Customer Reviews

Christmas Oratorio

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After listening to about 6 of the available recordings of the Xmas Oratorio, I selected this one as the one to recommend to my chorus. Although the chorus on this recording is not the best (although adequate), I find that the character, style and tempi chosen by the director to be most aligned to my taste. The soloists are quite satisfactory and the orchestra plays well. I prefer this recording to the Gardiner/English Baroque in many ways; I find the latter to be somwhat affected and unnatural in its character. Overall, I prefer the Muenchinger and I find it is an excellent addition to a collection.

Karl Münchinger was one of the foremost interpreters of 18th Century music prior to the advent of "period performance practice." He could usually be counted on to give finely-honed renditions of standard Baroque repertoire, informed by historical understanding, but not overly academic. His approach to Bach was usually objective, plainspoken, favoring a lighter tread than his contemporary Karl Richter--though Richter conveyed a deeper understanding of the Bach's spiritual heritage.

Richter, of course, gave us a splendid Christmas Oratorio, with an unmatched team of soloists (Janowitz/Ludwig/Wunderlich/Crass) and a uniquely festive, if hyper-intense interpretation. Münchinger's version is more direct, amiable and intimate where Richter inclines toward the monumental and rhetorical. Many listeners will prefer Münchinger's approach, and it must be said that he succeeds admirably in realizing it. His soloists are nearly as fine as Richter's. For the bass arias, I prefer Krause's lighter, if somewhat nasal timbre, and his more incisive manner to Crass's weightier tone and stentorian delivery. Ameling is not quite in the Janowitz league, but her bright, agile soprano gleams like the Star of Bethlehem, and she is more at home in the Baroque idiom than Janowitz. Watts is fully the equal of Ludwig, though more reserved in expression. Only Peter Pears, in the role of Evangelist as well as the tenor arias, could be cause for mild disappointment. His pointing of the text is, as always, incomparable, but he strains in his upper register and is not sufficiently nimble to negotiate Bach's treacherous roulades.

One distinctive aspect of Münchinger's version is his employment of an all-male choir. The Lübecker Kantorei prove fully equal to the daunting tasks Bach requires of them. Not every listener will appreciate the distinctive timbre of boy sopranos; however, this particular group makes a splendid contribution. Münchinger's alert direction ensures that choral textures remain clean and diction crisp. The Stuttgart Kammerorchester was one of the most technically proficient ensembles of its day, and they don't disappoint here. The wind and string obbligati are expertly dispatched, though the high trumpets dominate the texture uncomfortably when they are deployed in the big festive choruses of Part I, III and VI; and the trumpet soloist in the bass aria "Grosser Herr" (Maurice André, I believe) tends to blare. I suspect that this problem of balance is the responsibility of the engineers, not the brass players.

Overall, I can can confidently recommend this consistently uplifting, and frequently exciting, performance to listeners who prefer a more traditional, but by no means heavy-handed performance of a work which has become a seasonal favorite. With qualifications noted (a controversial tenor soloist and clear but not perfectly balanced recording), this double-CD package makes a fine bargain edition of the Christmas Oratorio, particularly since texts and translations are included (something one can never count on these days). The classic Richter recording is not, I believe, currently available apart from a multi-CD box containing all of Bach's major choral works. That box makes an excellent introduction to Bach's sacred music, though few listeners will be inclined to invest in it just for the sake of hearing Richter's Christmas Oratorio. EMI have recently reissued the enthusiastic, if somewhat rough-edged Ledger version (with Kings College forces and a stellar lineup of soloists including Janet Baker); it might prove a viable option for those not allergic to "Anglicanized" Bach. I have always enjoyed the Kurt Thomas recording with the Bach's "own" Leipzig Thomanerchor and another splendid team of soloists (Giebel/Höffgen/Traxel/Fischer-Dieskau), depite the thin-textured early stereo recording and dated performance practice. Still, it is a unique historical document featuring an ensemble that had to put up with interference bordering on active persecution from the cultural commissars of East Germany during the Cold War era.

Finally, for those interested in obtaining a period performance practice version, there is an embarrassment of riches at present--with John Eliot Gardiner (DG/Archiv) still leading a very large pack. Bach enthusiasts may want to pick up the Münchinger version as a supplement to one of these.