To give familiar melodies a fresh, rich and colorful new look and thus to present them in an attractive new light is the essential direction which the Calmus Ensemble Leipzig followed for this Christmas CD. The arrangements of well-known Christmas songs in this collection make use of structures from both classical as well as popular music from a variety of eras, always taking only the best of both worlds. It is hoped that the listener will not only be delighted, but will also be pleasantly surprised. That listening to this international Christmas album brings continually good feelings and that one listens with much joy and pleasure is due not only to the fine arrangements, but also to the lively interpretation and the perfect sound of the Calmus Ensemble Leipzig, which knows how to create an entirely genuine, uninhibited Christmas feeling.

Complete Track List:
1 Ludwig Böhme Maria durch ein Dornwald ging 04:23
2 Bob Chilcott Nova! nova! 02:39
3 Ludwig Böhme O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf 02:37
4 Ludwig Böhme Gaudete! 03:06
5 Philip Lawson Hark! The herald angels sing 03:16
6 Morten Schuldt-Jensen Away in a manger 01:56
7 Gregor Meyer Noel nouvelet 02:35
8 Gregor Meyer La Peregrinacion 03:19
9 Joe Roesler Tu scendi dalle stelle 03:52
10 Hannu Lepola Sylvian joululaulu 05:29
11 Sebastian Krause Es ist ein Ros entsprungen 03:10
12 Fredo Jung Weihnachten / Im Balladenton 02:21
13 Max Reger Schlaf, mein Kindelein 03:18
14 Claus Bantzer Was soll das bedeuten 03:02
15 Wolfram Buchenberg Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht 03:02
16 Ludwig Böhme O Tannenbaum, du trägst ein grünes Kleid 02:49
17 Ludwig Böhme Jingle bells 02:40
18 Ludwig Böhme Thank God it's Christmas 03:16
19 Harald Banter Leise rieselt der Schnee 01:58

This double set, originally released in 1994, contains the complete contents of three classic holiday albums from the Robert Shaw chorale:
Christmas Hymns & Carols, Volume I ("Living Stereo" LSC-2139) [1957]
Christmas Hyns & Carols, Volume II ("Orthophonic" LM-1711) [1952]
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols, Festival Te Deum & Rejoice in the Lamb ("Dynagroove" 2759) [1963]

This reissue was remastered directly from the original RCA Victor Red Seal Master tapes.

Bach, J.S.: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (Highlights)

Classical Music

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

-----

C. P. E. BACH Magnificat. Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes • Fritz Näf, cond; Monika Mauch (sop); Matthias Rexroth (ct); Hans Jörg Mammel (ten); Gotthold Schwarz (bs); Basler Madrigalisten; L’arpa festante • CARUS 83.412 (Hybrid multichannel SACD: 62:37 Text and Translation)

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was the Thomaskantor’s second son. He spent 27 years at the Prussian royal court and 20 years in Hamburg, surpassing his father’s reputation for some time after his death. This Magnificat was an early choral work of 1749, performed even in Leipzig. Both works are billed as world premiere recordings, or, in the case of the Magnificat, “the first recording of the original version.” But the latter differs from the work I have loved since Felix Prohaska’s recording was reissued on a single LP (it was originally three sides for a 49-minute performance) only in omitting trumpets and timpani, for the only other difference is the original “Et misericordia,” which most previous recordings have used. Seymour Solomon himself wrote the liner notes for Prohaska, asserting that the printed score had been compared with the original manuscript, and the trumpets and drums (“inexplicably omitted from later editions,” he says) were restored for the recording. He may have meant the manuscript in Hamburg, described by colleague William Youngren (15:2). Only Helmut Rilling has recorded the later, shorter “Et misericordia”; every other recording known to me has the original, longer setting of this verse.

The work became a favorite of mine, and I bought the next four LPs as soon as I could find them, but they all followed period-performance style, such as it was in those days, and I missed the grandeur that I had come to love. Emanuel’s work, as Solomon described it, was a combination of Italianate vocal style, Haydnesque orchestration, and his father’s Baroque choral writing. Prohaska’s large forces with modern orchestra, broad tempos (the longest recording known to me), and marvelous soloists brought out the majesty of the work better than later versions. I can still hear it with pleasure. Geraint Jones’s version was made next, but somehow remained on the shelf while several other recordings that he made in 1957 and 1958 for His Master’s Voice were issued; after Jones’s auto accident in 1960 limited his activities, it was apparently forgotten until Malcolm Walker discovered the tape and obtained its release in 1965 (I only found a copy many years later, a stereo LP pressed with an Odeon label for export). It was also Helen Watts’s first version, preceding her work for Ledger and Rilling.

