Kicking off the festive season with the Baroque.
Two years ago, Brett Weymark led the Sydney Philharmonic Choir in a rousing performance of Parts 1-3 of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. This year, the Choir returned with Parts 4-6, under the thoughtful leadership of Dr Elizabeth Scott.
That is not an entirely fair division of labour. It is well known that the best numbers are in the first three cantatas – the robust Großer Herr, the toe-tapping Bereite dich and the triumphant Jauchzet, frohlocket. They were made for the first three days of Christmas.
Yet the final three cantatas, understated as they are, have a charm of their own. As with the first three cantatas, there is a surprising lack of characterisation in the final three. Unlike Schutz’s earlier and more dramatic Weichnachtshistorie, Mary, Jesus and Joseph are nowhere to be seen. Instead, the story is told from the position of the audience.
The choir began Fallt mit Danken with much expectation, although it seemed there were some slips in timing and entries. Christopher Richardson gave a measured performance of the lyrical Immanuel, o süßes Wort, which melds into a dialogue with the soprano section of the choir. Bach was wont to do this. One has only to think of BWV 138. For Bach, it was a rhetorical tactic that appeared to represent the individual soul in contemplation, pitted against the majority.
Of course, no instrument was more evocative of the human soul in the Baroque than the oboe. By far the highlight of the first half was the delightful performance of Flößt, mein Heiland, flößt dein Namen, which features a distinctive echo effect not dissimilar to the cori spezzati of the Venetian Renaissance. Miriam Bannan’s delicate soprano voice was echoed by oboe and soprano voice behind the stage. It is no surprise that the aria was almost pastoral in its simplicity, capturing something of the intimacy of the nativity scene.
Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben is entirely different. It is a virtuosic, toe-tapping, aria made for the opera house, or at least for the garden theatre of Zimmerman’s coffeehouse in Leipzig. It appears to have been appropriated from Bach’s earlier, secular, cantata entitled “Hercules at the Crossroads”. But why must the devil have the best tunes? John Longmuir’s exhortatory voice was well suited to this busy aria, and also to the Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken in the last cantata. Of course, the tenor must always sing with some urgency. But at times it seemed a bit too offensively Bel canto in the recitatives – which was more Joan Sutherland Theatre than Concert Hall – especially when ascending to the higher register.
The fifth cantata begins with a wash of strings. It was by far the most upbeat. The first recitative was like something out of a Passion. The choral interjection had more than hints of the crazed Wir haben keinen Konig from the St John Passion.
The final cantata is replete with dance. Bannan deftly negotiated the meandering curves of the Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen. Fiona Ziegler on principal violin executed virtuosic embellishments with apparent ease. The orchestral accompaniment is so elaborate that it would have been equally at home in the Orchestral Suites. The following chorale was performed a cappella and hushed, to great effect. As is customary, the whole thing was rounded off nicely by a dance-like chorale fantasia.
That was not all. For the encore, Scott treated us to the crowning glory of the Christmas Oratorio – the Jauchzet, frohlocket. The choir and orchestra were at their finest here.
