Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Here is a splendid Christmas box for those that enjoy Baroque music, both choral and instrumental. Four CDs plus a comprehensive booklet from the extensive and well-respected Harmonia Mundi back catalogue should offer something for everyone. And there's the rub - while all the content is well worth hearing prospective purchasers will want to check for duplication in their collection. Disc One, a double CD, presents Johan Sebastian Bach's popular 'Christmas Oratorio' (BWV 242) as directed by Rene Jacobs and first released in 1997. One could quibble that this is not really an oratorio in the way that Bach's Passions clearly were, being more a series of cantatas spread across Advent while the composer was perhaps distracted by his monumental late keyboard works. But nevertheless the music, even where Bach recycles material, is magnificent and all the performers, including the RIAS Kammerchor, the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, and the four soloists, are top class. But, if you will permit me a personal opinion, I still prefer Suzuki's Collegium Japan version on BIS. Disc Two takes us west to France with Marc-Antoine Charpentier's 'Pastoral de Noel', and 'Grandes Antiennes O de l'Advent' performed by the Ensemble Correspondances under Sébastien Daucé from 2016. While I have heard some of the O Antiphons in church services, I find it hard to imagine the Pastoral getting played outside of a concert hall but it is tuneful and if you like Baroque and have yet to hear Charpentier this is a good place to make his better acquaintance. Disc Three gathers together "famous works" by, deep breath, Arcangelo Corelli (1693-1713), Johann Rosenmuller (c 1619-1684), Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672), Louis Claude Daquin (1694-1772), Domenico Zipolo (1688-1726) and Claude Benigne Balbastre (1727-1799) from albums first released between 1976 and 2004, that take us from instrumental ensembles to choral pieces and some rousing organ works, showing us the range of styles encompassed by the term "Baroque". Yes, some Handel would have been nice although the Christmas parts of 'Messiah' are easy enough to find elsewhere and all in all this is a thorough survey of the genre from some well-respected performers. My only caveat, as I said at the top, is to check how much of this you already own but for those ready to go deeper this is well worth investigating.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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