The two resident choirs of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and their director Edward Wickham, join together to record this stunning and evocative selection of contemporary Christmas carols. The college can boast having the first and only college-based Oxbridge girls' choir, and its own beautiful chapel in the very heart of Cambridge, provided the venue for this debut recording of the recently founded St Catharine's Girls' Choir. Joined by the student choir, the album features premieres from such composers as Richard Rodney Bennett, Roxanna Panufnik, Cecilia McDowall and John Tavener. It also includes works specially written for the Girls' Choir by Stevie Wishart and Christopher Fox.

Trumpeter and singer Peter Asplund invited some of Sweden's top jazz musicians to make a joint Christmas album; the result is The Christmas Feeling.“People often get the question: What do you associate with Christmas? For me it's community with loved ones, the sense of quiet, the beautiful winter landscape and all the Christmas music!” - Peter Asplund (Prophone)

Let's face it: Christmas can get on your nerves, especially when it's the same procedure year after year. At such a time, even jazz can get on your nerves: shoddy arrangements, monotonous improvisations, and the same timeworn classics you've listened to a thousand times before. What can be done? That's an easy one: you listen to the new Christmas CD by the Opera Swing Jazz Quartet. This is old fashioned, highly refined jazz for connoisseurs played so convincingly that even people who usually abhor this kind of music will just love it.

There are more songs and lieder devoted to Christmas by European composers - the major and the minor - than to any other religious feast of the year. It was particularly during the Romantic period that classical composers wrote a plethora of songs in one way or another dealing with Christmas. This two disc, thirty-three song collection shows the richness and diversity that went into these songs, and the cast range of emotions and pictures they evoke. Featured performers are American soprano Rebecca Broberg, the piano pianissimo musiktheater Ensemble, Munich and pianist Hans Martin Gr�bner.

Johann Sebastian Bach, hero of the Baroque, has many masterpieces to his name. Among them is the Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV248, also known as the Christmas Oratorio. The work was written in 1734 to be performed at several services spanning Christmas Day to Epiphany in Leipzig. A re-telling of the Christmas story, the work has become one of the most popular choral compositions of all time and is a regular fixture in the church and concert calendars all over the world.

In a manner of parody, as was popular at the time, Bach repurposed sections of his other cantatas, particularly the secular ‘Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen’ BWV213, ‘Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!’ BWV214 and ‘Preise dein Glück, gesegnetes Sachsen’ BWV215; if you recognise the melody, you’ve probably heard it before! In addition to these sections, passages of the Gospel were newly composed, along with the Chorale settings. While the soloists enact the details of the story and play the parts of different characters along the way, the Chorales represent the congregation – an affirmation of their trust in God. This recording, originally released in 1974, features several world-renowned soloists at the top of their game: Arleen Augér, Peter Schreier and Theo Adam, playing the Angel, the Evangelist and Herod respectively.

Other information:
- Recorded in 1974.
- A classic performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, featuring the superb voices of Arleen Augér, Peter Schreier, Annelies Burmeister, Theo Adam and the famous Dresdner Kreuzchor and Dresdner Philharmonie, conducted by Martin Flämig.
- The traditional performance style gives full due to the jubilant character and the deep feeling of wonder about the mystery of the Nativitas, here expressed by the unique voice of the much lamented Arleen Auger.
- From the rich archives of Berlin Classics.
- Sung texts available (on release) by clicking on 'Download Booklet' below the cover.

The “Vokalhelden” [vocal heroes] from the Education Program of the Berlin Philharmonic interpret 22 children’s songs from throughout all of Europe in arrangements by Peter Schindler. + The songs are performed in their respective languages or in a German transcription. + This CD is part of the “Lieder Project” an effort that promotes and benefits singing with children. + It emphasizes quality and is designed especially for children. + Proceeds from the Lieder Project are donated to causes furthering singing with children.

‘Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her’ is a new CD featuring organ music with which to celebrate the Christmas season. + Works by Bach, Brahms and Barber stand alongside lesser-known works by composers including Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911), Otto Malling (1848-1915) and Flor Peeters (1903-86), making for an interesting and diverse holiday listening experience. + Michael Hartmann (b. 1955), organist, lecturer and artistic director, is the featured performer on the Oehms Classics release.

On this release, the Red Army Choir sings traditional and orthodox Christmas songs. Even when singing such familiar music, the precision of the ensemble's sound reveals the full mastery of the choir's vocal skills. Combined with a unique feeling for these carols' arrangements, these performances remind the listener exactly why the Red Army Choir was one of the great artistic symbols of the Soviet era.

A cappella music is on the program on the Ensemble Nobiles second Genuin CD, in a broad curve extending from the quiet beginning of the church year on the first Sunday of Advent and the jubilation of Christmas to the prophetic Feast of the Epiphany. The ensemble’s members all originally sang in the Choir of St. Thomas's and are currently winning prize after prize. The ensemble's flawless intonation is as convincing as its musical culture and choice of pieces. Here is an alternative for the Christmas season for those seeking fresh repertoire, both old and new, from the Renaissance to the present day.

This recording of the capella vocalis Boys Choir is guaranteed to set the perfect Christmas holiday mood. The bell-like voices of the choir intone popular Christmas carols such as “Es ist ein Ros‘ entsprungen” and “Stille Nacht”. In addition to these timeless numbers are other heartwarming songs of the season as well as an enchanting selection of Polish Christmas carols.

Music director Christopher Monks and the Armonico Consort present an enjoyable program of beloved Christmas carols and give these seasonal favorites polished performances that will appeal strongly to traditionalists. The British ensemble of ten singers performs most of the selections a cappella, though on several numbers they are accompanied by organ. The church-setting recording gives the album the feeling of a Christmas Eve concert in a small parish, except with the difference that no small parish choir ever sounds like this. The chamber choir is exceptionally blended and precise in rhythmic articulation and diction, so the carols are transparent in voicing and easily understood, in spite of the overly resonant acoustic that sometimes blurs their sound. While most of the program is made up of well-known holiday fare, including an enchanting performance of Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, two delightful contemporary carols receive their world premieres here, Hope Finds a Way and Mistletoe, both composed by Jonathan Roberts.

– Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide

"•Always Christmas!' A Christmas sceptic experiences a miraculous transformation through music and silence, through a girl and fairy tales, through sickness and recovery in the weeks of advent. The short story '7 Minutes before Christmas' for narrator and flute by Michael Dangl after the eponymous piece of music by Pavel Karmanov is accompanied by music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Astor Piazolla, Pyotr Pospelow, Pavel Karmanov and others. Michael Dangl, recitation and piano, and Maria Fedotova, flute, exude the best Christmas atmosphere in a special way. • Michael Dangl has been a member of the ensemble of the Theater in der Josefstadt, Vienna, since 1998. He received training in his parents' actors' group 'Karawane Salzburg' from his earliest childhood on. Further commitments have been to leading roles at the theatres in Salzburg, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Koblenz. Leading roles in cinema and TV films, 10 years at Reichenau Festival, productions for radio and readings of his own programmes underline the versatility of Dangl's artistic work. • Michael Dangl has already published two novels: Rampenflucht (2010) and Schöne Aussicht Nr. 16 (2012). In the 2013/14 season, Michael Dangl is acting in Wie im Himmel in the Theater in der Josefstadt and in Ziemlich beste Freunde in the Kammerspiele der Josefstadt. • The flautist Maria Fedotova, a graduate of St. Petersburg Conservatoire (1996) in a class held by Professor A.Vavilina-Mravinski, began her studies of music at the age of 5 and performed her first solo concert with the chamber orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre at the age of 8 and in duo with her father, the flautist Vladimir Fedotov. She has performed with the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov, the orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev etc. She has co-operated with such eminent musicians as Gidon Kremer, Juri Baschmet, Tatjana Gri

CALDARA Requiem. Trio Sonata in e. Cello Sonata in A. Missa dolorosa: Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus dei • Daniela Dolci, cond; Musica Fiorita • PAN 10296 (64:34 Text and Translation) (voices and period instruments)


When I heard the opening movement of this work, I almost fell off my chair, so similar was it to the iconic Mozart Requiem. Of course, this work, composed 70 years earlier, remains within the realm of soft suspensions, and it does not have the depth or power of the Mozart (as one would have expected), but that momentary piece of déja vu was enough to wonder whether Mozart, in his official (but poorly paid) position of Hofkapellmeister—after all he was appointed Gluck’s successor—had somehow come across the manuscript score of the Caldara, one of his predecessors. All speculation aside, the truth of the matter is that history shrouds both this Requiem and its purpose. To be sure, it is a Mass for the Dead, but whether it was written for the annual All Souls Day celebrations or for some noble patron remains unknown. The sole surviving manuscript was found in the library of the Clementinum College in Prague, and since Caldara had gone there in 1723 for the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as King of Bohemia, perhaps it may have been a commission especially for his Jesuit friends.


