Holiday Music - Part I
Perhaps due to attempts by the Christian right to
dominate the landscape, more recordings of seasonal fare have come my way in
2006 than in the past seven years. Merrily skipping through the pile uncovers
some choice stuffing for your stocking.
|
Simply Christmas – Home for the
Holidays (Sony Classical 82876-88581-2)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Hats off to this assortment of delightful
recordings set down between 1989 and 1997. The Boston Brass skillfully hold
back to deliver an appropriately mellow rendition of "The Little Drummer
Boy," and the fabulous clarinetist Richard Stoltzman swings his way through
the snow on four selections in the company of acoustic bassist Eddie Gomez,
harpist Emily Mitchell, and others. Ayako Shinozaki's harp sounds a bit too
literal and closely recorded for my taste, but the London Festival
Orchestra's sonority more than compensates. Throw in Michala Petri's joyful
recorder, James Galway fluting away on Handel's Pifa, and you have an
ideal disc to put you in the holiday spirit. |
|
|
The Stan Kenton Christmas Carols: Boston
Brass and the Brass All-Stars Band (Summit Records DCD 464)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Unconventional jazz arrangements from Stan
Kenton and Ralph Carmichael featuring, instead of the usual saxophones,
French horns amongst a complement of brass instruments. The Boston Brass
quintet, including many current and former members of Canadian Brass and
Empire Brass, are quite a sonorous lot. So too are the new arrangements by
J.D. Shaw and Sam Pilafian. Trust me, Greensleeves will never be the
same. If you can forget classic reverence and ditch sanctimonious piety,
this retake on Kenton's admittedly reluctant undertaking of 1961 may strike
the right chord. It won't be a hushed one, that's for sure. |
|
|
The Sixteen: A Traditional
Christmas Carol Collection (Coro COR 16043)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Famed conductor Harry Christopher's English
choir of 16, at times accompanied by organ, lute, and/or guitar, provides
expert renditions of familiar tunes with traditional English words and
harmonies. The repackaged 1991 performance would have sounded richer had it
either been recorded in analog sound, or with today's advanced digital
technology. Still, if it's a boom box or iPod you're using, this lovely,
unpretentious collection will do just fine. |
|
|
Andy Statman: Awakening from
Above (Shefa Records Horn 3002)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Andy Statman is an inspired clarinetist whose
ecstatic improvisations on Chasidic themes express the mystical nature of
Judaism. Sometimes solo, sometimes with the spare accompaniment of Jim
Whitney's double bass and Larry Eagle's drums and percussion, Andy's
clarinet celebrates the Divine through wild, oft unbridled flights and leaps
into the unknown. Statman's magic can seize you unexpected, inducing altered
states in those willing to surrender. |
|
|
Swing Time Christmas (NTI CD
7005)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Classic, well-remastered swing and r&b takes
on the holidays by black artists, recorded between 1947 and 1953. Artists
include Big Joe Turner, Mabel Scott (her "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" was #12
on the R&B charts in 1948), Dexter Gordon, Charles Brown, and others. What's
not to like? |
|
|
Mychael Danna: The Nativity Story
(New Line Records-available Dec. 1)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Judging from the score for the forthcoming
full-length film, The Nativity Story, the saga of Mary and Joseph's
life as they traveled to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus was accompanied by
substantial bombast. Hearing European instruments from the Middle Ages and
Renaissance amidst the flourishes is lovely, but what the lambs in the
manger would do with so much Hollywood excess is open to question. I prefer
to graze in gentler, less artificial environs. |
|
|
Susan Egan: Winter Tracks (LML
Music)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Complete with Christopher McGovern's "The
Turkey and the Stuffing," the first seasonal song I've heard to bask in
brand recognition, Susan Egan lends her fetchingly sweet, teasing voice to
an enjoyable collection of mostly contemporary Christmas tunes plus the
token Jewish prayer. A fine disc for the start of a winter's evening with
those you love. |
|
|
Grex Vocalis: Magnum Mysterium
(2L26 SACD)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Captured in optional multi-channel 5.1
surround sound, this beautifully recorded high-resolution disc presents
mesmerizing Norwegian, English, and Latin language performances of music and
arrangements by Lauridsen, Darke, Victoria, Palestrina, Grieg, Palestrina,
and anonymous Norwegians of centuries past. The warm acoustic of Oslo's
Uranienborg Church helps send these renditions straight to the heart.
Multi-thumbs up! |
|
|
Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Messe &
Te Deum À Huit Voix • Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet (Glossa GCDSA
921161)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Okay, it wasn't written for Christmas, but I
can't help praising these wonderful performances of Charpentier's heavenly
music. Recorded in optional 5-channel, high-resolution surround in Paris'
Notre Dame du Liban, Niquet's celebrated ensemble offers 80-minutes of
sacred bliss. |
|
|
The Orlando Consort: Medieval
Christmas (Harmonia Mundi HMU 907418)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
The award-winning vocal consort, here
augmented by bass Robert MacDonald, sings Christmas music from the secular
celebrations and liturgy of medieval England, France, and the Low Countries.
