To make it's performance easier, Norbert Duechtel has adapted the Christmas Liederspiel "Christnacht" by Joseph Haas (1879-1960) for organ. The cantica nova holzkirchen choir under the direction of Katrin Wende-Ehmer - with inserted texts read by Alex Dorow - delivers a recording that is true to the original intentions of the composer Joseph Haas: "The incredible power of the text's words, though clumsy and awkward, their unique richness of imagery, the outward hardness and coarseness and the inward tenderness and vibrancy of the language appealed to me just as much as the indescribable melodic beauty of the tunes and the diversity of their shaping. This is authentic art of South German farmer baroque!"

Each Christmas season at Brigham Young University over 500 vocalists and instrumentalists celebrate the season in song. Handpicked from the largest private student body in the country, these students comprise four nationally and internationally acclaimed choirs and the highly praised Philharmonic Orchestra. These musical organizations are known for their unity, due in part to the superb technical proficiency achieved under the hands of choral conductors Rosalind Hall, Dr. Andrew Crane, and Jean Applonie and Philharmonic conductor Kory Katseanes. But there is more. Students and conductors share a strong belief in the spiritual character of music. As one critic observed, "The spiritual element is present in each piece the choirs sing." This results in performances that are alive, fresh, and heartfelt-performances that overcome boundaries and draw people together. The music presented here was recorded during the live performances of the December 2016 and 2017 Celebration of Christmas concerts.

Why Another Christmas album? Because the Christmas season ideally offers free time and opportunities for leisure, meditation, and self-reflection – all of which need not necessarily occur exclusively in the sphere of religious spirituality. We can also put our holidays to good use simply by doing nothing, not planning too much, and taking advantage of the opportunity for everything beyond the limits of our “to do” agendas. Time! For encounters, conversations, and ideas. Free space and time enable us to suspend our everyday routines and perhaps to entertain the eyes with pictures that we haven’t seen in a long time or haven’t ever seen before – and the ears with ditto sounds. This release is intended especially for this “chronotopos!” Here the Singphoniker in no way wish to encroach on your time-space, providing it with an audio background or supplying the musical accompaniment. But if you want to close your eyes and open your ears, then the Singphoniker will be happy to join you. They would like to offer entertainment and to transmit joy in the form of many wonderful melodies and moods: the joy that comes with so many astonishing developments and combinations, with so many different elements and contrasts, with Christmas swing, with the classical tradition, with folk-song tones, and that ranges from the Singphonic special arrangement to the timeless classics of the modern era.

Footprint Records is proud to present a very special Christmas gift: the album 'A Christmas Wish,' performed by the Gothenburg Youth Choir under the choral direction of Anne Johansson. The Gothenburg Youth Choir, one of Sweden's most acclaimed, consists of boys and girls between the ages of 16 and 25. Anne Johansson, who has dedicated her professional life to teaching secondary-school children to sing, is an authority on young voices. The album contains arrangements of traditional Christmas songs from Sweden and France, as well as compositions by Benjamin Britten, Max Reger, and others- it is the perfect accompaniment to the Yuletide season. The Gothenburg Youth Choir wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

Our most recent Telemann album is a special highlight for the Christmas season! It brings together three Christmas oratorios from Telemann’s Oratorischer Jahrgang for the church year 1730/31 and a cantata from the annual cycle Musicalisches Lob Gottes printed in score form in Nuremberg in 1744. The oratorios are new discoveries and premiere recordings. Even if the works concerned are of cantata length, the term “Oratorio” is in this case perfectly justified. Not only the soprano, alto, and other vocal parts sing but also personified allegories such as Faith, Hope, and Love. Telemann’s musical realization of the poetic sources of the writer and musician Albrecht Jacob Zell is distinguished by great imagination and subtle artistry. The affections and emotions contained in the texts penned by Zell and the Biblical texts inserted by him in the arias and choruses are developed logically and with great feeling: here Telemann employs and combines the whole spectrum of compositional techniques at his command. Telemann’s opulent settings were made to order for the rich resources of Hamburg’s church music, for which he had available eight vocalists as well as some twenty instrumentalists.

