijs van de Woerd and Siebe Henstra for All of Bach, is one of them. Without a source from Köthen, the reason behind Amore traditore remains pure guesswork. One nice hypothesis doing the rounds is that Bach wrote (or transposed) it for the renowned baritone Johann Gottfried Riemschneider, who spent some time at the court in 1719, before going on to triumph in London as one of Handels singers. In any case, the singer and harpsichordist have to be virtuosos, as the concise story is completely in their hands. In the first of two arias, a disappointed lover accuses the god Cupid of treachery and deception, because as we hear in a short recitative he was burning with love for a woman who remained cool and aloof. In the second aria, h