There were probably snowdrifts on the streets (no one heard of snowploughs back then!) and the icy wind was reaching every corner of the unheated churches. Maybe so, but I still envy those citizens of Leipzig who, on 25 December 1734, heard for the first time the joyful Jauchzet, frohlocket! This is how, to the accompaniment of trumpets and timpani, the first of the six cantatas that make up Johann Sebastian Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium begins. The story of Christmas, brilliantly told with sounds, will be recalled by Capella Cracoviensis, which spreads this huge work over two evenings (26 January: cantatas I-III, 27 January: cantatas IV-VI). It also breaks with the 19th-century monumentalism and proposes a cast that may have been available to Bach himself: the choral and solo parts will be performed by a chamber ensemble of eight singers. As Capella Cracoviensis declares, this will be the first such performance of the Christmas Oratorio in Kraków. So, perhaps there’s no need to envy the Leipzig bourgeoisie after all…
Johann Sebastian Bach Weihnachtsoratorium
26 January, 7pm: cantatas I–III
27 January, 7pm: cantatas IV–VI
Capella Cracoviensis choir and orchestra on period instruments
Jan Tomasz Adamus conductor
