Why have some "classical classics" become holiday tradition, and others have not? Join LA Opera's Music Director James Conlon as he encourages us to "have it all" by enjoying both the well-known stars of classical holiday music, as well as more obscure works in the cannon. Dive in with the Maestro to the traditional, seasonal works of Handel's Messiah, Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker; and then explore two unsung stars: Liszt’s Christus and Berlioz’s L'Enfance du Christ.
CLICK "READ MORE" FOR MUSICAL LINKS TO SELECT PIECES MENTIONED in this podcast.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio - John Eliot Gardiner, conductor; English Baroque Soloists (part 1)
Christmas Oratorio - John Eliot Gardiner, conductor; English Baroque Soloists (part 2)
George Frideric Handel: Messiah
Messiah - Sir Colin Davis, conductor; London Symphony Orchestra
Hector Berlioz: L’Enfance du Christ (the Childhood of Christ)
L’Enfance du Christ - James Conlon, conductor; Orchestre National de France
Franz Liszt: Christus
Christus - Antal Doráti, conductor; Hungarian State Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker - Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor; USSR Symphony Orchestra
Gian Carlo Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors – Thomas Schippers, conductor; original NBC telecast cast
John Adams: El Niño
El Niño - Kent Nagano, conductor; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin