Tower Voices New Zealand's A Voices Christmas has a lot going for it - hand-picked seasonal repertoire, adroitly placed around Poulenc's Quatre motets, sung by a world-class chamber choir and spaciously recorded in Wellington's Sacred Heart Cathedral by Wayne Laird.
Conductor Karen Grylls has an ace team here. Tower Voices
were mightily impressive when they recorded Vanhal and Hummel Masses for Naxos and now, with a whole CD to themselves, they raise the bar once more.
When all 29 singers come together for a piece like Peter Wishart's pealing Alleluya the sound is rich and spirited; when a group of six turn to the medieval carol Ther is no rose of swych vertu, one is almost hypnotised by its pure beauty.
David Griffiths' Dormi Jesu is seamless in its composition, blended with the flawless Grylls singers.
And, when Tower Voices delve into the 12-part textures of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen by the Swedish composer Jan Sandstrom, it becomes a truly meditative experience.
Above all, the musicians deserve a collective medal for rescuing Franz Xaver Gruber's Stille nacht! Heilige Nacht from its tawdry English afterlife as Silent Night.
Once more, a group of six singers deliver this carol, colouring some notes with just the right hint of gemutlich vibrato. The perfect accompaniment is provided by Matthew Marshall's guitar.
Naxos' Bethlehem Down is a gem - 22 Yuletide songs and carols, written by names including Britten, Holst and Warlock and sung by the Finchley Children's Music Group.
The whole disc is kept remarkably free of that flutey choirboy sound that has always forced me to maintain an emotional distance from so much Anglican church music.
The soloists are unaffected and natural, the a cappella work is clear, and Holst's striding Salvator mundi natus est vies with a calypso-styled De Virgin Mary had a baby boy to be the album's toe-tapper.
The Christmas bonus, apart from Naxos' budget price, is tenor Philip Langridge guesting on Sussex Carol, gracefully arranged by the choir's conductor Grace Rossiter.
* A Voices Christmas (Trust Records MMT 2052)
* Bethlehem Down (Naxos 8.557581)
