Customer Reviews

Stille Nacht - A German Christmas

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

 

 

This album may be a bit informal for some, but has stirred a lot of interest amongst my German and Chechoslovac neighbors. It exudes a happy spirit befitting the season it honors. Personally, the vocal performances are outstanding and the arrangements are very well done. A big 4.0! for Couch & Co.

I gave this five stars because the performer, C. C. Couch, performs with such tenderness and feeling. As with many original German Christmas Carols, she performs with a simple guitar accompaniement. Her arrangements are very well done, and, brighten up historically plodding versions of German folk carols.

I am first-generation American. I grew up with a Mother and two grand-parents speaking German. Our homes, at Christmas, looked like the MarianPlatz (Old Town Square) in Munich.

Ms. Couch (I think it is pronounced: "Coosh") is not the best at singing German. She occasionally misses a little timing and expression. The album, however, is very enjoyable. If you are looking for authentic German Christmas music (surpassing "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) it is hard to surpass Der Wiener Sängerknaben (Vienna Boys' Choir) collections. Their performances are perfect (with an Austrian accent) and they perform many of the carols, such as Stille Nacht, exactly as they were written. Christmas Favorites.

As pure as the Vienna Boys Choir performs Christmas music, it is not the Christmas Music most Germans and Austrians remember from their childhood.

Most remember soft performances of the Carols on an accordian, or violin, in the Town Squares during Ruhezeit (mandatory quiet time so that children and elders may rest). They remember small groups of children, accompanied by guitar in the Christkindlmarkt, or, they remember the a capella, or simple guitar accompaniement, of carols sung in Latin in Church.

Ms. Couch sings as if she were performing lovingly for German or Austrian (or Czech) children, to their delight, to brighten the Christmas spirit and awaken it in their eyes and hearts. She will have the same effect on you.

I confess I became an instant fan of Ms. Couch when I bought her "French Christmas Album." A French Christmas She has the unique ability, with her voice, to affect your feelings and enchant you into the Christmas Spirit.

This product was just what I wanted for my mother who has fond memories of going to church and listening to German Christmas carols when she was a little girl.

I was excited and looking forward to this CD. However, the singer is an American, singing in German. You can totally tell that there is an accent that is not pleasing to the year. There should be more disclosure about it, before purchasing.

Stille Nacht, A German Christmas. this is a superb selection of classics and presentation in sound by solo singer and children's choir. Pronunciation of German is very good with a very slight and welcome Nashville nuance.. The added full German text in print is a great bonus. Highly recommended for all ages not only of the German tongue.

These songs are from my childhood and are barely recognizable because of pronounciation and I don't mean dialect. Very poorly done but the music is good.

I cannot agree with the reviewer who said that the pronunciation is poor. It is very close to the standard used on German radio and television and clearly enunciated. I teach a once-a-week class in German language for 3rd and 4th graders and find that this CD is one that they can follow easily. The renditions are straightforward and avoid multi-part arrangements that blur the words for beginning students.