Christmas round-up
Since her appointment as director of music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Anna Lapwood has significantly enhanced the Chapel Choir’s profile and founded a Girls’ Choir for 11-18 year-olds. They unite for A Pembroke Christmas, where clarinettist Emma Johnson and cellist Wallis Power (both Pembroke alumnae) make guest appearances. Highlights include a numinous take on MacMillan’s O Radiant Dawn, Ailsa McTernan’s soaring solo in Patricia Van Ness’s ‘Archangelus’ and a performance of Kerensa Briggs’s A Tender Shoot, which shows the Chapel Choir’s vibrant tonal blend and intelligent enunciation at their best. Three carols composed by the Girls’ Choir add further interest to an inspiring recital. (Signum SIGCD724) ★★★★ The German soprano Diana Damrau’s two-disc My Christmas ticks some of the same boxes as the legendary Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s Christmas Album, though Damrau seems more naturally at home in the seasonal idiom (see p26). Disc one has a crossover emphasis, with slightly glitzy medleys and popular favourites like Gruber’s Stille Nacht.
Disc two is more solidly ‘classical’ in tone, including an account of Handel’s ‘Let the bright seraphim’ graced by Damrau’s gleaming coloratura technique, and an elated ‘Amen’ from Zelenka’s Laudate pueri. Opinions will vary over Damrau’s quite pronounced vibrato, but there’s no doubting the sincerity of her endearingly communicative singing. (Warner Classics 5419728612) ★★★★ The 24-voice Norwegian Soloists’ Choir has built a loyal audience for its regular Christmas concerts in Norway. Their high quality is evident in Veni – Songs of Christmas II, a recital with a pronounced Norwegian flavour, though expressive accounts of works by Bach and Ives signal international credentials. Both the traditional Me ska bryggja te jul and Å her møter mangt have strong folk inflections, and burnished solos by the alto Mari Askvik. A violin, nyckelharpa, harmonium, accordion
