Terry Blain hearkens unto a selection of this year’s very best seasonal recordings
Christmas round-up Gothic Voices will shortly mark its 40th anniversary, and celebrates with Nowell synge we bothe al and som, a new programme of medieval songs and motets for the Christmas season. The material is a mix of plainchant and polyphony, arranged for various combinations of the ensemble’s four members. The glowing blend of tone and fluidity of phrasing achieved in Dunstaple’s ‘Gaude virgo salutata’ is typical of all 25 tracks on the recording. Among these, mezzosoprano Catherine King’s gently caressing ‘Lullay, lullay: Als I lay’ and the jubilant ‘Nowell: Owt of your slepe’ are obvious highlights, and the sound is excellent. (Linn CKD 591 ★★★★)
Alonso Lobo’s Missa Beata Dei genitrix Maria is the anchor work in A Spanish Nativity, a new disc from the 12-voice British ensemble Stile Antico. Their ability to rivet attention is immediately obvious in an introspective and raptly controlled account of the Missa’s opening Kyrie, while the poignant Agnus Dei highlights the group’s lithe expressivity and immaculate tuning. Pieces by Victoria, Guerrero, Morales and others are dotted between the movements of Lobo’s Missa, and while the mood is generally contemplative, Matteo Flecha’s perky villancico ‘Ríu Ríu Chíu’ also gets an outing. (Harmonia Mundi HMM 902312 ★★★★)
Sansara released an acclaimed debut album two years ago, and its new disc The Waiting Sky adopts a similar formula of mixing old and new music. On the contemporary side, the palpitating rhythms of Judith Weir’s ‘Ave Regina caelorum’ draws a featherlight nimbleness from the choir’s 16 voices, and they show excellent technical control in a dynamically wide-ranging setting of ‘Balulalow’ by Sansara’s associate composer, Oliver Tarney. Works by Tallis, Josquin, Byrd and Praetorius also receive warmly empathetic performances, with Benjamin Cunningham and artistic director Tom Herring job-sharing as conductors. (Resonus RES 10250
★★★★)
How did Christmas music sound in the medieval world? We don’t know for sure, but The Telling is a group specialising in that period, and in The Secret Life of Carols they delve back centuries for answers. Soprano Clare Norburn and mezzo Ariane Prüssner are the crystalline singers, and their pan-european selection of pieces includes Bach’s ‘O Jesulein süß’, the Finnish ‘Heinillä härkien kaukalo’ and a haunting ‘Lullay, my child’ from England. With two harpists sharing the accompaniments the aesthetic is sparse, suggesting an intimate domestic setting. The overall effect is aurally cleansing, and the recorded sound is outstanding. (First Hand Records FHR94 ★★★★)
Historical reconstruction also plays a part in Nuit de Noël, where Les Musiciens de Saint-julien and their conductor François Lazarevich join forces with La Maîtrise de
Radio France, a choir of schoolage singers. Lazarevich has made performing editions of carols from the French Baroque period by composers such as Corrette, Daquin and Charpentier, and there’s a delicious tang and freshness to the singing and the period-instrument accompaniments. A second disc has random ‘greatest hits’ of Baroque music, including Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, and Corelli’s Christmas Concerto. To cap a fun collection, a miniature cardboard Christmas tree pops up from the packaging. (Alpha 571
★★★★)