Customer Reviews

Bach - Christmas Oratorio (Weihnachtsoratorium)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first image shown, of a lovely Baroque Church nestled amongst snow covered hills and pine trees, will grab you. The interior of the Collegiate Church at Waldhausen in Austria, where this recording was made between Summer and Autumn in 1981, will finish you off. It is lovingly bedecked in traditional Baroque Christmas ornamentation under a high barrel-vaulted roof, the interior including eight side chapels and an achingly beautiful decorated chancel. If you aren't filled with the traditional Christmas spirit after this display, you never will be. As the camera reveals the Concentus Musicus Wien and (especially) Conductor Harnoncourt dressed in what I can only describe as faux-Priestly garb, you may suppress a grin. With their black jackets covering fluffy white turtle-necks, the entire assemblage looks like they've gone seriously retro in what appears like a sea of Nehru-jackets! The incongruity of it provides some unintended mirth before the music begins.

The performance is vintage Harnoncourt. A trail-blazing advocate of authentic performance practice, his approach may not please purists. Apparently, some controversial aspects of this performance (choices in instrumentation, in voices and disposition of the parts) have made for a certain defensiveness on the part of the Conductor. In an interview, he asserts that conveying the spirit of the work is his primary concern. As this recording is nearly 25 years old, it hardly seems fair to compare it to today's more rigorous notion of "period performance". The Orchestra sounds fine (although there are some intonation problems amongst the period horns) in excellent DTS 5.1 sound; the Tolzer boys choir are quite good and Tenor Peter Schreier is superb, if not at his peak here! Bass Robert Holl is also excellent. It is the totality of this DVD, the beautiful recreation of a traditional Tyrolean Christmas as well as Bach's magnificent score played lovingly and well that makes it worth owning.

In one of those marketing glitches that seems to bedevil the Classical Music industry these days, John Eliot Gardiner's DVD performance of this work has been released simultaneously with this one. Experience suggests that it will halve the sales of each, as few will buy both. I have not seen Mr. Gardiner's DVD - there is an excellent review of it by Scott Morrison here at Amazon - but I have treasured his CD recording of it for years. Thus the dilemma. I will probably purchase both, but I'm used to being penniless. You, however, might like to have some money left over for a few minor items. Like food!

Bach must have heard it thus. What a delight to both view and hear these Baroque masterpieces sung by an outstanding Bravarian Boy's choir, the Toelzer Knabenchor. Absolutely 'candy' both for the eye and ear.

Finally I have watched and listened Christmas Oratorio conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, one of the performances I always wanted to know of this piece, not very easy to perform correctly as it shows the fact of there're not many convincing versions available.

The DVD is part of the Unitel legacy that Deutsche Grammophon is releasing (together with other jewel like Mahler's Symphonies conducted by Bernstein). It's clearly in the style of other Unitel's films and it tells us about the `70s & `80s way of shooting and editing. In this sense the film is based on takes from the concert, very well done, and some other images of the Christmas time: Holy Family, the Virgin, Trees, Stars, snow, some pictures of the church... All this put together with the music makes it more atmospheric and linked to what the music celebrates, that's Christmas time.

As an early `80s recording, the playing on authentic instruments and the style it's not the very clean, clear, fresh and prefect we can listen today to quite all the authentic instruments ensembles: Musika Antiqua Köln, Collegium Gent, Collegium Bach Japan, Café Zimmermann... or even the own Concentus Musicus Wienn nowadays, as you can listen in their last recordings: Bach's Passions, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Schöpfung, Haydn's Paris Symphonies... I really think Concentus Musicus has grown very much in their technique and musicality in the last decade and even this performance is very, very good I think they could make it even better today. In this recording I find specially wonderfully played the woodwinds, beautifully taken by the sound engineers.

What it's wonderful is watching Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting and singing quite all the cantatas, following very, very concentrated the full performance. I really find him and Reinhard Goebel as the most inspiring Bach conductors and he shows himself in this DVD as the great Bach knower and conductor he is.

The voices are very good, specially Peter Schreier, that great singer, even I would prefer women's voices because of the immature style of the children for some parts of the cantatas. Of course this very complex option has the chance of recreating a period in which children used to sang this parts as the woman were sometimes apart of the Christian liturgy. Anyway, in the present times I think this Oratorio is much more sung by women, something I like more. The choirs are very good and the general value of the sung parts is very good but not outstanding like it could be Rene Jacobs version for Harmonia Mundi, in which we can listen really glorious voices, like the own Andreas Scholl as countertenor or the wonderful Dorothea Röschmann. Two years ago I've listened live in my hometown Herreweghe conducting this Oratorio with female voices too and again I think they do it little better than children even if the children are so great singers like these.

As I wrote above, the visual part is very interesting and well directed, even the costumes are a little kitsch, dressing everyone like priests. Anyway, I think it could be the best performance available on DVD today, as I don't use to like completely Gardiner's Bach recordings, even his recordings are very good too.

If I have to chose one recording of Christmas Oratorio I have no doubts about Rene Jacobs' one for Harmonia Mundi, an outstanding version.

I watched this version of the Christmas Oratorio completely captured by it! I am a great Boychoir fan, and I have to say that all of the little musicians in this edition are superb. The soloists are so perfect to make your spine tingle;and so professional too!No difference between them and the "grown up" professionals.
Harnoncourt is in complete controll of the orchestra at every bar (as you can see in the very numerous closeups on him).Also the sound is great thanks to the original instruments;you'll be able to see the very rare "oboe da caccia"(a sort of English horn with metal end), and you will hear the purity of sound of the natural trumpets and the wooden flutes.
In a word: The best performance ever!

This is Bach's Christmas Oratorio led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt with Concentus Musicus Wien and the Tölzner Knabenchor. This is the edition that I believe was shown on PBS in 1982.

Harnoncourt is noted for his presentations of Bach's music using the sort of ensemble that Bach himself would have used in the churches he served. You can expect period instruments and the use of boy's choir and soloists. The pure and clean sound of a boy soprano is, to my thinking, more ethereal than that of a mature women soprano. Though it may lack the power of the adult voice, it is more true to the sound that would have been heard in Bach's day.

I have looked for this recording over the years and am happy it has now been released finally in November, 2005. A classic and highly recommended.

Excelente video. magistral interpretación de una de las obras más hermosas del mundo de la música: el Oratorio de Navidad.
Imagenes del nacimiento que se encuentra en el mismo lugar de interpretación forman parte esencial en la ejecución de una de los trabajos de Johann Sebastian Bach.

I got this DVD for Christmas, and I have watched this DVD straight through once. I have earlier seen portions on y o u t u b e DOT c o m. Here is a first impression ...

I loved the video portion of this DVD! As other reviewers have said, the church is gorgeous. The Tolzer choir is adorable in choir robes reminiscent of acolyte robes. The adult males are inexplicably all wearing Roman collars, but you quickly tune this out. The camera work is a good balance among the soloists, the musicians, the conductor, and the church itself. The interaction between the boy soloists and the conductor is very entertaining to watch. The 'echo aria' is quite charming in this video.

I'm new to DVD viewing, so I did not notice all the video flaws that other reviewers report, or maybe I incorrectly attributed video flaws to poor musicianship. Your mileage may vary.

Musically, the DVD has some problems. They could have found better trumpet players, or at least recorded more than one take of the dramatic trumpet pieces. They could have used better boy soloists, or brought in women singers if no boy in the choir could handle the parts. Or, they should have recorded the boy soloists parts in more than one take.

The adult singers are much better. Peter Schreier is more or less flawless. Robert Holl is so good in the parts where he's good that most folks will forgive the very minor flubs he makes (Did I mention they could have recorded some of the pieces MORE THAN ONCE?).

Harnoncourt has made some great choices for tempos. I wouldn't change very much in that department. HIP purists might find some of the pieces a bit slow. I recommend visiting y o u t u b e DOT c o m and checking up on the tempos to see if they are to your liking.

Overall, the first two cantatas have some rough spots; the performances turns a corner at the third cantata and gets better as the DVD progresses. Viewing the DVD adds a lot to the enjoyment of this performance. I will definitely view it again and again. I'm not sure it would hold up to repeated listening if it were a CD.


Happy viewing!

