Flamboyant Christmas Oratorio from Stephen Layton and the OAE

The OAE and Polyphony in Smith Square Hall

Anna Dennis and the OAE

By Patrick Maxwell, 22 December 2024

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“James Gilchrist has not lost any of his storytelling ability”

Reviewed at Smith Square Hall, London on 22 December 2024

Bach, Christmas Oratorio, BWV248: Jauchzet, frohlocket

Bach, Christmas Oratorio, BWV248: Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend

Bach, Christmas Oratorio, BWV248: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen

Corelli, Concerto grosso in G minor "Christmas Concerto", Op.6 no.8

Anna Dennis, Soprano

Iestyn Davies, Countertenor

James Gilchrist, Tenor

Ashley Riches, Baritone

Polyphony

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Stephen Layton, Conductor

Immersive OAE submerged at Southbank’s Multitudes festival

Mark Valencia, 22nd April

The road to immersion is paved with modish deflections as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performs 20th-century English string music.

**111

Mixed Mozart from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Dominic Lowe, 26th February

A Mozart's of symphonies – his last – under conductor Robin Ticciati is capped with a fine Jupiter, but is let down by the performances of its two predecessors.

***11

John Butt and the OAE celebrate Handel's Solomon

Roy Westbrook, 12th October

The Queen of Sheba is clearly in a hurry in this account of Handel's oratorio at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

*****

Enescu Festival immersion: Bach on the street, Klimt in the forest

Peter Quantrill, 11th September

At the George Enescu International Festival, a pair of new shows crossing genres and reinventing the classics, with mostly enlightening results.

****1

Brandstrup Breaking Bach with the OAE at EIF

Kathy Elgin, 20th August

Kim Brandstrup choreographs Bach favourites based on hip hop and street dance. Lie back on the bean bags at Usher Hall and enjoy...

****1

A strong new Figaro opens at Glyndebourne

Dominic Lowe, 29th June

Mariame Clément is a popular director at Glyndebourne, and her new production of Figaro shows her trademark approach to hardhitting comedy.

****1

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Patrick Maxwell

Patrick Maxwell is a writer and journalist, based as a historian at New College, Oxford. He regularly reviews books for The Big Issue in Scotland, writes editions of Russian literature for Warbler Press in New York and on news and culture for the online magazine The Article in London. A chorister at Westminster Abbey, he sings in the Choir of New College, and is the Conducting Scholar of Schola Cantorum. Patrick divides his time between Oxford and London.

Flamboyant Christmas Oratorio from Stephen Layton and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment