MSO Bach's Christmas Oratorio
Even days before Thanksgiving, the MSO is in full festive mode for the holiday season. A large Christmas tree sits at the base of the Bradley Symphony Center’s spiral staircase, and the hall itself is quite literally decked, not with boughs of holly, but with poinsettias and smaller trees and white lights. These surroundings were ideal for taking in a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.
Maestro Ken-David Masur and the MSO leadership made the right call in not performing the entirety of this massive work (2.5 hours in total and logistically quite ambitious) but instead playing just the first three of the six total cantatas of which is it comprised. The MSO Chorus, in reduced numbers, sang from the stage rather than up in the loft. Another good call, allowing for tighter coordination with the instrumental ensemble.
What I noticed most in this performance was Masur’s attention to the chorales. His interpretation involved a lot of massaging of tempos to emphasize certain text. The results were striking, and the message did indeed come through. Masur clearly has a passion for both the music of Bach (he developed a two-part Bach Festival at the MSO this year) and the spiritual considerations of this piece. Before an audience singalong of two chorales at the end of the concert, he spoke on how the chorales represent the common people, allowing anyone to find a way into the music and subsequently the message.
Feeling and Warmth
Of the four solo singers recruited for this performance, mezzo-soprano Georgia Burashko had the most arias. In Cantata I’s “Bereite dich, Zion”, she embraced Bach’s sense of rhythm and leaned into some of the strong emphases in a pleasing way. I didn’t care for her rapid vibrato, and she didn’t project as strongly as the male singers, but her other arias, “Schlafe, mein Liebster” and “Schliesse, mein Herze” were full of feeling and warm tone.
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Matthew Swenson, a replacement for the originally billed tenor, was quite impressive. All of his recitatives came off wonderfully, smooth in legato lines and clear and pointed elsewhere. In his solo aria “Frohe Hirten”, he showed great agility and an operatic sensibility. His voice was a great match for this music. I would have been happy to hear him sing the other tenor arias that were unperformed!
Baritone Daniel Ochoa, German-born, showed his command of the language by performing his solos from memory with impeccable diction. In his first recitative I was struck by how he balanced a sense of dignity while also conveying human fragility. His aria “Grosser Herr, o starker König” had a few muddy moments (bass melismas tend to do that) but when he hit his sweet spot it was powerfully expressive.
Message from an Angel
I wish this segment of the music had included more soprano solos, because I liked what I heard from Marisa Karchin. Her single recitative, a message from an angel, was appropriately light and pure. And the soprano/bass duet “Herr, dein Mitleid” in Cantata III was lovely.
The MSO Chorus gave satisfying performances throughout the night. The opening chorus of Cantata I, “Jauchzet, frohlocket”, had crisp entrances and incisiveness. In Cantata II, “Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe” bustled along nicely, though I would have liked more power overall. As I previously mentioned, the chorales had the strongest effect, owing to Masur’s special vision.
Regarding the instrumental component of the performance, the wind section and the trumpets excelled throughout, with the strings a bit indistinct. In the Sinfonia opening Cantata II, a gorgeous reedy sound came through in the winds, but I also heard many beats inexplicably rushed, and I think the strings were at fault. Winds were again perfectly poised in the soprano/bass duet in Cantata III. Once again, huge kudos to Katherine Young Steele in particular for her contributions on oboe and English horn in this performance. Principal flutist Sonora Slocum was great in the tenor aria, but she could have cranked the volume a little more since the tenor’s voice projected so strongly. Concertmaster Jinwoo Lee’s violin solo in the alto aria “Schleise, mein Herze” sounded a little stiff to me. The trumpets were especially golden and regal in the opening chorus of Cantata III. Here and there I heard some tempo disagreements from various instruments, but not enough to derail any one movement. Some balance issues also crept in from time to time, not as consistently as during the Bach Festival in March, but I think these may just be unavoidable when performing Bach in a large hall.
I’m glad Masur pushed to program this work and assembled fine performers to execute it. What I remember most from this concert is, once again, the striking treatment of the chorales, and tenor Matthew Swenson as a standout singer who made even recitatives glorious vocal moments.
