 | Christmas With Leontyne Price (Dig)
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $6.98 The best overall Christmas album of all! Everything is simply flawless and gorgeous. Difficult to name highlights, as all are divine, but I do especially love both Ave Maria selections and O Holy Night! WOW!
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 | Leontyne Price: Christmas Songs
Buy used from: $38.00 Same as above, except it isn't as cleanly remastered - but it is cheaper, and has a groovy cover!
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 | Joy to the World
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $7.75 Excellent! Her O Holy Night is the highest I've heard - it is truly great, no matter how "bad" the diction is. Other standouts are "Deck the Hall" and "Twelve days of Christmas" - all are very good, a few are less successful because of thick, muddy diction.
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 | Jessye Norman at Notre Dame
Buy used from: $4.95 One of my first classical CDs, back in 1994! Amazing! Her Brahms song here is chill/tear-inducing! :)
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 | Carols For Christmas Eve by Eileen Farrell
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $31.41 One of my absolute favorites!! Her voice is perfect on this album because the tessitura is not very high - I find her a bit harsh above the staff, and with such a lovely, warm low register, I can't believe she didn't sing mezzo! Anyway, anyone will love this album - it has lots of varied tunes, many I have not heard before.
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 | A Baroque Christmas
Buy used from: $1.79 These are works that you probably have never heard. It is a great Christmas album!!! I listen to it many times over the holiday season.
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 | Have a Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives
Buy new: $6.98 / Used from: $1.64 Very nice! His voice seems to have been created for Christmas songs - not a classical voice, but it is just perfect for this! Charming, characterful performances...there are other compilations, but this is the only one I own.
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 | Personal Christmas Collection by Doris Day
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $4.51 Again, other compilations available...this is great, too! A nice voice, very similar to Ella (to me) - I listen to this one a lot :)
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![Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas [Remastered]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31NFJB-dXaL._SL75_.jpg) | Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas [Remastered] by Ella Fitzgerald
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $7.89 This is the one to get! There is another album, recorded later, that is more of a spiritual performance, but this is, as the title says, "swinging"! Her "Sleigh Ride" is awesome!!! Buy this!
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 | Home for Christmas by Amy Grant
Buy used from: $2.86 A favorite! I love her Christmas recordings, but I think this album is my fave. Always puts me in the mood for all that is Christmas!!
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 | A Christmas to Remember by Amy Grant
Buy used from: $1.14 My other Amy Grant Christmas album! Also very fun, and meaningful!
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 | Handel: Messiah - Arias & Choruses
Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $0.29 Alas, the complete recording is out-of-print, but this is the next best thing! The chorus is the best I have heard in this music. I also love what the young Bumbry does with her arias. Of course, "Messiah" is not just about Christmas, but the Christmas portion is the most popular. Sutherland is at her worst with diction here, but sounds great, and her "Rejoice" is just about reference.
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 | Weihnachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio)
Buy used from: $29.99 Heavenly! A must have for any serious collector! I just got it in 2006 - beautiful!
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 | A Christmas Celebration: Kathleen Battle by Kathleen Battle
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $5.05 Angelic! Yes, she was considered a demanding diva, but this is such a sweet album!!!
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 | Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker · Offenbach - Le Papillon
Buy new: $15.99 / Used from: $5.07 The best, in my opinion! A must for the Christmas season!
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 | The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole
Buy used from: $7.95 Another fun, essential set! I just added it to my collection in 2005 :)
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