© iStockphoto.com/Kirsty
Pargeter
Through the years, many of the
most universally beloved albums produced by the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir have been those devoted to the music of Christmas. And
nothing better illustrates the appeal of the Choir’s Christmas
offerings than the enormous popularity of its annual Christmas
concerts.
Christmas in the Conference Center is an amazing
sight!
But in recent years it’s not
only the allure of the Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square
that has filled the 21,000 seat Conference Center to capacity.
You have perhaps heard of the contemporary television show
“Dancing with the Stars?” Well, when it comes to Christmas,
members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have become accustomed
to “singing with the stars!”
Bryn Terfel and Frederica von Stade were our
2003 guests.
Since 2001 we have joined voices
with star of stage and screen Angela Lansbury, Broadway diva
Audra McDonald, and opera luminaries Bryn Terfel, Frederica
von Stade, and Renée Fleming.
All of these performances have been videotaped and produced
for later nationwide release on PBS television. They are also
available on DVD. But this year, choice selections from the
last five years of fantastic Christmas concerts have been
combined on a sensational new recording called “The Wonder
of Christmas.”
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Having
sung in the Choir for more than sixteen years, there is absolutely
no doubt that I am a biased reviewer, but I was thrilled as
I listened to this album for the first time. “Where?” I ask,
“where could you possibly find a more joyful, spirited and
spiritual compilation of Christmas bliss?” OK, so it’s
a rhetorical question. But, really, this recording features
all the best elements of the Choir and Orchestra at Temple
Square’s Christmas spectaculars.
Mack Wilberg’s Arrangements
The concerts of today’s Choir
would never be complete, of course, without the signature
arrangements of Mack Wilberg, and this recording includes
many favorites. The combination of Mack’s musical genius
with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square
is clearly a marriage made in heaven. He has a knack for featuring
the best elements of the forces at hand.
The “large” feeling to arrangements
such as “Joy to the World,” “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful” (with
Bryn Terfel) and “Angels, from the Realms of Glory” (with
Renée Fleming) show off the grand scale of a 360-voice
choir accompanied by full orchestra and the magnificent Conference
Center pipe organ.
Genius at work: Mack Wilberg is deep in thought
as he peruses a musical score.
But Mack is equally skilled at
showcasing the opposite end of the spectrum. Gentle offerings
such as the French carol “Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance
Flowing?”; the English carol “The First Nowell” (with Frederica
von Stade); and the Catalonian carol “What Shall We Give to
the Babe in the Manger?” present the subtle and delicate side
of the Choir and Orchestra, and add an international flavor.
Sung to an orchestral backdrop of Mack’s beautiful counter-melodies,
these pieces are proffered with the tender intimacy of a mother’s
lullaby.
Comments from the Stars
Our performances with guest stars
have always been moving experiences. No matter how they may
feel when they first join us, by the time they leave we are
fast friends. After her final performance, Angela Lansbury
was asked if she felt the Choir belonged to her. “No,” she
replied, “I feel like I belong to them.” That
feeling is captured on the recording with her laugh of delight
and her applauding of the Choir and Orchestra at the end of
“We Need a Little Christmas.”
Angela Lansbury was our guest in 2001.
When Audra McDonald was asked
how she felt about performing with us, she said, “The generosity
has been overwhelming. I’ve never been so well treated in
my life. It’s just such a warm, good feeling that the Choir
gives — and that’s all secondary to the music. Thank you for
the incredible welcome!” That warmth is reflected in her performances
of the African-American spiritual “Children, Go Where I Send
Thee” and “Sweet Little Jesus Boy.”
Audra McDonald joined us in 2004.
RenéeFleming was our guest last
year. She described how she knew in advance what her experience
would be like by talking with Bryn Terfel (guest performer
in 2003). “I sang with Bryn not too long ago,” she said. “He
pulled me aside and said, ‘I just want you to know you’re
going to have a fantastic time in Utah. You have to
do it; they’re such fabulous people!’” Their experiences (and
that of Ms. von Stade) are echoed in their joyful performances
of Mack Wilberg’s arrangements.
Renée Fleming already knew from talking with
Bryn Terfel that she was going to have a fantastic time!
Temple Square’s Own Stars
But Temple Square has its own
share of stars, and no Christmas concert would be complete
without an appearance from its newest performing group “The
Bells on Temple Square.” And what better setting for the clear,
pure sounds of glistening hand bells than Barlow Bradford’s
scintillating arrangement of “Carol of the Bells?”
Our own stars include the magnificent Bells
on Temple Square.
The bells have also played a
central part in what has become another grand tradition –
the opening of the concerts with a majestic Christmas processional.
“Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” composed by Mack Wilberg to a text
by David Warner, opened the 2005 concerts.
And speaking of Temple Square’s
own stars, Tabernacle Organist Richard Elliott’s show stopping
virtuoso performance of the French carol “Bring a Torch, Jeanette
Isabella” is one of the highlights of this album.
Whether at the Tabernacle or Conference Center
organ, Richard Elliott is always an amazing performer.
Also featured is a nod to the
past, with performances of three well known Arthur Harris
arrangements from the classic Columbia Masterworks album,
“White Christmas,” which was released in 1977. These include
the title track “White Christmas,” Leroy Anderson’s delightful
“Sleigh Ride,” and “Winter Wonderland.”
These enthusiastic young dancers were part
of the Christmas processional.
And most appropriately, the disk
concludes with what is surely the most beloved musical tribute
of all to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: George Frideric
Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah. Famous newscaster
Walter Cronkite joined us for the 2002 concert. In addition
to his wonderful narration, he took up the baton to conduct
a performance of this time-honored masterpiece. Though this
particular track is not taken from that event, it nevertheless
recalls the fun and excitement we enjoyed with Mr. Cronkite
at the conductor’s podium.
In 2002, Walter Cronkite took the conductor’s
podium to lead Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”
Following in the Choir’s Honored
Christmas Tradition
“The Wonder of Christmas” is
a marvelous addition to the classic Christmas albums that
have come from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir over the years.
Although these songs are taken from live performances which
precludes the finely-tuned polish of those that are produced
in recording sessions, the electricity generated in performing
before the massive audiences of 21,000 in the Conference Center
more than makes up for that difference.
If you do an Internet search
on the phrase “like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,” you will
find hundreds of entries where someone has used the Choir
in a comparison, a simile, or a metaphor. Expressions such
as, “To the delight of the prosecutor, he sang better than
the Mormon Tabernacle Choir” or “one
resident commented that the carolers sounded just like the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir” or “I remember seeing a great fireworks
show and hearing heavenly music like the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir hitting a major chord” show how the Choir has achieved
such a universal reputation as to have become one of those
common standards to which other things are compared.
“The Wonder of Christmas” demonstrates
how that reputation is as deserved today as it has been throughout
the history of the Choir. Indeed, the addition of the superb
Orchestra at Temple Square and Bells on Temple Square along
with a continual emphasis on ever higher performance standards
makes it perhaps even more deserved now than ever. How wonderful
it would be if the sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir “singing
with the stars” could be heard in every home this Christmas
season, thus helping a whole new generation to understand
why – especially when it comes to Christmas recordings – the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir has become a household name!
