Our Favorite Christmas Recordings (CD Reviews)

One of the most delightful dimensions of Christmas is the music that attends the season. From the most devotional church music to familiar carols to popular Christmas songs, music fills the air at this time of the year. At this most wonderful time of the year, we at Classical Candor thought it might be fun to share a few of our favorite Christmas recordings. 

 

Karl Nehring’s Christmas Favorites:

 

Essential Carols: The Very Best of King’s College Choir, Cambridge. (CD1) Hark! the Herald Angels Sing; The First Nowell; While Shepherds Watched; I Saw Three Ships; Ding Dong! Merrily on High; King Jesus Has a Garden; In Dulci Jubilo; Unto Us Is Born a Son; O Come, All Ye Faithful; Away in a Manger; O Little Town of Bethlehem; The Holly and the Ivy; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; See Amid the Winter's Snow; Past Three O' Clock; Invitatory; Adam Lay Ybounden; Gabriel's Message; (CD2) Once in Royal David's City; Sussex Carol; Rocking; Rejoice and Be Merry; The Cherry Tree Carol; The Three Kings; As with Gladness Men of Old; A Great and Mighty Wonder; The Infant King;Balulalow; The Crown of Roses; Christ Was Born on Christmas Day; Blessed Be That Maid Mary; Lute-Book Lullaby; Myn Lyking; Personent Hodie; In the Bleak Mid-Winter; Coventry Carol; Shepherds in the Field Abiding; Torches; Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Simon Preston, Andrew Davis. organ; The Choir of King’s College; David Willcocks, conductor. Decca B0005302-02. This is the straight stuff, traditional carols sung by a young British choir in a beautiful chapel. As you listen, you can almost close your eyes and imagine yourself at a Christmas Eve candlelight service. 

 

A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas. Joy to the World; Carol of the Bells; I Wonder As I Wander; Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance?; Masters in This Hall; The First Noel; How Far Is It to Bethlehem?; Pat-A-Pan; What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger?; One December Bright and Clear; Fantasy on 'What Child Is This?; Hark! the Herald Angels Sing; Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head; Angels from the Realms of Glory; Silent Night. Mormon Tabernacle Choir; Orchestra at Temple Square; Craig Jessop, conductor. Telarc DSD CD-80552. From this side of the pond, another world-class choir serves up a program of traditional Christmas music. Here we have the 350-voice strong Mormon Tabernacle Choir (now known as The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square) with orchestral accompaniment recorded in glorious sound quality by the engineering team at Telarc. Hard to find but worth the search.

 

Christmas Rhapsody. O Come All Ye Faithful / Angels We Have Heard on High / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; I'll Be Home for Christmas / "Going Home" (New World Symphony); Santa Claus Is Coming to Town / Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy; The Christmas Song; Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer / Let It Snow; Ave Maria; O Come O Come Emanuel / O Little Town of Bethlehem / The First Noel; Winter Wonderland / Jingle Bells; Silent Night / O Holy Night; Sweet Little Jesus Boy / Away in a Manger / What Child Is This?; Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring / Amazing Grace; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas; White Christmas. John Bayless, piano. Koch KOC-CD-9610. This is an album that brings a joyous, upbeat holiday spirit into your home. The medleys include carols along with more popular music associated with the holidays. I still remember receiving the CD for review years ago and thinking I was going to hate it – I thought it was going to be superficial, lightweight, New Age fluff. I played it only out of a sense of duty and was delighted – and have played it every year since. It’s a keeper.

 

Joyous Day! Songs of Christmas Arranged by Barlow Bradford. Angels We Have Heard on High; Infant Holy, Infant Lowly; Sussex Carol; Still, Still, Still; I Wonder As I Wander; Pat-a-Pan; Star Candles; Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head; Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella; Suo Gan; Carol of the Bells; Silent Night. Utah Chamber Artists; Barlow Bradford, artistic director. Clarion CLR928CD. Familiar Christmas music from an unfamiliar ensemble, but my goodness, in many ways this deftly arranged and expertly recorded release is the most fully satisfying Christmas recording I have ever heard. Perhaps it is because of the smaller forces involved, but somehow the balance of sound seems just right, perfectly appropriate for the music. Whatever the reason, this CD is a hidden gem of a Christmas recording!

