Christmas music fades as Bob begins to voice over for a few seconds.

Transcription

1 December 21, 23 & 24, 2018 Christmas music fades as Bob begins to voice over for a few seconds. Welcome to this special edition of the WCPE Opera House. I m your host, Bob Chapman. Since the earliest days of the recording industry, opera singers brought their interpretations of Christmas carols and anthems into the homes of anyone with a Victrola or wax cylinder player. During the next hour I ll be featuring world-famous opera stars singing sacred music of the season. (0:25) 0:02 (0:27) We ll begin with O Come, All Ye Faithful. Originally known by the Latin title Adeste Fidelis, it s been attributed to various authors, including King John IV of Portugal. It s sung here by bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. Tecwyn Evans conducts the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. (0:19) (0:46) 0:05 (0:51) From CD1 of Bryn Terfel: Carols & Christmas Songs (Deutsche Grammophon B ), play cut 1 (3:35) (4:26) 0:05 (4:31) The "Coventry Carol," which dates from the 16th century, was traditionally performed in Coventry, England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which King Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed and takes the form of a lullaby sung by mothers of the doomed children. Our soprano soloist is Julianne Baird, who s accompanied by the Aulos Ensemble. (0:30) (5:01) 0:05 (5:06) From A Baroque Christmas (X0402), play cut 2 (3:26) (8:32) 0:05 (8:37) The Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or Ave Maria is a traditional Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Ave Maria in Latin has been set to music numerous times, including this famous version by Franz Schubert, sung by tenor Vittorio Grigòlo and the Rome Orchestra Sinfonietta, conducted by Fabio Cerroni. (0:23) (9:00) 0:05 (9:05) From Vittorio Grigòlio: Ave Maria (Sony Classical ), play cut 12 (2:59) (12:04) 1

2 0:05 (12:09) Some songs written especially for Christmas become so well known that they eventually are thought of as folk songs. "The Virgin s Slumber Song" is just the opposite. Originally a folksong melody to the words "Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mild," this graceful air was taken by the German composer Max Reger and transformed in 1912 into an art song, "Maria Wiegenlied." Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is accompanied by Tedd Firth. (0:28) (12:37) 0:05 (12:42) From Holiday Harmonies (X0411), play cut 5 (2:14) (14:56) 0:05 (15:01) The melody of the traditional 19th-century French carol Il est né, le divin Enfant is based on an old hunting tune. It celebrates the announcement of the birth of the Holy Child hence the idea of the handbells in the arrangement, suggesting a town crier preparing to proclaim some very important news. Here s tenor Roberto Alagna with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robin Smith. (0:26) (15:27) 0:05 (15:32) From The Christmas Album (X0407), play cut 7 (2:55) (18:27) 0:05 (18:32) In 1849, Unitarian minister Edmund Hamilton Sears wrote It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" from the well springs of his profound faith in God and the belief that through the centuries God sends his emissary angels to earth with a resounding message of peace. Soprano Leontyne Price is accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Herbert von Karajan. (0:24) (18:56) 0:05 (19:01) From The Magic of Christmas (X0408), play cut 14 (1:52) (20:53) 0:05 (20:58) "In dulci jubilo" was originally written around 1328 in German and Latin. Literally translated as In Sweet Rejoicing, the carol is better known among English speakers as Good Christian Men Rejoice. We ll hear the original version, sung by tenor Fritz Wunderlich and baritone Hermann Prey. Fritz Neumeyer conducts the Neumeyer Ensemble. (0:22) (21:20) 0:05 (21:15) From Fritz Wunderlich: The Christmas Album (DG ), play cut 21 (2:40) (24:05) 2

