Rejoice and be merry!

Which music would you pack for the proverbial desert island? Let’s say you have a generous twelve choices. Eleven of them require a bit of thought and consideration, after all, there’s not exactly a lack of choice. The twelfth choice, however, is self-evident and obvious: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is music for all eternity – and, if you’re not a stickler for details, it’s also for all seasons. Despite its almost 300 years of age, it sounds as if Bach’s ink had just dried on the page: fresh, festive, fervent, yet full of intimate passion. The oratorio consists of six individual cantatas, one for each of the feast days from Christmas to Epiphany. The Gürzenich Orchestra offers the rare luxury of hearing all six parts together on one day. Not only does this guarantee almost three hours of acoustic anticipation of Christmas, it also enables the listener to compare the individual cantatas in their singularity, discovering new connections. After these two concerts, however, the fundamental decision will not have altered: the Christmas Oratorio is a necessity when packing for that desert island. Christmas happens everywhere, after all – that much is certain!