There are one or two other fine recordings of Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols, but this one is exceptional for its intimacy, a feature of this unique work that's often lost in performers' desire to make it big and exciting. There's plenty of bigness and excitement here, but it all comes from the beautifully controlled, warm-toned singing and the clarity of the vocal articulation. And there's lots of genuine energy, born of the inherent qualities of the music and the poetic texts. Likewise for the performance of the cantata Rejoice in the Lamb, a phenomenal setting for soloists, chorus, and organ of a poem by 18th-century religious poet Christopher Smart, who experienced bouts of madness and wrote this work in an asylum. The spiritual power of its words, especially as set by Britten, is undeniable, and the boys and men of St. John's know exactly how to elicit that power and convey it to us. --David Vernier