By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Recordings by local musicians are thoughtful gifts any time of the year. Here are some timely albums, available in stores or on Web sites such as www.amazon.com.
• The Christmas Album,Vienna Boys Choir (EMI Classics; $16.98). Singers Andrew Markowich and Benjamin Kleykamp, Cincinnati's newest additions to the prestigious Vienna Boys Choir, make their recording debuts on this new album of holiday favorites. The 500-year-old choir puts a contemporary spin on traditional carols, but they also rock - with Viennese restraint.
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is a boogie-woogie. The boys lend a bright, pure sound to "Jingle Bell Rock," John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's "Happy Christmas" and Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song." Lush orchestrations accompany "White Christmas." Prepare to be charmed.
(The album is being released in Europe as Wiener Sangerknaben goes Christmas.)
• Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Vienna Boys Choir (Koch Universal; 19 euros). This new disc pictures Cincinnatian Andrew Markowich on the CD cover, hugging a statue of Beethoven (on the left). The beautifully sung album includes Beethoven's Mass in C Major, and shorter works by Haydn and Mozart. It's not released in the United States but is available on the choir's Web site: www.wsk.at.
• Gift, Vol. 2 Cincinnati Boychoir, Randall Wolfe, director ($15; $2 postage. Call 396-7664. Also available at MediaPlay stores). One of the top boy choirs in the country, Cincinnati Boychoir has produced an attractive holiday album in time for Christmas. The choir's voices glow in the acoustical surroundings of Trinity Episcopal Church in Covington, where the album was recorded.
• A Hanukka Celebration. Traditional Songs and Original Settings by Samuel Adler, Michael Isaacson, Leo Low and others (Naxos; $6.98). This is a radiant collection of traditional songs, prayers and new works to honor the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights. One of the highlights is To Celebrate a Miracle, a well-crafted medley of Hanukkah songs arranged by Samuel Adler, beautifully performed by the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Wind Symphony, conducted by Rodney Winther.
The album also contains uplifting choral numbers, such as "Likhtelekh" (Little Lights) by Leo Low, sung by New York-based Coro Hebraeico, and Herbert Fromm's "Hanukka Madrigal," with the Rochester Singers. The New London Children's Choir lift light voices in Adler's The Flames of Freedom, a cantata based on 10 Hanukkah songs.
It's part of the multi-disc series by the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. Other discs include Kurt Weill's The Eternal Road, Great Songs of the Yiddish Stage, and an electric album of Klezmer music. For more information, visit www.milkenarchive.org.
• Sibelius Cantatas, Paavo Jarvi, conductor; the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Ellerhein Girls Choir and Estonian National Male Choir (Virgin Classics; $16.98). Jarvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was nominated this month for his first Grammy for this album of rarely recorded cantatas by Jean Sibelius.
Sibelius, a Finn, was a fervent nationalist. His cantatas are rich in patriotic spirit and are glorious examples of tone painting. For instance, Snofrid, a sweeping folk tale sung in Swedish, evokes storms, trolls and moonlit waters.
Subjects range from the Song to Lemminkainen, from the Finnish national epic the Kalevala, to the stirring anthem Finlandia. They include songs of praise to Finland's beauty - the deeply moving Oma maa (Our Native Land), a hymn to the northern lights - and tell tales of courage on a human level.
The orchestra is turbulent, dark and richly textured and choral forces are powerful. One of the most majestic choral moments is Maan virsi (Hymn to the Earth). These cantatas are truly a magnificent find, and J”rvi propels his forces to stunning heights.
• Bells and Whistles from Bay View, Kelly Hale, organist (Asterheim Press, $15; $17 mail order). In case you weren't already in the Christmas mood, here's help. Kelly Hale, coordinator of opera and coaching at CCM, performs Christmas carols on the Schulmerich Carillon and Schantz pipe organ in John M. Hall Auditorium, Bay View, Mich. Hale combines the sounds of the electric carillon and organ - quite possibly a first on CD - which works especially well in tunes like "Silver Bells."
To order, e-mail AsterheimPress@aol.com or call 541-2549.
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E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com
