The Three Tenors Christmas
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Brand: PBSComposer: Adolphe Adam
Composer: John Francis Wade
Composer: Vittoriano Benvenuti
Composer: Johannes Brahms
Composer: Christmas Traditional
Composer: John Newton
Composer: Irving Berlin
Composer: Franz Xaver Gruber
Composer: Fermin Maria Alvarez
Composer: John / Ono, Yoko Lennon
Composer: Richard [1] Strauss
Composer: Katherine K. Davis
Composer: Walter Kent
Composer: Leroy Anderson
Composer: Felix Bernard
Composer: Placido Jr. [son] Domingo
Composer: Jose Feliciano
Conductor: Steven Mercurio
Orchestra: Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Plácido Domingo
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2000-10-31
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night)
- Adeste Fideles
- Ave Maria, Dolce Maria
- Wiegenlied
- Oh Tannenbaum
- Tu Scendi dalle Stelle
- Amazing Grace
- White Christmas
- Dormi O Bambino
- Silent Night
- Pregarla (El Can de L'Anima a La Verge)
- Susani
- Happy Christmas/War is Over
- Wiegenlied
- Carol of the Drum (The Little Drummer Boy)
- La Virgen Lava Paqales
- I'll Be Home for Christmas
- Sleigh Ride
- Winter Wonderland
- Un Nuevo Siglo
- Feliz Navidad
Music reviews of The Three Tenors Christmas
Music Review: A Mixed Bag (And I Don't Mean Santa's)
Rating: 4 Stars
I've never actually seen the video version of this particular Three Tenors project, and in fact only got around to listening to the CD relatively recently (when I was given a slew of holiday albums this past winter). I can't help wondering if I wouldn't appreciated the DVD more. The Tenors concerts always seemed to have their moments of greatness--and their moments of kitsch. But they were live events, and in such situations, one tends to be generous and accepting of the inevitable highs and lows. That's especially the case of "side projects," like this one: you need more than a few grains of salt. I wouldn't accuse the singers of not taking the project seriously, but do any of the artists involved devote the same level of care to these efforts as they do to their solo projects or to an appearance in a staged operatic work?
If the listener keeps these truths in mind, he or she will find to find much to enjoy with any Three Tenors project. The holiday record was likely inevitable, and the selections, by and large, predictable. There are the classical pieces, of course, and the obligatory popular holiday standards. This type of mix CAN work, but just as often, it displays the singers' weaknesses will be thrown into stark relief with their considerable strengths. American songbook standards like "White Christmas" are so steeped in idiomatic English language works that non-native singers are going to struggle with them. And classically trained singers are likely going to oversing them (as happens here). It's almost a kind of overcompensation.
Y'know, Frank's daughter Nancy once told him not to stop comparing himself (negatively) with the great classical singers because none of them could do Sinatra like Sinatra. She was onto something. Even though "White Christmas" is associated more frequently with Crosby, Ol' Blue Eyes DID manage quite a credible version many years ago. The Tenors do not. It's not just the mispronounced English ("MY your days be merry and bright," being but one example): it's the entire "feel" of the song.
And if the holiday edition of the Great American Songbook is scarcely the Tenors' forte, then it's hard to know what to even begin to say about their attempt at a John Lennon tune. I admire their willingness to take on the challenge of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," but the reading is waaay off. Who'd have thought that there could ever be a context in which one could say that Yoko Ono could perform a song better than the Three Tenors?
They fare better with a simple, spiritual like "Amazing Grace." It's go more fireworks than your typical take on that song, but it's still respectful of the text, and really quite touching.
I'm not a musical snob, but I may well be a language one. Of the three singers, it's pretty clear that Placido Domingo is the most comfortable with the demands of the English language: Pavarotti the least so. Domingo is also pretty authoritative in his readings of German texts, although he does seem to have difficulty with the "short" vowels so common in Germanic languages ("Chreestmas"). Pavarotti, it seems, was born to bring out the glories of his native language, and the Italian selections come off brialliantly. One could say the same about the two Spanish born singers with their interpretations of the Spanish language offerings.
Actually, all three singers handle the Romance language texts effectively, and I guess that shouldn't be all that surprising. But "Sleigh Ride"? "Winter Wonderland"? Like "White Christmas," these are little musical Christmas cards. Operatic bombast only makes them border on the ridiculous. It's sweet in a way--or maybe just good marketing--that the singers want to honor the popular classics of a country that has embraced them so thoroughly. Too bad it doesn't work.
To sum up: "Wiegenlied," "Ave Maria, Dolce Maria" "Tu Descendi Dalle Stelle," "Dormi, O Bambino" and others obviously closer to the actual hearts of the singers, all very good. "White Chistmas," "Sleigh Ride," "Winter Wonderland"--well, not so much.
Description of The Three Tenors Christmas
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Resplendent in voice and manner, José Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti deliver 21 songs of traditional sacred music and secular numbers in a remarkable 1999 live recording from the opulent Viennese concert hall (Konzerthaus), with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and a renowned choir. The Three Tenors are practically as famous as the faces of Mount Rushmore and inspire perhaps even more awe and adulation around the world than the four presidents. The performances--whether alone, in tandem, or simply as the threesome that has made them collectively famous--are generally impeccable for their passion, nuance, and sheer tour de force vocal artistry. Reaching often into the classical realm for such works as the traditional German carol "Susani," Strauss's and Brahms's "Wiegenlied," plus traditional Polish and Spanish pieces, the trio also visits Pavarotti's "Ave Maria, dolce Maria" (cowritten with Vittoriano Benvenuti), and "Un nuevo siglo," written by Domingo's son. Only John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Christmas/War Is Over" doesn't quite work in this grand setting. --Martin Keller
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