A Vocal Holiday Trio
by
Kristin Battestella
Hang
on to your ear drums for this trio of Christmas sessions brimming
with big crescendos, sweeping arias, and plenty of star power gone
caroling.
A Christmas Celebration: Kathleen Battle – Make room for some
huge notes for this 1986 hour featuring everything from two divine
“Ave Maria” renditions and a truly lullaby “Away in a Manger”
to the medieval “What Child is This” and a happy “Zither
Carol.” The familiar religious operatic swells keep coming with the
welcoming “O Come All Ye Faithful,” impeccable “O Holy Night,”
powerful “Silent Night,” and rousing “Hark the Herald Angels
Sing.” However, short versions of rarer carols like “Bring a
Torch Jeannette and Isabell,” “Fum Fum Fum,” “Lo, How A Rose
E'er Blooming,” “Gesu Bambino,” “Marie Wiegenlied,” and
“Rise Up Shepherd” add a pleasing and sentimental yet
international, performance atmosphere. A somber “I Wonder as I
Wonder” and the tender “Mary Had a Baby” accent the
choir-backed “I Saw Three Ships/The First Noel/The Holly and The
Ivy” medley before the session goes out in style with a giant,
Christmas concert in itself reprise finale featuring Veni Veni
Emmanuel/ It Came upon a Midnight Clear/ O Little Town of Bethlehem
/Silent Night/O Come All Ye Faithful. Whew! This is an old CD with a
very low volume mix, which makes it tough to have individual tracks
in a random holiday playlist. It's also one of the first discs I ever
owned, so many artists often pale in comparison to the booming vocals
here. Though I'm sure we often try, most listeners can't exactly sing
along, and at times, it is tough to understand the lyrics of such
operatic or obscure renditions – this epic session doesn't quite
cater to the masses despite an inclusive variety with Catalan,
French, Czech, Italian, and German carols. Fortunately, new downloads
make it easy to pick and choose from your favorite octaves for an
evening of reverent awe.
Stars of Christmas – Catch all holiday sets like this are a dime
a dozen, and this generically named and occasionally billed as a
Volume 3 CD hour has its share of clunkers alongside great
tracks from big names that are tough to find elsewhere. Perennial
essentials like “Sleigh Ride” from the Boston Pops and expected
artists like Bing Crosby on “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” and
Frank Sinatra's “O Little Town of Bethlehem” anchor a helping of
family fun with Eddy Arnold's “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” and “Up
on the Housetop” and Doris Day's carefree “Deck the Halls.”
Children join in with Patti Page for “We Wish You A Merry
Christmas,” and a triple Perry Como with “Jingle Bells” and
“Twelve Days of Christmas” is surprisingly solid in the reverent
“Ave Maria” – as is Eddie Fisher's “O Come All Ye Faithful”
compared to Andy Williams' somewhat nonchalant “Angels We Have
Heard on High” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” There are
some unusual tracks and questionable renditions here, too, including
the unfortunately plain “Joy to the World” from Vic Damone,
Engelbert Humperdink's easy listening “Away in a Manger,” Vicki
Carr's too soft “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” and a struggling
“O Holy Night” by Bobby Vinton. Although the fine medieval
strings of Jose Feliciano's “We Three Kings” seems a little out
of place amid the casual flavor, it matches the absolutely dynamite
medley of “The First Noel/Silent Night/O Holy Night” by Kate
Smith. Mahalia Jackson's “Silent Night” finale is also yes please
and amen, and overall the mid century nostalgia here has enough
spiritual attention and holiday lightheartedness for a family party
or trimming the tree.
Christmas with The Three Tenors – I had to check and make sure I
hadn't already reviewed this somewhat rough around the edges 2007
compilation hour, as a 'Christmas Three Tenors' search brings up
hundreds of titles! These recordings apparently come from a variety
of performances without notes as to their concert, and Placido
Domingo receives the unceremonious coal at only two stirring
appearances for “Requeim/Ingemisco” and “Et Incarnatus Est.”
Instead, The Royal Music College squeezes in with the brief “A
Christmas Medley” and “Vivaldi's Gloria” amid familiar but no
less powerhouse odes including Luciano Pavarotti's “O Come All Ye
Faithful” and “Gesu Bambino” and a “Silent Night” finale
from Jose Carreras. Poor mixing and audience noise can be heard on
Pavarotti's otherwise powerful “Pieta Signora,” but the big notes
keep coming in his humble “Agnus Dei.” Carreras, meanwhile, adds
more somber with “Misericordia” and the reverent “Ave Verum
Corpus.” Rival tugging at your tearducts “Ave Marie” versions
come from both Carreras and Pavarotti, as does a doubly captivating
“Panis Angelicus” and varying sweet versions of “Mille
Cherubini” from Carreras and “Mille Cherubini in Coro” from
Pavarotti. Try not to get confused, right? While similar downloads of
The Three Tenors at Christmas or
the superior The Three Tenors Christmas make
it easy to pick and choose your favorite third's sweeping tracks, one
probably has to be acquainted with the stars here. These are
not laymen December tunes and to the breezy holiday album listener,
this may be both too ecclesiastical and not Christmas enough thanks
to the unfamiliar if breathtaking linguistic display. Fortunately,
one just needs to know a scared octave when he hears it, and this
budget presentation has a global, renaissance feeling poignant for
the season.
The Three Tenors Christmas is