Hometeam Effort in Efurt

A nicely balanced oratorio.

Whereas most oratorios broach the hour-and-a-half to two-hour mark, Wetz's Christmas Oratorio is a solid 70 minutes.

That is more than enough time to visit the various locales of the Holy Story, offer your soloists some individual opportunities to show off, throw in some ensemble and choral numbers, and still get home to see the kids before bed.

Sometimes when the Three Wise Men are integrated into a musical story, a bit of exoticism flies in. That is not the case here; this is completely the realm of German late-Romanticism.

Not a bad production overall; I have heard worse from regional performers. Also, because this is live, their abilities are put to the test. As the only recording of the work however, there isn't too much to complain about. Everyone piles on at the end, and the audience walks home happily.

A review from 2022

Aside from the perennial Messiah, the concert halls and recorded catalogs are not particularly stuffed with diverse Christmas Cantatas and Oratorios. Thankfully, a couple of record labels keep exploring forgotten material to branch out and explore. Here CPO resurrects late-Romantic German composer Richard Wetz’s Christmas Oratorio, a 70-minute work for chorus, orchestra, and soloists.

Here, the Christmas Story is divided into three major parts, par for the course in these sorts of works, and each part is divided into a number of smaller sections spotlighting different performing contributors. Wetz’s musical style is almost cinematic, wholly approachable, thoroughly Teutonic sounding, with nary a hint of the exotic, and the finale itself is a tour-de-force that must be heard.

Wetz invests quite a bit of variety, never subjecting the listener to too much sumptuous lyricism nor showboating drama for any extended length of time. It makes a convincing case for this music, since Wetz’s music is evolving, changing, and always on the move. I dare say, while we get the requisite soulful prayerfulness and glorious praises the Christmas story tends to cover, I detect an unexpected fearfulness too, and it makes the proceedings most interesting.

The soloists are both rather fine, and if I didn’t think Sólyom-Nagy’s baritone was the strongest nor consistent, Zumbült’s soprano was delightful. The chorus is local to Erfurt, Germany, incidentally where Richard Wetz spent his livelihood. They are well drilled if not the final word in symphonic choirs, where there are some tuning and ensemble issues.

The performing forces are all regional players and singers of Germany. This simply means there are loose threads apparent in the playing and singing that you would never get from a professional production. It is a minor defect though, for never did I feel it ruined any of the music and all are invested wholeheartedly. GA Albrecht leads the performance with great joy and CPO’s sonics are very good.

A colourful and exciting work that is great fun to explore. If you like delving into different choral music for the holiday season, this late-Romantic classical music offering is a good one. The physical media also comes with song texts and translations and the live settings yields no audience noise.

Listen on YouTube

 

Works
A Christmas Oratorio

Soloists
Marietta Zumbült, soprano
Máté Sólyom-Nagy, baritone

Ensembles
Dombergchor Efurt
Efurt Philharmonic Choir
Thuringian Chamber Orchestra Weimar

Label: CPO
Year: 2011
Total Timing: 70.02

 

Another one to chalk up on the Yuletide list.

I like this one better than some, less than others. It is of a musical style I do not normally visit too often, but it didn't bother me much.

A good one to try out!

 

 

 

 

Find more Wetz recordings HERE!