Performer: Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent

The Christmas Oratorio is an odd work to perform in concert, but it makes a welcome change from the obligatory annual Messiah. Bach’s piece contains six separate cantatas that tell the traditional Nativity narrative, all subsumed under the broader theme.

The world’s largest gathering of early music artists and professionals, the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, marked its final concert on Sunday 2 September with a full-house performance by the Collegium Vocale Gent. Led by Philippe Herreweghe, the ensemble has been dedicated since the 1970s to the pursuit of Baroque sonorities and performance practice.

On Saturday, Philippe Herreweghe conducted the season’s most solemn yet spectacular oratorio concert in New York – a performance of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Scored for two choirs, two orchestras, and soloists, this almost operatic depiction of Christ’s Passion was performed by Herreweghe’s Collegium Vocale Gent Choir and Orchestra.

Chor und Orchester des Collegium Vocale Gent und ihr charismatischer Leiter Philippe Herreweghe, längst Legenden der historischen Aufführungspraxis, beweisen, dass die Doppelchörigkeit der Matthäus-Passion nicht nur ein Stereo-Phänomen ist.

Philippe Herreweghe ofreció una versión de la Pasión según san Mateo al frente del coro y la orquesta Collegium Vocale Gent de notable factura, emocionante y extremadamente expresiva.

Eine Nachfeier CVGs 50. Jubiläums mit perfektionslüsternder Vertrautheit und Geborgenheit der Stimmen in Anbetracht werklicher Durchdringung, prächtiger Berichtspflicht und Menschlichmachung.