Weihnachtsoratorium Windsbacher Knabenchor

• 1 Coro: 'Tönet, ihr Pauken!' 07:52
• 2 Evangelista: 'Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit' 01:23
• 3 Recitativo (Alto): 'Nun wird mein liebster Bräutigam' 01:00
• 4 Aria (Alto): 'Bereite dich, Zion' 05:33
• 5 Choral: 'Wie soll ich dich empfangen' 01:35
• 6 Evangelista: 'Und sie gebar' 00:24
• 7 Choral/Recitativo (Bass): 'Er ist auf Erden kommen arm' 02:59
• 8 Aria (Bass): 'Großer Herr, o starker König' 05:16
• 9 Choral: 'Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein ' 01:34
• 10 Sinfonia 05:55
• 11 Evangelista: 'Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend' 00:47
• 12 Choral: 'Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht' 01:10
• 13 Evangelista/Angelus (Soprano): 'Und der Engel sprach zu ihnen' 00:50
• 14 Recitativo (Bass): 'Was Gott dem Abraham verheißen' 00:49
• 15 Aria (Tenor): 'Frohe Hirten, eilt' 03:40
• 16 Evangelista: 'Und das habt zum Zeichen' 00:21
• 17 Choral: 'Schaut hin! dort liegt im finstern Stall' 00:51
• 18 Recitativo (Bass) : 'So geht denn hin' 00:55
• 19 Aria (Alto): 'Schlafe, mein Liebster' 09:54
• 20 Evangelista: 'Und alsobald war da bei dem Engel' 00:13
• 21 Coro: 'Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe' 02:51
• 22 Recitativo (Bass): 'So recht, ihr Engel' 00:31
• 23 Choral: 'Wir singen dir in deinem Heer' 01:30
• 24 Coro: 'Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen' 01:51
• 25 Evangelista: 'Und da die Engel' 00:09
• 26 Coro: 'Lasset uns nun gehen' 00:48
• 27 Recitativo (Basso): 'Er hat sein Volk getröst' ' 00:47
• 28 Choral: 'Dies hat er alles uns getan' 00:51
• 29 Aria Duetto (Soprano, Bass): 'Herr, dein Mitleid' 07:38
• 30 Evangelista: 'Und sie kamen eilend' 01:25
• 31 Aria (Alto): 'Schließe, mein Herze' 05:57
• 32 Recitativo (Alto): 'Ja, ja! mein Herz' 00:28
• 33 Choral: 'Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren' 00:59
• 34 Choral: 'Seid froh dieweil' 00:46
• 35 Coro: 'Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen' 02:01
• 36 Coro: 'Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben' 05:14
• 37 Evangelista: 'Und da acht Tage um waren' 00:36
• 38 Recitativo (Soprano, Bass): 'Immanuel, o süßes Wort!' 02:49
• 39 Aria (Sporano, Echo): 'Flößt mein Heiland' 05:32
• 40 Recitativo (Soprano, Bass): 'Wohlan! Dein Name soll allein' 01:40
• 41 Aria (Tenor): 'Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben' 04:43
• 42 Choral: 'Jesus richte mein Beginnen ' 02:25
• 43 Coro: 'Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen ' 06:48
• 44 Evangelista: 'Da Jesus geboren war' 00:25
• 45 Coro e Alto: 'Wo ist der neugeborne König der Juden?' 02:06
• 46 Choral: 'Dein Glanz all Finsternis verzehrt' 01:01
• 47 Aria (Bass): 'Erleucht auch meine finstre Sinnen' 04:35
• 48 Evangelista: 'Da das der König Herodes hörte' 00:11
• 49 Recitativo: 'Warum wollt ihr erschrecken?' 00:36
• 50 Evangelista: 'Und ließ versammlen alle Hohepriester' 01:24
• 51 Aria Terzetto (Soprano, Alto, Tenor): 'Ach, wenn wird die Zeit erscheinen' 05:34
• 52 Recitativo (Alto): 'Mein Liebster herrschet schon' 00:30
• 53 Choral: 'Zwar ist solche Herzensstube' 01:12
• 54 Evangelista: 'Und die Hirten kehrten wieder um' 00:24
• 55 Coro: 'Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben' 04:22
• 56 Evangelista/Herodes (Bass): 'Da berief Herodes' 00:43
• 57 Recitativo (Soprano): 'Du Falscher, suche nur' 00:59
• 58 Aria (Soprano): 'Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen' 03:31
• 59 Evangelista: 'Als sie nun den König gehöret hatten' 01:20
• 60 Choral: 'Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier' 01:16
• 61 Evangelista: 'Und Gott befahl ihnen im Traum' 00:23
• 62 Recitativo (Tenor): 'So geht!' 01:54
• 63 Aria (Tenor): 'Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken' 04:10
• 64 Recitativo à 4 (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass): 'Was will der Höllen Schrecken nun' 00:30
• 65 Choral: 'Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen' 03:14
• Total Runtime 02:31:40

Info for Weihnachtsoratorium

Karl-Friedrich Beringer, presents J. S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio lively, fresh and filled with vibe. The Christmas Oratorio is certainly one of Bach's most famous works for soloists, choir and orchestra. The Windsbacher Knabenchor and the Muenchner Bachsolisten are presenting with this record an outstanding interpretation. The soloists Juliane Banse, Cornelia Kallisch, Markus Schäfer, Robert Swensen and Thomas Quasthoff impress with their great performance. Under the direction of Karl-Friedrich Beringer, Bach's work is filled with jubilation and joy and sounds in full bloom.

