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Editorial Reviews
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: BERNSTEIN,LEONARD
Title: JOY OF CHRISTMAS
Street Release Date: 09/16/1997
Domestic
Genre: XMAS CLASSICAL VOCAL
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: BERNSTEIN,LEONARD
Title: JOY OF CHRISTMAS
Street Release Date: 09/16/1997
Genre: XMAS CLASSICAL VOCAL
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Remember the "Andre" champagne commercial from the 70s? The one featuring a recording of "Carol of the Bells" and quick shots of people ringing in the new year? Well that recording of Carol of the Bells is the definitive version (in my book anyway). And it is featured on the 1997 Sony reissue of the "The Joy of Christmas" featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the New York Philharmonic conducted by the great Leonard Bernstein. This is one of THE classic holiday LPs, beautifully remastered for CD. In addition to "Carol of the Bells" one of the best choral versions of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (5+ minutes) is included here along with fourteen other traditional carols (no pop standards here).
These sixteen numbers from the original LP clock in at almost 50 minutes - a very generous recording time for an LP from 1963. Still Sony Classics decided to extend the reissue a bit and has added the following bonus tracks, all featuring Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic.
~ Selections from Tchaikovsky's Suite from the Nutcracker (recorded 1960): what you get is seven of the eight movements included in the suite - not sure why but the climax of the suite - the "Waltz of the Flowers" - is omitted.
~ A 1970 recording of the Children's Prayer from Humperdick's ballet "Hansel and Gretel", a quiet movement of gentle lyricism.
~ To close the program a 1956 recording for the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah". Again Bernstein conducts the NY Philharmonic, but instead of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir the singing is provided by the Westminster Choir. It's a splendid performance.
The bonus material provides an additional 23+ minutes of wonderful music to bring this recording up to a total 74 minutes. In a world of 30 minute Christmas CDs this is a wonderful release and should be in the collection of every Christmas music lover.
Update: Memory is apparently a tricky thing and after viewing the old Andre commercial on Youtube it is clear that the recording of "Carol of the Bells" used is not the one on this LP. The one here is superior in EVERY way. Still, I apologize if the beginning of my original review was misleading in any way. :)
These sixteen numbers from the original LP clock in at almost 50 minutes - a very generous recording time for an LP from 1963. Still Sony Classics decided to extend the reissue a bit and has added the following bonus tracks, all featuring Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic.
~ Selections from Tchaikovsky's Suite from the Nutcracker (recorded 1960): what you get is seven of the eight movements included in the suite - not sure why but the climax of the suite - the "Waltz of the Flowers" - is omitted.
~ A 1970 recording of the Children's Prayer from Humperdick's ballet "Hansel and Gretel", a quiet movement of gentle lyricism.
~ To close the program a 1956 recording for the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah". Again Bernstein conducts the NY Philharmonic, but instead of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir the singing is provided by the Westminster Choir. It's a splendid performance.
The bonus material provides an additional 23+ minutes of wonderful music to bring this recording up to a total 74 minutes. In a world of 30 minute Christmas CDs this is a wonderful release and should be in the collection of every Christmas music lover.
Update: Memory is apparently a tricky thing and after viewing the old Andre commercial on Youtube it is clear that the recording of "Carol of the Bells" used is not the one on this LP. The one here is superior in EVERY way. Still, I apologize if the beginning of my original review was misleading in any way. :)
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In August or September of 1963 I received a call from my high school music teacher. They were looking for a small audience to act as acoustic padding to soak up some of the reverberation of the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Get down there quick, he said, Bernstein's recording with the Choir. I went and sat through the first of two sessions for this recording. It was fascinating. Bernstein came out and greeted us remarking that he always remembered his concert in the Tabernacle because "it was the loudest applause he had ever heard" (the Tabernacle itself lending to that amplification). He launched right into "Joy to the World" making adjustments to the freshly finished arrangement. All the arrangers were present. The ink wasn't dry on their manuscripts. The NYP would sight read through them a couple of times, Bernstein would adjust, and they'd do a take or two. The Choir had been preparing for many weeks. The sessions weren't entirely smooth. Bernstein was an entirely different personality than their long experience with Ormandy had been. Bernstein demanded precision. He usually got it by the final take. The album was released in less then two months. Eventually it "went gold" -- unusual for 'classical' albums of the time. I started playing it in October, 1963. There hasn't been a Christmas since that these wonderful arrangements and the memories of that summer haven't graced our family's celebration. It's advent on CD was late but most welcome.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a collaboration between Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir made when each group was at the height of their recording careers. Truly majestic arrangements and a mix of classical music and traditional carols create a spine-tingling experience. I grew up listening to this album and for me it's as much a part of Christmas as the tree. A deeply rewarding album that may be, as others on this page have said, the greatest holiday classical music collection ever.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Meh... a little schmultzy
This album is only alright.
It reminds me a little of the old-time Disney sound (think "Sleeping Beauty"), or maybe Lawrence Welk or even Henry Mancini.
It reminds me a little of the old-time Disney sound (think "Sleeping Beauty"), or maybe Lawrence Welk or even Henry Mancini.
Published 5 months ago by centsworth
A common man's point of view.
There's no doubt in my mind that this is the grandest Christmas album of all time. My family was raised on the LP versions, and we've worn out two vinyl discs since it first came... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Richard Rawls
Excellent Classic Christmas
I was excited to find this album on CD. I possessed the original LP and played it every Christmas since the 70s, until I no longer had a working phonograph. Read more
Published 17 months ago by CaptainS
Brilliant!
I love this album. It sparkles - and even manages to vary the verses of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" enough that each sounds unique and interesting! Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mom of Three
Buying single tracks? Watch out!
I agree that this Album is all the other reviewers say it is. It's wonderful! However, there is a lineup problem on The Nutcracker numbers: #17 is actually the Overture; #18 is... Read more
Published 17 months ago by geode2000
Joy of Christmas CD
I bought this record back in the '60s and was one of my favorites. Since we no longer have a turn table, I was excited to find the CD. My husband really like the Animal Carol. Read more
Published on January 30, 2010 by C. Schrofer
Absolutely the best Christmas album ever!
I think I have already reviewed this item but Amazon has asked me for another. I can not recommend this Christmas album enough. Read more
Published on December 30, 2009 by J. Lacey
An American reading of Christmas that unlocks the flavor.
This CD features a gay, Jewish, conductor from liberal Massachusetts and a choir full of Mormons from conservative Utah, and matches them up with the New York Philharmonic... Read more
Published on December 5, 2009 by Joe Anthony
A Little Too Grandiose . . . . Where's The "Joy" Of The Title?
There's no denying the strengths and abilities of the people involved (Bernstein, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the NY Philharmonic), and I can't really fault the presentation... Read more
Published on November 29, 2009 by Erik Morton
Christmas Music Done Right
No more beautiful rendition of the Christmas songs presented on this recording exist, from the rousing trumpet flourishes of O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL, the exotic treatment of... Read more
Published on November 12, 2009 by Rudy Muck
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