5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An instant classic, October 23, 2004
This review is from: J.S. Bach: Christmas Oratorio (Arias and Choruses) (Audio CD)
This selection of choruses and arias makes a really beautiful testimony to the German Bach tradition. The music has a natural flow and a feeling of joy to it which is at one with the story (the six cantatas of the Oratorio were written for six feast-days from Christmas day to Epiphany, Jan. 6). The recordings date from 1966, well before the vogue of contemporary instruments and "playing it in the baroque masters' own way", so the performance has a romantic, concerto flavour to it, but not over-sentimental or glossy: there's a tangible chamber feeling to the playing.
The singing is superb on all hands. Fritz Wunderlich's tenor has stirring freshness and glow, and Janowitz's vocal in the spun-out aria "Schlafe, mein liebster" (Sleep, my dearest) makes breathless trapeze turns around the strings without losing, in between, the timbre of her mezza voce. Chorus and orchestra contribute under the baton of an inspired Hans Richter.
Unfortunately, this was to be one of Wunderlich's last recordings; he died from falling in a staircase a few months after the sessions. But the disc is a true classic, rewarded with several prizes at its LP release.
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