Christmas with the Oper Leipzig

The Oper Leipzig celebrates Christmas – among friends, and in cosy atmosphere. Far removed from radiant concert halls and large audiences, the stage-stars come together at the small church in Gundorf in order to make music together, escaping the ever-watchful spotlights. This unique atmosphere has now been captured on CD: soloists from across the globe sing their most dearly cherished Christmas songs under the direction of Christian Hornef. Accompanied by the organ, the piano, or the Mendelssohn-Quartett, Tuomas Pursio presents a Finnish piece, Eun Yee You performs a Korean song, and Martin Petzold sings a German Christmas carol—and all of the artists explain the personal significance of these gemstones. Listeners can discover familiar and unfamiliar Christmas pieces from new perspectives on this disc, gaining a rare insight into the very private musical worlds of internationally acclaimed opera singers. In solo and ensemble arrangements, songs such as ‘Maria durch ein Dornwald ging’, ‘Jul Jul strålande Jul’, ‘O Natal Existe’, and ‘Stille Nacht’ bring together the greats of the Oper Leipzig—and, at the same time, carry them far away: to the Romantic remoteness of the small church at Gundorf.

Keith Boldt
Milcho Borovinow
Sejong Chang
Sebastian Fuchsberger
Kathrin Göring
Sandra Janke
Dan Kalström
Karin Lovelius
Jonathan Michie
Martin Petzold
Tuomas Pursio
Marika Schönberg
Olena Tokar
Eun Yee You