This glorious work begins with a festive chorus on the first verse, a soprano solo on “Quia respexit,” and a brilliant tenor solo on “Quia fecit mihi.” After the choral “Et misericordia” comes a heroic bass solo on “Fecit potentiam,” then two rousing duets for contralto and tenor followed by a meltingly lovely contralto solo on “Suscepit Israel.” “Gloria Patri” is set to the music of the opening movement, followed by a gigantic double fugue on “Sicut erat,” an extended movement of great power. I hear the longer “Et misericordia” as a central peak between the opening and closing choral movements, while colleague Youngren likes the shorter setting because it makes the series of solo arias more prominent. The present performance is impressive, even if I miss the trumpets and timpani that punctuate the opening and closing choruses and the bass aria. Enhanced by modern sound, the soloists embellish their melodies stylishly. Three of the singers remind me favorably of Prohaska’s soloists, but Matthias Rexroth, the first countertenor I have heard in this work, has a heavier voice than Prohaska’s contralto, Hilde Rössl-Majdan, though he melds in well with the others in this team. So even though I think the composer knew what he was doing when he added the trumpets and timpani, I can recommend this as a gorgeous performance and recording of a masterpiece. Here are the versions so far issued:

• Felix Prohaska, 1952, Bach Guild 516-17; 552
• Geraint Jones, rec. May 1957 and May 1958, H.M.V. CLP 1828; CSD 1612; SME 91477
• Adolf Detel, rec. November 1965, Archiv 73267; SAPM 198367
• Kurt Thomas, rec. 1966, Victrola VICS 1368; Harmonia Mundi 30821; 1C 065-99624; CD: BMG-DHM. 05472-77411
• Philip Ledger, rec. March 1976, Argo ZRG 853; CD: 421148 (15:2).
• Helmut Rilling, rec. September 1976 and January–April 1977, Hänssler 91511; CD: 98970 (15:2). Revised “Et misericordia.”
• Hartmut Haenchen, rec. December 1988, CD: Berlin BC 1011-2 (18:1). Not heard.
• J. Reilly Lewis, rec. 1998, CD: Newport 60155. Not heard.
• Michael Schneider, rec. December 2000, CD: Capriccio 67003 (26:3). Not heard.
• Fritz Näf, rec. January 2008, CD: Carus 83412. Omits trumpets and timpani.

The other work on this disc was first heard in the early Hamburg years, 1773 or 1774, but it was written in 1772. In 1775 the first movement was revised and a new final chorale added, but the revisions are not heard here. The original purpose of the composition was the installation of a new pastor, only the last two original movements referring to Christmas at all. In the form performed annually after 1775, the added movements made it more of a Christmas cantata. The ensemble includes the three trumpets and timpani that could have been used in the other work, but the work strikes me more as well constructed than inspired. The performance does it full justice, but the Magnificat is worth the price of the disc.

FANFARE: J. F. Weber

Classical Music

This excellent and most enjoyable disc will be a high quality Christmas present for a musical friend - or to give to yourself!

It’s four years now since Andrew Nethsingha moved from Gloucester Cathedral, where he had been a distinguished Director of Music, to St. John’s College, where as part of his training he had once been the Organ Scholar, under George Guest. Having established himself securely with the college’s choir he’s begun recording with them for Chandos and the partnership has already produced some impressive results. These include a very fine Howells collection, an equally good mixed recital of church music and a disc of music by Lassus, which I haven’t heard but which impressed my colleague, Gavin Dixon. Their latest offering is of music for Advent and Christmas; in every respect it maintains the high standards set by their previous releases.

Before commenting on the music, can I commend Chandos for the quality of the booklet? This label is always strong on documentation but there must be a temptation for record companies to economise a little on such releases - “it’s only carols”. In fact, Chandos provide all the texts and, best of all, a really useful and thorough essay by Martin Ennis, which includes a separate and interesting paragraph on every one of the twenty-four items on the programme. The essay, in fact, is a model of its kind and the best I can recall seeing for a release of seasonal music.

