Comparison

My radio came on as usual this morning and the first piece of music I heard was Franz Tunder's cantata "Wachet auf!" Many years ago I heard Greta de Reyghere and the Ricercar Consort singing that on a recording that came free with a magazine, which was affected me that, despite having no previous interest in German Baroque cantatas, I went out and bought the ten-CD boxed set. That old recording is still somehow totally magical - it's one of the most-played tracks on my iPod (and I'm listening to it as I write this). So it was interesting to hear a different version this morning, but I'm none the wiser as to what makes one singer merely excellent while another touches my soul.