Adolphe-Charles Adam, Alice-Charlotte Tegner, Goran Danielsson, Svante Henryson, Jakob Lindberg, Jan Bengston, Ulf Farsberg, Torbjorn Helander, Jansson, Ulrika, Rondin, Mats - Home for Christmas

Christmas albums by opera divas hardly make an exalted genre. Usually they involve overblown arrangements, hackneyed material, and singers sight-reading music they don't particularly like and making lame attempts at singing in English. With all her integrity, Anne Sofie von Otter would never do such a thing, and she hasn't here. This disc is a personal, eclectic mix, with the mezzo-soprano sounding sincere and approachable by sticking to the lower end of her range using small-ensemble arrangements you might hear in an evening sitting around the fire. In fact, rarely has Otter sung with such warmth as in Pereic Moraeus's "Koppangen," accompanied by accordion, guitar, violin, and mandolin. Not only is her English good but she seems to connect with the language emotionally. Amid the cozy, jazzy renditions of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" and "Silent Night," there are a few lapses into eccentricity, such as an atonal string ensemble arrangement of "White Christmas" that easily could've been done by Alban Berg, and some Nordic-language forays in which Otter seems to be getting in touch with her primitivistic Viking roots. With good taste displayed elsewhere, she's allowed. --David Patrick Stearns Amazon.com

Musically interesting Christmas alternative

I've been in charge of holiday music for the extended family for the last decade or so, and I generally buy a half-dozen or so CDs every year from a wide range of genres. This is perhaps my favorite of them all. It manages the almost impossible feat of engaging an audiophile like me who's looking for something different while simultaneously enthralling more tradition-minded family members. The CD stands out in most of the critical areas in the holiday field. First, the selection of songs is brilliant--a few English-language standards with some foreign-language songs people may know (Il est ne, le divine enfant) and a handful of really engaging Swedish tunes. Second, the spare but warm instrumentation conveys the coziness van Otter is seeking. Last, and most important, van Otter's low mezzo is put to incredibly expressive use. For those who are turned off by overly operatic recordings that sound completely alien from the renditions of carols that we know and love, this is a much more low-key, accessible form of art music.

This disc is worth buying for the first and last tracks alone, a haunting Swedish number that is now so much part of my Christmas that I can't believe I'd never heard of the song until a few years ago (one track is the Swedish version, the other an English translation). Much as I love holiday music, I have to say that this is one of the only holiday discs I'll listen to throughout the year. December 8, 2004

Jesus is born again!

I did never take my time to write a review but for the cd time is worth it.

This cd is superb. I also saw her concert with his cd life.
It gives you a old fasioned feeling of a warm /close Christmas.

Christmas with a heart.

With her voice Anne Soie does do magic.

She is classical singer number 1 !
It's my best Christmas cd!

Yopu will have a lot of good feelings with this cd,

It is really, really by far worth it's money.
What is money in this case...

Good Luck,
Peacefull Christmas,

Alfons Bosch
The Netherlands January 10, 2004

Something different -- provacative, but very enjoyable

Home for Christmas is not your run-of-the-mill "listen to me, I'm an opera singer lavishing my gorgeous voice on these pretty Christmas songs" recording.

Anne Sofie von Otter's fans have long-since learned to expect the unexpected from this exceptional singer and, on this recording, now several years old, that's what she offers - the unexpected. With only a couple of exceptions, the songs are traditional Christmas fare, though usually with an added twist: the distorted rhythm that makes "Tomorrow will be my dancing day" really dance, or the jazz blue notes that take "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" to the cocktail lounge. (In this, as well as White Christmas, Ms. von Otter bears more than a passing resemblance to another great cross-over artist, the late Eileen Farrell.) In this free rhythmic treatment, Deck the Halls, arranged for accordion and violin accompaniment, is much less a fa-la-la madrigal than an introspective folk-song that builds on its own momentum. In contrast, the simple hymn, Beautiful tone Star of Bethlehem, which Ingvar Wixell recorded many years ago on his Christmas offering, shows Ms. von Otter's lush voice to full effect.

Her subtle use of vibrato in "I wonder as I wander" (along with a provocative arrangement) captures the Scotch-Irish influence on the folk music of Appalachians without being a condescending parody while the marimba accompaniment and fiddle obbligato to the French "Il est le divin enfant" evoke an unidentifiable folk music - is it Spanish or French countryside? Or, is the point that it is universal?

True, a couple of the arrangements stretch beyond my endurance: Although Ms. von Otter does lavish some beautiful tone on Cantique de Noel (O, Holy Night) I found the over-echoed, new-wave arrangement irritating and White Christmas, rather than being nostalgic verges on surreal.

In total, there are twenty songs, each a little gem of interpretation. As I mentioned above, sometimes I don't really like the interpretations or arrangement; however, I never doubt for a moment, that Ms. von Otter believes what she is singing; her commitment to communicating through music is never in doubt. By the way, her English diction is exemplary - a lesson for many singers for whom English is first language. December 16, 2002

Great Christmas album

I have never been one to buy much Christmas music -- why bother when for the month of December I can hear the stuff everywhere I go whether I want to or not. So, it's a real treat to find a disc like this one that I just want to listen to over and over again. I bought it last year and it was kind of depressing when the season was over and I had to stop listening to it until next Christmas. Anyway, the other raves for "Koppangen" are spot on: it really is a very warm and moving song and I'm glad it appears twice on this disc. There are several carols that are unfamiliar to most English listeners (me included) but they soon become favourites. And even the weird arrangement of "White Christmas" with its minimalist and almost slithering string accompaniment grows on you after a while if only for its ability to amuse. Definitely a must-have for fans of Anne Sofie von Otter or those looking for something a little different. November 26, 2001

For Koppangen only

I bought this cd because one song.... the track 1, Koppangen (swedish version in track 21).

For me the other tracks seem to be only fillers. And in fact now whenever I play this disc I only listen to track 1, sorry for that. So it's hard to give a adequate valuation. All stars for track 1, such a moving and wonderful song! February 17, 2001

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