The Night Before Christmas

 

During the Yuletide season, pops concerts used to cover classical music. It was light music, but it was honest-to-God classical music.

Today, pops concerts are a parade of carols and medleys with spotlights of local soloists singing favorite tunes.

This Naxos recording is a throwback to the older approach of presenting holiday fare. Notice names such as Mozart, Liszt, and Massenet, as well as lesser-knowns such as Coleridge-Taylor and Otto Nicolai.

Philip Lane is responsible for many orchestrations on this program, as well as composing a couple of the aforementioned carol medleys, including the titular Night Before Christmas with narration from Stephen Fry. Compared to most recordings of this sort, it is a very difference presentation for the listener, despite the cartoon cover art.

If I had an issue with this selections of Classical pieces, it is that they are all rather slight and forgettable. However, I greatly appreciate the attempt to do something different! Just wait until you get Naxos' follow-up sequel (BLOG).

A review from 2022


Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops were reknown for their seasonal fare, but Fiedler always included honest-to-goodness Classical Music on his programs. Today, that idea has gone the way of the horse and buggy in lieu of aging stars of yesteryear limiting themselves to familiar carols. With Naxos’ Night Before Christmas, we have solid classical music alongside some modern orchestral takes on familiar carols.

As to the historical music, Mozart’s Sleighride from the 1700’s is a light ditty with many jangly bells. Coleridge Taylor’s Christmas Overture mixes his own original ideas with God Rest & Hark the Herald, as does Otto Nicolai’s Christmas Overture with the Martin Luther hymn Vom Himmel Hoch.

Furthermore, there are four movements from Franz Liszt’s Christmas Tree Suite and a beautiful excerpt from Jules Massenet’s oratorio The Virgin, featuring solo cello to make the heart sing. The serious pieces might not be what attracts the masses to this recording, but it legitimizes what could have been a corporate attempt for a cash-in, notwithstanding the cartoon cover.

The rest are family-friendly takes on familiar tunes by modern composers. John Carmichael’s Sleighride is another short, but charming ditty. Plastered all over this recording is Philip Lane’s The Night Before Christmas, a rather cinematic underscoring to the famous poem, here narrated by cheeky-Brit Stephen Fry. Lane’s Overture on French Carols is a buoyantly fun fantasia, as is Doreen Carwithen’s humorous, yet lengthy orchestral spin on the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Barry Wordsworth lead these works with vim and vigor, yet there is enough sentimental value and familiarity to appease a broad audience. The BBC Singers only appear in two of the 12 tracks, but sing solidly. Naxos’ sound is terrific, with up close sound to hear every clip clop and jingle jangle. Fun stuff!

Works

Leopold Mozart
Sleighride (3.11)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Christmas Overture (5.53)

Jules Massenet
Last Sleep of the Virgin (4.49)

Otto Nicolai
Christmas Overture (11.26)

Franz Liszt
Christmas Tree Suite (10.35)

Doreen Carwithen
On the Twelfth Day (20.24)

Philip Lane
Overture on French Carols (5.05)
Night Before Christmas (6.10)

John Carmichael
Sleighride to Thredbo (1.57)

Soloists
Stephen Fry, narrator (Night)
Rebecca Turner, violin (Liszt)
Matthew Lee, cello (Massenet)

Performers
BBC Singers (Nicolai & Carwithen)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor

Label: Naxos
Year: 2006
Total Timing: 69.27

I doubt anyone would expect such a serious program with this cutesy Naxos cover, however there is more to it than meets the eye.

On the other hand, the Classical selections are not top-tier either. Fine for those who enjoy orchestral music with a seasonal perspective.