As with any great work of art, there are many ways to approach Bach’s
Christmas Oratorio. I really enjoyed Stephen Layton’s,
but it’s strikingly different from many and I suspect it might
polarise listeners. The main “issue”, if that’s
the right word for it, is its distance from the unfolding story, choosing
instead to focus on the beauty of the music rather than the drama.
I often felt as though I was witnessing Layton’s performance
from a distance, almost as through a display case, rather than engaging
with it as an active participant. Part of the problem is the echoey
acoustic of Trinity College Chapel. It’s unusually resonant
for a work like this, the kind of space that would suit unaccompanied
polyphony to a T but not quite right for a work with as many voices
(instrumental and sung) as the Christmas Oratorio. That means
that the big choruses that begin each cantata sound a little muddy
and unclear, and even the soloists have a quality about them that
seems far away and a little uninvolved. That’s not just down
to the acoustic, though, but also to elements of Layton’s approach.
There is a pleasing sense of celebration about the opening chorus,
for example. The orchestral playing in the ritornellos is buoyant
and here - as, indeed, everywhere on the disc - the choir enunciate
their words with admirable articulacy. However, the approach is notably
more restrained than the euphoria that, say, Gardiner or Koopman brings
to the work. That may be more to your taste, though I was waiting
and hoping for Layton to loosen the reins a little. That was something
that kept worrying me throughout the recording, almost identically
so in the choruses that bookend the final cantata. As a case in point,
the Ehre sei Gott chorus in Cantata 2 takes its time with its
praise where Gardiner seems to burst off the page.
In some cases that slightly distanced approach is fairly effective,
particularly with the contributions from Iestyn Davies. His voice
has seldom sounded more beautiful than here, and his arias are all
spine-tingling, with a peculiarly ethereal quality. That’s especially
true, predictably, in the great Schlafe meine Liebster. However,
that means that he always feels like a somewhat distant commentator
rather than a living, breathing part of the unfolding story. Nowhere
is this more pronounced than at the moment in Cantata 5 when he comments
on the Wise Men’s query about where to find the King of the
Jews. He sounds like a voice from another world rather than a Soul
who is actively interacting with the Biblical characters. Nothing
wrong with that necessarily but you have to make the decision to buy
into it. It’s a greater problem with the Evangelist of James
Gilchrist: again, never less than beautiful but, to my ears, similarly
distant from the unfolding drama. He seems to comment from a neutral
perspective rather than paint a picture that unfolds before our ears.
That’s less of a problem when it comes to his arias and I quite
liked the way that Frohe Hirten seems to come from one of the
angel messengers rather than from an earthly colleague who is egging
the shepherds on. He also sings the semi-quaver runs of Ich will
nur dir zu Ehren leben with impressive precision and he sounds
lovely during the sixth cantata in Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde
schrecken. Katherine Watson’s soprano is agreeably silvery
giving a lovely rendition of the echo duet, Flößt, mein
Heiland. She sounds very warm in Nur ein Wink in the final
part. Matthew Brook brings earthy authority to the bass part. His
Grosser Herr is a delightful combination of jubilation and
jollity, for example. Also his recitatives brought me closer to the
drama of the story than any of the other participants.
The sound made by the chorus is really very good, so long as you can
accept the acoustic. For all of Layton’s restraint, they give
all they can to the numbers that open each cantata. They suit the
chorales much better, however, particularly the thoughtful ones like
Wie soll ich dich empfangen, and the quiet confidence of chorales
like Brich an also sound great. The orchestral playing is delightful,
and the various obbligatos are done with virtuosity and a sparkle
of delight. There are marvellously characterful solos at every point.
Perhaps it helped that the recording sessions were in January when
Christmas was still fresh in everyone’s minds.
I don’t want to sound too down on this recording: there is a
lot about the performances to enjoy and, as I said above, if you want
to wallow in the beauty of Bach’s score then few recordings
will allow you to do so with as much pleasure. Many will feel, however,
that there is a lot more to the Christmas Oratorio than that,
and if you want urgent drama you will need to look elsewhere. We are
so lucky to have so many at our disposal nowadays. For me, the finest
is still Gardiner’s 1987 set. Revelatory in its day, it still
sounds brilliant twenty-five years later, with outstanding recorded
sound and performances that seem to burst out of your speakers. Layton’s
version has an attractive slim dual case, though, and full texts and
translations are included.
Simon Thompson
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Quinn
