Christmas Oratorio
Thursday
07.12.2023
19:30 — Victoria Hall
Series S
Opera & Voice
programme
Diego Fasolis
conductor
Lydia Teuscher
soprano
Lucia Cirillo
contralto
Bernhard Berchtold
tenor
Klaus Mertens
bass-baritone
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne
orchestra
Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne
choir
Johann Sebastian Bach
Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, cantata No. 1 'Am ersten Weihnachtstag'
Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, cantata No. 2 'Am zweiten Weihnachtstag'
Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, cantata No. 3 'Am dritten Weihnachtstag'
Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, cantata No. 6 'Am Epiphaniasfest'
the music
Bach conceived his Christmas Oratorio as a coherent whole in the form of six cantatas intended to be played during the thirteen liturgical days of Christmas time, reusing earlier compositions as usual. Let us not forget that the composers of that time did not expect to be replayed, which explains the frequent reuses that Bach made of his own music in order not to lose his work. He drew on virtually all the opening choruses and arias in his fairly recent secular and sacred works. However, the genius of Bach and the patina of Time have erased all traces of disparity by giving the process of parody the illusion of a work entirely written for the occasion. Diego Fasolis has chosen to present four cantatas. The first is written for Christmas morning by greeting “the greatest of Kings”, the second evokes the annunciation to the shepherds in a very pastoral atmosphere. The third cantata is the moment of adoration of the shepherds while the sixth will conclude our program with the Adoration of the Magi in a brilliant manner with trumpet and timpani forces in joyful exaltation.