Riccardo Chailly conducts Leipzig’s famous Gewandhausorchester in Johann Sebastian Bach’s glorious collection of cantatas, otherwise known as the Christmas Oratorio. An outstanding vocal cast includes Martin Lattke as the evangelist, acclaimed English soprano Carolyn Sampson and the voices of the Dresdner Kammerchor.
The six parts which make up the Christmas Oratorio tell the biblical story from Christ's birth to the adoration of the shepherds and the Magi, and the flight in to Egypt to escape Herod's slaughter of the infants. Having first conducted the Gewandhausorchester in 1986, Riccardo Chailly's association with Leipzig is now only one year less than Bach’s. Played on modern instruments, Chailly’s Bach beautifully demonstrates that vivid, stylistically aware performance is not the exclusive preserve of period instrument ensembles. This is the third of Bach's large-scale masterpieces recorded by the Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly and released on Decca and follows critical acclaim for The Brandenburg Concertos, released in January 2010 (4782191) and the St. Matthew Passion, released in March 2010 (4782194).
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christian Friedrich Henrici: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 / Part One - For the first Day of Christmas
No.1 Chorus: "Jauchzet, frohlocket"
No.2 Evangelist: "Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit"
No.3 Rezitativ (Alt): "Nun wird mein liebster Bräutigam"
No.4 Aria (Alto): " Bereite dich, Zion"
No.5 Choral: "Wie soll ich dich empfangen"
No.6 Evangelist: "Und sie gebar ihren ersten Sohn"
No.7 Chorale: "Er ist auf Erden kommen arm", Recitativ (Bass): Wer will die Liebe recht erhöhn"
No.8 Aria (Baß): "Großer Herr, o starker König"
No.9 Choral: "Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein"
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christian Friedrich Henrici: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 / Part Two - For the second Day of Christmas
No.10 Sinfonia
No.11 Evangelist: "Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend"
No.12 Chorale: "Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht"
No.13 Evangelist, Engel: "Und der Engel sprach zu Ihnen"
No.14 Rezitativ (Baß): "Was Gott dem Abraham Verheißen"
No.15 Aria (Tenor): "Frohe Hirten, eilt, ach eilet"
No.16 Evangelist: "Und das habt zum Zeichen"
No.17 Chorale: "Schaut hin, dort liegt im finstern Stall"
No.18 Rezitativ (Baß): "So geht denn hin, ihr Hirten, geht"
No.19 Aria (Alto): "Schlafe, mein Liebster, geniesse der Ruh"
No.20 Evangelist: "Und alsbald war da bei dem Engel"
No.21 Chor: "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe"
No.22 Rezitativ (Baß): "So recht, ihr Engel, jauchzt und singet"
No.23 Chorale: "Wir singen dir in deinem Heer"
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christian Friedrich Henrici: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 / Part Three - For the third Day of Christmas
No.24 Chor: "Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen"
No.25 Evangelist: "Und da die Engel von ihnen gen Himmel fuhren"
No.26 Chor: "Lasset uns nun gehen gen Bethlehem"
No.27 Rezitativ (Baß): "Er hat sein Volk getröst"
No.28 Choral: "Dies hat er alles uns getan"
No.29 Duett (Sopran, Baß): "Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen"
No.30 Evangelist: "Und sie kamen eilend"
No.31 Aria (Alt): "Schließe, mein Herze, dies selige Wunder"
No.32 Recitativ (Alt): "Ja, ja, mein Herz soll es bewahren"
No.33 Choral: "Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren"
No.34 Evangelist: "Und die Hirten kehrten wieder um"
No.35 Choral: "Seid froh dieweil"
No.24 Chor (da capo): "Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen"
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christian Friedrich Henrici: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 / Part Four - For New Year's Day
No.36 Chor: "Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben"
No.37 Evangelist: "Und da acht Tage um waren"
No.38 Rezitativ (Baß): "Immanuel, o süßes Wort" Arioso (Chor-Sopran, Baß): "Jesu, du mein liebstes Leben"-"Komm ich will dich mit Lust umfassen"
No.39 Aria (Soprano, Echo-soprano): "Flösst, mein Heiland, flösst dein Namen"
No.40 Rezitativ (Baß): "Wohlan, dein Name soll allein" Arioso (Chor-Sopran): "Jesu mein Freud und Wonne"
No.41 Aria (Tenor): "Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben"
No.42 Choral: "Jesus richte mein Beginnen"
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christian Friedrich Henrici: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 / Part Five - For the 1st Sunday in the New Year
No.43 Chor: "Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen"
No.44 Evangelist: "Da Jesu geboren war zu Bethlehem"
No.45 Chor: "Wo ist der neugeborne König der Juden?" - Rezitativ (Alt): "Sucht ihn in meiner Brust"
No.46 Choral: "Dein Glanz all Finsternis verzehrt"
No.47 Aria (Bass): "Erleucht auch meine finstre Sinnen"
No.48 Evangelist: "Da das der König Herodes hörte"
No.49 Rezitativ (Alt): "Warum wollt ihr erschrecken?"
No.50 Evangelist: "Und ließ versammeln alle Hohepriester"
No.51 Terzetto (Soprano, Alto, Tenor): "Ach, wann wird die Zeit erscheinen?"
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christian Friedrich Henrici: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 / Part Six - For the Feast of Epiphany
No.54 Chor: "Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben"
No.55 Evangelist: "Da berief Herodes die Weisen heimlich" - Herodes: "Ziehet hin und forschet fleißig"
No.56 Rezitativ (Sopran): "Du Falscher, suche nur den Herrn zu fällen"
No.57 Aria (Sopran): "Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen"
No.58 Evangelist: "Als sie nun den König gehöret hatten"
No.59 Chorale: "Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier"
No.60 Evangelist: "Und Gott befahl ihnen im Traum"
No.61 Rezitativ (Tenor): "So geht! Genug, mein Schatz geht nicht von hier"
No.62 Aria (Tenor): "Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken"
No.63 Rezitativ (Sopran, Alt, Tenor, Baß): "Was will der Hölle Schrecken nun?"
No.64 Choral: "Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen"
25th November 2010
****
“a wonderfully flexible and dramatically vivid account, constantly illuminated by the obbligatos from the Gewandhaus wind...Chailly manages to combine the rhythmic lightness of a period-instrument performance with the tonal richness of a traditional orchestra. It is by far the most successful of his Bach forays to date.”
5th December 2010
“Any discerning music fan will be thrilled to receive Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Decca), a superb new recording by Riccardo Chailly”
17th December 2010
****
“[Chailly] eschews the current trend towards period instrumentation, with no perceptible loss of authenticity. It's marvellously recorded, the solo vocalists sustaining poise and clarity against the full onslaught of choir and orchestra, while the fulsome brass brings a dazzling, burnished lustre to the performance.”
January 2011
***
“Chailly's exhilaration is irresistable”
January 2011
“If you like your Bach thick-set but with historically informed inflections, seek it out.”
2nd January 2011
****
“His trumpets are spectacular and he brings a rare sense of drama and rediscovery to this glorious music.”
January 2011
“The first chorus gets things off to the most exciting start imaginable...he's very quick, but nothing sounds rushed or garbled - the articulation of the orchestra is stunningly rhythmic and precise, with a lovely sense of shape and of direction - as is the choral singing...This is an exceptional Christmas Oratorio and it becomes one of the front-runners in a crowded field.”
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No.1 Chorus: "Jauchzet, frohlocket"
