Christmas Oratorio

The grandeur and unbridled joy of the start of the Christmas Oratorio is one of the great openings in music. Bach paints the story of the nativity over an expansive canvas of six cantatas, four of which we hear tonight, with performers including a group of outstanding young international soloists. Together they lead us from resounding celebration to sublime intimacy during the first days of life, and melancholy hints of the suffering to come.