“Rejoice, exult” – John Neumeier turns J S Bach’s Christmas Oratorio into an experience that confronts us all with the most basic questions of trust, hope, faith, doubt and self-sacrifice: “My choreography is not a religious undertaking. We perform to Bach’s music, for a few hours unifying individuals of many different cultural and religious backgrounds. For me, the basic human values expressed through the choreography are always the most important thing. Therefore, in my ballet, Mary is known simply as ‘the Mother’ and Joseph as ‘her Husband’.”

Head of Hamburg Ballet, American-born John Neumeier's celebrated ballet of Bach's complete Christmas Oratorio is now available on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time.

John Neumeier has made a name for himself with dramatic, story-driven ballets. Over the years, he has found great inspiration from emotion-packed works of literature, poetry and music.

Running Time Total: 180 mins (Ballet: 168 mins / Bonus: 12 mins)
Picture: 16:9, HD
Sound: DTS 5.0, PCM Stereo
Subtitles (Christmas Oratorio): German (original language), English, French, Korean, Japanese
Bonus: English (Original language), German
Booklet: English, German, French