Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville was greatly admired in his day. His opera Titon et l’Aurore was one of his most popular works, being held up as a triumph over the rival Italian style during the Parisian Querelle des Bouffons in the 1750s. The narrative of this spectacular opéra-ballet follows the tumultuous and seemingly unbreakable liaison between the goddess L’Aurore and her lover the shepherd Titon. Jealous gods and goddesses try to interfere through murderous intent and dramatic abduction, but true love ultimately conquers all in stage director Basil Twist’s acclaimed feast for the senses.

REVIEWS:

This is a remarkably interesting production on several fronts. The music is a rarity, the composer almost unknown, the staging as close to the original as can be achieved, the period performance very fine and the history of the piece of unusual cultural significance.

The superb orchestra and chorus of Les Arts Florissants play and sing as if unaware of the lack of any audience and the presence of COVID masks in the pit—not the stage! This was all done in the middle of our pandemic. What a treat this would have been for an audience…

…This disc has to be given a strong recommendation. The picture is appropriately bright and sparkling, the sound is absolutely clear and clean with enough ambience to give it the feeling of being there.

-- MusicWeb International (Dave Billinge)

Highly rewarding for both the staging and the musical accomplishments – it should be at the very top of one’s shopping list.

The cast that was selected for this first production in modern times is a knockout one in every respect. William Christie and Les Arts Florissants are in crisp energetic form. Whenever the camera focuses on Christie it is obvious that he is enjoying himself every bit as much as his singers. Perfect picture and sound engineering guarantee that every fleecy moment is preserved with distinction.

-- MusicWeb International (Mike Parr)

Recorded at the Opéra-Comique last year, although without an audience, this recording of Mondonville’s Titon et l’Aurore is another triumph from William Christie.

-- Gramophone

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.

n Christian symbolism, the rose is closely associated with the Mystery of the Nativity, and therefore with both Jesus Christ and Mary. The idea of the perfect flower, springing forth from a thorny stem, has - like the Nativity itself - captured the imagination of poets and musicians throughout the ages and from all stations of life. With this original and wide-ranging Christmas collection, Grete Pedersen - the artistic director of the Norwegian Soloists' Choir - has created what might be compared to a rosary, combining 12th-century hymns by Hildegard of Bingen with a carol by the Danish 20th-century composer Per Nørgård, as well as traditional Christmas psalms, in many cases sung to Norwegian folk tunes following age-old usages. Grete Pedersen and the choir have reached a wide international audience through four previous discs on BIS, ranging from collections of Grieg, or of Brahms and Schubert, to the folk-inspired White Night and, most recently, Refractions: the unexpected combination of three 20th-century giants - Berg, Webern and Messiaen - with their Norwegian contemporary Fartein Valen. On the present disc, the team is once again joined by the singer Berit Opheim and the violinist Gjermund Larsen - both with a background in folk music - as well as by Rolf Lislevand, internationally acclaimed lutenist, and the highly respected jazz bassist Bjørn Kjellemyr.

Dale Warland's group stands on more than 30 years of first-rate performances and acclaimed recordings, and this one from 2002 is a fine representative of its sound and singing style, and of its well-loved Christmas repertoire. It's a warm, unaffected, unforced sound colored by natural resonance rather than the excessive vibrato that defines so many American choirs. The ensemble's legato technique is exemplary, and while all sections of this professional choir are superb, the sopranos are particularly notable for their uniformly lustrous tone. The repertoire titles will be very familiar to Christmas choral music fans, although the particular arrangements may not.


Some of these lesser-known settings include Donna Schultz's Il est né, Kirke Mechem's Fum, fum, fum! and Patapan, and director Warland's own Huron Carol and O little town of Bethlehem (set to the Forest Green tune). There are several fine Stephen Paulus contributions--Gabriel's Message and Three Nativity Carols--along with Jan Sandström's delightfully spooky and increasingly popular version of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen. Traditional favorites such as Wilhousky's Carol of the Bells and Norman Luboff's Joseph Dearest also make welcome appearances, and the disc concludes with Malcolm Sargent's (yes, that Malcolm Sargent) simple and lovely arrangement of Silent Night. Harp, oboe, percussion, and bells add occasional strokes of color, and the sound is ideal. In other words, this is a solidly performed, well-recorded program of the old and new (often combined in the same piece) that will fit nicely into any Christmas music collector's library.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Includes christmas carol(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Musica Ficta Vocal Ensemble Copenhagen. Conductor: Bo Holten.
Includes work(s) by Carl Nielsen (Composer), Niels Gade, Christoph Ernst F. Weyse, Johan Peter E. Hartmann, Peter E. Lange-Müller. Ensemble: Musica Ficta Vocal Ensemble Copenhagen. Conductor: Bo Holten.

