Search - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Josef Traxel, Johann Sebastian Bach :: Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium

Kurt Thomas: The Courage of Conviction

Johannes Climacus | Beverly, Massachusetts | 08/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kurt Thomas repeatedly ran afoul of the DDR cultural police during his brief tenure as Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Thomaskirche. The comissars took umbrage with his insistence on programming and recording the "religious" works of his famous predecessor, including the *Weihnactsoratorium.* It is therefore something of a miracle--to say nothing of a testament to human courage--that we have this recording at all. That fact alone would be worth an occasional hearing, but in the event Thomas's effort turned out to be one of the better recordings of the work from the "pre-authentic" era.



Throughout the long haul of the oratorio's six parts, Thomas keeps everything moving and conveys a certain toughness, even defiance that is consistently refreshing. Not for him a sentimentalized manger tableau; far from it. Hearing his robust trebles sail confidently into "Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben" (first chorus of Part VI) and Agnes Giebel launch "Nur ein Wink von seine Hände" with a similar bravado, one is struck by the fact that the nativity story, as recounted by Bach and his librettist, is a highly-charged political drama. It's all about the defeat of prideful "principalities and powers" by "a little Word"--God's strength made perfect in our weakness, to borrow a phrase from St. Paul. Some listeners may prefer greater tenderness in certain sections, such as the sublime "Schlafe, mein Liebster." But the very bluffness of Thomas's interpretation paradoxically conveys the work's charm more effectively than a more refined approach.



All this would hardly matter if the performance were substandard from a purely musical point of view; but apart from some patches of suspect intonation from the all-male choir (always a problem where boy sopranos and altos are concerned), occasional stiff phrasing from wind and string obbligati, and moments of strident tone from the trumpets, Thomas elicits a positive musical response from his Leipzig forces.



His soloists make a consistently fine team. I have always found Josef Traxel's full-voiced account of the Evangelist's role and the tenor arias riveting, though some listeners might find him both too strenuous of tone and emphatic of diction. A youthful Fischer-Dieskau graces the bass arias with poise and precision. Giebel, as always, proves a uniquely sensitive Bach interpreter (her duet with Fischer-Dieskau in Part III conveys a remarkable degree of inwardness in a movement that often sounds mechanical). Marga Höffgen has the kind of alto voice one expects in German Bach performances of this period--rather too ample in tone and occasionally stentorian in delivery. But she sings intelligently, with plenty of melting lyricism where that is required.



On LP, as I recall, the early-stereo recording sounded thin and bass-shy throughout, with a certain stridency at higher dynamic levels. Though there is still a hint of "peaking" here and there, the CD transfer has opened up the sound spectrum considerably. The result isn't exactly a sonic spectacular, but it enables one to hear this memorable performance with a minimum of auditory distractions.



Listeners open to baroque performance practice of yesteryear, and those who can appreciate the historic value of this courageous venture should hear this set. Other versions of the Christmas Oratorio may offer better value (try Münchinger on a Decca import), better sonics, more refined choral singing, and more historically-accurate performance practice (for all three desiderata try Gardiner on DG/Archiv); but Kurt Thomas's version, once a mainstay of the LP catalog, still exerts a certain fascination, and remains a deeply moving, as well as musically satisfying, experience. Recommended, particularly to adventurous collectors."

Bach's Christmas Oratorio

W. P. Schaefer | Cincinnati, OH | 04/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD presents an excellent performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, recorded in 1958. I've owned this performance on LPs for years, and the CD has enhanced the sound in a positive manner. The soloists are excellent and the chorus is large, giving a fine ensemble to the singing. Also, the tempos chosen throughout are more relaxed than most modern performances (many of which sound annoyingly fast) -- listen to the audio samples availale on Amazon and compare. Bach's music is so three-dimensional that you can't absorb it when it's too fast. This is a very enjoyable rendition of the Oratorio."