CD + DVD + Blu-Ray:
Bach: Christmas Oratorio – Thomanerchor Leipzig

Accentus is releasing Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” with Thomanerchor and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig from St. Thomas Church on CD, DVD and Blu-ray.

For many, the Christmas holiday season would be incomplete without the resounding drum roll and trumpet fanfare opening Bach’s “Oratorium auf die Heilige Weynacht” (“Oratorio for the holy Christmas”). Ever since it was first performed by the Thomaskantor between Christmas Day in 1734 and Epiphany 1735 in Leipzig’s two main churches of St. Thomas and St. Nikolai, Bach’s six-part musical masterpiece has become a cornerstone of the city’s identity and musical heritage. The performance presented here, a rendition by Thomanerchor and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, led by Bach’s 17th successor Gotthold Schwarz and featuring a lineup of renowned soloists, presents audiences with an unforgettable experience of the festive grandeur of what many consider the epitome of Christmas music in its original setting.

“Gotthold Schwarz transforms this into a Christmas Oratorio that is far more than a sum of its parts […] his musical rhetoric avoids cheap gimmicks and vain showmanship.”
(Peter Korfmacher, LVZ)

A production of Accentus Music in cooperation with MDR and Arte.

ACC30469 – Double-CD – EAN: 4260234832068
ACC20479 – Double-DVD – EAN: 4260234832105
ACC10479 – BD – EAN: 4260234832099
Release Date: 18 October 2019

Production Company Accentus Music GmbH
Assoc. Prod. Company MDR/ARTE
TV Director Ute Feudel
Choir Thomanerchor Leipzig
Orchestra / Band Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Conductor Gotthold Schwarz
Composer Johann Sebastian Bach
English title of music work Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 - Cantatas I – VI
Soloists Dorothee Mields (soprano), Elvira Bill (alto), Patrick Grahl (tenor/Evangelist), Markus Schäfer (tenor/arias), Klaus Häger (bass)