Saint Saëns: Christmas Oratorio; Britten: A Ceremony of Carol

Egbert Junghanns (Performer), Camille Saint-Saens (Composer), Benjamin Britten (Composer), Martin Flämig (Conductor), Dresden Philharmonic (Performer), Michael-Christfried Winkler (Performer), Elisabeth Wilke (Performer), Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Ute Selbig (Performer), Armin Ude (Performer), Annette Markert (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Egbert Junghanns, Dresden Philharmonic, Michael-Christfried Winkler, Elisabeth Wilke, Ute Selbig, et al.
• Orchestra: Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Martin Flämig
• Composer: Camille Saint-Saens, Benjamin Britten
• Audio CD (October 11, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Delta
• ASIN: B000001VMU
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,547 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Classical Instrumental

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Budget recording - not very good, but the only one available, December 3, 2002

By 

Timothy Hulsey (Charlottesville, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Saint Saëns: Christmas Oratorio; Britten: A Ceremony of Carol (Audio CD)

This bargain-basement recording has more than its share of shortcomings. A competent but uninspired performance of the Saint-Saens is by far the highlight. But Britten's _Ceremony of Carols_ is sung in German instead of the original Middle English, and it comes off as something of a fiasco.

The absence of liner notes means that you won't know what the choir or soloist is singing at any given time, so much of the subtle word-painting will be lost on most listeners. All vocal soloists are unidentified.

I've recommended this recording only because it is at present the only one of the Saint-Saens available. But it's high time for something better. Naxos, are you listening?

(Update, October 2008: The last paragraph was true six years ago, but thankfully it is no longer so.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real gem here is the Oratorio, December 29, 2005

By 

Basso Profondo (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saint Saëns: Christmas Oratorio; Britten: A Ceremony of Carol (Audio CD)

I think this album is worth buying for the Oratorio alone. Saint-Saens' Oratorio is way too underrated and underperformed, and I hadn't heard of it myself until my fine arts program put on a production of it this semester. It's a small scale work written only for strings, harp and organ (and chorus and soloists of course), nevertheless it is absolutely gorgeous. Even the recitative is beautiful! My personal fav's are the Soprano and Baritone duet (in which the soprano hits a high C without shattering the windows), the Tenor, Soprano and Baritone Trio which in itself is one of the most beautiful and haunting pieces of music that I've heard, and the Quartet for Alto, Soprano, Mezzo, and Bass. I don't know anything about Britten's ceremony of carols, but I would still buy this album even if it were solely for the Oratorio. And regardless of what others have said, I think this particular recording of it is marvellous.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Competent but uninspired, September 2, 2000

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saint Saëns: Christmas Oratorio; Britten: A Ceremony of Carol (Audio CD)

There is nothing wrong with these performances other than they are uninspired, that they quickly become backgroung music you don't really hear. If you don't already know and like the Oratorio and Ceremony of Carols, these performances won't make you love them.