 

Ki ho’alu Christmas: Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. Do You Hear What I Hear?; C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (The Meaning of Christmas); Christmas Carol Waltz; Mele Kalikimaka; Away in a Manger; Winter Wonderland; Christmas Memories; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; Little Drummer Boy; Fireside Ki ho’alu; Medley: Kanaka Waiwai / Jesu Mo Ke Kahuhipa; Po La’i E (Silent Night); Silent Night. Keola Beamer, guitars; Ledward Kaapana, guitar, autoharp; Moses Kahumoku, guitar; Cyril Pahinui, 12-string guitar. voice; James “Bla” Pahinui, guitar; Barney Isaacs, acoustic steel guitar; George Kuo, guitar; Rev. Dennis Kamakahi, 12-string guitar, voice; Ozzie Kotani, guitar; George Kahumoku, 12-string guitar; Cindy Combs, guitar; Joanie Komatsu, guitar, voice; Ruth Komatsu, recorder. Dancing Cat Records 090222-38037-2. For those unfamiliar with slack key guitar, here is a quick explanation courtesy of the good folks at Wikipedia: “slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian kī hōʻalu, which means "loosen the [tuning] key") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii. Nearly all slack key requires retuning the guitar strings from standard (EADGBE), and this usually (but not always) means lowering or "slacking" several strings. The result will most often be an open major chord, although it can also be a major-seventh chord, a sixth, or (rarely) a minor.” Hearing this Christmas music played in these unusual tunings is an ear- and mind-opening experience that will bring a smile to all but the most hidebound mainlander. (To be perfectly honest, though, my very favorite CD in this style is Slack Key Christmas on the Windham Hill label, but sadly enough, it is now out of print and difficult to track down.)

 

We Three Kings - The Roches. Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light; For Unto Us A Child Is Born; Angels We Have Heard On High; Deck The Halls; Christmas Passing Through; Sleigh Ride; Away in a Manger; Here We Come a Carolling; The Little Drummer Boy; The Holly & The Ivy; Frosty The Snowman; Do You Hear What I Hear?; We Three Kings; Star Of Wonder; Winter Wonderland; Joy To The World; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Good King Wenceslas; Jingle Bells; The First Noel; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear; Adeste Fideles; Silver Bells. Maggie Roche, vocals, keyboards; Terre Roche, vocals, guitars, piano; Suzzy Roche, vocals, guitars, keyboards; Vince Cherico, drums and drum programming, percussion; Paul Ossola, bass guitar, upright bass; Victor Lesser, Saxophones. MCA Records / Paradox Records MCAD -10020. This is one of those albums that you will either love or hate. Or you might love it on Monday, hate it on Tuesday, put it away for a few days, but on the Saturday before Christmas, pull it out and love it again. The three sisters harmonize, weave in and out in counterpoint, have some fun, but also show reverence when reverence is called for. Quirky? Yes. But full of the spirit of Christmas. It will make you smile and enjoy the holiday season.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Deluxe Edition). Tannenbaum; What Child Is This; My Little Drum; Linus & Lucy; Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental); Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal); Skating; Hark, The Herald Angels Sing; Christmas Is Coming; Für Elise; The Christmas Song; Tannenbaum (Take 2/recorded September 21, 1965);Tannenbaum (Take 3/recorded September 21, 1965); Greensleeves (Take 6/recorded October 28, 1965); Linus And Lucy (Take 1/recorded September 17, 1965); Christmas Time Is Here (Take 1/recorded September 17, 1965);Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal) (Rehearsal/recording Date Unknown); Christmas Time Is Here (Take 4/recording Date Unknown); Skating (Take 1/recorded September 22, 1965); Jingle Bells (Takes 1-4/recorded September 21, 1965); Christmas Is Coming (Take 3/recorded September 17, 1965); Christmas Is Coming (Take 3/recorded September 21, 1965); Für Elise (Takes 1-2/recording Date Unknown); The Christmas Song (Take 8/recorded October 28, 1965). Ince Guaraldi Trio. Craft Recordings. This is the latest incarnation of a true Christmas classic. According to the Craft website,” this deluxe CD release of A Charlie Brown Christmas features a brand-new Stereo Mix of the classic album remastered from the original three-track and two-track sources, as well as thirteen unreleased outtakes, highlights taken from five sessions of recording material. Amazing in their own right these unheard versions give insight into how this iconic score took shape. The package also features new liner notes from Peanuts historian, Derrick Bang.” For many homes, including mine, Christmas is just not Christmas without frequent playing of this soundtrack, a true Christmas classic.

