Weihnachtsoratorium: Kantaten IV-VI BWV 248 by Bach, J. S., Sun 16 Dec 2018, From (2018/2018), Conductor Philippe Jordan, Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria

Is it possible at all to imagine, at the end of the Advent season, a more impressive concert experience than the performance of the last three cantatas of the “Christmas Oratorio” by Johann Sebastian Bach? The great cantor of St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig had created this musical narrative of the birth of Jesus, the announcement of the angels and the adoration of the child by the shepherds for the winter holidays in 1735. There, he combined effective choruses and chorales with arioso comments, concise recitatives and intimate arias. The spectrum of musical atmospheres ranges from festive glory to pastoral idyll. With this concert, Philippe Jordan will continue his large-scale and cross-seasonal project of performing the great oratorios and masses of Johann Sebastian Bach with a top ensemble of singers and the Wiener Singakademie choir. Lenneke Ruiten will song instead of Julia Kleiterin today's concert.