Organized into groupings such as "Prophecy," "New Year's Day," and "The
Carol," the performances serve double duty by providing insight into
medieval Europe's mentality and mindset. Starting with the 11th
century's earliest noted polyphony, and extending through two short works by
noted 15th century composer Antoine Brumel, this beautiful
program is self-recommending.
|
|
|
Eton College Chapel Choir:
Christmas Music from Eton College (Sanctuary Classics RSN 3076)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
This reissue brings even more pleasure than
upon its initial release. The singing by the classic Eton College Chapel
Choir of men and boys is exceptional, the clear and resonant acoustic
ideally suited for an unusual program that encompasses the 16th
century (Ockegem) to the 20th (Britten and Tavener). Highest possible
recommendation.
|
|
|
Ikon: The Sixteen (Decca
B0006825-02)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Harry Christopher's fine a cappella ensemble,
complete with some impressive deep basses, provide a newly recorded
collection of decidedly uncheery 20th century sacred vocal music
from Eastern and Western Europe. The music is profound, often written in
minor keys that create a distinctly Christian universe filled with
reverence.
|
|
|
Jakub Jan Ryba: Czeck Christmas
Mass • Christmas Carols (Supraphon DVD SU 7013-9)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Ryba's simple, folk-like mass of 1796 here
receives a sweet rendition by authentic forces. The remainder of the DVD
consists of historic Christmas songs, sung while the camera variously
focuses on antique mechanical toys and people in traditional garb who
gleefully strum and sing as though they haven't a care in the world. Call it
charming, call it kitsch, Czech it out.
|
|
|
Christmas Break: Relaxing Jazz
for the Holidays (Telarc CD-83657)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Once you begin to partake of these twelve
smoothly flowing tracks by Oscar Peterson, Mel Tormé, Dave Brubeck, Gerry
Mulligan, George Shearing, Ray Brown, Al di Meola, Jeanie Bryson, Kenny
Baron, and Jim Hall, you'll know why this excellently recorded compilation
is destined to become a classic. Unless you feel less than holy without high
drama for the holidays, absolutely do not hesitate. |
|
|
J. S. Bach: Christmas Oratorio
Highlights • Helmuth Rilling (Hänssler Classics 98.271)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Who can adequately describe the joy, love, and
good spirits that abound in Bach's great (and, in complete form, quite
lengthy) Weihnachts-Oratorium? I wouldn't be without several other competing
versions, but Rilling, soloists, and the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart do a fine
job sharing music that uplifts the spirit with the wonders of non-stop
melodic invention. |
|
|
Boris Karloff: Prokofieff's Peter
and the Wolf (Vanguard Classics ATM CD 1803)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
At last! The perfect gift for young and old
alike, a reissue of Boris Karloff's classic 1957 narration with Mario Rossi
conducting the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Instead of sounding as though
he's going to suck blood, the 70-year old Karloff (née William Henry Pratt)
is infinitely charming. Complete with Prokofieff's justly popular Lieutenant
Kijé Suite, this disc is a must! |
|
|
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Christmas
Music (Chandos CHAN 10385)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Drama and heart-tugging outpourings that
sometimes verge on the saccharine abound in these premiere recordings of
famed English composer Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols
and On Christmas Night, plus the score to the Nativity Play, The
First Nowell. Conductor Richard Hickox, the City of London Sinfonia, and
the Joyful Company of Singers (how English!) remind us that Hollywood
holdeth not the exclusive rights to sentimentality. Baritone Roderick
Williams is especially good at laying it on thick. The lighter spread,
please.
|
|
|
Advent in Winchester: O Come,
Emmanuel • Winchester Cathedral Choir, Andrew Lumsden (Griffin GCCD
4052)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Hey. I was born Jewish. How was I to know
(until my husband told me) that this disc was intended for four weeks before
Christmas? Most important is the première recording of James Macmillan's
seven-minute "Laudi alla vergine Maria." The program is generous and varied,
the composers ranging from Bach and Byrd to Howells and Stanford. |
|
|
Anonymous 4: Gloryland (Harmonia
Mundi HMU 907400)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
Time traveling once again, the best-selling
American women's vocal quartet Anonymous 4 journeys far from their usual
hangout - the medieval monastery - to the, birthplace of America's folks
songs, spirituals, revival songs, and gospel hymns. The voices, acoustic,
and occasional accompaniment from fiddler Darol Anger and multi-stringer
Mike Marshall are irresistibly fetching, and the accents are amusing in a
homely sort of way. A great alternative to another disc of well-worn carols. |
|
|
Christmas with Winchester College
Chapel Choir • Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, William Lacey (Naxos
DVD 2.110512)
|
0 |
5 |
Performance |
|
Sonics |
|
|
This fine, 100-minute surround sound DVD,
recorded in Hong Kong before an extremely reverent audience, includes
Corelli's Concerto Grosso "Christmas Concerto;" works by Praetorius, Rodney
Bennett, Tavener, and Weir; four selections by J.S. Bach; Handel's Concerto
Grosso in F plus 32 minutes of excerpts from Messiah; and three
traditional carols. No authentic instruments, but enough fine playing and
good intentions to carry you through the New Year.
|
- Jason Victor Serinus
-
Terms and Conditions of Use
|