In The Bleak Winter

Across 4CDs comes a collection of over 100 of the cosiest Christmas numbers, perfect to relax to around the roaring fire. CDs 1-3 feature the tones of some of the world's most loved singers including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and Andy Williams to get you in the festive mood alongside a host of recognisable Christmas classics such as 'Jingle Bell Rock', 'Santa Baby', 'Winter Wonderland' and many, many more. Disc 4 is a bonus disc of 20 sensational Christmas carols performed by The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge and includes 'Silent Night', 'O Come, All Ye Faithful' and 'Away In A Manger'. All this makes this undoubtedly 'The Cosiest Christmas Album In The World… Ever!'

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, groups that played period instruments started to appear. They were strongly associated with particular conductors, usually the musician who formed each ensemble, and generally were not full-time organizations. Typically, they gathered for a limited number of concerts and recordings a year, and their membership was variable. Half the people playing on one day's studio session as the London Classical Players might have been on stage the week before as part of the Academy of Ancient Music. In 1986, a group of the best of these freelance players sought increased security and the artistic benefits of performing regularly as a permanent orchestra, and formed the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. As most London orchestras, they organized themselves into a self-governing co-operative owned by the musicians. As a matter of policy, they decided against appointing anyone as its music director or permanent conductor. This meant they had to shine from the outset to attract the best interpreters to lead their performances.

Recorded in one wintry week on the North York Moors, The Unthanks In Winter is an extensive, completist time-capsule of the season, featuring Christmas tunes known throughout the western world, mixed with the traditional and the newly written, all passed with great care and love through The Unthanks filter. With most pieces drifting into the next, In Winter is a dream-like winter fantasia, embracing both the dark and the light in the most ritualistic of seasons. Moving in and out of focus, like a memory, its a bittersweet hymnal to our shared winter experience.

'Favourite Carols from King’s' is a collection of the most popular carols featured in the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols over the years. Highlights include 'Once in Royal David’s City', with the opening verse sung by treble Adam Banwell, 'In the Bleak Midwinter', solo performed by bass Hugo Herman-Wilson and 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. It provides at once a survey of the King’s Christmas tradition and a snapshot of the choir as it is today.

In the stillness of a midnight stable, a babe is born …

For the latest release in Regent's collectable 'A Year at…' series we travelled to Llandaff Cathedral to showcase the choir there under the expert direction of Stephen Moore. There has been a Christian presence in Llandaff from the time of Saint Teilo in the sixth century, making it one of the oldest Christian sites in the UK. Many will have heard the Cathedral's accomplished choir in their worldwide television broadcast in the presence of King Charles and Queen Camilla following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.