Taped in 1998 at the Basilica di S. Ambrogio in Milan, this Christmas concert starring José Carreras with David Gimenez conducting the Arturo Toscanini Orchestra includes a few sentimental religious favorites, notably César Franck's "Panis Angelicus," Schubert's "Ave Maria" (in which he gets the words mixed up), the anonymous "Adeste Fideles," "Silent Night" sung in Italian, and "The Lord's Prayer," sung (in English) as an encore and, for some viewers, probably worth the price of the disc. There are baroque orchestral selections (a Bach overture, the "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from Handel's Solomon), and some pop favorites: "The Little Drummer Boy," sung in both English and Italian, and "White Christmas," sung as an encore in English. Among the more exotic items are an Italian adaptation of a Schubert lullaby titled "Mille cherubini in coro" ("A thousand Cherubim in chorus") and a setting of "Panis Angelicus" attributed to J.S. Bach, who would have had serious theological problems with the text. Most of the time, the performance is essentially operatic, with lush orchestration and lots of vocal vibrato, whether the music happens to be folk, pop, or liturgical. Carreras's fans will be satisfied, as his voice is in good condition and he sounds generally comfortable with the material, particularly in the Spanish and Catalan numbers. --Joe McLellan
