Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel was a contemporary of Bach and Telemann, active for most of his life at Gotha in central Germany. The music here is not going to cause any reevaluation of the primacy of those composers, but it doesn't sound much like either one. As such, it will interest lovers of the German Baroque. The most striking feature of the music is its simplicity. Sample the final chorale, "Wo ist der Freuden Ort?" (Where is the place of joy?) of the first of the Christmas oratorio cantatas recorded here (track 12). Modeled on the hymn In dulci jubilo, it is a limpid bit of music as far as can be imagined from a harmonically supersaturated Bach chorale. The informative booklet notes suggest that Stölzel's chorales could have been intended for congregational performance. Though simple, the music is still written in a festive mode, with trumpets and drums. The arias are less stark than the chorales, but they still have a certain minimal orientation, especially in the very delicate readings delivered by the soloists here. Sample the tracks featuring soprano Ute Schulze (track 17, for example) or alto Schirin Partowi (track 9) to see whether these unusual singers fit your taste. The Kammerchor der MarienKantorei Lemgo is one of those regional German choirs that astonishes with its rich sound and ensemble artistry, and the instrumental work from the historical-instrument group Handel's Company is clean and lively. The disc is a bit confusing for the general listener, especially those who do not understand German (the work texts are given only in that language). The cover seems to suggest a complete Christmas Oratorio, although a mysterious floating "Vol. 2" muddies the issue. What's happening is that the Stölzel Christmas Oratorio, like that of Bach, consists of a series of separate cantatas depicting different parts of the Christmas story rather than being a single dramatic entity like Handel's Messiah (actually an Easter oratorio). Stölzel wrote six cantatas, only three of which are recorded here. However, each is self-contained. Also included are a New Year's cantata, Gehet zu seinen Toren ein, and an introductory Te Deum, also written in an entirely straightforward language. MDG's usual superb sound is a major attraction here; recording in a church, with a complex set of forces, the engineers make everything not only clear but evocative of the music's original settings.
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