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If Christmas is about bringing people together, then
Our Favorite Things succeeds admirably by assembling one of the most oddly disparate groups of singers ever to roast a chestnut on an open fire. Placido Domingo and Vanessa Williams singing a Barry Manilow song? Domingo and Tony Bennett together for "I'll Be Home for Christmas"? An appearance (on just three numbers) by young soprano sensation Charlotte Church? It's all here on this 22-song, 70-minute extravaganza (also on
CD), taped in December 2000 in Vienna (the subject of a 14-minute bonus video that may be the best part of the disc). Some of it's a bit stilted (Bennett swings, Domingo can't), but there are some genuinely moving moments, like Domingo and Church's "O Holy Night" and the Domingo/Bennett/Williams "Angels We Have Heard on High." And let's face it: hearing such great voices sing these timeless classics, sacred and secular, can't be bad. Superior family fare.
--Sam Graham
From the Back Cover
Four stars align in Vienna for an extraordinary Christmas concert starring jazz legend Tony Bennett, singer and actress Vanessa Williams, superstar tenor Placido Domingo, and including a special appearance by teen singing sensation Charlotte Church.
Our Favorite Things is a timeless holiday concert the whole family will enjoy. Somewhere in My Memory, Winter Wonderland, Hijo de Dios, Through the Eyes of a Child, I'll Be Home for Christmas, O Holy Night, Silent Night, Because It's Christmas, Jesús de Nazareth, The Christmas Song, My Favorite Things, Joy to the World, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The First Noel, Do You Hear What I Hear?, Hacia Belén va un Burro, It's Christmas All Over the World, White Christmas, I Saw Three Ships, Angels We Have Heard on High, Silent Night, One More Year. Recorded live at the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria, on December 21, 2000.
