Alternatives That Go Beyond Fa-La-La

Christmas is a time to cherish traditions, a time to prize the old-fashioned and the familiar. We take comfort in the fact that the carols remain the same. We are thankful that Bing Crosby never goes out of fashion. We joyfully sing along to Handel’s “Messiah.” Some of us never tire of the “Nutcracker” and never throw out a preserved fruitcake no matter how old it is.

Tradition, of course, can also have a numbing effect. Do we, knowing the popular Christmas music by rote, hear its message any longer? And don’t we also continue to support that other holiday tradition of expecting record companies to come up with new seasonal CDs annually? For those who want it, there is always some new starry attraction--among this year’s novelties is “The Three Tenors Christmas.” But many companies have finally tired of retreads, and they are now offering true Christmas alternatives.

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*** BERLIOZ: “L’Enfance du Christ” Susan Graham, Francois Le Roux and other singers; Chorus and Orchestra of the Montreal Symphony; Charles Dutoit, conductor; Decca

Berlioz thought of his exotic, enchanting cantata, which revolves around Christ’s birth and the holy family’s sojourn to Egypt, as a “mystery in ancient style.” The score is lighted like a sonic Christmas tree full of wonderful, antique, 19th century French ornaments, and twinkles with the kind of instrumental colors of which Berlioz was an incomparable master. But it also contains an unusually vivid and captivating operatic drama, especially in its portrayal of a tormented Herod. The opening march of Roman centurions is so catchy that you simply won’t want to stop listening. Dutoit is strong on theatricality, at times at the expense of the more elusive and mysterious qualities of this subtle score, and the singing is variable. But Susan Graham, as Mary, is simply exquisite.

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*** TCHAIKOVSKY: “Cerevicki” Valerie Popov, Ekaterina Morosova and other singersorus and Orchestra of the Lyric Theater of Cagliari; Gennady Rozhdestvensky, conductor; Dynamic

Tchaikovsky’s only comic opera, which translates as “The Slippers,” is based on Gogol’s fantastic tale, “Christmas Eve,” and was one of the composer’s favorite scores. It wasn’t, however, much liked by the Russian audience when he conducted its premiere at the Bolshoi in 1887, and it remains today practically unknown even in Russia. Are we missing something, especially given that “Nutcracker” came along shortly afterward? In fact, we are. Tchaikovsky was a bit too much a worrier to be a true comedian, a bit too much of the Romantic to bring off the acerbic satire of Gogol’s tale of frisky peasants and even friskier lecherous witches and devils. But some of the sardonic flavor is there, and the music, as is most mature Tchaikovsky, is a feast of melody. The live performance features an uneven, mainly Russian cast but authoritative conducting and surprisingly decent playing from the provincial Italian orchestra.

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*** BACH: Christmas Cantatas Various soloists; the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor; Archiv

Gardiner, who has spent the Bach year touring Europe performing all of Bach’s nearly 200 extant liturgical cantatas on the appropriate Sundays, here offers those written for the first, second and third day of Christmas. The general tone of the four cantatas (there are two for the third day) is celebratory, bright Bach to lift the spirits. But Bach is never one-sided, and there is also a sense of the reflection equally appropriate for the holiday. Beauty of tone and lyricism are the hallmarks of Gardiner’s intelligent and appealing performances (many of the very good soloists are drawn from the Monteverdi Choir), although there is sometimes a lack of the gravitas of the very best Bach.

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*** 1/2 SHEPPARD: Missa Cantate GabrieliConsort; Paul McCreesh, conductor; Archiv

It was a surprise to this listener, as it will likely be to others, to read in the liner notes of this marvelous release that in the 16th century, the Salisbury Cathedral in England performed a more elaborate Christmas Mass than the Vatican. That Roman Catholic rite reproduced here included grand processions, dramatic chanted readings and, in the Mass by the early 16th century composer John Sheppard, glorious contrapuntal choruses. The entire service is performed (and fully described in the booklet); and the singing is gorgeous.

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*** HANDEL / MOZART: “Messiah” Various soloists; Handel and Haydn Society Chorus and Orchestra; Andrew Parrott, conductor; Arabesque

Mozart’s arrangement of the “Messiah” has never really caught on, and today Mozart’s rich orchestrations and luxuriant tempos particularly interfere with the current fetish for restoring the original Baroque performing practices and instruments. But the new textures and timbres (especially the fortepiano) bring a freshness to this well-loved music; indeed, the sheer deliciousness of Mozart’s sound is hard to resist. Parrott, a first-rate Handelian, is also a true Mozartean, and it’s only the mixed nature of the soloists--although the mezzo-soprano (Jennifer Lane) and the tenor (John Elwes) are very good--that prevents this beautifully recorded performance from being a top “Messiah” choice of any version.

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** 1/2 A KREMLIN CHRISTMAS Capella of the Moscow Kremlin Museum; Gennady Dmitriak, conductor; Delos

The mystical ritual of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Christmas celebrations is a world of its own, one that somehow survived through any number of political obstacles over the centuries--but barely. The conclusion from this collection of Christmas chants from the 17th through the 20th centuries is that old is better. The rivetingly mysterious centuries-old Eastern chant was gradually watered down through the years to the point that a recent suite of Christmas carols in sugary arrangements for singers and percussion by Alexei Larin is barely tolerable.