Chants, Chestnuts and Other Joyful Noise

Never less than presentable, this budget collection offers breadth with some stylishness and polish, but not much passion. It’s also not exactly the greatest holiday hits. There is a “Messiah” (London Festival Orchestra, conducted by Ross Pople, in two CDS) that is honest but lacks compelling spirituality. Pople’s leadership of pastoral music that has come to be associated with the holidays (Telemann, Werner, Sammartini and Haydn) is a notch above. The Mozarteum Salzburg’s exuberant, immaculate instrumental offerings (Schiassi, Locatelli, Vivaldi and more) are a high point; the Hamburg Soloists “Christmas Cantatas” with Hellen Kwon are just so-so.

Recordings are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good), four stars (excellent).