Easter Hymn
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
On this Easter Sunday, we offer the familiar and inspiring Easter Hymn from Mascagni’s famous opera, “Cavalleria rusticana.” Lamberto Gardelli conducts the Royal Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Covent Garden.
Bach’s “Easter Oratorio,” like so many of his sacred compositions, is a reworking of material from a secular festivity; in this case, the original was a congratulatory cantata on the birthday of Duke Christian of Saxony-Weissenfels that underwent a couple of revisions before the work we know as the Oratorio finally emerged. Whatever the vicissitudes of it creation, the work is a glorious one, and the performance by the excellent soloists and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Ton Koopman is equally glorious.
Bach’s “Easter Oratorio,” like so many of his sacred compositions, is a reworking of material from a secular festivity; in this case, the original was a congratulatory cantata on the birthday of Duke Christian of Saxony-Weissenfels that underwent a couple of revisions before the work we know as the Oratorio finally emerged. Whatever the vicissitudes of it creation, the work is a glorious one, and the performance by the excellent soloists and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Ton Koopman is equally glorious.