In the late 19th century Pope Leo XIII charged the Abbey of Solesmes with the restoration and preservation of Gregorian chant according to the original 10th and 11th century manuscript. Today, the Abbey continues to be a vibrant source of this art. This recording of Christmas chants reflects the unmatched authenticity of Gregorian scholarship and performance by the Monks of Solesmes. It includes Introits, Graduals, Alleluias, Offertories, Communions, Responses, Sequences, Hymns, and Tropes from the Midnight Mass and Mass of the Day. "The Choir of the Monks of Solesmes remains a highly respected and widely recognized performing ensemble, with an international following among devotees of Gregorian chant and religious music in general, just as the Abbey occupies a unique place in religious music scholarship and study. "The center from which modern theories of medieval chant performance have emanated is undoubtedly the Abbey of Solesmes in France. " (The Gregorian Association) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance. " (American Record Guide)

This live recording was produced in honor of the 20th anniversary of Gospel Christmas with the Northwest Community Gospel Chorus and the Oregon Symphony.

Once considered an unlikely marriage of musical genres, gospel music with symphony orchestra has now established itself as a tradition. While blues, hymns, and spirituals are typical sources of inspiration for gospel music, the song selections are inspired by many centuries of sacred music. These selections reflect the transformative nature of gospel music itself - from classical music to Latin flavors, R&B, canticles and carols from the first century, the art of the film score, and a bounty of musical traditions that do not compromise the reverence and soulful export at the core of the musical substance. The visceral communication is not dissimilar to that of opera, where voice and orchestra align, but today's gospel music with symphony orchestra has uniquely established itself as an art form all its own.

Also available on Blu-ray

“Nothing is harder to put on stage than lightness. And humor is the sharpest weapon of the desperate. That is why it is an obligation, indeed a must, to enjoy this Figaro by Jürgen Flimm at the Staatsoper to the fullest.“ (ARD Radio) This production of “Le nozze di Figaro” is directed by the former artistic director of the Staatsoper Berlin, Jürgen Flimm, who characterizes it as follows: “Figaro is by far the best work ever devised for the stage; it combines everything that moves the human heart and mind – forlorn hope, pleasantry, satire, profound significance, also much ado about nothing and vain amours.” This production with a star-studded ensemble of soloists was Flimm’s third staging of this musical masterpiece, and this time he places the plot in Count Almaviva‘s summer residence – a place where the count spent his childhood, a place full of memories where time has left its marks. It is in this hot atmosphere of summer that the great day unfolds: holidays, sun, sea, pretty women take a fancy to pretty men and pretty men take a fancy to pretty women. A midsummer night‘s dream full of tangled paths and futile longing where the women pull the strings of intrigue with their gentle hands.

The all-female vocal ensemble Papagena makes its debut on SOMM Recordings with The Darkest Midnight, a sublime collection of songs for winter from the Middle Ages to the modern era embracing the secular and the sacred. Described as “a stunning addition to the vocal music scene” and “la crème de la crème in the crowded a cappella space”, Papagena’s three sopranos (Elizabeth Drury, Abbi Temple, Suzie Vango) and two altos (Suzzie Purkis, Sarah Tenant-Flowers) look certain to add to their fast-growing reputation with this beautifully sung compendium. Casting a dark glamour all of its own, the bleakness of winter has prompted some of the most bewitching, brittle and bright songs. Alongside traditional Christmas anthems can be found legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell’s ‘The River’ in an achingly melancholic arrangement and American composer Don Macdonald, whose When the Earth Stands Still is movingly poignant and still, twilit and shining. Celebratory songs marking the Christmas season – the exuberant In dulci Jubilo, burnished, glowing harmonies of Angelus ad virginem, sublimely serene Es ist ein Ros entsprungen and infectious Shchedryk/Hark How the Bells from Ukraine – are heard alongside lilting Irish songs from antiquity and the charming Scottish lullaby Balulalow. Songs from England, Germany, Norway and ‘Toi le coeur de la rose’ from Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges round off a recording that includes first performances of eight arrangements and is marked by sheer beauty of sound.

