Search - :: Bach Edition - Weihnachts-Oratorium / René Jacobs, et al

Like comic Rodney Dangerfield, Bach's Christmas Oratorio "don't get no respect," because much of it is cobbled together from other works. But it's a wonderful piece, or pieces, since it comprises six cantatas intended for performance on different days during the Christmas season. As befits its seasonal concerns, the work is full of exultant joy as well as warm tenderness, fully conveyed on this exemplary set. A quick listen to the thundering tympani and biting brass of the opening will hook you on a spirited, irresistible performance, brimming with vitality. The RIAS Kammerchor sings with polished beauty, the "original instruments" band avoids the nasal whining that often infects such groups and contributes some superb solo turns, and the vocalists are uniformly excellent. Scholl's "Bereite dich" and other solo contributions are fine enough to make you forget a possible preference for the sound of a female alto. But the real hero of the set is Jacobs, who drives a performance as good as any in the catalogue. --Dan Davis