Raised in the choir of her Baptist church, Measha grew up to become a respected opera singer. She draws on both musical influences on her first holiday album, which ranges from “Do You Hear What I Hear?” to a 16th century German carol. Measha also shows her soulful side with “The Little Drummer Boy,” which she turns into a funky Mardi Gras-style jam.
A star of stage and screen, Menzel sang the Oscar-winning song “Let It Go” in Frozen. Now the New York native lends her potent soprano to warming up old chestnuts like “Silent Night” and “What Are You Doing on New Year’s Eve?” But the highlights are her duet with Michael Bublé on “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and her rendition of Joni Mitchell’s Christmas-themed “River.”
The sumptuous, post-Edwardian world of Downton Abbey is well suited to Yuletide celebration. Christmas specials of the popular award-winning TV series are already an annual tradition, which makes this double album the perfect stocking stuffer for fans of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. Many of the 45 tracks are sung by the likes of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the Choir of Kings College. And the Budapest City Orchestra performs an extended festive-suite version of the series theme. But the songs that will most excite Downton followers are those sung by cast members. Elizabeth McGovern (Lady Cora) delivers a jaunty “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” The American actress, who fron...
