With over thirty years of experience in Baroque music, the remarkable Il Gardellino ensemble and the Flemish Radio Choir, directed by Bart Van Reyn, offer a superb version of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's oratorio, The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. Written around 1774, this oratorio made a great impression on the composer's contemporaries, including Mozart, who conducted it in 1788.
This work is divided into two parts of more or less equal length—the first devoted to the Resurrection of Christ, the second to his Ascension into Heaven. It differs from many oratorios of the time due to the almost non-existent dramaturgy of Karl Wilhelm Ramler's libretto, which favours the expression of emotions and feelings over a picaresque vision of this biblical story.
The meticulous 1992 version performed by the Collegium Vocale Gent under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe left a lasting impression. Bart Van Reyn opts here for a slightly lower pitch and an accelerated tempo, and the result is a performance that really lives up to his predecessor! With its dramatic tension, this new approach is an undeniable success. © Pierre Lamy/Qobuz