Most popular and traditional Christmas Music and Songs from the Austrian Mountain Regions.

KultBlech is the brass ensemble of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. KultBlech presents an album with subtly arranged and masterfully played Christmas music for brass! Under the baton of Steven Verhaert the one of a kind arrangements written especially for KultBlech Dresden by Markus Höller & Hans Reiner Schmidt make the christmas time humorous, lively and emotional! KultBlech Dresden takes you on an extraordinary Christmas musical journey around the world - and this every year! An album for the whole family!

CONTENTS:

• Joy to the world
• Engel auf den Feldern
• Hirten auf Reisen [Teil 1]
• Little drummer boy
• Weihnachten in Deutschland
• Amazing grace
• Euch ist ein Kindlein heut geborn
• Hirten auf Reisen [Teil 2]
• Weihnachten in Europa
• Stille Nacht
• Frohes Fest und gute Nacht
• You raise me up

David Ian Vintage Christmas breathes new life into a set of familiar Christmas classics in relaxed, swinging arrangements that capture the spirit of the season and the spirit of jazz. In this beguiling blend of instrumental and vocal versions, the mood is intimate, the vibe is mellow, the sound warm and inviting. While dozens of Christmas albums are released each year, the most evocative ones are often those made by jazz musicians. This should come as no surprise, since the emotional primacy in the best jazz music echoes the spirituality inherent in the best Christmas songs. Jazz and Yuletide music have a long and complementary history, from Chet Baker's Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas to Vince Guaraldi's a Charlie Brown Christmas to Wynton Marsalis' Crescent City Christmas Card. Taking proud place in this music lineage is David Ian Vintage Christmas, which breathes new life into a set of familiar Christmas classics in relaxed, swinging arrangements that capture the spirit of the season while respecting the sanctity of the material. Rather than burying the songs under a wall of sound, Ian has opted for a small jazz combo that places the accent firmly on their melodic and lyrical content.

Classical Music

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Also available on standard DVD

Toy maker Dr. Coppelius (Gary Avis) seems to have a beautiful young woman in his house: Coppelia (Ashley Dean), who sits and reads on his balcony. Franz (Vadim Muntagirov) and his vellow young villagers are curious about her and how she ignores them all. Franz’s fiancée Swanilda (Marianela Nunez) is not pleased by Franz’s interest in another woman, but equally curious. When Dr. Coppelius goes to the local tavern, the young villagers slip into his house to introduce themselves to the strangely silent young woman but are met with a house full of mechanical dolls and, seemingly, magic… A classic returns to The Royal Ballet repertory with Ninette de Valois’ charming and funny Coppelia- a story of love, mischief and mechanical dolls. The intricate choreography is set to Delibes’ delightful score and shows off the technical precision and comedic timing of the whole Company. Osbert Lancaster’s designs bring a colorful storybook world to life in this Christmas treat for the whole family.

THE KING'S SINGERS THE KING'S SINGERS JOY TO THE WORLD

Includes work(s) by composers. Ensembles: Sächsisches Vocal Ensemble, Batzdorfer Hofkapelle. Conductor: Matthias Jung.

Includes christmas song(s) by various composers.
Includes traditional hymn(s). Ensemble: Joculatores Upsalienses. Soloists: Roland Pöntinen, Hans Fagius, Peter Mattei.

Christmas Songs from different Scandinavian Countries. Sung in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and Icelandic.

Felix Klieser meets the renowned ensemble of the Wiener Concert-Verein in a magical Christmas sound. All pieces - newly arranged for horn and chamber ensemble - are the highlights of Christmas music. Handel's"Tochter Zion", Bach's “Christmas Oratorio” to Telemann, Buxtehude, Charpentier, and Humperdinck‘s „Evening Prayer" as well as traditional such as"Deck the hall","Veni, veni Emmanuel","Carol of the Bells" or"Silent Night" round off the programme.