The Ultimate Sacred Christmas Album ~ Ave Maria

If you're already stocked up on your favorite Christmas carols but are looking for a nice solid anthology of sacred music, this one certainly has a lot of enjoyment to offer. True, a little more thought could have gone into this themed compilation. What does the Largo from Handel's opera Serse , featuring countertenor Andreas Scholl (his name consistently misspelled on the CD, by the way), have to do with the Yuletide season? No matter, it is after all one of the world's supreme melodies, and Scholl is part of the motley collection of big-name performers Decca has culled from its catalog for this release, which also includes Luciano Pavarotti, Cecilia Bartoli, Marilyn Horne, Bryn Terfel, et al. The anthology is weighted heavily toward the baroque, with a number of Bach selections and seven tracks from Messiah (another work that has by popular tradition become most associated with Christmas even though it was conceived as an Easter celebration). The latter make a sort of mini-anthology within this anthology, giving you a series of "ultimate" moments from Handel's masterpiece--but you certainly won't want to be without the entire work. --Herbert Fellows