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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play.  The Christmas Oratorio, Bach's six-part cantata cycle, was presented by The Monteverdi Choir under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner at the Heiderkirche in Weimar in December 2000 as the culmination of a year-long pilgrimage. Gardiner's mission had been to perform Bach's complete canon of liturgical cantatas, in appropriate religious settings, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer's death. This is a magical record of a splendid musical occasion. Although the Oratorio is seasonal, the tale and the manner of its telling repay repeated listening regardless of the time of year. The commitment of Gardiner, his singers and musicians is deeply moving and is heightened by the splendid Baroque surroundings. The story, related largely by tenor Christoph Genz, is a rich tapestry of musical textures, ranging from the celebratory pastoral opening to the poignancy of many of the solo passages (soprano Claron McFadden's bell-like tones soar, in particular). In one of the accompanying brief documentaries, Gardiner says that at a time when we're weighed down with wallpaper music, Bach provides a means of escape through his sacred music. The proof is in the holistic nature of this piece, with its combined senses of nature at work and order, represented by the discipline of the music itself, of almost mathematical proportions. Sublime.