Mattheson is best remembered for his duel with Handel after a row during his opera Cleopatra. Some argue that he was one of the most talented German composers of his generation but this has been difficult to judge until recently because much of his music was stolen from Hamburg and taken to Armenia at the end of the Second World War, and not repatriated until 1998. Das grösste Kind was written for Hamburg Cathedral’s Christmas celebrations in 1720, although it uses a libretto set by Keiser 13 years earlier. It presents Mary, Joseph, some shepherds and some allegorical personages, rejoicing in the stable after the birth of Christ. This is the second Mattheson oratorio recording by the Cologne Academy and its American director Michael Alexander Willens (Der liebreiche und geduldige David was released last year).

Unlike the solemn David oratorio, Das grösste Kind is magnificent, as befits its festive origin, and the Cologne Academy’s trumpets and horns blaze marvellously in the choruses (a splendid setting of “In dulci jubilo” crops up several times). The singers function as concertists throughout, performing all of the solo and choral parts without much external reinforcement (only two of the eight singers do not perform named roles in addition to their choral duties). The singers mix their solo and choral duties capably: Susanne Rydén’s fluttery timbre is happily unobtrusive in Maria’s jubilant “Israel! freue dich” (which features a simple yet highly effective horn solo), but fares less well in the oratorio’s last aria; Wolf Matthias Friedrich smoothly navigates Joseph’s taxing high passages. Willens achieves an impeccably stylish and enjoyable performance of an attractive obscurity. Hopefully more Mattheson of such quality will emerge.