Classical Christmas (1989)

A budget-priced compilation of music from the baroque and classical eras, heavy on works from Handel's Messiah. A welcome change of pace when you get tired of hearing different versions of the same ol' 35 holiday standards. Nice selections, decent performances, so-so recordings. If memory serves, releases on Delta Music's LaserLight series originally retailed for $3.99 - a nice break from the regular compact disc prices of the time, which ranged from around 14-18 dollars.

Tracks:

New to me were the works by baroque composers Vejvanovský (track 1) and Manfredini (tracks 7-9). And to be honest, those aren't even names that I recognize. That doesn't mean that the professors didn't cover them in my music history courses, it more likely means I wasn't paying attention during my music history courses.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I used to sing the mess out of some Messiah. My copy of the the vocal score is so old that the price on the cover is $1.50 (the same score currently sells for around $10). I wonder why I don't see community Messiah sing-alongs like I used to. My guess is the pandemic killed off more than a few of those. That's a shame because I always had a blast singing the oratorio at the top of lungs. Pure joy.