3 comments about Christmas in the Alps.

1. The vocals are beautiful, especially when used in contra-point with single instuments like the violin or flute.

   It's nice to hear something other than all the "standard" songs as well.




2. I bought this on the recommendation of the first reviewer. I was just looking for german Christmas music. This CD is very special. The voices have the crystal clear quality of a chior of nuns.



3. I'm an American who has in Germany for 15 years. I bought this CD 10 years ago as an afterthought, not knowing anything about it. I felt slightly guilty that we only listened to English Christmas music during the holidays, and since my husband is German I thought I'd get one CD with traditional German songs. This CD surprised me with its lush instrumentation and clear-as-a-bell vocals. Definitely a bargain for the price.

1 comments about Carol Symphony.

1. This recording is a bit strange, in that the core music surrounding the Christmas season is followed by some selections totally unrelated to the holiday. I guess the producers wanted to fill out the CD rather than have a short-timing (this music program was first released on LP). Still, most people will be buying the disk for the holiday-inspired music. I know I always edit out the last numbers when I play this CD.
   
   The Hely-Hutchinson work is nice enough, but the real treat here is the absolutely best performance of the Vaughan-Williams "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" you will find on disk. The singers and the orchestra are perfection personified, and the overall atmosphere is amazing. Of course, it's all over way too soon, which is why the additional Warlock and other carols sung by the Guildford Cathedral Choir are so welcome. They are also done perfectly. I believe you'll never hear another rendition of the Wassail Song as good as the one on this disk.
   
   In short, you can't go wrong with this CD for the holidays ... just be sure to skip over the last 25 minutes -- who needs the Children's Overture and the Suite of English Folk Dances on a program like this, anyway?

4 comments about Songs of The Sephardim.

1. This is a collection of songs that covers the broad spectrum of love, loss, hopes, and dreams. This music truly is expressed from the heart. It is interpreted by an excellent group of musicians who attempt successfully, I believe, to express the emotions and music of this particular era. This is a must-buy for anyone who is a serious collector.



2. A jewel of a recording. Alice Koslozski teamed up with La Rondinella for several more recordings of Sephardic and Spanish Renaissance songs, but this one, the first, is the very best: they are all technically excellent, but this CD has the best song selection.

   La Rondinella produces great earthy and colorful Medieval timbres. Kozloski's mezzo singing is lyrical and moving, some where on the spectrum between lieder singer and folk singer.

   The songs have a hauntingly beautiful simplicity - they are a relevant today as they were 600 years ago. The booklet contains all the Ladino texts - if you know a little Spanish, they are quite understandable.




3. This is a great album. The pieces are both instrumental and sung, with a range of themes. There are both lively and slow pieces on this album. The voices are clear, the harmonies are lovely, and with the lyrics, the words are fairly easy to follow and understand. If you already speak Spanish, you will find it easier to understand the medieval Castilian and so that knowledge provides a way in, but if you just like music and are interested in Jewish traditions, that offers an alternative route into the music.



4. This music has a distinctive Spanish flavour to it - the guitar introduction on the first track is unmistakably Spanish; this is a tradition that dates back to the time before Columbus discovered the 'new' world, which ironically was the same year Ferdinand and Isabella issued their edict of expulsion to the Jews in Spain. The Sephardic Jews took their musical traditions with them when they left, such that the Spanish influences in their culture permeated the Jewish communities in other parts of Europe.
   
   There are all sorts of music on this disc, that covers the whole range of pieces from the Sephardic culture - there are love songs, lullabies, and storytelling songs. Women feature prominently in the stories, and most likely in the composition, of many of the pieces here. Many pieces, however, have come down to the present time without composer/author credits. These could be the songs of many Mediterranean cultures; that they are Jewish is indicated in some of the details of the lyrics rather than the style of music itself. References to Hebrew Scriptures in certain ways, and certain Jewish customs and officials (such as the Moel, the one who performs circumcision) indicate the kinds of details present here.
   
   La Rondinella makes use of wind and string instruments, most likely the same kinds of instruments used by the folk singers who would have been the original performers. Included here as performers are Paul Bensel (recorder, crumhorn, percussion), Howard Bass (lute, guitar, harp, percussion), Rosalind Brooks Stowe (treble viol, vielle, percussion), and Tina Chancey as a guest artist (treble viol, vielle, rebec, kamenj, recorder, percussion), with the alto vocals of Alice Kosloski. La Rondinella was established in 1987 in Washington D.C. as a group dedicated to older styles of music such as Sephardic, English, Scottish and Italian music.
   
   The performances here are simply stunning, and remarkable in the fullness of sound and one with so few players. The care and spirit infused into the performances is wonderful. The emotion is very strongly present, particularly in pieces that give a sense of longing and wandering, a very well-known feeling among the Sephardim.

3 comments about Shimmy Down the Chimney: A Country Christmas.

1. This is a great CD for your Christmas music collection. I am a big fan of Trace Adkins and his version of Christmas Song is wonderful. Not to mention the new one by Alison Kraus Shimmy Down the Chimney is great. If you love any artists on this CD you have to get it.
   Marjorie
   San Francisco Bay Area



2. Sure, this album's been out for more than a year, but I waited until last year's post-holiday markdowns to pick this up for less than half price. It has become one of my favorite Christmas albums (and I have more than 200).
   
   While this is a new collection, there is only one new recording: Alison Krauss's sultry "Shimmy Down the Chimney," which was released as a single last year. What makes this such a satisfying collection is that Capitol Records has cherry picked songs from a variety of labels. So you get Dwight Yoakam (Warner Bros.) doing a rousing version of "Santa Claus Is Back in Town," the Willie Nelson (Columbia) chestnut "Pretty Paper," and bluegrass legend Del McCoury (Rebel) performing "Call Collect on Christmas."
   
   In addition, some of these songs date back more than thirty years: Merle Haggard's traditional reading of "Jingle Bells" is from 1973. In fact, other than the title track, only three other tracks are from this decade: Jo Dee Messina's "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (2002), Steve Wariner's "Christmas in Your Arms" (2000), and Kenny Rogers' "White Christmas" (2000).
   
   There are numerous highlights: SheDaisy perform a rollicking rendition of "Deck the Halls." Dolly Parton offers a playful version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Deana Carter sings a haunting version of "Carol of the Bells." All in all, this quite simply a wonderful collection of some of the season's best songs by some of country's biggest stars. [Running time - 59:17] VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



3. I try every year to add holiday music to my CD collection and I thought I was safe after reading the reviews for this one. But, unfortunately, it has fallen to the bottom of my collection and is my least favorite.

5 comments about Homecoming Christmas/Christmas in South Africa.

1. I enjoy watching the Gaither Homecoming tapes over and over. This is another good set of 2 DVD's.



2. Premier enchantement : comme d'habitude les merveillants chants des "homecoming friends"
   Et surtout le bonheur dans le regard de ces enfants très défavorisés par la misère et souvent la maladie
   
   Bravo !



3. My husband and I both love the Gaither Homecoming videos, especially the Christmas ones.



4. Bill Gaither not only supplied us with great Christmas music but also showed us how to help those less fortunate individuals that don't have what we take for granted. He worked the true meaning of Christmas into both DVD's and it was most satisfying. I would recommend these DVD highly.
   
   Tiggerashes



5. Loved them both with the high standard of earlier issues being maintained.
   
   The extra personal touches with the children & The Homecoming Friends were special

No comments about What If Mozart Wrote Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

1 comments about Christmas Collection.

1. Alabama's first Christmas album (the first CD of this set) is a fairly mellow album overall, though the pace picks up occasionally. It avoids all the obvious songs, being filled almost entirely with original material. As far as I know, the only cover is Tennessee Christmas, a brilliant song written by Amy Grant, which has also been covered by several other singers.
   
