Following the huge success of 2015's Magnificat & Christmas Cantata, Dunedin Consort releases its eagerly awaited follow up, Bach's Christmas Oratorio.
Anticipation is high since the Magnificat was named 'Choice' by Gramophone, topped the critics' Christmas recommendation lists and received multiple five stars reviews. Fans will once again be thrilled, as John Butt delivers another revelatory performance.
Dunedin's acclaimed soloists are Mary Bevan, Clare Wilkinson, Nicholas Mulroy and Matthew Brook (Cantatas 1, 3, 6), Joanne Lunn, Ciara Hendrick, Thomas Hobbs and Konstantin Wolff (Cantatas 2, 4, 5).
Butt applies his extensive knowledge of Bach's performing practices to present the range of choral scoring that Bach seems to have used, realizing something of the implications of the composer's performing conditions and decisions.
Ideally positioned to become the must-have Christmas recording of 2016, this seasonal favourite is a welcome addition to the Dunedin Consort's already enviable catalogue.
5 stars - 'It's surely one of the finest accounts now available of Bach's Christmas Oratorio. The choral sound is pert, sinewy, unforced; the instrumental playing is punchy, broad and charismatic.' The Guardian