Top 5 Christmas Recordings

 

This recording makes the list easily.

My personal favorite Christmas albums of classic stereo orchestral and choral sources are:

1. The Glorious Sound of Christmas, Eugene Ormandy

2. A Festival of Carols w/ Many Moods of Christmas, Robert Shaw & RCA Victor SO

3. Christmas with Leontyne Price, Herbert von Karajan

4. The Joy of Christmas, Leonard Bernstein

I will now happily add Sir Colin Davis' A Festival of Christmas Carols to my short list. This recording can also be found titled as An Olde English Christmas or The Spirit of Christmas, which I have pictured below as well.

With my list of albums above, sometimes its success depends on the arranger, and Peter Hope on this recording does wonders for the London Symphony Orchestra. Most interestingly, Peter Hope sets the 18 carols into a continuously playing medley, with no pauses amongst the tracks, other than occasional mood setting.

This program really caught me at the right moment and in the right mindset, but I think the quality of this performance would have spoken to me regardless. I would normally balk at the rather short 47-minute runtime, but it seems a perfectly sized musical package, and a great recording is not to be missed.

I have countless Christmas choral and orchestral recordings, many of which I rate very highly. How is it these particular classic renditions rise to the top?

I don't know if I have the words for it, but there is a timelessness to these familiar carol settings. Maybe a sweet earnestness combined with bold dramatics which doesn't devolve into the world of jazz, kitsch, or popular music. Yet these performances are fun too, with plenty of confidence and variety amongst their Christmas programs.

In any case, for those who enjoy orchestral and choral sounds during the yuletide season, I would recommend any and all of the recordings I mentioned above. They come out every year for me and I am happy to pass on their charm to others. What a find!

 

Listen on YouTube

 

 

 

Performers
John Alldis Choir
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis, conductor

Label: Philips
Year: 1980
Total Timing: 47.01

 

 

 

A top-5 Christmas recording for me.

It should be especially pleasing for those who enjoy orchestral music with occasional choral contributions.