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Our Review

Simply beautiful. Cappella Gloriana, a 17-voice ensemble based in San Diego, delivers a gorgeous Christmas package full of classical holiday numbers that will take your breath away. This is an impressive CD on every level--the singing, the sound production, the track selections, everything!

O Holy Night features 20 cuts and almost an hour of excellent music. The singing is almost exclusively accomplished "a cappella", although there is some minimal piano and organ support on perhaps four numbers. Although about half of the selections are unfamiliar, all are musically marvelous. Accomplished soloists are used to good advantage throughout the disc.

The liner notes are nonexistent here because there is no liner. The CD appears inside a simple cardboard slipcover. Not to worry--the essential information appears on the cover's back side.

Favorite moments abound on this CD, which opens with a high-energy-but-regal Deck the Hall. In the Bleak Midwinter begins with a lovely solo and develops into an exceptionally rich offering. The Spanish carol Ríu, Ríu Chíu grabs your attention with an exciting, rhythmic presentation, while O Holy Night charms with an achingly beautiful soprano solo. This CD also includes a flawless, goosebumps-raising version of O Magnum Mysterium (Thomás Luis de Victoria). Capella Gloriana's presentation of Gesu Bambino is one of most exquisite I have heard--it is passionate and moving, featuring stunning mezzo-soprano solos and superb chorale interludes. Finally, after a series of lesser known, albeit lovely, pieces, O Holy Night closes with two mainstays--a sweet, but reverent, Away in a Manger, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which provides a "Big Finish" with diverse soloists, crescendos of sound, and a series of cascading "Happy New Years" at the close.

If you find yourself longing for some classy classical fare à la "a cappella", then serve yourself a big helping of Cappella Gloriana's O Holy Night. Yum.

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2003)

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From the album's back cover:

Sopranos: Martha Carey, Elisabeth Marti, Patricia Minton, Virginia Sublett Altos: Anita Colet, Elisabeth Fidler, Katrin Nogols, Martha Jane Weaver Tenors: Sean Jeffries, Derek Keller, Keith Rarick, Stephen Sturk Basses: Adam Johnson, Jamie Pommersheim, Erick Rarick, Gordon Shugars, Christopher Stephens

Recorded in 2002 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Escondido, CA; Christ Lutheran Church, San Diego, CA; St. Andrews the Apostle Episcopal Church, Encinitas, CA

From the group's promotional materials:

"Capella Gloriana performs a cutting-edge mix of contemporary works and early-music classics in concerts that juxtapose Bach, Mozart, Handel, Tallis and Byrd with Britten Messiaen, Poulenc, Copland and Taverner."

"The ensemble returns to Germany in August 2005 to perform at celebrations marking the 900^th anniversary of the founding of the city of Gehren, and at Dresden's Frauenkirche. Cappella Gloriana first performed in Gehren in May 2003 at the Johann Michael Bach Tage, an international music fedstival in the hometown of this famous ancestor of J.S.Bach."

"Some of San Diego's most accomplished singers perform with Cappella Gloriana--singers who, as individuals, have performed and recorded with major opera companies, ensembles and orchestras throughout the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe."

"Named after an allegorical title for England's Queen Elizabeth I, Capella Gloriana was founded in 1996 by co-directors Virginia Sublett and Stephen Sturk."

Cappella Gloriana

O Holy Night: Christmas with Cappella Gloriana

Artist link

Track List