Sounds of the Season Evening Concert

Welcome to the weekend and your Sounds of the Season Evening Concert.  Tonight's play list is one that I originally put together last year which I have tweaked a bit for this year.  Taken as a whole, the play list evokes the Spirit of Christmas I so enjoyed when I was younger.  As we draw closer to the actual Holiday itself, I find myself seeking out and enjoying the Sights and Sounds of the Season, wanting to savor all that is good and beautiful about this time of year.  This is the first Christmas in my lifetime when neither of my parents will be there to share in the joy.  I am trying to balance my grief and my expectations while endeavoring to share in all the Season has to offer.  I use humor a lot to diffuse the stress and add to the joy.  I changed my name tag at work to read 'gerry aka Ebeneezer' (as in Scrooge!) which has garnered some great responses and sparked some excellent conversations.  And a laugh or two along the way.  All in the effort to stay upbeat and not fall into melancholia.  Tonight's playlist will go a long way to spread the joyous Sounds of the Season to all who listen.  

Tonight's Sounds of the Season play list includes many of my favorite Carols and Holiday Songs to Celebrate the Season beginning with the original 1942 version of Irving Berlin's White Christmas sung by Bing Crosby followed by Pentatonix singing The Carol of the Bells and Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song.  Then we have a perfect version of Silent Night gathering music superstars for a Christmas in Vienna concert sung in French, English, Italian, Spanish and German.  Starring (in order of appearance): Helmut Lotti, Sarah Brightman, Luciano Pavarotti, Ricardo Cocciante, Vanessa Williams, Patricia Kaas, Plácido Domingo, Sissel Kyrkjebo, Charles Aznavour, Diana Ross, José Carreras, Ying Huang, Michael Bolton, Tony Bennett, and Charlotte Church.  Turning again to Pentatonix with their interpretation of The Little Drummer Boy followed by O little Town of Bethlehem sung by the Vienna Boys Choir, Luciano Pavarottie and Trisha Yearwood singing Adeste Fidelis, the  Washington National Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys and the Congregation singing Joy to the World, Angels We Have Heard On High performed by the Combined Choirs of Luther College & Symphony Orchestra, Sandra Peter, conductor, The King's College Cambridge singing The First Noel, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear sung by Josh Groban and Mariah Carey performing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria (In Excelsis Deo).  The finale of this Sounds of the Season play list features The Royal Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra singing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah Oratorio, Carrie Underwood singing Do You Hear What Hear?, Josh Groban singing O Holy Night, Sissel Kyrkjebø singing What Child is This?, The Piano Guys performoing O Come, Ocome, Emmanuel and closing with Franz Schubert's Ave Maria transcribed for Violin and Guitar performed by Gil Shaham on Violin and Göran Söllscher on Guitar.  You may also hear Arcangelo Corelli's Christmas Concerto, Opus 68 with a performance by the Freiburger Barockorchester over on my tumblr.  

To illustrate the bottom of the blog with some fine art in the male form, I did not put together any Sexy Santas tonight.  Rather, I went back to the usual Naked or Nearly So category.  However I soght to select those whom I thought worthy of a making someone's Christmas Wish List, I know I would wake up full of joy if I found any of these guys under my tree on Christmas morning.  Be sure to check out today's Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr who takes every advantage of the 'twilight's last gleaming'.  Thanks for sharing a part of your weekend with me, see you again on Monday for another week of Music, Men & More!  Until next time as always, Enjoy!