   The songs cover all aspects of Christmas. Joseph and Mary's boy caters for the religious aspect. Thistlehair the Christmas bear is a great song for children. Alabama always like to praise the southern states, so we not only get Tennessee Christmas but also Christmas in Dixie - another brilliant song. They are more reflective on songs such as Christmas memories and Candle in the window. Tonight is Christmas is a song of peace and goodwill.
   
   Alabama's second collection of Christmas music is almost as mellow as the first. The tempo picks up on Rocking around the Christmas tree (a cover of the Brenda Lee classic) and Hanging round the mistletoe (covered by Brooks and Dunn since Alabama first recorsded it) but they do not go full throttle even on those songs. So this is one of those Christmas albums to play during quieter moments and it works very well on that level.
   
   Among the other songs, there are two old chestnuts - Little drummer boy and O little town of Bethlehem - on which Alabama sound exactly as you would expect them to sound. New tears eve 1999 also appeared on their Twentieth century album. It fits in well and I'm glad that it was included. I was young once too is a great father and son song. The other songs are a mix of love ballads and spiritual songs and make for very enjoyable listening.
   
   Overall, I slightly prefer Alabama's first Christmas album to their second but as you get both here, you'll easily be able to make up your own mind if you buy this set. Of course, if you already own the earlier releases, you won't need to buy this. There's nothing new here although it would have been nice if they could have added Silent night as a bonus track. It appeared on their other 2006 release, Songs of inspiration. I can't see that its appearance on this set would have affected sales of the inspirational album except perhaps to encourage more people to buy that album.

2 comments about Christmas Concertos.

1. For people who just can't bear to listen to another Christmas carol, this is the album. Completely instrumental, this is early music written with Christmas in mind, but it is in no way recognizable as Christmas music. These little heard pieces are brilliantly conducted and performed (as always) by Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert. I heard tracks 5 & 6 on the radio a few weeks before Christmas, when my spirits were suffering an uncharacteristic low, and found myself so completely moved by the beauty them, I had to have the CD. I didn't know what the other pieces would be like, but they all turned out to be perfection. Each selection is just the right amount of colour and flourish, moving from lovely largos to vivd vivaces without ever leaving the listener reaching to turn the volume down or off. I found the entire "1 hour plus" album thoroughly uplifting and easy to get lost in. And best of all, I finally have an album that expresses musically how I feel about Christmas, that doesn't irritate anyone (including me). All that and a great Amazon price. What more can you ask?!



2. I first purchased this CD about 15 years ago thinking I would like to add a classical Christmas album to my holiday music collection. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover a wonderful joyeous grouping of classical music -- it simply makes me feel good. I play at other times of the year as well. I highly recommend it for a musical feel good time!

No comments about We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

5 comments about Spirit of Christmas.

1. Ray's treatment of these classics is unique and could only be done by him. Ordinarilly, I don't even like "The Little Drummer Boy" but when the pedal steel kicks in along with blues vocals and big band horn refrains, I have to say "Wow, what a great song". Ray Charles could make ANYTHING sound good.



2. A classic Christmas CD by the legendary Ray Charles, a must have for the holidays. I received my CD in lightening speed too and will definitely do business again!



3. The quality of the recording on this cd was absolutely terrible! It sounded 'tinny' and 'scratchy'. I love Ray Charles, but unless I just happened to get a bad copy, don't waste your money.



4. Ray Charles' unmistakable voice makes for a very enjoyable and soulful Christmas CD. Contains many classics as well as songs you don't often hear. My favorites include Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, This Time of the Year, and That Spirit of Christmas. Excellent!!



5. THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS, incorporating elements of gospel, soul, big band and jazz. Rhino's reissue includes a bonus track, the Charles-Betty Carter duet "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
   
   The best secret here is the song "That Spirit of Christmas" which can be heard in th movie Christmas Vacation. Worth the price of the cd alone.
   
   Many tracks are classic Christmas songs done in Ray's soulful style. It's a nice change from the typical Christmas albums, and it's one everyone can agree on. Amazing, blind since the age of six (from glaucoma), Charles studied composition and learned many instruments at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind. What a gifted musician!!