Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Producing atmospheric Christmas programmes in the 1950s fell into the remit of radio stations: records with festive music were not available during the early post-war years. For RIAS, the Berlin radio station under American control, the early 1950s were the heyday in this respect. Year after year, distinguished singers, including Rita Streich, Erna Berger, Elisabeth Grümmer and many others, were engaged to perform for these radio shows. Top billing on the CD sleeve is given to the baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau although he is by no means the main soloist on the programme. This disc presents the impressive results of recordings made between 1950 and 1964. The audio quality reflects the date but although it is not quite perfect it is still perfectly listenable. Most carols on the disc are folk songs or folk-like. Their simple, catchy tunes, setting words from Martin Luther's time through to the 20th century, tell of a naïve piety that had been forgotten or suppressed in the dreadful years of Nazi rule. Renowned composers and church musicians of the 1950s produced, mostly for such Christmas broadcasts, tasteful arrangements of these carols. The spectrum of arrangements on this disc stretches from sparing but emphatic lute dabs right up to the onomatopoeic expansion of orchestral sonorities which do not shy away from a nod towards Puccini. The fact that all these diverse Christmas offerings were produced without a whiff of sentimentality is largely due to the performers who transformed these miniatures into little gems. The record label sub-title is 'Deutschlandradio Kultur' and this is exactly what we get on the CD: a piece of German radio history. I am sure for Germans of the immediate post-war generation this will bring back many memories but the rest of us are on the outside listening in and unless you were very taken by last year's 'Stille Nacht. . . Christmas Choir Music' on the same label (and reviewed elsewhere on this website) this is not a recommended purchase.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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