Karl Münchinger, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Lübecker Kantorei - Johann Sebastian Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium / Christmas Oratorio (1997)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 774 Mb | Total time: 79:53+79:14 | Scans included
Classical | Label: DECCA | # 455 410-2 | Recorded: 1966
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 774 Mb | Total time: 79:53+79:14 | Scans included
Classical | Label: DECCA | # 455 410-2 | Recorded: 1966
Previous recordings allotted the words of the angel in the Evangelist's narration of No. 13 to the tenor, but Münchinger rightly, in my view, gives them to the Angel. His direction is more lively and, where called for, more dramatic than in the competing version under Richter, and the Decca recording has, also, an extra brightness and clarity lacking in the DGG. The soloists are admirable in both versions, and in both, also, the Pastoral Symphony is beautifully played.