The third cantata cycle after Bach’s hectic first two years in Leipzig reveals a change of circumstances upon which we can only speculate. Fewer in quantity than the cohesive Jahrgänge 1 and 2, the cantatas from mid-1725 to early 1727 were interspersed in the calendar with pieces by other composers, including his cousin Johann Ludwig. Bach seems to have taken a pragmatic view of his responsibilities by revamping existing works, especially instrumental concerto movements, and writing more for solo voices rather than for large forces. Had many of the best Thomanerchor choristers left recently or was Bach channelling his most complex ideas into the soon-to-be-premiered St Matthew Passion?

Bach’s primary instinct for dedication and inventiveness, however, redresses the balance in selected works of extraordinary quality. Ton Koopman has not always considered the vocal identity of each work with sufficient thought but he furnishes Geist und Seele (No 35) with the brooding and flexible authority of Nathalie Stutzmann and he himself twiddles the obbligato organ part here, and in No 169, into customary submission. Klaus Mertens delivers a sensitive Ich will den Kreuzstab (No 56) but this cultivated artist fails to attend to the harrowing journey with either the dramatic or emotional impact that puts Barry McDaniel’s reading for Fritz Werner in a league of its own.

Selig ist der Mann (No 57) – another hidden gem in the third cycle – is politely encountered but nowhere does one sense the magnetic dialogue of McDaniel and Agnes Giebel. I wonder whether Koopman has ever listened to that performance as part of his own understanding of what is possible even if he, understandably, chooses his own path. Sybilla Rubens bravely traverses ‘Ich wunschte mir den Tod’ (Koopman confuses slow speeds with depth of sentiment throughout the set) but where is the guiding idea of Christ’s redemption? Even so, Mertens negotiates the slaying of the foes in ‘Ja, ja, ich kann die Feinde’ with irresistible physicality.

If the Amsterdammers sound enervated in Wer Dank opfert (No 17; Richter has more than the edge here), they display a greater engagement in the ecstatic cantata Es erhub sich ein Streit (No 19) for the Feast of Michael and All Angels, though unashamedly drawing again on Werner: the veteran enacts the combat between archangel and dragon with a different order of fresh and graphic realism, admittedly aided by the sucker punch of Maurice André’s shining and darting trumpet. There is something uncomplicated and affecting about Koopman’s lucid accounts of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid and Ich bin vergnügt (Nos 58 & 84; the latter comes off memorably with treble Wilhelm Wiedl under Nikolaus Harnoncourt) and yet, in general, one is left wanting rather more of what this music can offer.