The Berlin vocal ensemble sirventes Berlin and it's director Stefan Schuck present a real Berlin Christmas album: Berlin composers from the 19th to 21st centuries are collected here on one release, from Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Carl Thiel, Albert Becker, Peter Cornelius and Heinrich von Herzogenberg to the contemporary composer Frank Schwemmer. In addition to such famous works as "Frohlocket, ihr V�lker" by Mendelssohn, numerous unknown treasures have been rediscovered. Stefan Schuck founded the vocal ensemble sirventes Berlin in 2003 to perform the world premiere of the a cappella cantata "that they may life" by the Jewish composer Josef Dorfman as part of the Ecumenical Kirchentag in Berlin. Since 2008 the ensemble works regularly for the NoonSong. The outstanding quality of the ensemble is a testament to their intense and hard work.

There is a tradition among the Greek peoples of the singing of carols ('Kalanda') on Christmas Eve. This album is a set of carols newly composed by Greek-Cypriot composer Cilia Petridou. As musical works they also qualify as art-song in fine performances by three excellent sopranos. For those who love Christmas music but want something new, this album will fit the bill. The three sopranos each take a number of solo carols and form a trio for the last two; Lesley-Jane and Alison have both worked with the composer for some time and also made several highly-praised recordings for Divine Art and Metier. Cilia Petridou was an accomplished pianist until her career was ended by major surgery since when she has concentrated on composition. Moving with her family to the UK after the Turlish invasion of north Cyprus which destroyed their home town of Famagusta, her music is often informed by that political tragedy, but her Kalanda are bright and full of joy.

Songs old and new, standards and rarities, all make up this delightful new album for the Christmas season. A quartet of New York cabaret favorites led by the legendary Steve Ross sing their way through some of the oldest carols as well as some of the newest. It's Almost Christmas Eve is a nostalgic, cozy, smart, sophisticated and sometime even wistful journey through the Great American Songbook. Here you'll find great songs from Broadway and popular song favorites including Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Charles Strouse, Cy Coleman, Sammy Fain, E.Y. Harburg, Carolyn Leigh and also Richard Maltby and David Shire. Plus a bevy of newer composers taking a crack at Christmas cheer and goodwill toward men.

The pieces on this album originate largely from the Christmette by Michael Praetorius. In addition, nativity hymns by a range of different composers from the same era have been compiled. In Lutheran style the compositions on this album include solo pieces, choir arrangements, double choral motets, instrumental pieces and of course the church organ repertoire. The listener can also hear pieces, which were not necessarily meant for Christmas, but fit the program very well. The function of some of the pieces is liturgical, like “Gloria,” “Our Father,” or the mighty Entrance-Prelude. Two other pieces are meditative moments about the name of Jesus. Many of the songs are well-known. However, the arrangements for soloists and/or choir from Praetorius and his contemporaries are rarely performed. The Early Music ensemble Margaretha Consort was founded in 2009. The ensemble is based in the Netherlands, but the singers and instrumentalists are from all over Europe.Over the years a very skilled team has been created, where knowledge, musicality, and congeniality go hand in hand.

"Kristin Korb is a jewel of jewels. The bassist and vocalist commands both of her instruments with panache, engaging them simultaneously with an ease comparable to breathing." (Tyran Grillo, All About Jazz) There are few bassists who can sing and there are even fewer who can do it well. Kristin Korb is one of those artists who make you forget that she is playing the bass when you hear her crystalline voice. Inspired by the days when music was romantic and made you want to dance, Kristin and her trio embody that spirit and carry their audiences along for the ride. Love eventually brought the American bassist and vocalist to Denmark in 2011. On her new release, Kristen Korb explores the Holiday season, performing traditional classics as well as twentieth century new classics

The nights are drawing in, there’s a nip in the air, and everywhere you go there are twinkling lights- it’s time to prepare for Christmas! Let this album of festive classical works help you to get ready for the holidays as you light the Advent candle with Chilcott, build a snowman with Korngold, untangle the fairy lights with Liszt and get the box of baubles down from the loft with Tchaikovsky. Classical evergreens are here alongside some modern tunes like “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” and Irving Berlin’s perennial classic “White Christmas.” Then, once the halls have been decked and the presents are placed underneath the tree, have yourself a merry, musical Christmas!