My Christmas traditionally starts with the Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach sung by Cantores Minores boy choir. After a break of two years I managed to hear them again this year. This time CM performed before the oratorio Bach’s Magnificat. I was really looking forward to the evening, since the tenor/Evangelist role was sung by my absolute favourite Tuomas Katajala.
CM sung the best known version of Magnificat in D Major (including the Christmas hymns, though). The style of the piece is totally different from the Christmas Oratorio; each voice sings its own text and the work sounds a lot more multi-faceted. The arias of the soloists are also clearly shorter. Since Magnificat is more unknown to me, I perhaps did not quite catch all the nuances of it.
After Magnificat there was an intermission of 15 minutes before the Christmas Oratorio. Even though I have heard this oratorio on countless Christmases, it still has the power to energize me and I find new details within the well-known music.
The groups of soloist was great this year. Tuomas Katajala as the Evangelist was, of course, the star of the group. His voice is absolutely divine. Hedvig Paulig’s soprano also rang beautifully. The bass was originally supposed to be Juha Kotilainen, but he had fallen ill, the bass part was sung (really well) by Tommi Hakala. He was a bit under the weather in Magnificat (perhaps the part was not 100 % suitable for him), but in the Christmas Oratorio he was magnificent. And the duet by the soprano and the bass was pure ear candy. The weak link of the performance was the alto – Maria Kettunen. She definitely did not reach the level of the other soloists. The first aria of the Christmas Oratorio went rather well and for a while there was a feeling that she managed to warm up her voice during the intermission, but the other alto parts were rather weak.
The groups of soloist was great this year. Tuomas Katajala as the Evangelist was, of course, the star of the group. His voice is absolutely divine. Hedvig Paulig’s soprano also rang beautifully. The bass was originally supposed to be Juha Kotilainen, but he had fallen ill, the bass part was sung (really well) by Tommi Hakala. He was a bit under the weather in Magnificat (perhaps the part was not 100 % suitable for him), but in the Christmas Oratorio he was magnificent. And the duet by the soprano and the bass was pure ear candy. The weak link of the performance was the alto – Maria Kettunen. She definitely did not reach the level of the other soloists. The first aria of the Christmas Oratorio went rather well and for a while there was a feeling that she managed to warm up her voice during the intermission, but the other alto parts were rather weak.
The orchestra of the evening was the Finnish Baroque Orchestra. It was once again proved that they are skilled musicians.
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| Maria Kettunen and Tuomas Katajala with Cantores Minores |
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| Hedvig Paulig and Tommi Hakala |
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