Bach: Christmas Oratorio

Gardiner’s celebrated Christmas Oratorio, first released in 1987, offered at midprice for the first time With soloists including Anthony Rolfe Johnson (Evangelist), Nancy Argenta and Anne Sofie von Otter. Includes new liner notes and translations of sung texts. “With John Eliot Gardiner's uniquely open-shouldered and virtuoso Bach performances, the new 'period' generation was transformed in a trice from the mid-1980s. The poetic sensibility and vocal allure of Anthony Rolfe Johnson is as memorable here . . . The solo singing is seamlessly distinguished, from Anne Sofie von Otter's bloom-filled and pliably decorated 'Bereite dich' to the recitative quartet at the end. This is indeed a highly accomplished and consistent reading, one where Bach's sense of imagery is especially keenly developed.” -- Gramophone