The work, here receiving its premiere, is textually incomplete, although the manuscript appears to be intact (according to one of my sources in Prague). It lacks the final movements from the offertory to the Agnus Dei, causing the writer of the notes to postulate that this was either sung to plainchant or the work had a more diverse performance history in which various movements were extracted for other occasions. To fill out the disc, The Musica Fiorita ensemble has chosen to interpolate the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei from the Missa dolorosa from 1735, presumably because a dolorous Mass would have an acceptable tone and style. Moreover, since even this is too short, a couple of sonatas, one for two violins and the other for cello, have been included. This is probably not justifiable, but since they are done with taste and elegance, I have no quibble with their inclusion.


The torso of the Requiem is really quite interesting. The entire first section, from the Introit to the Kyrie, is a series of gentle movements that seem to flow seamlessly into each other, with the suspensions emerging subtly with the voices. Caldara uses a darker sounding string body, mainly consisting of violas whose registers match the close harmonies. In the Kyrie, one might expect a fugue or at least some more expansive counterpoint, but here Caldara chooses more solemn homophonic chords. The softly-rocking Christe duet thus appears more active with imitative phrases passed back and forth between the solo voices. One might also expect a more powerful Dies irae, but even here Caldara draws back from overt text painting. Instead, each downbeat has a quick hammer stroke that emphasizes the ostinato pattern, and rather than an apocalyptic chorus, a lone soprano plaintively outlines the day of judgment. So the Quantus termor does have a wavering chorus, and he does have a pair of trumpets appear at the Tuba mirum , with a nice series of rising triads evoking the resurrection contrasting with a voice that includes some of the only melismatic lines in the work. Only in the Judex ergo does the composer insert some real counterpoint in a slowly unfolding fugue. In the Confutatis the strings rush about as if in complete confusion, abruptly breaking off with softer imitative lines of the Voca me . As one might expect, the Sequence concludes with a rather short but complex fugue.


The performance by the Musica Fiorita is excellent, with the exception of the two trumpets, which sound like they are pitched just a tad too flat for the rest of the ensemble, with the result that they sound often out of tune. In an age where brass playing on these instruments has been revived to a high art, surely conductor Daniela Dolci could have found players that would have done these rather simple parts justice, as they are crucial though limited. The decision to use members of the chorus as the soloists is a good one, and I find that the blend achieves a nice balance. The tempos are at the right speed, neither too lugubrious nor too swift, and the phrasing brings out many of the subtle nuances to be found in this work. Of course, both sonatas and the Mass excerpts are done equally well. Given the plethora of Requiems out there that have still not been revived, I would venture to guess that this work will not receive another recording soon. This one, however, is eminently suitable and will make a fine addition to the collection, even with the recalcitrant brass.


FANFARE: Bertil van Boer

The Wilten Boys’ Choir, conductor Johannes Stecher and the ensemble he founded, the Academia Jacobus Stainer, present the Weinachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio), BWV 248 of J.S. Bach. Composed for the choir of St. Thomas, the work is practically tailor-made for a mixed boys’ choir like the Wilten Boys’ Choir. Paul Schweinester, tenor, and Daniel Schmutzhard, baritone, two former members of the Wilten Boys’ Choir, who are today successful singers on the international stage take on the soloist parts. Recorded at the Wilten Basilica, Innsbruck, Austria.

Following the Bach cantatas edition (audite 21.415) with Karl Ristenpart, audite continues the series of historic recordings from the archives of RIAS Berlin with a complete recording of the Christmas Oratorio. As soloists, Ristenpart engaged leading Bach singers of the time, thus ensuring that the recitatives of the Evangelist, the arias and ensembles were of particularly high quality. Alongside the RIAS Chamber Choir and the RIAS Chamber Orchestra a recording was created in December 1950 which both validly represents Bach interpretation of that time, and also heralds, notably in Parts 4 and 5, historically informed performance practice.