Greatest Christmas Songs

Julie Andrews | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 26, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00004XR5U
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,288 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

This 17-track comp combines classic Andrews Christmas performances with standards she sang early in her career. She delivers elegant renditions of Joy to the World; Greensleeves; Wexford Carol; Irish Carol; Jingle Bells; Cheek to Cheek; It Might As Well Be Spring , and more! --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Julie in a Wonderfully Restored Album, September 27, 2001

By 

Tom Anderson (Piney Flats, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Greatest Christmas Songs (Audio CD)

This is the album that Julie recorded in 1966 with Andre Previn as conductor and arranger, formerly entitled "A Christmas Treasure." It was first released as a $1.00 Christmas premium at Firestone tire stores in 1966, then released in record stores the following year on RCA. Julie was at the height of her popularity, and I heard the album played at every function and party in our small community that Christmas in 1966. The original LP and CD releases were both compressed and horribly distorted. This new version, however, is beautifully restored: crisp, spacious distortion-free sound. There's even a short instrumental interlude added back to "The Bells of Christmas" that has never been present on previous versions. The only negative thing that could be said about the album is the self-consciously artsy arrangements that keep the album from being as warm and Christmasy as it should have. However if you're a fan of Julie Andrews you MUST have this album--just avoid buying a copy of the older recording that is still available in some stores.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Christmas Music, Hands-Down!!, November 12, 2000

By 

Sara Stromseth "midwesterngirl" (Cresco, IA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Greatest Christmas Songs (Audio CD)

"Greatest Christmas Songs" is essentially a remastered collection of the Julie Andrews/Andre Previn holiday album "A Christmas Treasure," originally recorded in 1966. The remastered sound on this CD is wonderful and showcases the sophistication and grandeur these arrangments have so well captured and maintained over the years. Julie Andrews brings her gorgeous soprano to Previn's lush, expansive orchestral arrangments, and the two compliment each other perfectly. Whether it be the joyful opening number, "Joy To the World," or the haunting "Wexford Carol," or the tender reading of "Irish Carol," this collection showcases Christmas music in a grand and memorable fashion. Of particular interest is the lilting, refreshing alternative melody Andrews provides for "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear." Even after all of these years, this album still sounds fresh. This album has special meaning to me, as my grandfather (a band director for many years) dubbed it and the Robert Shaw Christmas collection for us years ago. Until just recently, I was only able to listen to this magical collection on our old reel-to-reel recording (which took from the LP version of "A Christmas Treasure."). Hearing the remastered CD version was wonderful, and this collection of music remains far and away not only a sentimental favorite, but also, on a musical level, a timeless collection of holiday music. Please make it a part of your holiday listening tradition...it's well worth your investment!

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My All-Time Favorite Christmas Album, October 23, 2000

By 

Richard J. Roberts (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Greatest Christmas Songs (Audio CD)

This is essentially a re-release of the Julie Andrews-Andre Previn collaboration "A Christmas Treasury" (with some surprisinging non-Christmas selections tacked to the end, on which I shall not comment). For years I was forced to listen to an old, scratched LP version; then it was released on CD, only to vanish. Grab it now before it disappears again. Of my rather large collection of Christmas CDs, this is definitely what I would choose if forced to choose only one. Recorded in the early 1960s, Ms. Andrews's voice is at its peak of perfection. But beyond that, the selections and the arrangements perfectly present the kind of pomp and grandeur we associate with the idealized British Christmas celebration, without ever being in any way stuffy or pretentious. Imagine a symphonic version of wine-red silk velvet. The opening "Joy to the World" is glorious, expansive, rich. The closing "Jingle Bells" is lighthearted yet classy in the quintessential Julie Andrews tradtion. Every song in between is a perfect gem. I cannot imagine the Christmas season without this CD.