Search - Plácido Domingo, Ying Huang, Michael Bolton :: Merry Christmas From Vienna

Multi-cultural in any sense...

Stefan Huber | Bischofstetten Austria | 12/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When Sony Classical recorded the first "Christmas in Vienna" concert, it was a sort of a unique event. Although there had been several opera greats in the past, who performed songs from the popular genre, nothing came close to Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Diana Ross performing Christmas carols together. As the series proceeded, Domingo got the opportunity to duet with Dionne Warwick and returned to more traditional roots, when performing with Sissel Kyrkjebo and Charles Aznavour. The 1996 concert, however, even topped the Domingo-Carreras-Natalie Cole one-off "A Celebration in Vienna": Domingo performing arrangements by Christian Kolonovits, a legend of the Austrian pop scene, with one of the greatest stars of the contemporary scene, Michael Bolton.

Well, this is just the first definition of 'multi-cultural', but here comes the second one: The three stars, Domingo, Bolton and the opera great Ying Huang, perform a medley of Christmas songs and carols from around the world. Even as an European, I had never heard "Pjudem Spolu Do Betlema" (a traditional Czechoslovakian carol) before and couldn't imagine, that there were any Venezuelan Christmas selections.

Although, I really doubt, that there are people out there, who appreciate both voices, Domingo's and Bolton's, you should not this one. Bolton gets an opportunity to perform his very own version of "Silent Night" and gives a nice contrast, when singing "White Christmas" with Domingo. The singers also perfectly duet on the Placido Domingo Jr.-composed "Children of Christmas" (which later also appeared on "The Three Tenors' Christmas"), which is actually more contemporary than classical. Domingo himself does a highly dramatic version of John Jacob Niles' "I Wonder as I Wander" and duets with Ying Huang on an outstanding "In the Bleack Midwinter". The two also duet on one of the loveliest versions of Max Reger's "Maria Wiegenlied" ever put on record. As mentioned before, the highlight of the concert is the medley of folk songs from around the world. But here are a few contras to the praises for this album: The "Christmas in Vienna" versions of "Jingle Bells" are a whole series of catastrophes: Diana Ross' "Single Bells" phrasing (which actually inspired an Austrian movie of the same title) and finally the catastrophic version on "Three Tenors' Christmas" match just to perfect with the asynchronous singing on this recording. I also do not appreciate the pop version of "Joy to the World". Although this is a nice opportunity for Bolton to prove his solo abilities, a pop version of a baroque carol can never work.

So here's the consequence: Get this one, if you already own some other disks in the series (and you like them) or if you are a fan of Michael Bolton or popular Christmas songs. If you are a listener of classical music, you may try the "Three Tenors' Christmas" before putting this one into your CD Player."

A Very Good Christmas CD

Norman Strojny | western desert of Utah | 02/25/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Merry Christmas from Vienna" is a very good Christmas CD. Placido Domingo, Ying Huang, and Michael Bolton, all, give good to excellent performances and the over-all quality of the CD is very good. I particularly enjoyed the duets of Placido Domingo and Ying Huang. Placido Domingo did a particularly fine job on each of those duets. Ying Huang puts in a very nice, good sounding, performance. The CD is a good example of three fine singers putting in a professional effort. While I have not singled out Michael Bolton for special mention, he does do a very good job."