Holiday Specials on WCVE Public Radio: Week Two

Chanticleer

From around the world and through the ages, WCVE Public Radio presents the sounds of the season in music and song for you to enjoy.

December 18 at 2:00 p.m. – Handel’s Messiah, the Christmas Portion is featured. In 1742, exactly 270 years ago, the first performances of Handel’s Messiah were heard in Dublin. Each year the Dallas Bach Society offers exceptional performances of this landmark work of Western music in the Meyerson Hall in Dallas, arguably one of the finest concert halls in the world. This Messiah is historically informed in all the best senses: compact performing forces; period instruments; and generously expressive singing and playing. This program brings the Christmas portion of Messiah along with the triumphant Hallelujah Chorus.

At 10:00 p.m., we feature Handel’s Messiah From Boston. Music Director Harry Christophers leads the Handel & Haydn Society Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus, and internationally acclaimed soloists in Handel’s complete dramatic masterwork, in the acoustic splendor of Boston’s Symphony Hall. Canadian superstars soprano Karina Gauvin and countertenor Daniel Taylor, British tenor extraordinaire James Gilchrist, and Boston’s own premier baritone Sumner Thompson offer this season’s unique rendition of this Boston tradition.

December 19 at 2:00 p.m. – A Chanticleer Christmas, a celebration of the season as told through the glorious voices of Chanticleer, the 12-voice San Francisco-based men’s choir. The program spans the globe and the centuries — from England in the 1300s to new arrangements of classic and contemporary carols. At 10:00 p.m., A Christmas Celtic Sojourn celebrates the 10th anniversary of sold-out concerts around New England, as host Brian O’Donovan assembles some of the best musicians, singers, and dancers imaginable from around the Celtic world, and beyond! This year’s live show is again led by music director Seamus Egan, leading his groundbreaking group Solas, along with harpist Catriona McKay, fiddlers Chris Stout and Winifred Horan on fiddle and cellist Natalie Haas. Singers include Chieftains vocalist Alyth McCormack from Scotland, the four-part harmonies of Navan, and the great vocals of Mick McAuley and Eamonn McElholm.

December 20 at 2:00 p.m. – Advent Voices Advent is a time of quiet contemplation and waiting. It’s waiting for darkness to become light and for hopes to be realized. Throughout the centuries Advent has been observed musically in sacred and secular ways. Join Lynne Warfel for an hour of the most beautiful vocal music inspired by and written for Advent. At 10:00 p.m., hear The Story of Christmas: A Pageant From Washington National Cathedral. This year’s broadcast with the Cathedral Girls’ Choir brings a unique performance of Benjamin Britten’s much-loved Ceremony of Carols, marking 70 years from its first performance in England in 1942. Often performed by boys and harp, its first performance was in London with women’s voices and the celebrated Welsh harpist Osian Ellis. The girls are joined by young actors from Princeton Day School in Princeton, NJ, who present the biblical narrative in their own words and commentary. At 11:00 p.m., A Traditional Lessons and Carols From Dallas. This program has emerged as one of the most distinctive holiday events in Texas. Taking its British forebear as a starting point, it has made the rhythm of the familiar service its own in both song and text. The artistic director, Scott Dettra, is widely regarded as one of the finest concert organists of his generation, whose career has taken him from major appointments in Philadelphia and Washington, where he was associate director at National Cathedral.

December 21 at 2:00 p.m. –  Christmas with Madrigalia 2012, and at 10:00 p.m. the Paul Winter Solstice Concert. Once again on the darkest night of the year, public radio brings you the illuminating tradition from New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the 32nd annual Paul Winter Solstice Celebration. This year’s program features gospel singer Theresa Thomason, Mbira Master, Chris Berry and The Paul Winter Consort with Paul McCandless, Eugene Friesen, Paul Sullivan, Eliot Wadopian, Jamey Haddad, Tim Brumfield and the glorious cathedral pipe organ.