Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

There is a nice tradition among Greek people of the singing of carols ('Kalanda') on Christmas Eve and this album sits within this tradition, being a set of carols newly composed by Greek-Cypriot composer Cilia Petridou. As musical works they could be described as art-song and the excellent performances by three sopranos are very good reasons to listen to this collection even if you do not understand a word of Greek beyond "Alleluia" (which in any case is Hebrew). The three sopranos are Jenni Harper, Lesley-Jane Rogers and Alison Smart and all are accompanied by Sarah Down on the piano. Each take a number of solo carols and form a trio for two; Lesley-Jane and Alison have both worked with the composer for some time and also made several highly-praised recordings. The composer, Cilia Petridou, was an accomplished pianist until her career was ended by major surgery, since when she has concentrated on composition. Though she moved to England in 1965, she is deeply affected by the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus in 1974 and the still unresolved political situation on the island. While some of her music such as that included on the album 'Sounds Of The Chionistra' reflects this situation, her 'Kalanda' are bright and joyful. The songs range from the Biblical ("The Star", "In The Manger") to the seasonally traditional ("Bells", "Saint Basil (Father Christmas)") and while all the texts are Greek there is a translation in the illustrated booklet. I can't say that this would be the first disc on my CD player on Christmas morning but the tunes are pleasant and the singing is excellent so for those who enjoy Christmas music and fine singing and who want to try something new this would be no bad place to go.

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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