At the end of 2011 Beringer has announced that he will give up the artistic direction of the Windsbacher Knabenchor. For 34 years he was the director of this famous boys choir. Winter & Winter has selected this record as one of the highlights of Beringer's actions and work.

Windsbacher Knabenchor
Münchner Bachsolisten
Juliane Banse, Soprano
Cornelia Kallisch, Alto
Markus Schäfer, Tenor & Evangelista
Robert Swensen, Tenor
Thomas Quasthoff, Bass Bariton
Martin Dürr, boy's soprano, Echo
Karl-Friedrich Beringer, Conductor

Windsbacher Knabenchor Cultivating Voices for Over Sixty Years Since its founding by Hans Thamm in 1946, the Windsbach Boys Choir has deeply influenced generations of young singers. The boys in the original choir who joined at age nine are now in their 70s; the boys entering the current choir could be their grandchildren! Over 1500 boys and young men have spent significant years of their lives here in Windsbach. The choir gives approximately seventy performances a year in Germany and abroad, reaching some 35,000 concertgoers. As the first post-WWII German ensemble to perform in Israel, the choir wrote history with its rendition of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion there. The choir has also acted as a musical ambassador for Germany at official state visits of several German presidents. In the anniversary year of 2006, the choir was able to look back on its stunning development: from the provincial choir that it was in the 1950s, it has evolved into one of the most respected boys choirs in the world. For this accomplishment, it is grateful to its founder and especially his successor, Karl-Friedrich Beringer.

Biographical information about the artistic director Karl-Friedrich Beringer:
„The purest sound,“ raved the heading in the Hamburg Woche’s review, inspired by a concert of the Windsbach Boys Choir. Karl-Friedrich Beringer’s newly released CD of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the choir was praised as „outstanding“ by Berlin Radio (rbb). In Nürnberg, the concert reviews commended Beringer’s ability to „give breath to the coordination of sound“. Karl-Friedrich Beringer has directed the Windsbach Boys Choir since 1978 and led the choir to international renown. In his musical work with the choir, he focuses on the great a cappella literature from the Renaissance to the present, yet he also works regularly with outstanding orchestras, such as the Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester (Berlin), the German Chamber Virtuosos of Berlin, and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. In 2003, Beringer appeared for the first time as guest conductor with the Academy for Early Music of Berlin. As a choral and orchestral conductor, Beringer has appeared with the Windsbach Boys Choir at many international music festivals, including the Bachfest in Schaffhausen, Leipzig’s International Bach Festival, the Brandenburg Sommer Concerts, and the Rheingau Music Festival. The status that he enjoys with the choir has drawn many invitations to important festivals and concert tours (USA, South America, Japan, and Israel). For his performances of J. S. Bach’s great choral works (B-minor Mass, St. Matthew and St. John Passions) and G. F. Handel’s Messiah, as well as Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Elijah, W. A. Mozart’s Requiem, and Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Karl-Friedrich Beringer has received particular recognition. Most of these works have been released on CD, or in television and radio productions. For his many cultural and musical accomplishments, Beringer has received many awards, including an honorary doctorate from the theological seminary „Augustana“ in Neuendettelsau in 2008.

About the Münchner Bachsolisten:
In 1962, Otto Büchner, a well-known violinist and Professor at the Munich Conservatory, founded a highly qualified string chamber orchestra, which gave important concerts in Germany and other countries in close cooperation with Karl Richter. In 1982 interested and experienced Bach musicians got together again and founded the Munich Bach Soloists (= MBS) with Hans Schuster as the conductor. The chamber orchestra gives regular concerts with the Windsbacher Knabenchor. TV productions, guest performances and tours with these ensembles have become regular events, like at the Old Opera House in Frankfurt, The Philharmonic Concert Hall in Munich and the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Cologne.

The famous soloists Juliane Banse, Cornelia Kallisch, Markus Schäfer, Robert Swensen und Thomas Quasthof build together with the Windsbacher Knabenchor and the Muenchner Bachsolisten under the direction of Karl Friedrich Beringer a perfect team to create an exceptional performance of this brilliant composition.

This album contains no booklet.