This is actually quite an old film from 1982 which has been transferred to DVD. The DVD itself therefore can only be played in 4:3 format and not widescreen, and it's an NTSC disc. However the film is crisp and clear and there have been no problems with the transfer. The quality of the sound in the recording is also excellent.

Subtitles have been provided in German, English, French, Spanish and Chinese. It's worth noting that I played this film back on my 10.2 inch small screen portable DVD player and had no difficulty reading them. The disc format is Region 0 and should be playable on any DVD player worldwide.

The actual performance of the Weihnachtsoratorium (to give it the name Bach gave it) is given on this disc by Peter Schreier, Robert Holl, soloists of the Tolzer Knabenchor and the Tolzer Knabenchor, with the Concentus Musicus Wein orchestra. Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts.

The recording takes place in the Collegiate Church at Waldhausen and the delightful introduction to the film shows the church in winter, snow falling and bells ringing for Christmas day. This is despite the fact that the actual recording was made during the summer and autumn in 1981. A wonderful Nativity scene by the sculptor Josef Stammel has been used as an illustration between each of the six cantatas which form the Christmas Oratorio.

The performance is on period instruments, and the top notch playing accompanying the singing is particularly good in this production. The musicians in the film (both singers and instrumentalists) are totally absorbed in the work they are performing, and you feel also that they are enjoying the whole experience. The singing is also excellent; Peter Schreier and Robert Holl are internationally known singers and Nikolaus Harnoncourt specialises in conducting early music. Some of the choirboys admittedly do have slightly breathy voices but they are trained in the continental style of singing which gives a richness to their tone sometimes lacking in that of choirboys from other countries. This makes their voices particularly suited to this music.

This is a disc that you will enjoy again and again and I cannot recommend it too highly.

While not an expert on the Christmas Oratorio, I have been a "fan" of Nikalaus Hornoncourt since the Telefunken Bach Contatas (Concentus Musicus Wien) - I have them all) led me to purchase this DVD which, although over 25 years old, the recording is brilliant and shows the intensity of Hornoncourt at his best. I have heard Hornoncourt's interpretation is rather controversial, but I enjoyed it greatly. I recommend it heartily!

I taped this performance to VHS when it was broadcast back in the 80s on PBS in NYC. That tape has been pretty well worn out over the years, so it's good to finally have this performance available on DVD.

As a performance it's quite enjoyable, though I find Harnoncourt's audio-only performance on CD more compelling (it features a better bass soloist in Siegmund Nimsgern and the Vienna Boys' Choir which beats the Tolz group in intonation and style). I have never warmed to Peter Schreier's singing. He's just too bleaty and spread for my taste. But let's face it, Fritz Wunderlich set the standard for tenors singing The Evangelist in this work long ago in his Archiv recording with Karl Richter, and I don't think any tenor is ever going to knock him off his lofty perch.

If you like Harnoncourt's mid-career philosophies on Baroque performance practices and his ensuing interpretive choices, you'll like this performance. Certainly there's more gusto here than in the rather-tepid Messiah he just released on DHM. This performance has stood the test of time and it should remain competitive to both HIP-sters and traditionalists.

However, I really wish Universal would spend a little bit of money correcting some of the video woes of these 80s-vintage tapes. There are many blemishes and "scars" that could have been fixed in a computer program. In addition, Universal doesn't bother to add the kind of DVD extras to their productions that one gets with a movie (as Arthaus did with the DVD of Gardiner's Xmas Oratorio, but as Gardiner is anathema to my musical taste, I'll never see it). I'm sure that money is the ONLY factor here, and let's face it, the sales potential for such specialized product in the USA is probably in the high dozens at best. At least the price ($22) is right and the sound coming out of my surround set-up was really incredible (a big improvement over the tape I had). Since classical music is - after all - for listening, I guess great audio beats sub-standard video, and this production is no exception.

BTW - this DVD played flawlessly in my Sony DVD player, but it was a mess when I tried it in the Super Drive of my brand new G5 iMac. Tons of distortion in the sound (pops and cracks like an old LP) and the video was shaky. I only mention it because other DVDs I've popped into the iMac play flawlessly. I can't imagine why this disc had problems in the computer.