Mendelssohn: Christus & Cantates Chorales

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Accentus's many fans have further reason to celebrate. All their hallmarks are in evidence here: springy rhythms, fine choral balance, clean, bright tone, splendid diction. And what marvellous... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2012, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 21st Nov 2011
Catalogue No: V5265
Label: Naive
Length: 48 minutes

Mendelssohn: Verleih uns Frieden

Work length4:11

$1.00

$1.30

Accentus Chamber Choir, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Laurence Equilbey

Mendelssohn: Christus

Work length18:35

$6.00

$7.80

Markus Butter (bass), Sandrine Piau (soprano), Robert Getchell (tenor), Laurent Slaars (bass)
Accentus Chamber Choir, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Laurence Equilbey

Part I: Geburt Christi: Recitative: Da Jesus geboren war zu Bethlehem (Soprano)

Track length0:32

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: Geburt Christi: Trio: Wo ist der neugeborne Konig der Juden? (Tenor, Bass)

Track length1:20

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: Geburt Christi: Es wird ein Stern aus Jakob aufgehn (Chorus)

Track length4:55

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: Leiden Christi: Recitative: Und der ganze Haufe stand auf (Tenor)

Track length6:25

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: Leiden Christi: Ihr Tochter Zions (Chorus)

Track length3:33

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: Leiden Christi: Er nimmt auf seinen Rucken (Chorus)

Track length1:50

$1.00

$1.30

Mendelssohn: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden

Work length11:54

$3.00

$3.90

Markus Butter (baritone)
Accentus Chamber Choir, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Laurence Equilbey

O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden (Chorus)

Track length6:07

$1.00

$1.30

Aria: Du, dessen Todeswunden die sundge Welt versohnt (Bass)

Track length4:14

$1.00

$1.30

Ich will hier bei dir stehen, verachte mich doch nicht (Chorus)

Track length1:33

$1.00

$1.30

Mendelssohn: Von Himmel hoch, chorale cantata

Work length13:37

$6.00

$7.80

Sandrine Piau (soprano), Markus Butter (baritone)
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Accentus Chamber Choir
Laurence Equilbey

Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her (Chorus)

Track length5:07

$1.00

$1.30

Aria: Es ist der Herr Christ, unser Gott (Baritone)

Track length2:11

$1.00

$1.30

Er bring euch alle Seligkeit (Chorus)

Track length0:46

$1.00

$1.30

Aria: Sei willekomm', du edler Gast (Soprano)

Track length3:08

$1.00

$1.30

Arioso: Das also hat gefallen dir (Baritone)

Track length0:50

$1.00

$1.30

Lob, Ehr sei Gott im hochsten Thron (Chorus)

Track length1:35

$1.00

$1.30

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About

Award-winning choral group Accentus and its musical director Laurence Equilbey are joined on this new recording of some of Felix Mendelssohn’s sacred choral works by one of the most acclaimed sopranos of recent years, Sandrine Piau. The disc also features tenor Robert Getchell, baritone Markus Butter, and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. The main works are the unfinished oratorio Christus, and the cantatas O Haupt Voll Blut und Wunden and Vom Himmel Hoch.

Founded by its current director Laurence Equilbey, Accentus is a professional chamber choir which regularly appears in leading concert halls and festivals around the world. The group collaborates regularly with prestigious conductors and orchestras, notably Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, the Orchestre de Paris, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Concerto Köln, and Akademie für Alte Musik. The group’s recordings which include the best seller ‘Transcriptions’, Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, Fauré’s Requiem, and ‘Strauss a cappella’ have received many awards from the international press. Accentus records exclusively for Naïve, and the group’s most recent recording for the label features Rachmaninov’s two great sacred works, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and Vespers.

Christus is the title given by the Mendelssohn’s brother Paul to fragments of an unfinished oratorio by Felix that was first published posthumously as his Op. 97. The completed portions include a tenor recitative relating Christ's birth, two choruses, ‘Where is the newborn’, and ‘There Shall a Star from Jacob Shine Forth’, and a passion section ending with another chorale, ‘O Welt, sieh' hier dein Leben’.

Reviews

March 2012

Accentus's many fans have further reason to celebrate. All their hallmarks are in evidence here: springy rhythms, fine choral balance, clean, bright tone, splendid diction. And what marvellous music this is!... The three soloists are all first class, alive to the drama in each of the works but never over-responding. A disc to treasure.

April 2012

The soloists sing with great beauty and feeling, and the choir and orchestra - the former rather backwardly recorded - are equally fine.

18th December 2011

Mendelssohn’s veneration of Bach...and the Lutheran tradition shines through this chorale-rich music. [Vom Himmel Hoch ] is a little post-Bachian masterpiece, with a jubilant opening number and fine soprano and baritone solos, beautifully sung here by Sandrine Piau and Markus Butter. The French conductor’s choir and orchestra do Mendelssohn proud.

1st December 2011

Salvaged from an unfinished three-part oratorio originally titled "Earth, Heaven & Hell", the two sections of Mendelssohn's "Christus" deal with the Nativity and the Passion, jumping abruptly from birth to betrayal with no intervening exposition. The sense of hollowness is tempered, however, by a series of finesses, the first being the delightful trio of tenor, baritone and soprano representing the Three Kings

4th December 2011

Some of the focus [in Christus] is soft in this performance, but doesn't deter from the pleasure. Three cantatas complete the disc, including "Verleih uns frieden gnädiglich", much loved by Schumann, and the joyful Christmas work "Vom Himmel hoch".

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Mendelssohn: Christus & Cantates Chorales

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