GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors / My Christmas Kirsten Gunlogson (soprano) Ike Hawkersmith (treble) Todd Thomas (baritone) / Chicago Symphony Chorus / Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Alastair Willis [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2008 ] "Naxos have done well to bring such a strong performance to the catalogue at budget price. It all adds up to a fine seasonal treat to be enjoyed with a cup of mulled wine and a mince pie." (MusicWeb Jan 2009) |
TRADITIONAL
Angels: Christmas With The Great Sopranos Leontyne Price, Renee Fleming, Kiri Te Kanawa, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Angela Gheorghiu, etc [ Decca Classics / CD - released 20/Oct/2008 ] A Christmas evening with the greatest of sopranos including Barbara Bonney, Renee Fleming, Leontyne Price & Joan Sutherland. |
J.S. BACH
A Bach Christmas: Magnificat, BWV 243a / Cantata: Christen, atzet diesen Tag / etc Catherine Bott & Elizabeth Scholl (sopranos) Christopher Robson (countertenor) Paul Agnew & Andrew King (tenors) / New London Consort / Philip Pickett [ ABC Philips Eloquence / CD - released 1/Dec/2005 ] "Marvellous life-enhancing music ... can be enjoyed at any time of the year, not just at Christmas" (MusicWeb Feb 2006) |
J. S. BACH
The Passions / Christmas Oratorio / B Minor Mass / Motets Agnes Giebel, Helmut Krebs, etc / Heinrich Schutz-Choir, Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, Fritz Werner [ Warner Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 25/Oct/2004 ] |
J. S. BACH / MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER / ARCANGELO CORELLI / etc
A Baroque Christmas (Limited Edition) Akademie fur Alte Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, René Jacobs / Ensemble 415,Chiara Banchini / Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé [ Harmonia Mundi / 4 CD Box Set - released 4/Oct/2019 ] Ranging from unaffected simplicity to elaborate polyphony, the composers of the 17th and 18th centuries left us some of the most sublime pages of sacred music intended to tell the story of the Nativity. The extraordinary musical legacy produced as a... |
Baroque Christmas: Sanctus
[ Alto / CD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] "this is a studiously well-curated programme (by Jeffrey Skidmore) of music for the Nativity, almost all from the baroque period. In our view It provides a superior and enjoyable listening experience for Christmas-time" (MusicalMerit) "Recommended... |
DAVID BEDNALL
Welcome All Wonders: A Christmas Cantata The Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford / Owen Rees [ Signum / CD - released 29/Jul/2013 ] 'Welcome all Wonders: A Christmas Cantata' is a large-scale work for choir, organ and trumpet spanning 15 movements. It celebrates the Christmas story through an imaginative selection and juxtaposition of poetry and liturgical texts, and provides a... |
Various Artists
The Best Ever: Christmas [ Rhino / 2 CD - released 15/Nov/2017 ] The Best Ever Christmas collection features 40 seasonal favourites in an amazing value package. It includes a selection of classic songs from huge artists such as Chris Rea, East 17, Frankie Valli and The Overtones. |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols Choir of Clare College Cambridge, Graham Ross [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 16/Oct/2020 ] It's Christmas! Graham Ross invites you to explore the highly individual conception of traditional carols offered by twentieth-century British composers, and notably the most eminent among them, Benjamin Britten. Arranged around his famous Ceremony... |
Il Volo
Buon Natale: The Christmas Album [ Interscope / CD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] BUON NATALE is classical crossover trio Il Volo's new Christmas album. |
TRADITIONAL
The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album The Cambridge Singers with Stephen Varcoe (baritone); The City of London Sinfonia; directed by John Rutter [ Collegium / CD - released 20/Nov/2003 ] "Rutter has become the musical equivalent of Dickens, synonymous with the season of Christmas." Guardian |
CANTATE DOMINO
Cantate Domino - A most euphonious selection of Christmas music! Marianne Mellnas (soprano) Alf Linder (organ) / Oscar's Motet Choir / Torsten Nilsson [ Proprius / CD - released 1/Dec/2004 ] Cantate Domino, recorded by Bertil Alving 1976, is famous for it's incredible sound quality. The CD starts with Enrico Bossi's "Cantate Domino" for choir, organ, trumpets and trombones. A wonderful piece with a stunning organ introduction. Included... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Cantique De Noël: French Music For Christmas, From Berlioz To Debussy Choir Of Gonville & Caius College Cambridge, Geoffrey Webber (Director), Michael How & Luke Fitzgerald (Organ) [ Delphian / CD - released 19/Oct/2018 ] Geoffrey Webber and his choir have developed a reputation for exploring the unusual, and this album is no exception. A number of traditional French melodies have been adapted over the years to become familiar Christmas fare in English-speaking lands;... |
TRADITIONAL
Christmas Carols From Oxford Magdalen College Choir, John Harper, conductor [ Alto / CD - released 1/Dec/2014 ] "..Magdalen College Oxford played an important part in the Victorian revival of the celebration of Christmas and especially of carol singing.. key figure.. J R Bloxam, Fellow of Magdalen.. first held a musical entertainment for Magdalen choristers.. |
TRADITIONAL / VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Carols From King's College, Cambridge Choir of King's College, Cambridge [ Warner Classics / CD - released 18/Nov/2022 ] A wonderful collection of 15 of the favourite and most popular carols for the Christmas season, performed by the world-famous Choir of King's College, Cambridge. |
TRADITIONAL
Carols from the Old and New Worlds Vol.3 Chamber Choir Ireland, Paul Hillier [ Harmonia Mundi SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 23/Oct/2014 ] On the third volume in harmonia mundi's series Carols from the Old and New Worlds, Paul Hillier and Chamber Choir Ireland celebrate the festive season with a wide-ranging mixture of new and traditional carols. Framed by the seven 'O' antiphons for... |
LAURIDSEN / BYRD / VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / WHITACRE / HOLST / etc
A Choral Christmas The Rodolfus Choir, Ralph Allwood (director) [ Signum / CD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] A leading light in the world of youth choral music, the Rodolfus Choir is made up of choristers from ages 16-25 who are past and present participants of the Eton Choral Courses, begun by the choir's director Ralph Allwood in 1980. |
TALLIS / RUTTER / PRAETORIUS / HOLST/ HANDEL etc
Christmas The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] From the timeless plainchant 'Veni Emmanuel' via Jonathan Harvey to a riotous 'Jingle bells': Owain Park presents a programme of Christmas treats which effortlessly spans the centuries. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Christmas Voces8 [ Signum / CD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] The international award-winning octet, VOCES8, has established itself at the forefront of British a cappella. Performing a repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony to unique Jazz and Pop arrangements, the group has been praised for stunning... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Christmas a Cappella II Musica Sacra conducted by Indra Hughes [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 20/Nov/2007 ] This is the second programme of unaccompanied Christmas choral music performed by one of New Zealand's most successful choirs and includes a wide variety of pieces: the well known and the unfamiliar. |