The Three Tenors Christmas Concert in Vienna [1999, full]

The Three Tenors Christmas Concert, recorded live at the opulent Konzerthaus in Vienna, on December 23, 1999, the three most popular male vocalists of the 1990s and early 2000s opera: Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras.

Wiener Symphoniker conducted by Steven Mercurio.

This concert was a grand event, with a mix of sacred and popular Christmas songs.

The Three Tenors Christmas Concert in Vienna (1999) songs list

1. White Christmas 1:22

It is 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 50 million copies worldwide.

White Christmas lyrics

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, oh, the snow

I said I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card, I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmas’ be white

I said 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, may your days, may your days
Be merry and bright
And may all your Christmas’ 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 Christmas’ be white

2. Let it snow 4:22

Written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945. It was written in Hollywood, California during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions.

Let it snow lyrics

Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Man it doesn’t show signs of stoppin’
And I brought me some corn for poppin’
The lights are turned way down low
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

When we finally kiss good-night
How I’ll hate going out in the storm
But if you really hold me tight
All the way home I’ll be warm

And the fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we’re still good-bye-ing
But as long as you’d love me so
Let it snow, let it snow, and snow

When we finally kiss good-night
How I’ll hate going out in the storm
But if you’d really grab me tight
All the way home I’ll be warm

Oh the fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we’re still goodbye-ing
But as long as you’d love me so
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

3. Oh Tannenbaum (“O Christmas Tree”) 6:00

It is a German Christmas song. Based on a traditional folk song, it became associated with the Christmas tree by the early 20th century and was sung as a Christmas carol.

German text – Oh Tannenbaum

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Dein Kleid will mich was lehren:
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit
Gibt Trost und Kraft zu jeder Zeit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Das soll dein Kleid mich lehren.

English lyrics – O Christmas Tree

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
How loyal are your leaves/needles!
You’re green not only in the summertime,
No, also in winter when it snows.
O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
How loyal are your leaves/needles!

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
You can please me very much!
How often has not at Christmastime
A tree like you given me such joy!
O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree,
You can please me very much!

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
Your dress wants to teach me something:
Your hope and durability
Provide comfort and strength at any time.
O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
That’s what your dress should teach me.

4. Ay! Para Navidad 8:05

It is a beautiful Christmas song by Argentinian composer Sergio Villar.

5. Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle 10:17

Also known as “From Starry Skies Thou Comest”, “From Starry Skies Descending”, “You Came a Star from Heaven”, and “You Come Down from the Stars” in English, Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle is a Christmas carol from Italy. Though found in numerous arrangements and commonly sung, it is traditionally associated with the zampogna or large-format Italian bagpipe.

6. Carol Of The Drum (The Little Drummer Boy) 13:02

It is a popular Christmas song written by the American classical music composer and teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis (June 25, 1892 – April 20, 1980) in 1941.

Carol Of The Drum (The Little Drummer Boy) lyrics

Come, they told me pa-rum pum pum pum
Our newborn 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 our 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

7. Ave Maria, Dolce Maria 16:52

This song’s lyrics were written by Pavarotti himself! Composed by Vittoriano Benvenuti, it is actually an adaptation of Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria“.

Ave Maria, Dolce Maria lyrics (Italian)

Ave Maria, dolce Maria
Nelle tue mani prendi il cuore mio
Ave Maria, dolce Maria
Nelle tue mani metto il cuore mio

Ave Maria, dolce Maria
Nelle tue mani hai portato Dio

Madre purissima, prega per me
Donna bellissima, prega per me
Il figlio tuo, il figlio tuo
Il figlio tuo, prega per me

English translation

Hail Mary, sweet Mary
In your hands take my heart
Hail Mary, sweet Mary
In your hands I put my heart

Hail Mary, sweet Mary
In your hands you have carried God

Most pure mother, pray for me
Beautiful woman, pray for me
Your son, your son
Your son, pray for me

8. Wiegenlied 19:52

“Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, gute Nacht” (“Good evening, good night”), Op. 49, No. 4, composed by Johannes Brahms and published in 1868 and widely known as Brahms’ Lullaby.

9. Jingle Bells 22:10

One of the best-known and commonly sung American Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) and published under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh” in the autumn of 1857.

10. Adeste Fideles 23:25

Adeste Fideles

“O Come, All Ye Faithful” (originally written in Latin as Adeste Fideles) is a Christmas carol that has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (1711-1786), with the earliest copies of the hymn all bearing his signature, John Reading (1645-1692) and King John IV of Portugal (1604-1656).

The original four verses of the hymn were extended to a total of eight, and these have been translated into many languages. The English translation of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” by the English Catholic priest Frederick Oakeley, written in 1841, is widespread in most English-speaking countries. The present harmonization is from the English Hymnal (1906).

11. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night) 26:50

It is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” (Midnight, Christians) by a wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau (1808-1877).

12. Amazing Grace 31:07

It is a Christian hymn published in 1779, with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725-1807).

13. Feliz Navidad 34:53

It is a Christmas song written in 1970 by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano.

14. Silent Night 38:05

“Silent Night” (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) is 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 March 2011.

15. Susani (43:45)

A traditional song from Germany.

16. Un Nuevo Siglo 46:15

A song by Plácido Domingo, JR.

17. Dormi O Bambino 50:31

A traditional song from Poland.

18. Happy Christmas/War Is Over 54:05

It is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir.

Sources

• The Three Tenors on Wikipedia