Bach: Oratorio de Noël by Bach, J. S., From (2023/2023), Conductor Valentin Tournet, Chapelle Royale, Versailles, France

In 1734 in Leipzig, Bach composed his Christmas Oratorio, consisting of six cantatas, for the Christmas season. Full of life and enthusiasm, this work magnifies the alternation of the great choruses typical of Bach's choral art, and the solo arias telling the moving and marvellous story of the Nativity and the recognition of Christ's divinity by the shepherds and the three kings. Bringing together an orchestra that is always lively and supportive of the musical discourse, armed with drums and trumpets for the glorious passages and the joy of the faithful, Bach dedicates some of his most beautiful arias to the soloists, while the sumptuous choruses punctuate each cantata with extraordinary glory! Valentin Tournet directs the choir and orchestra of the Chapelle Harmonique, which is well accustomed to the Royal Chapel!