{"id":14807,"date":"2013-11-30T10:28:41","date_gmt":"2013-11-29T23:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=14807"},"modified":"2013-11-30T10:28:41","modified_gmt":"2013-11-29T23:28:41","slug":"j-s-bachs-christmas-oratorio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=14807","title":{"rendered":"J S Bach’s Christmas Masterpiece comes to Sydney"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Richard
Richard Tognetti conducts. Image courtesy the Australian Chamber Orchestra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a far away place and time – 18th century Leipzig, to be precise –\u00a0a cycle of six cantatas was created by Johann Sebastian Bach, to celebrate the birth of Christ. Known as the Christmas Oratorio<\/em>, this masterpiece remains one of the most majestic and often performed works\u00a0of the Baroque repertoire in 2013.<\/p>\n

The Australian Chamber Orchestra, directed from the violin\u00a0by Richard Tognetti, is joined by the Choir of London to perform J S Bach’s Christmas Oratorio<\/em> in Sydney in December.<\/p>\n

First performed in 1734, each of the work\u2019s six cantatas celebrates an episode of the Nativity, from Christ\u2019s birth to the arrival of the Magi.\u00a0\u00a0The cantatas were performed over six days,\u00a0commemorating the birth of Jesus (December 25), the angels\u2019 announcement to the shepherds (December 26), the shepherds\u2019 adoration of the baby (December 27), the circumcision and naming of Jesus (New Year\u2019s Day), the coming of the Magi from the East (the Sunday after New Year\u2019s Day) and the Magi\u2019s worship with their gifts (January 6).<\/p>\n

Like\u00a0Bach’s St\u00a0Matthew<\/em> and St John Passion<\/em>,\u00a0the Christmas Oratorio features an\u00a0Evangelist, sung by a\u00a0tenor soloist who acts\u00a0as the narrator, singing verses from the gospels of St Luke and St Matthew. Soloists add to the narrative with\u00a0the choir reflects on the spiritual significance of events\u00a0through the powerful\u00a0chorales and lilting choruses, employing the full forces of choir and orchestra, propose a communal response.<\/p>\n

The Choir of London\u00a0performed under Richard Tognetti’s direction at Festival\u00a0Maribor in\u00a0Slovenia in 2010.\u00a0Comprising singers from Britain\u2019s leading choral baroque specialists, professional chamber choirs and opera companies,\u00a0the soloists are drawn from the\u00a0choir.<\/p>\n

The Choir of London formed in 2003 as a small group of professional singers from Britain who volunteered to\u00a0help a Palestinian choir perform in the Palestine Bach Festival. the choir has maintained a foothold in the Middle East, and\u00a0in 2006, 15 members of the Choir and its Orchestra returned to the Palestinian territories for concerts in Ramallah and Jerusalem, as well as a project with the Sawa Choir for Palestinian children and its adult counterpart, the al-Ba\u2019ath Choir.<\/p>\n

Since then\u00a0the Choir of London has\u00a0returned regularly and helped stage the\u00a0Palestinian Mozart Festival,\u00a0in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nablus, the Palestine Opera Festival and the Palestine Choral Festival, with choirs from the UK and Europe\u00a0joining for\u00a0concerts in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Nablus, with associated events in Jenin, Hebron, Jericho and Nazareth and in several West Bank villages.<\/p>\n

The Choir performs regularly with Israeli choirs and has done a lot of work in the UK with Jewish sacred music. In 2006 it released a recording of Sir John Tavener’s Lament for Jerusalem, <\/em>which\u00a0combines elements of Christian, Judaic and Islamic traditions.<\/p>\n

The Singers:\u00a0Nicholas Mulroy, tenor. the Evangelist,<\/p>\n

Sopranos: Dima Bawab, Charmian Bedford, Sophie Bevan, Anna Dennis, Julia Doyle, Lucy Page, Elaine Tait,<\/p>\n

Altos:\u00a0Fiona Campbell, Annie Gill, Catherine Hopper, Kate Symonds-Joy,<\/p>\n

Tenors: Jeremy Budd, Thomas Hobbs, Richard Rowntree,<\/p>\n

Basses: Alex Ashworth, Samuel Evans, William Humphreys, Richard Latham<\/p>\n

Tickets: http:\/\/www.aco.com.au\/whats_on\/event_detail\/christmas-oratorio<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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