2nd recording of Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Recorded at Waldhausen, Stiftskirche (1981)
adapted for CD
Customer review (2005):
The performance is vintage Harnoncourt. A trail-blazing advocate of authentic performance practice, his approach may not please purists. Apparently, some controversial aspects of this performance (choices in instrumentation, in voices and disposition of the parts) have made for a certain defensiveness on the part of the Conductor. In an interview, he asserts that conveying the spirit of the work is his primary concern. As this recording is nearly 25 years old, it hardly seems fair to compare it to today's more rigorous notion of "period performance". The Orchestra sounds fine (although there are some intonation problems amongst the period horns), the Tolzer boys choir are quite good and Tenor Peter Schreier is superb, if not at his peak here! Bass Robert Holl is also excellent. Bach's magnificent score played lovingly and well that makes it worth owning.
