Beatific visions of a heavenly alternative to life on earth found voice when Bach revealed his personal imaginings of Paradise in one of his earliest cantatas, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, scored for the exquisite sonority of violas da gamba and recorders. Another early cantata, composed for Easter, Christ lag in Todesbanden, further demonstrates Bach’s confidence in celestial immortality. And yet another, written for Palm Sunday, presents a ravishingly beautiful entrance into the heavenly city. This is a program of breathtakingly gorgeous music.