Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas in the Aire

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Music reviews of Christmas in the Aire

Music Review: A beautiful mix of early and modern Christmas music
Rating: 5 Stars

Many have criticized it as being too formulaic, or simply as being too like the previous efforts. Maybe so. The others are awfully good as well. You know, I hate to break this to the critics but since Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Correlli's concertos in the 18th century, and Mendelsohn and Tchaikovsky in the 19th, there hasn't been a whole lot of good ground-breaking Christmas music written. If you're looking for new thing, Christmas isn't exactly the best place to start.

That said, this particular CD is chock-full of wonderful Christmas melodies, some of which you probably haven't heard before, produced and presented to meet Manneheim Steamroller's extremely high standards. Standout tracks include: Mendelsohn's "Joy To The World" -- in a version as rambunctuous as anything you could get from Arthur Fiedler; "Pat A Pan" -- a wonderfully simple melody, like fudge it is Christmas perfection. You will wonder why it isn't more famous than it is; "Gagliarda", with it's evocations of a medieval feast in the long room of a great castle; and "Los Peces El Rio", Spanish mystery and flair, rarely heard far north of Mexico.

This one will stay in your Christmas CD rotation as long as you live. Maybe, being the third such Christmas CD from the group, it isn't a completely unique or new experience. I have yet to have someone show me anyone else that is producing great Christmas music which incorporates new sounds while retaining tradition, which is the very nature of the holiday.

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