Johann Sebastian Bach himself thought very highly of his Easter Oratorio BWV 249 of 1725. Even though it never attained the popularity of the Christmas Oratorio, Bach himself performed it four times during his lifetime. Some parts of the oratorio originated as parody movements from the birthday cantata "Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen" for Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weißenfels. The second work on this CD, the Ascension oratorio "Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen" BWV 11 (1735) also goes back to another work, namely "Froher Tag, verlangte Stunde," a no longer extant cantata composed for the inauguration of the new St. Thomas’s School. In his recording, Frieder Bernius demonstrates at the highest level, that both these oratorios are masterpieces which do not need to hide behind their better known sibling works. - Carus-Verlag, (translated from German text.)
