The cover says "Christmas Carols of Europe," and indeed that is the case, but half of them are actually of Czech origin.
That's entirely appropriate given that the artists are the Prague Madrigal Singers, led by their founding director, Miroslav Venhoda.
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| Miroslav Venhoda |
Side 1 takes us on a tour of 16 European countries, with most of the music unfamiliar to these ears, save for "Ein ist es rose ensprungen," "Good King Wenceslas" and perhaps a few others. That's a good thing, because the music and the performances are fresh and pleasing.
The second side is devoted to the Czech carols, again unfamiliar but delightful.
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| Supraphon cover |
Venhoda (1915-87) founded the Prague ensemble in 1956 to be, as its name implies, an early music troupe. Their recordings for Prague-based Supraphon concentrated on such masters as Dufay, Palestrina, Lassus, Monteverdi, Dowland and Tallis. Not every critic was pleased with the results; indeed, I found a few reviews that seemed exasperated by Venhoda's approach. Nor would it seem stylish to today's early music practitioners.
But such things don't matter much when listening to this sincere and enjoyable disc. Recording details are scarce, but I believe it was taped circa 1964 in Supraphon's Prague Studios. This transfer, remastered from an Internet Archive lossless source, is from the US Crossroads issue of 1966.
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| Venhoda conducts the Prague Madrigal Singers |