Bill Heck's Christmas Favorites

What would the holiday season be without Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet? Surely even Ebenezer Scrooge had a soft spot for this lovely, imaginative music and, at least for many of us if not for poor Ebeneezer, the warm memories that it can evoke.

Antal Dorati/London Symphony Orchestra. Mercury Living Presence 475 6623. If we can say that any recording of the complete ballet is the “standard”, this might be it. It is well-played, with tempos that are mostly quick but rarely rushed. The recording, one of the Mercury Living Presence series, is superb for its time and still holds up well. Some may with for a little more atmosphere, both artistically and sonically, but you can hardly go wrong with this as your baseline for how the Nutcracker should be done. 

Seiji Ozawa/Boston Symphony Orchestra. DG 00289 477 5153. Another fine option for the complete ballet, and it’s packaged with Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty in the multi-CD set. This performance seems to have a little more of that aforementioned “atmosphere”, with slightly freer tempi and slightly more sonic clarity to bring out all the marvelous inner parts. I really must give special mention to the Waltz of the Flowers, which is simply stunning; how can one not want to dance along? 

 

Stewart Goodyear (piano arrangement) Steinway STNS 30040. Goodyear’s is not the only piano arrangement of the ballet out there, but is arguably the best, and the arranger plays it well indeed. If, when hearing this, you did not know that it was a transcription of an orchestral piece, you might easily assume that it was originally written for the keyboard. It’s a given that the Steinway engineers do a good job of capturing the sound of – yes – a Steinway.

 

LA Guitar Quartet: Nutcracker Suite Delos DE 3132. Not the complete ballet, of course, but it’s amazing how well Tchaikovsky’s music can be adapted beyond its original orchestral context. Four guitars allow real exploration of the harmonies that were in the orchestral version, but with completely different balances, each line winding its way through a unified whole. The playing is first rate, as is the Delos audiophile-grade sound.

Nutcracker Suite as arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn; played by the Harmonie Ensemble of New York, conducted by Steve Richmond. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907493. Seventeen tracks of syncopated enjoyment. Ellington and Strayhorn work their magic in (re)arranging the originals into a jazzy suite, here played by an excellent big band. (Alas, it appears that the Harmonie Ensemble is now defunct.) Just the thing to cap the holidays and send us off in rousing style!

Bryan Geyer's Christmas Favorites

I'm unable to pick any particular recording, but these two modern era Christmas songs have always seemed more significant than the rest: 

"The Christmas Song" became a Nat King Cole classic and any of his various recordings would be appropriate.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was subject to excessive revision, generally applied to "jolly up" the basic WWII thematic setting. I personally prefer the original, or versions close to it—maybe because I clearly remember those WWII days—but it's catchy stuff regardless of the score.

A Classical Christmas (CD reviews)

Here are two Christmas albums that are poles apart musically, instrumentally, and stylistically. Yet they’re both beautifully presented and remarkably entertaining.

Christmas Time Is Here

Canadian Brass. Steinway & Sons 30027.

Canadian Brass have been tooting their horns for over forty years, and it’s hard to argue with their enthusiastic and virtuosic musicianship. The membership changes occasionally, and with Christmas Time Is Here the lineup includes Eric Reed on horn, Christopher Coletti and Caleb Hudson on trumpets, Achilles Liarmakopoulos on trombone, and Chuck Daellenbach on tuba, with Bill Cahn, percussion. No matter who’s in the group, though, they always sound as though they’ve been performing together forever, they sound so well integrated.