3 0:05 (24:10) In the Bleak Midwinter, an exquisitely melancholy and evocative carol, imagining the Nativity in a snowy Northern landscape, was originally written in 1872 by Christina Rossetti as a Christmas poem for an American magazine, Scribner s Monthly. Few carols can express the quiet heart of Christmas more movingly. It was set to music by Gustav Holst for the 1906 edition of The English Hymnal the poignant and simple tune is known as Cranham. North Carolina mezzo-soprano Victoria Livengood is partnered by pianist William Lewis. (0:35) (24:45) 0:05 (24:50) From The Secret of Christmas, play cut 2 (4:25) (29:15) 0:05 (29:20) "Angels from the Realms of Glory," written in 1816 by James Montgomery, celebrates the messengers who first told shepherds of the birth of Jesus. This reverent carol recalls the angels' flight to earth to share their joy with all mankind. Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa sings with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Carl Davis. (0:22) (29:44) 0:05 (29:49) From The Magic of Christmas (X0408), play cut 2 (3:31) (33:20) 0:05 (33:25) Using traditional Argentine instruments and rhythms, Ariel Ramírez s Navidad Nuestra tells the story of the Nativity of Christ, from the angel s message to the flight into Egypt. From that lovely work, we ll hear bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and tenor Rolando Villazón sing El Nacimiento (The Birth). Tecwyn Evans conducts the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. (0:24) (33:49) 0:05 (33:54) From CD1 of Bryn Terfel: Carols & Christmas Songs (Deutsche Grammophon B ), play cut 5 (3:35) (37:29) 0:05 (37:34) The words and original music of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing were written in 1739 by Charles Wesley. Over a hundred years later, Felix Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johann Gutenberg s invention of the printing press. William Cummings later adapted Mendelssohn s music to fit Wesley s lyrics. We ll hear baritone Robert Merrill and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. (0:26) (38:00) 3

4 0:05 (38:05) From Robert Merrill: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Unison 20090), play cut 7 (2:51) (40:56) 0:05 (41:01) The text of Joy to the World is by Isaac Watts, and the music was adapted and arranged by Lowell Mason from an older melody that was once believed to have originated with Handel s oratorio Messiah. Soprano Joan Sutherland is joined by the Ambrosian Singers and the New Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by her husband, Richard Bonynge. (0:23) (41:24) 0:05 (41:29) From The Magic of Christmas (X0408), play cut 10 (1:52) (43:21) 0:05 (43:26) For the 1935 German film Vergiß mein nicht (Forget Me Not), Alois Melichar adapted Franz Schubert s cradle song Schlafe, schlafe, holder süsser Knabe (Sleep, sleep, gracious, sweet boy) into the Italian Mille cherubini in coro In the film it was sung by Beniamino Gigli, and Luciano Pavarotti often sang it at his Christmas concerts. We re going to hear a performance by Roberto Alagna and the London Symphony conducted by Robin Smith. (0:29) (43:55) 0:05 (44:00) From The Christmas Album (X0407), play cut 16 (3:09) (47:09) 0:05 (47:14) The popular Christmas carol "Silent Night, Holy Night" was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a small Austrian town near Salzburg. The carol was composed by Franz Gruber to lyrics by Father Joseph Mohr, who brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the Christmas Eve mass. Soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings the original version, accompanied by guitarist Julian Bream. (0:30) (47:44) 0:05 (47:49) From Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: The Christmas Album (EMI ), play cut 1 (3:35) (51:24) 0:05 (51:29) 4

5 The lyrics to "What Child Is This?" were written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865 and were later set to the tune of the English folksong Greensleeves.. The carol focuses on the Adoration of the Shepherds, who visited Jesus during his Nativity, and reflects what the shepherds were possibly asking themselves when they encountered him. We re going to hear bass-baritone Bryn Terfel sing it in his native Welsh along with harpist Catrin Finch. (0:28) (51:57) 0:05 (52:02) From CD2 of Bryn Terfel: Carols & Christmas Songs (Deutsche Grammophon B ), play cut 7 (3:17) (55:19) 0:05 (55:24) "O Holy Night" ("Cantique de Noël") is a well-known carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant and poet, who was asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. In the carol, the singer recalls the birth of Jesus. Luciano Pavarotti is our tenor soloist, and Kurt Herbert Adler conducts the National Philharmonic Orchestra. (0:27) (55:51) 0:05 (55:56) From The Magic of Christmas (X0408), play cut 7 (4:11) (1:00:07) 0:05 (1:00:12) During this special edition of the WCPE Opera House, we ve enjoyed sacred seasonal songs by Roberto Alagna, Julianne Baird, Jamie Barton, Vittorio Grigòlio, Victoria Livengood, Robert Merrill, Luciano Pavarotti, Hermann Prey, Leontyne Price, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Joan Sutherland, Kiri Te Kanawa, Rolando Villazón, and Fritz Wunderlich. (0:23) (1:00:35) 0:02 (1:00:37) I m Bob Chapman, host of the WCPE Opera House, thanking you for listening and wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas! (0:08) (1:00:45) 5