LIST OF TRACKS
1. I BELIEVE – A song written by the French musician Eric Lévi,
and a favourite of Pope John Paul II.
2. WHITE CHRISTMAS – Written by Irving Berlin, this song shot
to fame following Bing Crosby’s 1942 recording. Since then, it
has been sung by hundreds of artists, including Frank Sinatra,
Nat King Cole and Placido Domingo.
3. ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH – This traditional Christmas
carol has French and Scottish origins. The English version,
translated in 1862 by James Chadwick, is here masterfully
rearranged by David Foster.
4. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN – Written in 1932 by Haven
Gillespie (words) and J. Fred Coots (music), this is one of the
most famous Christmas songs in the world, brought to fame by
Perry Como, Bing Crosby and Andrew Sisters.
5. BLUE CHRISTMAS – Even Elvis Presley produced a rock ’n’
roll version of this 1948 song written by Billy Hayes and Jay
Johnson. Since then, it has been sung by many, including Dean
Martin and Celine Dion.
6. THE LORD’S PRAYER – The most important Christian prayer,
in a splendid arrangement by David Foster.
7. WHAT CHILD IS THIS? – This Christmas carol dates back to
1865. The lyrics were subsequently set to the Greensleeves tune,
attributed to the King Henry VIII.
8. CANTIQUE DE NOEL – One of the best known carols in the
world, it was originally composed by Adolf Adam in 1847 to the
French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau.
9. THE CHRISTMAS SONG – Written by Mel Torné and Bob Wells in
1944, it was Nat King Cole who gave this song world fame two
years later. Popular versions include those by Ella Fitzgerald,
Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder.
10. JINGLE BELLS – Originally composed in 1857 with the name
“The one horse open sleigh”, this song has become the symbol
of a joyful, carefree Christmas, and is particularly well-loved
by children.
11. SILENT NIGHT – The original verses of “Stille nacht”
were written by the Austrian priest Joseph Mohr in 1816, while
the tune was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber in 1818. The English
version dates back to 1859.
12. TU SCENDI DALLE STELLE – Perhaps the most famous Italian
Christmas carol, it was composed in 1755 by Alfonso Maria de’
Liguori.
13. O TANNENBAUM – A traditional German Christmas carol,
composed by Joachim August Zarnack and Ernst Gebhardt Anschutz,
here masterfully rearranged by David Foster.
14. ADESTE FIDELES – The first known record of this Christmas
carol, Sir John Francis Wade’s transcription of a popular
British theme, dates back to 1743. Additional verses were
subsequently written by Jean Francois Borderies.
15. CARO GESU’ BAMBINO – Sung the world over, the music to
this carol was composed by Piero Soffici and the lyrics written
by Pier Quinto Carriaggi.
16. GOD BLESS US EVERYONE – This version was produced for
Disney’s upcoming Christmas blockbuster, “Disney’s a
Christmas Carol”.
REVIEW OF “MY CHRISTMAS”
Andrea Bocelli’s Christmas is a concentrate of emotions and
Bel Canto. Take his “My Christmas” album (Sugar edition):
sixteen tracks that touch our hearts with unparalleled intensity,
combining his voice, loved the world over, with the atmosphere
evoked by a series of instantly recognisable carols. “The time
comes for every singer to record a Christmas album. That’s
probably because Christmas is the most beautiful holiday of the
year”, says Andrea. “My Christmas”, available worldwide,
follows in the tradition of the greatest voices of the 1900s,
such as Enrico Caruso and Mario Lanza, who demonstrated that
exceptional and influential voices could tackle this kind of
repertoire without embarrassment, and indeed with nobility.
“Recording a Christmas album means recording good music; music
that gives joy, and instils a sense of peace,” says Andrea
Bocelli.
Mission accomplished.