This time out they give us their renditions of eighteen selections made famous in the Charlie Brown Christmas specials, mostly tunes by the late, great jazzman Vince Guaraldi as well as other, more-traditional numbers arranged by Brandon Ridenour. The thing is, the performers in the original cartoons played most of these songs on solo piano or in small, quiet ensembles. How would they translate as performed by a group of brass instruments? The answer: Pretty well.

Not that you won’t have to do a little getting used to them. Each of the numbers conveys a sweet, Charlie Brown Christmas mood, even if the brass players can't entirely communicate the same intimacy of the Vince Guaraldi Trio. There are limits on what their instruments can do. Nevertheless, if you enjoy Canadian Brass, you know they can handle just about any genre, and the album is fun. Look for familiar tunes like "Christmas Is Coming," "O Tannenbaum," "My Little Drum," "Christmas Time Is Here," "Fur Elise," "The Christmas Song," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and many more.

Steinway & Sons, ArkivMusic, and Opening Day Entertainment Group produced the album in 2013 at the Coalition Music Studio, Toronto, Canada. It’s good studio sound, clear and dynamic. There isn't a lot of air around the instruments, though, just a soft, warm glow on the notes. It's comfortable sound, just clean enough to catch and hold one’s attention without being actually in the audiophile category of ultimate transparency. It comes across quite real, though, natural, helping the instruments to appear pretty much as they probably would live.

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:

Joy to the World: An American Christmas

Harry Christophers, Handel and Haydn Society. CORO COR16117.

For those readers who may not know, the Handel and Haydn Society Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus have been around since 1815, the second-oldest musical organization in the U.S. and the country’s oldest continuously performing-arts organization. Harry Christophers has been the Music Director since 2009. They specialize in historically informed performances, and on Joy to the World: An American Christmas they present nineteen mostly traditional carols in as close to their original renditions as possible.

Mr. Christophers tells us his aim was to offer up a survey of some of the most-popular Christmas carols sung in the U.S. The choir certainly presents them in exemplary fashion, their enunciation, phrasing, and emotional range immaculate. What's more, a thoroughly enjoyable and informative set of booklet notes tells us everything we'd probably ever want to know about the origins of each of the songs.

Among the items included we find "I Wonder as I Wander," "O Magnum Mysterium," "Joy to the World," "A Christmas Carol," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (in two versions), "In Dulci Jubilo," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," "Carol of the Bells," and many more.

The Sixteen Productions and CORO Records made the album at WGBH Classical New England Performance Studio, Boston, Massachusetts, in January 2012. Here we have what sounds like a pretty accurate account of real musicians in a real space. The light reflective conditions of the acoustic provide just the right amount of resonance to replicate a lifelike ambience. The voices remain smooth and warm, just as they would if listening to them in person, with no undue brightness or hardness. There is also a wide dynamic range involved, so the voices can swell from a softest whisper to a towering crescendo. Very nice all the way around.

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:

JJP

A Steinway Christmas Album (CD review)

Piano Music for the Season. Jeffrey Biegel, piano. Steinway & Sons 30005.

What would Christmas be without Christmas music? And what Christmas could go by without a slew of new Christmas albums? This piano program, A Steinway Christmas Album, from American pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher Jeffrey Biegel is among the most expressive, creative, and delightful of the crop.

A rousing rendition of Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" opens the show and demonstrates Mr. Biegel's dexterous, virtuosic, festive approach to the music making, giving the old chestnut a sparkling new setting. The next two numbers, by Percy Grainger and J.S. Bach, are in contrast to the first selection, producing more soulful, meditative moods.

In "Quiet Night" we get a novel arrangement of several perennial favorites, "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night," written especially for Mr. Biegel in a touching and quite fascinating combination. Then we find Mel Torme and Robert Wells's "Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"), a must in any seasonal collection, but this time Biegel does it up more sensitively than we usually hear it.

