Soprano Morag Atchison gave Maria a true Wagnerian treatment. Photo / Supplied
Bach Musica delivers a yuletide surprise for the year's end.
Basing its final concert for the year on Sunday around the theme of a German Christmas was a shrewd move for Bach Musica. Conductor Rita Paczian has always been drawn to the obscure and forgotten; programmes have often featured the New Zealand premieres of music first heard on the other
side of the world a century or more ago.
On Sunday the rarity was the 1890 Der Stern von Bethlehem, a cantata by German composer Josef Rheinberger, best remembered for his organ works and legendary pedantry as a teacher.
It was lightish fare, essentially Mendelssohnian in spirit, but substantially tinted with Wagnerian washes. Yet there was no denying its charm and, from the very first page, it offered the choristers the opportunity for strong, confident singing.
The orchestra, too, more than played its part, under Paczian's astute baton.
