Various: A Finnish Christmas (Bis Audio CD)

Joulukirkkoon; Kulkuset (Jingle bells); Tulkoon joulu; Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä; Santa Lucia – Joulupukki matkaan jo käy (Santa Claus is Coming to Town); Petteri punakuono (Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer); Valkea joulu (White Christmas); Tonttu*; Puuropotpuri (Joulu on taas / Nisse-polkka / Tonttujen jouluyö); Pieni rumpalipoika (The Little Drummer Boy) – Joy to the World**; Heinillä härkien kaukalon (Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris); En etsi valtaa, loistoa (Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt); Riemuitse, tytär Siionin (Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion); Jouluevankeliumi; Tule hiutale; Minun jouluni; Me hohteen kirkkaimman näimme***

Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Esa Heikkilä; Laulupuu Choir; Jukka Perko, saxophone
*Soloist: Riki Sorsa; **Pauli Pietiläinen; organ; ***Soloists: Ulla Raiskio, mezzo-soprano; Jussi Miilunpalo & Petri Lehto, tenor; Marko Puustinen, baritone; Veli-Pekka Väisänen, bass

• This is a disc of Finnish Christmas classics in lavish orchestral arrangements performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Just as the joyous season knows no boundaries, many of the favourite songs associated with the Finnish Christmas – or ‘Joulu’ – are international, and in the programme, hidden behind exotic-sounding titles, are Jingle bells as well as Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion from Handel’s Messiah. But there are also local products on offer – the most well-known probably being Jean Sibelius’s Christmas song Giv mig ej glans, which here is performed by Jukka Perko, the internationally known saxophonist who appears as soloist in four tracks on the disc.