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Reviewer: Huntley
Dent This reissue of a live concert Christmas Oratorio from 2010 attracts notice, in my case, because of the talented Dutch chorus master Peter Dijkstra (see a review of his Messiah elsewhere in this issue). Warmth and humanity haven’t been hallmarks of HIP music-making, where objectivity seems more important. Dijkstra is unusual, and welcome, for returning to the choral conducting style I associate with Robert Shaw, where clarity and precise execution doesn’t imply that the music has to be put on ice emotionally. Before mentioning what’s commendable about this recording, however, it must be noted that the text is given in German only. Unless you have an English translation at hand, sitting through a complex narrative for nearly two and a half hours without understanding the words isn’t viable. The Christmas Oratorio is beloved, and its date of composition, 1734, places it later in Bach’s career. It may or may not concern you that the music was cobbled together from previous works in a style called parody, not because humor is involved but to denote that old music has been successfully fitted to new words. The manuscript indicates that performances should be divided over six days during the Christmas season, covering separate events in the Nativity story. The church calendar determines where these days fall, and in 1734 they were Christmas Day: Birth and Annunciation to the Shepherds Dec. 26: The Adoration of the Shepherds Dec. 27: Prologue to the Gospel of John Jan. 1: Circumcision and Naming of Jesus Jan. 2: The Flight into Egypt Jan. 6: The Coming and Adoration of the Magi. Bach altered this sequence, however, in order to make sense chronologically. For example, he had to depict the Magi adoring the Christ child before the Holy Family fled into Egypt—the latter event isn’t included in the oratorio. The two main churches in Leipzig, St. Nicholas and St. Thomas, took up the oratorio, but only the former performed the entire score, and then it wasn’t until 1857 that there was a second performance, in Berlin, during the great Victorian Bach revival. From the opening fanfare with timpani and trumpets the music feels secular, which isn’t surprising given that Bach lifted much of the music from three secular cantatas, one entitled Hercules at the Crossroads, the other two in celebration of the birthday of the Electress of Saxony and the coronation of the Elector of Saxony as King of Poland. Since even the Hercules cantata was for a birthday performance, nobody was the wiser when the birthday party moved into a church and was for baby Jesus. There are many recordings of the Christmas Oratorio to choose from, with leading contenders by John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt (two from him), and René Jacobs—formidable competition. Harder to find is an old DG Archiv set under Karl Richter, but it contains the remarkable solo quartet of Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Fritz Wunderlich, and Franz Crass. I haven’t heard it, but one almost doesn’t need to with singers like that, no matter how grandly retro Richter’s performance style may be. Dijkstra’s reading competes on HIP grounds, employing the usual reduced orchestra and chorus, along with original instruments. Because the Nativity story lacks the drama of the Passion story, a performance of the Christmas Oratorio depends greatly on sustained musical energy. In that regard, Fanfare’s Ralph Lucano, reviewing the Jacobs recording in 1998 (in 21:4) makes a distinction between sounding festive and fierce. Too much HIP music-making errs on the fierce side, but that’s not so with Dijkstra. It’s also good to offer variety of instrumental color (as when Jacobs uses a lute to accompany the recitatives rather than the usual harpsichord); finally, a sense of forward motion is indispensable. On these counts Dijkstra keeps up with his more illustrious rivals, and at certain points, such as the hairpin dynamics used in the opening chorus of jubilation, “Jauchzet, Frohlocket,” he takes extra pains to sound historical. An accomplished orchestral conductor, Dijkstra does as much with the inner detail of Bach’s instrumental writing as anyone. But there are drawbacks, too. I found the sound recessive and a little dull, with the chorus’s words not as well articulated as in the Gardiner and Jacobs performances. The orchestra lacks colorfulness, delivering a fairly homogenized sonority despite the fact that Bach gives considerable leeway in this department—the preceding cantatas use varied forces. But the major weakness here has to do with the solo quartet, which is pleasant and competent but not outstanding. The Jacobs and Gardiner sets boast some remarkable soloists, on the order of Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Nancy Argenta, and Anne Sophie von Otter for Gardiner—his entire lineup is stellar—and Dorothea Röschmann, Andreas Scholl, and Werner Güra for Jacobs. It would be hard to surpass those recordings, and Dijkstra’s soloists, despite excellent work from the Evangelist of Maximilian Schmitt and bass Christian Immler, features a soprano and mezzo who aren’t memorable. Perhaps Dijkstra’s greatest strength is his feeling for the gentle piety of the narrative, but that’s not enough to inspire more than a cautious recommendation. | ||||
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