Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.)

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.

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.

I don't usually disagree with prior reviews but here I have to. I have owned this CD for at least 8 years, maybe longer. And I love it. The Saint-Saens is a very special piece of music and I am totally dumbfounded why nobody ever plays it. It does not sound difficult, so a church chior and orchestra could easily take a stab at it. Instead, we get one Handel Messiah after another at Christmas. And this performance sounds just perfect to me. True, there are no texts but remember, this a super budget CD and your are lucky to get performer's names sometimes. As for the Britten, it is a piece I have little love for. And so I will not comment on the performance.

As others have written, I had never heard this oratorio until I took it from a store's bin of Christmas tapes more than ten years ago. When I saw it again last year in CD, I grabbed it again. I don't know about the inspiration of the performance; I just think the soprano's voice is one of the most lyrical and unencumbered I have ever heard. Her voice floats over the beautiful passages including the words "in principio." I plan to buy two more copies to hedge against the wearing out of my current one. There may be other choirs who perform technically better, but I cannot imagine any soprano singing more ethereally than does the lovely voice on this CD. Having sung the Ceremony of Carols many time in many choirs, I loved it, although I do prefer the old English words.

I, too, was not familiar with the Christmas Oratorio before buying this disk. I went looking for a recording after learning I would be in a performance of the piece. I'm not sure what the other reviews are getting at when they claim it is uninspired. All I can think is that they must have some attachment to a different performance in their minds. Or maybe they don't like the straight tone of the boy voices in the choral parts. I listened to the samples from a number of the recordings available, and not only does this one seem far more polished, the performances are simply transporting. I fell in love with the pieces listening to it. You won't go wrong. It has plenty of vitality.

I sang Britten's Ceremony of Carols as a boy, and hearing that music here again thirty years later is thrilling. True, it is in German here rather than in Middle English, but the boys on the recording are more than up to the task, as is the harpist. Not a false note in it. I can't get the pieces out of my head ("This little babe, so few days old, is come to rifle Satan's fold...").

Almost makes me want to become a Christian again.

L"on ne peut qu'être enchanté par cette interprétation qui allie toute la finesse de la musique de Camille Saint Saëns à la puissance toujours présente de l'oeuvre.
De plus pour un français catholique le TOLLITE HOSTIAS était, bien que extrait d'une oeuvre célébrant Noël, chanté toute l'année comme cantique dans les cérémonies solemnelles, je dis bien "était" car la Fille Ainée de l'Eglise semble trahir chaque jour un peu plus les voeux de son baptême.

Having had no previous experience of either piece of music, I'd say this recording is well worth its low price. Sound quality is very high for a budget recording. If this is still the only recording of the St. Saens oratorio, I'd say don't think twice - just grab it, before it goes out of circulation.

I can see how it might come across as uninspired, as the previous reviewers mentioned, but I think the gentle approach suits the music well in most spots.

I don't find anything wrong on these recording. Both the Christmas Oratory and Britten's carols are beautifully performed.It is of special interest Saint-Saens Christmas Oratory since personally, I had never heard it before, but after listening to it I can fully recomend it.