Robert Honsley

Robert Shaw was a Fred Waring protégé who, by the end of his 17-year tenure heading The Robert Shaw Chorale, had fashioned arguably the most widely-known and respected professional choral organization in the United States. The Chorale recorded a number of charting albums, all for RCA Victor, but the one that will always be considered their definitive recording is this Christmas album, presented here in its 1957 re-recorded stereo version (like a lot of popular Christmas albums of the day, Christmas Hymns and Carols had several incarnations, first appearing in the ‘40s as a box of four 78 rpm discs). The album went to #5 on the charts in 1949 and 1957, then hit the charts another three times during the ‘60s; one could argue that, with its seamless medleys and majestic harmonies, it is to this day the gold standard for choral Christmas recordings.

Beatrice Rana, partnered by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, performs the piano concertos of Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck-Schumann. She complements them with Liszt’s transcription for solo piano of Robert’s song ‘Widmung’, an exuberant dedication of love, composed in the year of Robert and Clara’s marriage. The previous year (1839), Robert had written to Clara: “You complete me as a composer, as I do you. Every thought of yours comes from mysoul, just as I have to thank you for all my music.”