Johann Sebastian Bach |Christmas Oratorio BWV 248

Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Rondeau Production present the new recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s well-known Christmas Oratorio: in terms of sound, the new double CD really does have something special to offer. All the vocal parts – both the choruses and the solo parts – are performed by the Ensemble Polyharmonique. In the professional world, the eight singers are highly praised for their impressive and stylistically accurate interpretations of early music. The Thuringian Bach Collegium performs in soloistic instrumentation under the direction of its concertmaster Gernot Süßmuth. Outstanding among the historical instruments of this new recording is the Wender organ of the Bach Church in Arnstadt, on which Johann Sebastian Bach himself once played. Arnstadt church musician Jörg Reddin enriches the continuo group in the choirs with the festive sound of the large church organ, giving the music a brilliant timbre that the small chest organs commonly used today cannot offer.