Christmas

A collection of 27 posts

Christmas

Benjamin Appl: The Christmas Album

A lovely disc, superbly planned, expertly executed.

Telemann

Telemann: A Christmas Oratorio (pasticcio)

A terrific idea, and one executed to perfection. Absolutely recommended ... now, where are those last mince pies?

French Baroque

Noël sous l'Empire: organ music from Versailles

This is clearly a labour of love from Guerillot; and what a Christmas discovery this is!

Christmas

“A Winter Breviary”: Choral Works for Christmas

A lovely album, all the more cherishable for its wealth of new Christmas material. St Martin's Voices is a superb choir

Opera

Humperdinck's Hänsel & Gretel returns to Covent Garden

Humperdinck Hänsel und Gretel (sung in English, translation Kelley Rourke), Cast; Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Mark Wigglesworth. Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 16.12.2023 Production:  Director & Designer – Antony McDonald  Lighting Designer – Lucy Carter  Movement Director - Lucy Birge  Cast:  Gretel – Anna Devin

Christmas

Bob Chilcott's Christmas Oratorio

This is about as Christmassy as it gets and with soloists and a choir like this, Chilcott's Christmas Oratorio is surely irresistible

Christmas

A Choral Christmas

This, along with Lisa Davidsen's Christmas from Norway. also on Decca, would make ideal presents!

Christmas

Repost: A Christmas Concert with Helen Donath

This is a lovely, heart-warming Christmas disc

Christmas

Christmas Concerts from the SWR Vocal Ensemble

This is a truly heart-warming two hours' worth of Christmas music

Christmas

A Quartet of Christmas Cantatas by Ernst Wilhelm Wolf

A very valuable disc in terms of repertoire, and beautifully performed

Christmas

The Dawn of Grace: Christmas Music from Somerville College, Oxford

A fine disc, imaginatively programmed, superbly performed and held in a wonderful recording

Christmas

The First Nowell: Christmas Carols Through the Ages

If you are looking for an inexpensive Christmas disc that mixes familiar and unfamiliar, all in impeccable performances and captured in a supreb recroding, look no furthe

Christmas

Wishes and Candles: American Christmas Music

It's that time of year again .. and this is a great way to launch our Christmas reviews

Christmas

Christmas Carols with the King's Singers

Festive cheer and warmth from "the Boys": The King's Singers at their finest!

Christmas

A Christmas Wish: Ellen Williams brings festive warmth

A Christmas Wish is a treat of the utmost beauty

Christmas

Christmas Baroque from London Concertante

A lovely release from London Concertante here fo Christmas music for orchestra, with repertoire taken from the core of London Concertante [https://londonconcertante.com]'s Winter touring season. The balance of pieces here is wonderful .Yes, tehre's one of Vivaldi\s Four Seasons (unsurprisingly, "Winter), and

Christmas

Strange Wonders: The Wexford Carols, Volume 2

A supremely beautiful Christmas disc; warming and different

Christmas

A Belfast Christmas

A beautiful Christmas programme; a splendid mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar

Organ

Christmas Bells: Organ Music from Belfast Cathedral

It's (almost) that time of year again, and why not start early with a disc of organ music? The mince pies are in ths shops, after all ...

Christmas

Puer natus est ... The Choir of Buckfast Abbey

One of the most beautifully produced of Christmas discs to have come Classical Explorer's way this year, this is a disc full of surprises. Buckfast Abbey founded their own record label, Ad Fontes: memorable previous releases have included Messe da Pacem (music by Pierre Villette, Yves Castagnet and

Christmas

A Winter's Night: Christmas music for Choir and Organ

Released back in August 2020, when snow and the suchlike were the last things on anyone's mind, this Signum release brings together the time-honoured combo of choir, brass and organ. And what brass! Onyx Brass is a motley selection of principal brass players from major orchestras that positively

Christmas

Yulefest! Christmas from King's, Cambridge

Five years since its release, Yulefest! remains one of the finest Christmas discs out there

Baroque

An Oratorio for Christmas: Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium

The Christmas Oratorio is a piece like no other

Christmas

Be All Merry: Christmas Music from Dublin

'Tis the season ... and, despite the live music ravages of CoVID, there is a Christmas feast of music in 2020, both on disc and online. For the latter, the VOCES8 Live from London - Christmas Festival [https://voces8.foundation/events1/2020/12/1/live-from-london-christmas] is surely without rival: we

Christmas

Christmas in Puebla

A panoramic exploration of Mexico forms the basis of this fascinating disc from  the group Siglo de Oro under Patrick Allies.  The title refers to a place in Mexico, Puebla de los Ángeles, and the music celebrates the music of one Juan Gutierrez de Padilla (1590-1664), whose music makes up