The programme has been very carefully chosen and includes a welcome mix of the familiar, the unfamiliar and the familiar in slightly less-than-familiar guise. Into this latter category would come items such as the exuberant and effective arrangement by Philip Marshall, the former organist of Lincoln Cathedral, of I saw three ships. The version of Ding! dong! merrily on high would also fall into the exuberant, indeed flamboyant, category. It was made by the Music Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and requires two organists. The organ features strongly - and most effectively - in Stephen Jackson’s arrangement of Noël nouvelet. Indeed, the organ writing is a key element in giving the setting its pronounced French flavour. It’s good to see Andrew Nethsingha give a bow to one of his predecessors at St. John’s, Christopher Robinson. Instead of the usual - and excellent - Willcocks descant to Hark! the herald angels sing we hear Robinson’s descant and a jolly good one it is!

Moving to the unfamiliar elements in the programme we find Christopher Robinson there too. I’d not heard before his setting of Make we joy - a text more famously set by Walton. I like this Robinson setting very much indeed; it’s buoyant and strongly rhythmic. Also new to me was Michael Finnissy’s Telling. Written in 2008, this is a setting for unaccompanied choir of an anonymous sixteenth century text. Martin Ennis draws attention, rightly, to the “refined harmonic sensibility” of the piece. I think it’s a beautiful composition and, in an intelligent piece of programme ordering, we find that Kenneth Leighton’s fine Coventry Carol, which comes next in the running order, complements the Finnissy nicely. Mention should also be made of Matthew Martin’s Adam lay ybounden. This is very different from some other settings - one thinks of Boris Ord’s celebrated setting, for starters. Martin’s piece is slow and reflective and it’s good to have another slant on this well-known text. I also liked the item by James Burton, perhaps best known as Director of the Oxford Schola Cantorum. His Balulalow eschews trebles - the altos take the top line - giving an interesting, darker texture. Some of the harmonies are quite close and I think it’s a lovely piece.

And so to the familiar seasonal items. It’s right to include them to give the programme balance. Nethsingha and his singers pay these pieces - and their listeners - the important compliment of taking as much care over them as they have done over the less conventional fare. Harold Darke’s classic piece is given a lovely performance and lovely too is the choir’s account of Philip Ledger’s sympathetic arrangement of Silent Night - good planning, too, to place this immediately after his equally good arrangement of the Sussex Carol. Ledger’s predecessor at King’s College, Sir David Willcocks, is represented by his justly popular Tomorrow shall be my dancing day. O little town of Bethlehem, mainstay of innumerable carol services, makes an equally welcome appearance. It wouldn’t be a Christmas programme without John Rutter. When you hear his lovely What sweeter music, which, as Martin Ennis justly observes, contains “one of his most winning melodies”, you realise just why for so many people Rutter has become synonymous with Christmas music. The present performance is first class, with every little detail of Rutter’s music nicely observed.

The singing on this disc is very fine indeed. Solos are well taken and the choir as a group blends extremely well and sings with excellent tone and great clarity. Several of the pieces are accompanied by organ and the college’s Senior Organ Scholar, John Challenger, does a marvellous job. I relished especially his splendid contributions - very different from each other in character - to the Jackson and Mathias pieces.

It only remains to say that the Chandos sound is up to the label’s usual exalted standard - I listened to this hybrid SACD as a conventional CD. This most enjoyable disc will be a high quality Christmas present for a musical friend - or to give to yourself!

-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International

'Where has this fabulous choir been all my life? No choral strength you can name eludes them... Chandos' usual lucid and unaffected notes, full texts and resplendent SACD-hybrid sound conspire with irresistible choral wizardry to make this an absolute must', wrote American Record Guide on Shakespeare in Song, the first release by the Phoenix Chorale (then the Phoenix Bach Choir) in 2004. Four years on and the Phoenix Chorale has released a further three discs on Chandos, in conjunction with the Kansas City Chorale, including Grechaninov's Passion Week for which choirs were nominated for five Grammys, winning in the Best Engineered Recording, Classical category. On this new SA-CD the Phoenix Chorale returns with an international anthology of songs to celebrate the Virgin Mary. The rewarding and unique programme, which includes premiere recordings, will appeal to all lovers of beautiful choral singing.

Natus es: A Christmas Celebration

Classical Music

Contains Nativity-themed music of William Billings, alongside songs from Joseph Stephenson and others.

