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CHAMBER ORCHESTRA REVIEW
Nicholas McGegan
December 2, 2006
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Joyous Holiday Cantatas By Michael Zwiebach
In our modern holiday traditions, concert presenters have firmly ensconced Handel's Messiah as the Christmas season's representative choral work. Well, on Saturday night at Berkeley's First Congregational Church, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra ducked tradition by presenting (gasp!) Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio, from 1734-1735. The ensemble's splendid, detailed performance, with signal contributions from the Philharmonia Chorale, the whole deftly conducted by Music Director Nicholas McGegan, spread joy to the maximum — exactly what we want from our concert music at this time of year.
The Christmas Oratorio comprises six cantatas, intended for performance on six of the Christmas feast days, linked by a complete presentation of the narrative of Jesus' nativity. Although it has some troubled musings on sin and evil — as when the bass sings "Bring light into my dark mind" — the music generally reposes in Bach's most approachable vein.
Listening to the oratorio you can easily hear Bach using the same basic musical language as Handel did in the Messiah six years later. Both composers took the identical approach, for example, to the "Glory to God" chorus, which contrasts the richly scored heavenly host with the plainness of the line "And on earth, peace," sung in a lower register. Bach, of course, chose to make his chorus fugal. Both composers made copious use of celebratory brass in their choral writing, and both provided the obligatory Pastoral Symphony in a gently rocking 6/8 meter. Further, both oratorios overtly link Christmas with Easter, to underline the divine promise of salvation presented in Christian theology by the birth of Jesus.
The Philharmonia performance was graced by superior soloists. As the Evangelist, tenor Thomas Cooley was powerful, always highly dramatic, but sometimes overemphatic. I sensed McGegan's influence in shaping his performance. Soprano Susanne Rydén lived up to her reputation, singing with a full tone and frequently a controlled vibrato. Her alertness to rhythm and diction put a spring in the sharply set-off opening phrases of "Nur ein Wink" (Just a gesture of his hands). And in "Flösst, mein Heiland" (Does your name, my savior, strike terror), Rydén was masterful as she traded phrases with Gonzalo Ruiz on oboe and an offstage soprano echo. The import of the words was conveyed simply and directly, whatever the demands of the music. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Turnbull was a discovery for me, a singer whose breath control and finely spun legato made beautiful sense of the flatward modulations and low register of the middle section of "Lasse dies Wunder" (Let this wonder strengthen your weak faith — the middle section of "Schliesse mein Herze" from Part II). As did Rydén, Turnbull made the German words flow musically over her tongue. Michael Colvin delivered the tenor solos with a bright, forward tone and shaped his phrases with dynamic energy. Nathaniel Watson, the baritone soloist, was all artful elegance, with a touch of reserve that helped to set him apart from the other soloists. The Philharmonia Chorale made short work of even the most intricate writing Bach could throw at them — and that's saying a lot. They phrased the fugues with suppleness and attention to the words, and performed the chorales in a manner that was nicely balanced and finely tuned at the same time.
What can you say of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra that hasn't been said a thousand times? Apart from some sour horn intonation in the opening chorus of Part IV, its playing was sumptuous, the strings blending into a full-bodied sound, the winds colorful but sufficiently restrained. Instrumentalists who partnered with the soloists were unfailingly musical: Stephen Schultz on flute, the Gonzalo Ruiz on oboe, and Carla Moore on violin. John Thiessen handled flawlessly his explosive, virtuoso trumpet solos at the beginning and end of the oratorio. McGegan, perhaps in deference to Bach's less theatrical character, was slightly less exuberant than usual on the podium, yet the performance bore his unmistakable thumbprints, particularly in the care the orchestra took over rhythm. The thrilling concert may have convinced listeners that this piece should assume a place of honor in the rounds of holiday music. (Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph.D. in music history from UC Berkeley.) ©2006 Michael Zwiebach, all rights reserved |
Elizabeth Turnbull
Susanne Rydén
Thomas Cooley
