Search - Pietro Yon, Claude-Beninge Balbastre, Georges Bizet :: A Brass & Organ Christmas / Fenstermaker, Bay Brass, Krehbiel

A well deserved five stars

Christian Ellithorpe | Streamwood, IL United States | 12/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a superb brass ensemble. I really enjoy Christmas CDs, and quite a few of the ones I've owned are brass Christmas CDs. I had not heard the Bay Brass before hearing this recording, but I really must say that their precision, timing, power and "attack" truly rivals the legendary Phillip Jones Brass Ensemble. I also think that they surpass the PJBE's own Christmas recordings in many ways. One person mentioned that the organ was not as well-recorded on this disc, and at times it was not easily heard. For me, however, this is not as great a flaw. The real star here is this brass ensemble, which is absolutely first class. Sometimes organ/brass discs have an overpowering organ, and on this disc, the Bay Brass plays with such astonishing skill, that I do not miss hearing the organ accompaniment, which is there, but very much in background. If you are an organ fan, I could understand this may not be the disc for you, but if you love the sound of brass with some organ & percussion accompaniment, this will be exactly your cup-of-tea. There are just enough of the more well-known selections on this disc to satisfy many, along with a few lessor-known pieces. Hark the Herald Angels Sing has all of the excitement and precision one could wish for, in a very imaginative arrangement. Greensleeves is performed in an arrangement originally written by the before-mentioned Phillip Jones Brass Ensemble. Again, I must confess I actually prefer THIS slower version to the version so masterfully done by the Phillip Jones Ensemble, and I mean this as the highest possible compliment. There is an earth-shaking Gabrielli Canzon here, where the organ takes the antiphonal, or echo, parts. And in one of the most creative & unusual arrangements of Silent Night I've yet heard, the brass choir begins playing in a very mysterious way as an echoing melody at first, followed by the organ. The melody moves on to a medley of Away in a Manger, before returning to the Silent Night theme. The Hallelujah Chorus is arranged here for brass, percussion & organ to great effect, and the organ is definately powerful on that piece, as well as on Bach's Christmas Oratorio as well. The clarity of the brass section is nothing sort of amazing. As a real brass ensemble fan, I am eargerly awaiting more recordings by the Bay Brass after hearing this cd. Absolutely first-class."

A Brass & Organ Christmas sans Organ

Jeff Light | Nashville, TN USA | 12/09/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you purchase this CD with the hope of hearing a top-notch brass choir and magnificent and large pipe organ playing a varied program of Christmas music in a splendid venue, you may be disappointed when you discover that with one notable exception, the great organ of Grace Cathedral is all but inaudible for the most part. In part, I think this is due to the location of microphones during the recording, since the brass sound quite close to the microphones, while the organ, when heard, seems to be quite a distance away from the microphones and/or brass. My guess is that for whatever reason, the arrangements have not been written to showcase the organ or even give it an equal place on the program. Even in the one selection which features the organ in dialogue with the brass, the sound of the organ is so distant that it is easily overpowered by the brass choir. The small portative organ used for three of the selections has, for the most part, a more audible presence than the great cathedral organ could ever hope to have in this recording.The music on this CD is outstanding, and the performance of The Bay Brass is impeccable. Now, if only we could hear what the organ and organist John Fenstermaker were playing, this CD would be complete."