At the season of the winter solstice, light diminishes in our world. To counteract the onslaught of the darkness, traditional religions have created festivals to hold fast to a small steady flicker of illumination. Essential Voices USA presents a sampler of music celebrating this effort to infuse light and joy into the holiday season. We go from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Chanukah and to the New Year, with both new music and traditional carols - an emotional journey through the holiday seasons. Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA is one of New York's preeminent choral ensembles - it performs in many of the city's iconic venues and events and records and premieres works by America's finest composers and lyricists. Regularly on stage with the New York Pops in it's Carnegie Hall subscription series, televised on NBC's July 4th Macy's 2014 Spectacular Fireworks and the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting in 2011 and 2012, the ensemble comprises a talented roster of seasoned professionals and auditioned volunteers, dynamically fitted to the unique needs of each project.

Spoken prayers, readings and blessings alternate with the musical selections on this recording.

This recording received a 1998 "Critic's Choice" award from Gramophone
magazine.

Includes carol(s) by Richard Rodney Bennett. Ensemble: Tudor Choir. Conductor: Doug Fullington.
Includes traditional chant(s).
Includes work(s) by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Robert Fayrfax, Sir William Walton, John Sheppard, Gustav Holst, Peter Warlock.

Classical Music

Körnerscher Sing-Verein, Dresdner Instrumental-Concert, Peter Kopp

Music by Josef Seger, Johann Georg Schürer, Johann David Heinichen, Giovanni Alberto Ristori (world premiere recordings)

The music of the present CD convey to the listener a musical picture of the celebration of Christmas Eve which took place in the Church of the Court of Dresden in around 1750. The works recorded here all belong to the first flowering of Catholic church music at the Court of Dresden, which began in the 1720s and ended with the Seven Years War (1756–1763), which proved disastrous for Saxony. The demands of August the Strong and his son August III to display prestige led composers such as Johann David Heinichen or Giovanni Alberto Ristori to compose in a separate style for the Catholic Court Church in Dresden a wide-ranging repertoire of Catholic church music for the entire church year. In the holdings of the Sächsischen Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek there are numerous of these works which have survived as handwritten autographs. The music from the present CD is also drawn from the rich storehouse of music in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek. They lay undiscovered, hidden away in cabinets for over two centuries and with this world premiere recording they are now being present to the public for the first time.

The orchestra of the Court of Dresden was considered to be one of the most established orchestras in Europe. The Körnersche Sing-Verein Dresden and the Dresdner Instrumental-Concert, who are dedicated to presenting compositions of the 18th-century in historically accurate performances, allow the excellent quality of the music of the Court Church of this time to live again. In addition, the internationally renowned soloists draw on their wealth of experience in the performance of baroque music.

With some justice, the 1970s are often dismissed as the decade that Style forgot.

But while it’s true that many of us would prefer never again to contemplate the likes of platform shoes, hotpants, bell-bottom trousers and Brotherhood of Man, one icon of middle class culture from that generally unlamented decade remains with us to this day – the dinner party.

Today the 1970s dinner party is easy to caricature: prawn cocktail, chicken in a brick (the latter bought from the local Habitat store) and Black Forest gateau – all washed down with a bottle or two of trendy Blue Nun. And there was always some music playing quietly in the background – not, unless you were very unlucky, from Brotherhood of Man but something selected to indicate the host’s cultural sophistication. And surprisingly often, as I recall from the Hampstead and Highgate dinner party circuit of the time, that was a Turnabout LP of Vivaldi lute and mandolin concertos performed by Anton Stringl (lute), Paul Grund and Artur Rumetsch (mandolins) and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra under Jörg Faerber.

Yes, with all due respect to its devotees everywhere, the mandolin made – and continues to make – ideal background music and I’m not sure that many people will listen to this new CD with the rapt concentration that they’d give to a Beethoven string quartet or a piano recital from Alfred Brendel. Indeed, a few listeners to whom I’ve played this disc had had quite enough after just a couple of tracks and others were frankly relieved to note its otherwise disgracefully short overall running time. But as a pleasant and undemanding diversion it more than fits the bill.

The 2003 line-up of the Modern Mandolin Quartet – Dana Rath and Matt Flinner (mandolins), Paul Binkley (guitar and mandola) and Gyan Riley (guitar and mandocello) – was clearly a very talented one. Their potted biographies indicate that the players came from backgrounds that encompass jazz, rock and folk as well as classical music but some details may leave more than a few MusicWeb International readers bemused - thus the booklet notes reiterate Bluegrass Now’s contention that “Flinner provides the next evolutionary step to David Grisman’s unique dawg style”.

In general, though, with just one exception, the quartet’s stylistic eclecticism is kept in check in these relatively straightforward musical arrangements. Miguel Llobet’s Four Catalan folksongs, none more than two minutes long, are simple and pleasant enough but are essentially unmemorable and would be best utilised as programme fillers or encores for live performances.

Things perk up somewhat with the Tchaikovsky where the delicacy of much of the orchestration adapts quite effectively to the mandolin. The Miniature Overture is vivacious and demonstrates the fine balance between the individual instruments established by the players - and the engineers? The March and Russian Dance are both executed in the most lively and attractive manner; the Dance of the Mirlitons works well; but the slower, more atmospheric tracks disappoint, with an Arabian Dance that misses the subtle sultriness of Tchaikovsky’s original and a distinctly heavy-footed sugar plum fairy. The undoubted highlight, not just of the suite but of the whole disc, is an account of the Waltz of the Flowers that goes with a real swing. The performers’ huge enjoyment is very obvious and this would bring the house down in any live performance.

The Delibes track is arranged in a way that suits the mandolins very effectively and the same is true of the Fauré, although sometimes the playing there is deliberate rather than dreamy. The Fauré track will, indeed, divide listeners. From about 3:40 we go, for the only time on the disc, into a distinctly jazzy and improvisatory mode for a couple of minutes: it’s not unpleasant at all – but it’s not Fauré either.

The Vivaldi D major concerto was one of those included on that old dinner party Turnabout LP. It is very attractive music, undemanding for the listener - if not the executants - and is well played here.

It was, in fact, so effectively evocative that, immediately after playing it, I was inspired to head for the kitchen and, just half an hour later, was tucking in to a plate of delicious Chicken Kiev accompanied by garlic mushrooms and washed down with a can or two of refreshing Harp lager.

Only the absence of a power cut made me realise that I wasn’t back in the 1970s after all.

-- Rob Maynard, MusicWeb International

Includes christmas carol(s) by various composers. Ensemble: The Swingle Singers.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Carol of the Bells; Wexford Carol; A Holly and Ivy Calypso; Today in Bethlehem; Sleep Baby Jesus; The First Nowell; A la Nanita Nana (Lullaby); Riu, Riu, Chiu; Coventry Carol; In the Bleak Midwinter; A la Media Noche/De Tierra Lajana Venimos; The Bells of Christmas: A Medley of Two Modern Carols; Silent Night; Lo, How a Rose e'er Blooming; Christmas Cornucopia; the West Edge String Quartet

Harmonia Sacra was formed by Peter Leech in the Summer of 2009. On Advent Sunday in the same year they presented their first concert at the church of St Thomas the Martyr in Bristol, entitled Advent Reflections. The event has since become a permanent and popular musical feature of the pre-Christmas season in that city. 2019 therefore marks the choir's 10th anniversary, so this new release has been created to celebrate a decade of choral music-making in South-West England (and much further afield), and to represent the diverse repertoire of Advent Reflections concerts.

Nigel Short and his choir of professional singers, Tenebrae, made their debut on disc with a CD of music for Advent and Christmas, released in 2002, entitled The Dream of Herod (SIGCD046). They return to seasonal music with this CD, most of which is brand new, though a few tracks were recorded a while ago.

The programme is divided, broadly, into three categories. Quite a number of items are modern arrangements of old favourites. Nigel Short himself contributes very pleasing arrangements of Quem Pastores? and Away in a Manger. Both of these are not only effective but seem also to evidence affection for the original carols. Though some may feel the performance of Away in a Manger is rather on the slow side there’s no denying the chaste purity of the setting and the unnamed solo soprano who sings verse one does so exquisitely. Jonathan Rathbone’s arrangement of Silent Night is also very welcome, encasing the familiar tune in slow-moving close harmonies. While enjoying these and other new arrangements of old standards, however, it’s good to find that, just like his descants for popular congregational carols, the arrangements by Sir David Willcocks of Quelle est cette odeur agreeable? and Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day more than stand the test of time.

