Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. Balcony (Seat J5, $28).
End of concert.
Program
Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (1734-1735) by J. S. Bach (1685-1750).
Artists
Liv Redpath - Soprano, Avery Amercau - contralto, Andrew Haji, tenor, Joshua Hopkins - baritone
La Chapelle de Quebec
A recent email promotion offering $25 balcony seat tickets caused me to look into some Carnegie Hall concerts, Bach's Christmas Oratorio - a composition I hadn't known about before - caught my attention. I was somewhat taken aback when I realized the concert duration was going to be three hours (actual performance time 2 hours 23 minutes). We couldn't make the 10:23 pm train back to South Amboy, so had to wait around Penn Station until the 11:18 pm train. Other than that, it was a good evening.
The oratorio was not an "original" composition in that Bach "assembled" (to use the word in the Program Notes) it by adapting his earlier compositions. The Notes also says many of the original sources are now lost, so I wonder how musicologists can make this claim. That the Oratorio was assembled would explain why different instruments were used for different constituent cantatas. For example, timpani were not used in several of the cantatas, and some had horns, and some had trumpets. For one aria (Part IV, no. 39) a clarinet and a voice were "off-stage" as echoes, to good effect. We could see the clarinetist, but couldn't find the voice (but noticed her absence in the choir). The only tune I know was the one from "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" which Bach harmonized from an old tune; it was used both in I (no. 5) and VI (no. 64, the last number, done triumphally).
The Oratorio was written in 1734-1735, with Bach drawing on secular work he wrote for several political occasions in 1733 and 1734 (BWV 213-215 per Program Notes). Bach did make substantial modifications to the original compositions, and wrote new movements altogether. (I have no idea how a musicologist would distinguish "new" from "lost.") For tonight's performance, both a harpsichord and a theorbo were used; I found it difficult to pick out the sounds of these instruments, even though the musicians seemed to be playing often.
Wikipedia has a lengthy article on this Oratorio, and describes the six cantata as follows. The first three cantatas are for the first three days of Christmas, the fourth for New Year's Day, the fifth for the first Sunday in the New Year, and the sixth for the Feast of Epiphany. The topics for the cantatas don't exactly match the gospel readings as outlined in the church calendar. Instead they are I. The Birth; II. The Announcement to the Shepherds; III. The Adoration of the Shepherds; IV. The Circumcision and the naming of Jesus; V. The Journey of the Magi; and VI. The Adoration of the Magi. The first four parts draw their texts mostly from the Gospel of Luke, and Parts V and VI from Matthew. The first performance of the cycle was Christmas season 1734 through Epiphany Day in 1735. The complete Oratorio wasn't performed again until 1857.
The acoustics for our seats in the balcony was very good. On occasion the soloists were a bit on the weak side, especially in the second half. But there was a lot of singing - especially for the tenor Haji, who also doubled as the Evangelist. The OSL is on the small side. I counted 6 violins in each section, and 4 violas. Labadie started La Chapelle and continues to lead it. For tonight there were 28 singers.
Intermission was after Part III.
For the Christmas season many organizations perform Messiah, Nutcracker, and a Christmas Carol. I wonder if the Christmas Oratorio is one of those regulars; if it is, then I am really embarrassed that this is when I first heard it.
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