Christmas Carols [Import]

Mantovani & His Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Christmas Legends
• ASIN: B00065VSKU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,075 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. First Noel

2. Hark The Herald Angels Sing

3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

4. White Christmas

5. Good King Wenceslas

6. O Holy Night

7. Adeste Fideles

8. Joy To The World

9. Silent Night Holy Night

10. O Tannenbaum

11. Midnight Waltz

12. Nazareth

13. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

14. Skaters Waltz

Editorial Reviews

14-track collection of Christmas Carols featuring 'The First Noel', 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing', 'Joy To The World', 'Silent Night, Holy Night' and more. Christmas Legends. 2004.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do NOT buy the mono 2003 CD version, BEWARE!, December 10, 2005

By 

Rnzn - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Christmas Carols (Audio CD)

N.B. I wrote this review in 2005. At that time the only version of this album available on CD was a horrible reproduction of the 1953 mono album that substituted the original cover art with a picture of Mantovani. This review below is for the 2003 mono CD version. In December 2009 Collector's Choice re-issued a very high quality remastered CD of the 1958 stereo version. The 2009 one is complete with original album art, a drawing of a Christmas tree ornament. Amazon has since confused the two CD releases and combined reviews from both items into one product page. Be sure to avoid the earlier version and insist on the excellent 2009 version!
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Do not buy the 2003 CD which was produced in The Netherlands by a label called "Christmas Legends" without the authorization of the original record company or the Mantovani estate. The CD version I am describing here contains the 1953 mono recording. It has HORRIBLE sound quality and fails to use the original album art.

This record company obviously copied the music from old LP records with no attention to sound quality. The original 1953 album recording was High Fidelity Mono. This version is Mono but no longer Hi-Fi because they have removed all the upper frequencies to hide the record surface noise. You won't hear a lot of pops or noise, but the lack of full frequency sound is a HUGE disappointment.

Not only are the high frequencies missing, but there are also some parts with significant distortion in the mid-range. Any copy of the original LP would have far better sound quality than this CD! This is NOT an acceptable replacement for the original LP record. In other words this quality of this disc is as low as it could possibly be!

Since this is such an old recording it would not be surprising if the original mono master tapes are either lost or damaged beyond repair. That might also explain why the original label, London/Decca now owned by Universal Music Group, has never reissued the the 1953 mono recording on CD.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Authentic Mantovani Christmas Album is This One!, May 25, 2005

By 

Thomas E. DeJulio (Bronxville, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christmas Carols (Audio CD)

There are literally dozens upon dozens of Mantovani Christmas CD's being sold these days with selections that are not Mantovani's music (I found one recently that actually featured the Canadian Brass). No wonder they are so reasonably priced when they really are new recordings of Christmas music audaciously and probably lucratively using the Mantovani name. This one, however, fairly recent in its issuance, is the CD version of the original 1953 release that was re-recorded in stereo in 1957 and stayed on the Billboard charts for years, reaching as high as Number 3 in 1958. This is the gold record with the original 14 tracks you want to purchase and hear, for it is album that enchanted holiday listeners for more than two decades and introduced the cathedral sound of Mantovani to legions of fans around the world who flocked to his concerts and purchased millions of his LPs to hear much more of his creative and luxurious musical arrangements.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice to finally have this complete album on CD..., December 23, 2009

By 

Jamie Tate (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Christmas Carols (Audio CD)

Growing up in the 70s and 80s I remember my parents playing Mantovani along with Percy Faith, Andre Kostelanetz and Eugene Ormandy every Christmas. The string sounds were so sugary they'd give you a tooth ache but Christmas isn't Christmas without them. In 1987 London Records released a CD called Mantovani's Christmas Favourites. It contained six tracks from this album but having grown up with it I always missed the songs that were not included. The rest of that CD was filled with tracks from the 1963 Christmas album which were quite good too (my favorite being a re-arrangement of Adeste Fideles called Christmas Bells). Finally, in 2009, we get those missing eight tracks on CD.

This CD sounds great. Even though the old London CD was actually quite nice this new release shows it to be slightly dull. I'm very happy to add this to my Christmas music playlists. It's great nostalgia and perfect for Christmas parties and family events. It never gets in the way but brings you back to childhood. Isn't that what this season is all about?