Mention of Sir David in a Christmas context inevitably leads one to the name of John Rutter. In fact I believe that Sir David was instrumental in starting Rutter off on his immensely successful career by championing Nativity Carol, one of his very earliest Christmas pieces, which he wrote while still a Cambridge undergraduate. Here it is once more, beautifully sung by Tenebrae. Incidentally, though one very often hears it accompanied by orchestra I prefer it with a gentle organ accompaniment - as here - since that reinforces the intimacy of this lovely little carol. Nigel Short has chosen two more Rutter carols, both of which I think are among Rutter’s finest. He and his expert choir give exquisite, controlled performances of What Sweeter Music? and There is a Flower, though I have to say that the former is taken a bit slowly for my taste - I seem to recall that Rutter himself, in his own recording, was just a touch swifter, to the music’s advantage. There is a Flower opens and closes with a solo voice. Previously, in my experience, this has been a treble or soprano but here the solo is allotted to a baritone. Though the singer does well I don’t think the choice quite works; when sung by a male voice the melody - and the words - rather loses the pure innocence that a high voice can bring.

The Rutter items fall into the second category of offerings in this programme: original compositions. We also find Tavener’s The Lamb and Howells’s A Spotless Rose. Both are beautifully done but, though I greatly admire both settings, I do feel that their near-ubiquity in programmes such as this is in danger of devaluing them and making them seem routine. I acknowledge that both are popular items - deservedly so - and that popularity sells discs but it would be nice if choirs remembered that Howells in particular wrote several other fine Christmas settings. By comparison, Adrian Peacock’s Veni, veni is scarcely well known but I hope its exposure here will encourage other choirs to investigate it for it is a good piece that grows in excitement from almost nothing until it reaches an abrupt end.

But if I had to single out one piece deserving of wide currency then I’d unhesitatingly nominate Jonathan Rathbone’s The Oxen. In the booklet Nigel Short describes this as a “ravishing setting” and he’s spot on in that judgement. Rathbone takes Thomas Hardy’s poem and clothes it in wonderful, luminous close harmonies that move gently and slowly. This hushed setting for unaccompanied voices struck me as a superb response to the poem and when I played the disc for the first time I replayed this item immediately on hearing it. I just regret that it’s followed immediately on the disc by the necessarily boisterous Gaudete, which rather breaks the spell that Rathbone has cast.

The third category of music in the programme accommodates the lighter, secular pieces. Jingle Bells is presented in a clever, jazzy arrangement and Nigel Short’s version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas is also effective. Best of the three items in this category, I think, is Andrew Carter’s The Twelve Days of Christmas. This is ingenious and entertaining, though I’ll reserve judgement on the farmyard noises that the singers contribute, presumably at Carter’s behest.

Tenebrae perform these three secular items with evident relish and, indeed, the technical accomplishment that’s in evidence throughout this recital is of the highest order. They bring an effortless excellence to all their singing and deliver the entire programme with supreme professionalism and a good deal of commitment. I can see this disc giving a lot of pleasure this Christmas; I shall certainly be listening to it with great enjoyment during the Festive Season.

-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International

It's hard not to like Leroy Anderson, a skilled orchestral craftsman with a rich supply of clever ideas, an ingratiating musical imagination, and, thank heaven, a sense of humor. Most of his music embodies the term "American light classical", and you can't listen to pieces such as Sleigh Ride or Bugler's Holiday without a smile and feeling just a bit lighter of spirit. The selections featured here, billed as a "collection of Leroy Anderson's holiday music", are taken from Naxos' excellent multi-volume series devoted to Anderson's orchestral music. Although it's not clear why such numbers as Horse and Buggy, The Waltzing Cat, and The Golden Years are here, in style and mood they take nothing away from the more obvious Christmas/holiday pieces. And while it's possible to imagine just a bit more personality and panache in the articulation in some places (à la Boston Pops), Leonard Slatkin is an unqualified expert in this repertoire, and he leads his British orchestra with consummately entertaining style, all of it most favorably recorded.

Four years ago Decca released A Leroy Anderson Christmas, which contains many of the same works featured on this program--performed both by the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler (Sleigh Ride) and by Anderson conducting his own orchestra. Although that one is worthy for its historical aspects, this one is superior for its consistently high-quality performances, much more satisfying ambience, and first-rate sound. Highly recommended.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com