And so it goes with twenty-one tracks, most of them old standards yet all of them sounding somehow new and different. It's a thoughtful collection that also includes music written or arranged by Tchaikovsky, Liszt, and Reger, plus a number of seasonal classics and a few more-recent ones.

Reger's delicate treatment of "Silent Night" and Biegel's extraordinarily lovely interpretation of it exhibit the kind of musicianship you find throughout the album. The entire program is a joy from beginning to end, and I say that without reservation.

You couldn't really have an impressive album of piano music without a really impressive recording of the piano, and this one satisfies the order. Recorded in 2011 in the Concert Hall of the Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, State University of New York, the piano sound has a realistic body and resonance. While being fairly close up, it nevertheless reflects an appropriate degree of hall ambience, the acoustic producing a most-pleasant overall effect.

To its credit, the music on A Steinway Christmas Album is the kind a person can enjoy all year 'round, not just during the weeks in late December. Jeffrey Biegel is an accomplished concert pianist who presents the tunes as he would any serious classical compositions, with much exuberance, emotion, sensitivity, and good cheer as the case demands. The result is an album for all seasons.

JJP

An Appalachian Christmas (CD review)

Mark O'Connor and friends. OMAC Records OMAC-16.

Anytime's a good time for Christmas music, especially when it's done as well, as incisively, as precisely, as joyously as on this album from Mark O'Connor--American jazz, bluegrass, and classical violinist--and a bevy of famous artists. Among the contributors to the program are soprano Renee Fleming, classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, bluegrass-country singer and composer Alison Krauss, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, bassist and composer Edgar Meyer, jazz and pop vocalist Jane Monheit, singer-songwriter James Taylor, mandolinist Chris Thile, country-music singer and songwriter Steve Wariner, and others. It's an all-star cast for an all-star album, worthy of much repeat listening.

One reservation before getting to the music, though: If you're expecting authentic Appalachia bluegrass, you might be in the wrong aisle. An Appalachian Christmas is a pop album through and through, albeit a good one, with modern, sometimes jazzy arrangements and a big, plush sound. The aim appears to be to appeal to as many different types of listeners as possible, not just bluegrass purists or dedicated country fans. To that end, the album succeeds.

From among the sixteen selections on the disc, let me mention just a few. Things begin with Mel Torme and Bob Wells's classic "Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"), here done up by singer Jane Monheit, jazz artists Frank Vignola and Gary Mazaroppi, and violinist O'Connor (who is on all the tracks). Like the rest of the music, it's up close, with good body, definition, and impact but little depth or air. Like the music itself, it's a pure pop sound, what we've come to expect from most albums of popular music for the past few decades. Audiophiles beware.

Next, it's "Away in a Manger" with opera star Renee Fleming, supported by O'Connor and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. OK, that's not exactly Appalachian country, to be sure, and, in fact, while being lovely the number seems rather overproduced for so simple a tune.

On the other hand, "O Christmas Tree" and Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" sound wonderful for their modest, unassuming presentations, the latter highlighted by a healthy, thumping bass. Then, we get James Taylor doing "Ol' Blue," a great old song but one that seems to have only tenuous connections to Christmas.

Although "Carol of the Bells" could have used more bells, the guitar and piano fill in nicely to complement O'Connor's violin. Which brings us to "Slumber My Darling," featuring the voice of Alison Krauss and the cello of Yo-Yo Ma in a touchingly melancholy rendition of the lullaby. It's kind of a showstopper, actually, and may bring tears to your eyes.

"Winter Wonderland" gets a snazzy, upbeat treatment, sung by Jane Monheit again. A few tracks later, Renee Fleming does "Amazing Grace" with just O'Connor accompanying her, and it's another moving moment in the album.

The mandolin in "One Winter Night" and "What Child Is This" is effective, as are the vocals of Steve Wariner in "Now It Belongs to You." Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" finds a pleasant new setting, eventually turning into a jaunty gigue with violin, synthesizer, and the London Studio Orchestra.

The program ends with a violin and guitar account of "Appalachia Waltz," which is as fitting a conclusion to the proceedings as one could want, even if, again, its relationship to Christmas seems flimsy at best.

JJP