The Christmas concert by the Spanish tenor José Carreras in Milan. Year: 2000. Emilia-Romagna Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Giménez Carreras (the nephew of the tenor). Director: Enrico Castiglione.
José Carreras’ Christmas Concert in Milan, in 2000, was a notable event, both artistically and historically. This concert was held as part of the Great Jubilee 2000, a series of events commissioned by Pope John Paul II. This particular concert, known as “Concerto Di Natale,” was the first in this series. Carreras, a renowned Spanish tenor, performed at the Basilica di S. Ambrogio Church in Milan, presenting a mix of classical pieces and traditional Christmas melodies. The Emilia-Romagna Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of David Giménez Carreras, José Carreras’ nephew, accompanied him. The concert was directed by Enrico Castiglione.
The program included a wide range of pieces, showcasing Carreras’ versatility and the depth of the Christmas repertoire. It opened with “Allegro” from Bach’s Cantata BWV 31, followed by the traditional carol “Adeste Fideles” (“O Come, All Ye Faithful”). Other highlights included “Panis Angelicus” by both Bach and Franck, the traditional Polish lullaby “Lulajże Jezuniu,” and Handel’s “Arrivo Della Regina Di Saba” from his oratorio Solomon.
Italian Christmas carol “Tu scendi dalle stelle” and Schubert’s “Wiegenlied” were also part of the performance. The program further featured works by Gounod, Alvarez, and Grieg, as well as popular Christmas songs like “The Little Drummer Boy,” “White Christmas,” and the UNESCO-recognized “Silent Night“.
This concert was a unique blend of sacred and secular music, capturing the spirit of the Christmas season and the millennial celebrations it was part of. Carreras’ performance, backed by the symphony orchestra, offered a rich and varied musical experience, making it a memorable event in the calendar of Christmas concerts.
José Carreras’ Christmas Concert Program
With starting times in the video:
- 0:01:55 Bach: “Allegro” from Cantata BWV 31 (Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret -Heaven laughs! Earth exults)
- 0:04:50 Traditional: Adeste Fideles (“O Come, All Ye Faithful”), a Christmas carol which has been attributed to various authors, including the English hymnist John Francis Wade (1711–1786), with the earliest copies of the hymn all bearing his signature, the English composer and organist John Reading (1645–1692) and King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656).
- 0:08:05 Bach: Panis Angelicus (Latin for “Bread of Angels” or “Angelic Bread”) is the penultimate strophe of the hymn “Sacris solemniis” written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the feast, including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.
- 0:11:33 Traditional: Lulajże Jezuniu “Hush, little Jesus”
- 0:15:10 Handel: Arrivo Della Regina Di Saba “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” (from Solomon, HWV 67, is an English oratorio by George Frideric Handel).
- 0:18:45 Franck: Panis Angelicus
- 0:23:05 De Liguori: Tu scendi dalle stelle (“From Starry Skies Thou Comest”, “From Starry Skies Descending”, “You Came a Star from Heaven”, “You Come Down from the Stars”), a Christmas carol from Italy, written in 1732 in Nola by Saint Alfonso Liguori in the musical style of a pastorale.
- 0:26:10 Schubert: Wiegenlied “Schlafe, schlafe, holder süßer Knabe”, D 498, Op. 98, No. 2, is a lullaby composed in November 1816. The song is also known as “Mille cherubini in coro” after an Italian language arrangement for voice and orchestra by Alois Melichar.
- 0:29:55 Gounod: Judex from Mors et Vita (“Death and Life”), premiered in Birmingham in 1885, and featured a judge, who sits on a throne, intoning his judgments. One of the most effective pieces of orchestration in the oratorio.
- 0:34:25 Alvarez: Pregaria. Fermín María Álvarez (Zaragoza 1833 – Barcelona, 1898) was a Spanish composer. He concentrated mainly on salon songs, which were often performed along with zarzuela excerpts by other composers.
- 0:38:35 Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone: The little drummer boy. In the lyrics the singer relates how, as a poor young boy, he was summoned by the Magi to the nativity where, without a gift for the infant Jesus, he played his drum with the Virgin Mary’s approval, remembering “I played my best for Him” and “He smiled at me.”
- 0:41:35 Traditional: La Virgen lava pañales
- 0:44:15 Schubert: Ave Maria
- 0:49:15 Berlin: White Christmas, an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 100 million copies worldwide.
- 0:53:35 Gruber: Silent Night, a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011.
- 0:58:40 Grieg: T’estimo
Lyrics
Adeste Fideles
Latin
Adeste fideles læti triumphantes,
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Natum videte
Regem angelorum:
Venite adoremus (3×)
Dominum.
English translation
O come, all ye faithful, joyful, and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him
Born the King of Angels:
O come, let us adore Him, (3×)
Christ the Lord.
Panis Angelicus
Latin
Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
Dat panis cœlicus
figuris terminum:
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum
Pauper, servus et humilis.
Amen.
English translation
May the Bread of Angels
Become bread for mankind;
The Bread of Heaven puts
All foreshadowings to an end;
Oh, thing miraculous!
This body of God will nourish
the poor, the servile, and the humble.
Tu scendi dalle stelle
Italian
Tu scendi dalle stelle,
O Re del Cielo,
e vieni in una grotta,
al freddo al gelo.
O Bambino mio Divino
Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
O Dio Beato
Ahi, quanto ti costò
l’avermi amato!
English translation
From starry skies descending,
Thou comest, glorious King,
A manger low Thy bed,
In winter’s icy sting;
O my dearest Child most holy,
Shudd’ring, trembling in the cold!
Great God, Thou lovest me!
What suff’ring Thou didst bear,
That I near Thee might be!
Little drummer boy
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.
Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?
Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.
White Christmas
The sun is shining, the grass is green,
The orange and palm trees sway.
There’s never been such a day
in Beverly Hills, L.A.
But it’s December the twenty-fourth,—
And I am longing to be up North—
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
T’estimo
Tu ets del meu cor
la imatge preferida,
tu ets del meu cor
el goig més ben amat.
T’estimo més
que tot lo d’eixa terra
t’estimo és cert,
i per l’eternitat.
Jo penso amb tu
i sols per tu és ma pensa.
Tan sols a tu
el meu cor és consagrat.
Tan cert com Déu
regeix la terra immensa,
t’estimo amb fe
i per l’eternitat.
Sources
- O Come, All ye Faithful on Wikipedia
- Panis Angelicus on Wikipedia
- Tu scendi dalle stelle on Wikipedia
- Wiegenlied, D 498 (Schubert) on Wikipedia