On Christmas Night

The London Choral Sinfonia and its ever-imaginative conductor Michael Waldron have given us something both familiar and entirely new this festive season. Familiar, because you’ll recognise much of the music; but also new, because much of it is presented here in fresh, lusciously scored arrangements. Composer and conductor Owain Park, for instance, has worked considerable magic with O Holy Night and Christmas Day, a medley of well-known carol favourites including Good Christian Men Rejoice and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Bob Chilcott’s version of Silent Night is deliciously velvety and comforting, and Harold Darke’s In the Bleak Midwinter transcends even its own original beauty in this uncredited, gorgeously balanced arrangement for choir and strings. There are a number of treasurable discoveries, too, including Percy Fletcher’s Ring Out, Wild Bells, once again handsomely orchestrated by Park. And Alec Rowley’s Christmas Suite proves a beautiful orchestral oasis amongst the choral fare. Mention must go to treble Malakai Bayoh, whose performance of “Walking in the Air” from The Snowman combines spine-tingling beauty with a majesty rare in male treble voices.