Part 3 begins with a rousing and highly celebratory Coro.  Exquisite
trumpets, excellent choral work, and great propulsion support the music's
themes of exultation, happiness, and the joy/wonder of redemption.  The
nod goes to Jacobs.  His version is the fastest and provides the most
propulsion; his chorus is excellent as well.  And, there's something in
Jacob's performance which is different from the others; he uses a one
voice per part approach in the less robust sections of the Coro.  More
than a nice touch, it's an excellent interpretive decision providing a
fine contrast with the remainder of the piece without harming the themes
of the text.  Jacob's advantage here is not large as each of the other
versions is fully idiomatic.

Next is a very short Evangelist recitative, an energetic chorale, a calming
bass recitative, and a stately/lovely chorus.  It's all over in about 2
minutes.  Jacobs is fastest in the chorale and the most effective; he also
does the chorus very well.  But, his bass, Klaus Hager, is again not of
appealing voice.  Overall, Jacobs has a little edge on the other versions.

It's about time for an aria, and this one's for soprano and bass.  The
text concerns freedom of the soul, and the music is very upbeat, pleasing,
and even a little bubbly.  Gardiner is the one who's bubbly as he offers
the fastest pace, clocking in at a little under seven minutes.  His is the
finest version, not because of his pacing, but because of his soloists,
Nancy Argenta and Olaf Bar.  In a duet the voices need to blend well;
simply putting two great soloists together doesn't carry any automatic
results.  I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of Argenta, but
she and Bar go together perfectly.  Jacobs has Dorothea Roschmann and
Klaus Hager; Roschmann is very good but not as a partner for Hager.  I'm
not sure anyone could partner well with Hager.  Herreweghe's Barbara
Schlick and Peter Kooy aren't close to being a match, and they don't
sound excellent when in solo mode either.  Koopman is a good example that
excellent soloists need not make excellent partners; Lisa Larsson and Klaus
Mertens each have fine voices, but they have no chemistry together (vocal
or emotional).  I felt like they were singing from different buildings.
Gardiner's the one.

Next is another Evangelist recitative, but of more musical substance.  I
expected Jacob's Werner Gura, as usual, to be less appealing of voice than
the others, but he did fine.

The next aria is for alto, and I want to emphasize that all the soloists
(von Otter, von Magnus, Chance, Scholl) were very good or better.  The
better is in the person of von Magnus who's fantastic.  There's a lovely
frailty to her voice which is perfect for a text dealing with the need that
we weak humans have for the devine.  Herreweghe's version deserves special
mention for the fantastic baroque violin contribution; if you ever wonder
why many people love baroque violins, this version provides the answer.
Just listen to the opening of the piece as you're taken to the absolute
edge of the envelope, loving every moment of it.  The other versions
don't get you there.  Overall, Jacobs and Gardiner are fine in the aria,
Herreweghe is special, and Koopman is best.  Slowly but steadily, Koopman
keeps gaining ground on Gardiner, mainly due to his vocal soloists who are
doing great.

Remaining with altos, we have a lovely recitative that von Magnus excels
in.  von Otter and Scholl do well; Chance's voice sounds unattractive.
Then there's a chorus that speaks of a "timeless other life".  Koopman's
is the version that leads me there.  Gardiner is a little too fast with
Jacobs too slow.  Herreweghe's has no magic.

A short Evangelist recitative and a devotional chorus follow.  Jacobs
and Herreweghe use a slow pace in the chorus; it doesn't quite work for
Herreweghe, but Jacobs is excellent - rock solid.  Gardiner's chorus is not
as well blended as the others.  Koopman is as solid as Herreweghe, but his
tempo is a little too quick.  The nod goes to Jacobs with Koopman second.

Part 3 concludes with a Coro da capo which is a repeat of the beginning
of Part 3.  Jacobs, using a one voice per part approach in the inital Coro,
gave the most stunning performance.  As to whether I would "double-count"
it at this point became no concern at all since Jacobs makes the
interpretive decision to dump one part per voice the second time around.
I don't think much of the decision, and it puts Jacobs back in the pack
on this Coro.

Koopman was best in Part 3 as his choral work was very good and his vocal
soloists excellent, particularly van Magnus.  Koopman is now about equal
to Gardiner at the mid-point of the Christmas Oratorio.  Jacobs is on the
bottom; his best opportunity to improve his position would require a change
of tenor and bass soloists - that won't happen.

Don Satz
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