Johann Sebastian BACH: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248/Cantatas 1 and 2
Jauchzet, frohlocket, BWV 248/1
Und es waren Hirten, BWV 248/2
***
Robert SCHUMANN: Nachtlied (Night Song), Op. 108
Arthur HONEGGER: Une cantate de Noël (A Christmas Cantata), H. 212

Csilla Kovács soprano
Dorottya Láng alto
Bernhard Berchtold tenor
Zsombor Cserményi bass

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School (choirmaster: Borbála Sapszon)

Conductor: György Vashegyi

This year’s Christmas Concert by the Hungarian National Philharmonic does not offer a single large-scale work, but instead serves up a colourful selection of compositions representing different eras and styles. An exalted festive atmosphere in the first half will be conjured up by the joyful and dynamic yet spiritually uplifting and radiant music of Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685–1750) Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas 1 and 2: Jauchzet, frohlocket and Und es waren Hirten. Robert Schumann’s (1810–1856) Nachtlied (Night Song), composed in 1849 to a poem by Friedrich Hebbel, is scored for an eight-part mixed choir and orchestra. The Christmas cantata Une cantate de Noël by the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger (1892–1955) dates from 1953 and was his final composition. This three-part work, written for baritone solo, children’s choir, mixed choir, organ and orchestra, narrates the story of Jesus’s birth. Dorottya Láng, Bernhard Berchtold and Zsombor Cserményi are dedicated performers of the oratorio repertoire who will be familiar to the audience from György Vashegyi’s productions. György Vashegyi, founder and director of the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, is not only a central figure in Hungary’s historically informed early music scene, his artistic interests also span the entire history of music, transcending genres and stylistic boundaries. In addition to the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos), the concert also features the choir of the Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School, founded in 1988 by Ferenc Sapszon Jr., with Borbála Sapszon as its choirmaster.