One of the world’s leading choruses, The Bach Choir, provided sterling vocal support throughout: their Sheep May Safely Graze was excellent and the two medieval pieces that they did were also good. I wasn’t too keen on the two new carols that were sung, but that wasn’t their fault and they dealt supremely well with interesting arrangements of well known staples like Deck The Halls and The Christmas Song.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played beautifully throughout and were given opportunities to shine with selections like a gorgeous excerpt from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, ‘Christians, Be Joyful’ and the evergreen Waltz from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. The Post Horn Galop showcased two of their cycling horn players and their charity fundraising efforts and the percussion-filled Sleigh Ride was great fun.
And with sing-alongs to several carols, a Christmas quiz with musical clues played by the orchestra and a generous dose of festive spirit, all combined to make a lovely old-fashioned but perfectly-suited afternoon in the magnificent Royal Albert Hall.
Tracklisting
Christmas Fanfare
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Christians, Be Joyful (from JS Bach’s Christmas Oratorio)
Sheep May Safely Graze (JS Bach)
Angels’ Carol (John Rutter)
In The Bleak Midwinter (Harold Darke)
O Magnum Mysterium (Tomás Luis de Victoria)
Hodie Christus Natus Est (Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck)
The First Nowell
The Rose in the Middle of Winter (Bob Chilcott)
The King of Blis (John Rutter)
Galop (Le Bal from Jeux d’Enfants) (Georges Bizet)
Duet & Dream Pantomime (from Hansel & Gretel) (Engelbert Humperdinck)
Waltz (from The Sleeping Beauty) (Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky)
Good King Wenceslas
O Holy Night (Adolphe Adam)
Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson)
Deck The Halls
Star Carol (John Rutter)
Post Horn Galop (Herman Koenig)
The Christmas Song (Mel Tormé)
The Colours of Christmas (John Rutter)
Silent Night
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Closing Fanfare