Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo/Vienna Symphony/Steven Mercurio
The Three Tenors Christmas
(Sony Classical)

The new millennium certainly didn't change the recent tradition of a yearly flood of Christmas-related releases. Here are some of 2000's most notable ones.

The Three Tenors franchise produces, not its first Christmas album, but its "first-ever Christmas concert." The format is familiar: Each Tenor gets one feature to himself, there are pairings galore, and everybody chips in on the medleys and the rousing finale, which in this case is "Feliz Navidad." Of course, Pavarotti is more and more a parody of himself (his vibrato's so wide, Santa's sleigh and all the reindeer could fly through it), and to say that Carreras' voice isn't what it used to be is like saying it gets chilly in Minnesota in January. Only Domingo offers real musicality -- but then, this disc isn't about musicality, it's about over-the-top kitsch. Arrangements are pure white-bread, complete with saccharine children's chorus offering unison backing vocals, and the programming rarely matches the singers' strengths (Lennon & Ono's "Happy Christmas/War Is Over" receives a hilariously bloated treatment). The best tracks are in Spanish or Italian; the worst are in English, which none of the principals can pronounce without drawing guffaws. And yet, for all the faults and the unintentional laughs, there's a certain grand impact and majesty that can catch listeners by surprise and send chills down the spine.

Roberto Alagna may be a fine operatic tenor, but that turns out to be a handicap on The Christmas Album. Applying typical tenor tricks of the trade -- most annoyingly the "sob in the voice" -- while belting away in full voice on innocent little Christmas carols ("O Come, All Ye Faithful," "Silent Night," etc.) and secular holiday songs distorts them unforgivably. This CD is only for people longing to hear "Away in a Manger" sung as tragic melodrama. The only songs that don't get crushed under Alagna's mighty tone are Schubert's "Ave Maria" (for which he scales back his voice quite nicely) and Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," subjected to awkward crooning.

Fourteen-year-old Charlotte Church's vocal production is joltingly uneven, though many find her gauche vocal tics cutely charming. (Although, if she doesn't learn better vocal technique soon, her voice will likely deteriorate.) This set is actually tastefully produced -- an imaginative arrangement of the usually irritating "The Little Drummer Boy" even makes it enjoyable. The pop title duet with 12-year-old country star Billy Gilman doubles the cuteness factor.

As an institution, the Vienna Choir Boys has been around for more than five centuries, and it brings more to the table than cuteness and tasteful arrangements. Its ensemble intonation and precision of tuning aren't just good by the standards of youth choirs, its the envy of many adult groups. On the English tracks here, the boys' pronunciation isn't perfect, but it's not as accented as Alagna's or the Tenors. Arrangements aren't remotely daring, but for a nicely traditional, yet not highbrow experience, this disc is perfect.

A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas shows again how reliable this longstanding large choir is. The repertoire, while largely familiar and resolutely traditional, contains a few less-heard items (notably John Jacob Niles' "Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head") and big, full, yet varied arrangements. Barlow Bradford's elaborate recasting of "Carol of the Bells" is especially fresh, with some striking modulations. The only lapse is "Pat-a-Pan," annoying in any arrangement. The more symphonic arrangements of some items are thrilling in a high-calorie way ("Masters in This Hall" even includes xylophone) and are balanced by some more intimate moments.

Copyright © 2000 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.