Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Parts 1-3
Friday 1 December 2000, 8 pm
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Parts 4-6
Saturday 2 December, 2000, 8 pm
Sacred Heart Church, Grey St, St Kilda
Melbourne Early Music Festival in Association with Ensemble Gombert
Subscription Concerts 4 & 5
Nowadays the Christmas Oratorio is usually performed as a single monumental work, but with significant cuts to bring it within the limits of an evening’s entertainment. It originated, however, as a series of six cantatas for the Christmas season, the first three belonging to Christmas Day and the two days following, the fourth to the Feast of the Circumcision (1 January), the fifth to the following Sunday, and the sixth to the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January). Performance over two nights allows us to present the work in its entirety. In this joint production with the Melbourne Early Music Festival, Ensemble Gombert is joined by soloists and Concentus Australis.
| SOPRANO | ALTO | TENOR | BASS |
| Deborah Summerbell | Jenny George | Peter Campbell | Andrew Fysh |
| Carol Veldhoven | Jennifer Mathers | Peter Neustupny | Thomas Drent |
| Maria Pisani | Barbara Tattam | Vaughan McAlley | Jonathan Wallis |
| Claerwen Jones | Stuart Tennant | John Weretka |
–
Guest singers:
Kathryn Pisani, Sophie Pinkham, Jane Phillips, Katherine Norman, Rebecca Bennett – soprano
Susie Furphy, Niki Ebacioni – alto
David Gething, Frank Prain – tenor
Sam Furphy – bass
Soloists:
Helen Gagliano, soprano
Margaret Pearce, soprano
David V. Russell, alto
Alan Maddox, tenor
Stephen Grant, bass
[Carol Veldhoven, soprano
Deborah Summerbell, soprano
Claerwen Jones, soprano]
Concentus Australis
John O’Donnell, conductor
REVIEWS
Wednesday, 6 December 2000, The Age [Melbourne], page 7.
Spirited Farewell
Clive O’Connell
ON THE following night, John O’Donnell’s Ensemble Gombert and the Concentus Australis performed the
last three cantatas of the six that constitute Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. The night turned into an
uncomfortable experience, beginning with some lamentable horn work during the first chorus, Fallt mir
Danken, and concluding with clumsy trumpet trios during the final cantata.
Using single instruments for the string lines meant that their dynamic was too faint for an equable
choir-orchestra balance. As well, many sections were intonatively suspect, apart from Anna McDonald’s top
violin. The horns’ insecurity made for further serious distraction in the sublime Jesus, richte mein Beginnen
chorus; even the oboes strayed off true centre during certain arias.
The one unalloyed success of the night came from the Gombert singers – welcome relief as each chorale and
chorus brought definition and certainty of direction to the works’ progress. The male soloists did not show to
good effect; their soprano counterparts gave more accurate displays, taking care with dynamics and
displaying some consideration for phrasing.
Intense exposure to Bach performances during the Melbourne Festival – including some fine displays of period performance from the Windsbacher Knabenchor, Collegium Vocale Gent and the Bach Collegium
Japan – has raised expectations well above the level reached at this concert, where blemishes were frequent
and obvious.
One also thought kindly of the festival’s Bach series because those occasions did not interpolate intervals
after each individual cantata, as was done on Saturday. If one could have been assured of the security of
instrumental production and pitch, as well as the musicality and stamina of all soloists, having two breaks
might have been tolerable. As it was, the program’s length outweighed its few pleasures.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age
Monday, 4th of December 2000, The Herald Sun [Melbourne], page 94.
Gremlins play havoc with Bach’s Christmas music
Johanna Selleck
SURELY there were gremlins at work on Saturday night, playing mischievous havoc with Bach’s Christmas
Oratorio.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did.
After a scrambled opening, the performance crumbled like a house of cards.
Perhaps the humidity might have contributed to some of the severe intonation problems experienced by
Concentus Australis but the laxity of the ensemble was another matter.
The only section of the orchestra that escaped momentary lapses was the two flutes, Greg Dikmans and
Alison Catanach, whose performance on the Friday night was delightful.
The first three parts of the oratorio presented on Friday were uneventful, and even a little flat.
Ensemble Gombert did manage to project a radiant sound, often overpowering an inadequate string section.
The offerings from the soloists were frequently nervy and on the whole mediocre, with the exception of
Stephen Grant, whose solid bass was dependable and expressive on both nights.
Margaret Pearce (soprano) was also in fine voice on Friday evening.
Grant and Pearce combined with perky oboe d’amores in Herr, dein Mitleid to produce a rare highlight.
Tenor Alan Maddox did not escape a certain thinness in the upper register, while alto David Russell was at
his best in Schlafe, mein Liebster where he captured a purity of sonority and air of calm that was suitably
tailored to the text.
On Saturday there was little that rose above the mire and most of the blame rests squarely with the orchestra
rather than the choir.
Ensemble Gombert have never, in my experience, been involved with anything less than exceptional — so one
fall from grace is not too much to pardon.