Bach - Christmas Oratorio
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Actor: Bernarda Fink, Christoph Genz, Claron McFadden, Dietrich Henschel, Monteverdi Opera ChoirBrand: Naxos OF America INC
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); German (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); Japanese (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language); German (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 198 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-15
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Arthaus Musik
DVD Reviews of Bach - Christmas Oratorio
DVD Review: Visually and auditorily satisfying.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have just watched and listened to the whole Weihnachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio) on DVD, performed by John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir, and the English Baroque Soloists.
The soloists are excellent.
The Alto, Bernada Fink, has a nice, warm voice, perfect diction, and gives a beautiful, vehement performance. Sometimes just a little too dramatic for my tastes, actually.
The Soprano, Claren McFadden, is a lovely African-American woman whose voice suits the soprano part very well. She contributes a great deal to the atmosphere of the work (performed in a beautiful Baroque Weimar church), though she has to compete in my mind with some favorites that are well established: Ruth Zeisak, with Ralf Otto, and Lynda Russell with Harry Christophers.
The Tenor / Evangelist was Christoph Genz, a young man of great charm, who delivered a beautiful performance throughout, the Evangelist parts of it from the beautiful baroque pulpit. [He pronounced Jesu as "Djesu," rather than "Yesu," and I wonder whether that is common.]
The Bass, Dietrich Henschel, is fascinating to watch and listen to, but I rather prefer a less dramatic, more lyrical performance in the Bass department. Still, Herr Henschel's performance, personal preferences apart, is practically faultless.
The instrumentalists are, as always with the English Baroque Soloists, brilliant. The brass was incredible, both the first trumpet, as well as the three of them together. The violin duet in the Tenor aria in Cantata 4 was just perfect. (The notes explain that the long melismatic sections on the word 'Leibe' were the descendants of a phrase that described serpents in the original secular cantata of which this piece is a 'parody'.) The cello, the oboes, the baroque flutes (sounding very much like recorders), they were all just wonderful. In addition, they are delightful to watch.
Gardiner makes a special effort to bring each movement to a perfect close, and the final chord is always beautifully played and ended. Listen to this, when you watch the DVD. (Gardiner conducts with his hands, without a baton, choirmaster-style.)
The choir -- it was fascinating to actually see the choir, or at least this manifestation of it. I had always imagined the choir consisting of a bunch of upper-middle-class Brits. But they looked perfectly ordinary people, of all shapes and sizes, not dominated by any one type, except that perhaps there were possibly a few more Germans there than there might have been in the usual Monteverdi Choir. Discipline was almost perfect, yet the choir clearly enjoyed their singing very much. (This was the first performance on their pilgrimage, and morale was still very high.)
Extras. (You can hardly sell a DVD without these, nowadays.) Each of the two disks has a documentary at the end, featuring Gardiner. On Disk 1, he talks about his motivation for the pilgrimage in general, and he talks about Bach (and Mozart and Beethoven). On Disk 2, we see actual visits to particular churches and locations in the Thuringia and Saxony areas, especially the Thomaskirche and a nearby fortified church of Posset, I believe, close to Leipzig (a "best-kept secret"). This little church has a functioning organ that appears to date several hundred years. Don't miss this segment!
Intangibles:
Gardiner is very persuasive in his enthusiasm for what he was doing, about Bach, and his pleasure in performing Bach. His team consists of people who really live the music, and this comes out strongly in the DVD. The reception from the church live audience is at first a little laconic, but it was evidently recorded over at least a couple of days, and the later performances were received very well. Visually very satisfying, and auditorily also. I'm very thankful to the earlier reviewers on the Bach Recordings List who persuaded me to buy this DVD.
Arch
Description of Bach - Christmas Oratorio
BACH:CHRISTMAS ORATORIO BWV PART 1-6 - DVD MovieClassical Music CDs
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