From ‘I believe’, which the tenor performed before the
visibly moved Pope John Paul II, to ‘Adeste Fideles’, the CD
is an unmissable collection of songs each of us have sung at
least once, carefully selected by Bocelli, who has been working
on this project for a couple of years. Song after song, the CD
constitutes the sound track of Christmas throughout the world,
free of cheap adulation and commercial cunning. ‘My
Christmas’ is Christmas as it was sung by our forefathers,
with the same atmosphere of peaceful serenity and pleasant
expectation, seeking closeness with our loved ones and a relaxed
escape from the horrors of the world. Particular merit certainly
goes to those who prepared the scores, remaining faithful where
possible to the original, and to David Foster, one of the most
famous producers of our day, and the only one to have worked
with all the greatest pop artists, from Celine Dion to Michael
Jackson. In “My Christmas”, Foster has arranged a number of
traditional carols, such as “Angels we have heard on high”
and ‘What child is this”, with unique ability and a
remarkable lightness of touch, adapting each track so as to
render them almost a first edition. That Foster, he always
manages to surprise us. Working alongside him, the great maestro
Renato Serio also arranged two traditional carols deep-rooted in
our hearts: ‘Tu scendi dalle stelle’ and ‘Adeste
fideles’.
But above all, it is the voice of Andrea Bocelli that stands
out, once again engaged in a new feat. “This repertoire
requires a broad vocal range,” says Andrea, “from soft,
almost whispered tones, to a stronger, more powerful voice.”
In ‘White Christmas’, Bocelli’s voice is graceful, and
tenderly soft. In ‘Santa Claus is coming to town’, it
becomes irresistibly playful, making it almost impossible not to
sing along. In ‘God bless us everyone’, taken from
Disney’s Christmas blockbuster ‘A Christmas carol’, we
discover Bocelli the performer. The film, directed by Robert
Zemeckis and starring an amazing cast (Jim Carrey, Colin Firth,
Bob Hoskins, Gary Oldman and Robin Wright Penn), takes its
inspiration from Charles Dickens’ famous short story, and is
set to become one of the most successful end of year
blockbusters. Bocelli’s performance in ‘God bless us
everyone’ (composed by Alan Silvestri and Glenn Ballard)
blends the magic of Christmas with the tenderness of the phrase
that gives it its name, spoken by Tiny Tim at the end of
Dickens’ short story.
But it is in ‘The Lord’s prayer’, arranged by David Foster
and performed with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, that Bocelli
really outdoes himself, in an imposing, moving performance of
unique intensity. A masterpiece that will leave its mark,
without the shadow of a doubt, in the history of music. However,
the greatest challenge is to win over the little ones, and “My
Christmas” is certain to please them too, not just their
parents. Indeed, Bocelli’s hope for this project was that
families, united for Christmas, should listen to this music
together. As he explains: “I drew inspiration from the voices
that fill the churches; the voices that can be heard at family
sing-alongs, on Christmas day”. And as soon as the stereo
starts playing ‘Silent night’, a family sing-along is a dead
cert.
Like all great gifts, ‘My Christmas’ too has surprising and
unexpected elements: its duets. For this album, Andrea Bocelli,
a popular singer appreciated worldwide, has called on a number
of friends to create several miniature masterpieces. In ‘I
believe’, he is accompanied by the Welsh mezzo-soprano
Katherine Jenkins, a genuine revelation of recent years. In
‘Blue Christmas’, Reba McEntire, the queen of country music
with 55m albums sold worldwide, adapted the fullness of her
voice, with a trace of pop, to a particularly difficult track.
Mary J. Blige recorded her parts of ‘What child is this’ in
a day, in New York, in a register that blends remarkably well
with Bocelli’s, resulting in a duet that will rock the
American world, and not only that. The same may be said of
‘The Christmas song’, to which Natalie Cole brings a touch
of genuine, warm soul and R&B. But The duet with the Muppets,
in Jingle Bells, is certain to make the greatest splash
worldwide, especially with children, and to become a version
sung and played for years to come.
In a word, ‘My Christmas’ is a winning album, expertly
arranged, played and sung, becoming a point of reference for the
entire genre. And from now on, no one, listeners and performers
alike, will be able to forget this Christmas, as sung by Andrea
Bocelli.
Paolo Giordano
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