Bach, Weihnachtsoratorium

Rejoice and be glad! At the start of Advent, the King's Consort choir and orchestra are getting ahead of the game by performing the first three cantatas of Bach's Christmas Oratorio at the Alte Oper as part of the Frankfurt Bach Concerts. But before one of the most popular works in musical history begins with its distinctive five drumbeats, the British baroque experts will stay close to the liturgical calendar. Bach composed his chorale cantata 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme' (Awake, the voice calls us) for the 27th Sunday after Trinity, and it was first performed in Leipzig on 25 November 1731 — almost exactly 295 years ago. The eponymous signal call in the lush opening chorus has a magnetic effect all of its own, and it is no surprise that the cantata is one of the most popular in the Leipzig Thomaskantor's oeuvre. With the King's Consort, one of the world's leading ensembles for historical performance practice, it is in the best of hands!