Humperdinck Christmas

The Ultimate Christmas Album, Vol. 6: WCBS FM 101.1 is another eclectic collection of pop holiday tunes from the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s, including Wham!'s "Last Christmas," the Beach Boys' "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," and Andy Williams' "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!." Aretha Franklin's "Winter Wonderland," America's "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and Connie Francis' "White Christmas" are some of the other highlights from this scattered compilation, which somehow mixes different sounds and eras into a festive celebration.

In a follow-up to her acclaimed album of Mahler songs, Christiane Karg takes us on a Christmas tour, in the select company of fellow music-makers. Revisiting holiday memories through the eyes of a child, but with the benefit of her superb artistry as a lieder specialist, the German soprano shines a light on some enchanting rarities of German and French repertoire, along with examples of Spanish, Basque, and Scandinavian traditions… A treasure trove of hidden gems!

The music world associates Humperdinck first and foremost with his fairy-tale operas. Chamber music accounts for only a relatively small portion of his oeuvre, but should not be underestimated in its importance. This release presents the String Quartets and première recording of the Piano Quintet. In the Piano Quintet especially, the catchy themes and its wonderfully melodious middle movement, represent a valuable contribution to late-romantic literature off the beaten track.

If there is such a thing as a classic Christmas opera, it is Hansel and Gretel. Like hardly anyone else, Humperdinck succeeded here in combining popular melodies with the technical sophistication of sophisticated compositional art. Even before the opera, he published a shorter version as a fairy tale game, which, like an essence of the opera, exposes its essential design principles.