Vaughan Williams: First Nowell; Bach: Cantata 63; Mendelssohn: Vom Himmel Hoch (2010)

performed by Andrew Staples (tenor), Christopher Maltman (baritone), Lisa Milne (soprano), Ruxandra Donose (mezzo-soprano), London Philharmonic Choir (choir, chorus), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)
composed by Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ralph Vaughan Williams

This live recording featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir was made at a concert of Christmas-themed music at London's Royal Festival Hall in 2009. Bach didn't write this cantata for Christmas and it doesn't explicitly refer to the Nativity, but he is known to have used it on Christmas, and it does have an appropriately festive and celebratory tone. Mendelssohn wrote Von himmel hoch, which he described as a "Christmas song," under the strong influence of Bach, and it skillfully integrates a contrapuntal rigor ... Read More

This live recording featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir was made at a concert of Christmas-themed music at London's Royal Festival Hall in 2009. Bach didn't write this cantata for Christmas and it doesn't explicitly refer to the Nativity, but he is known to have used it on Christmas, and it does have an appropriately festive and celebratory tone. Mendelssohn wrote Von himmel hoch, which he described as a "Christmas song," under the strong influence of Bach, and it skillfully integrates a contrapuntal rigor with gorgeously evocative Romantic orchestration. Vaughan Williams never completed his nativity play, The First Nowell , and the music from it presented here is essentially a very sophisticated suite of carol arrangements. It's an attractive program. Mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose and tenor Andrew Staples, the least familiar names and who are heard only in the Bach, make impressive contributions. Baritone Christopher Maltman and soprano Lisa Milne are solid in the Vaughan... Read Less