Supported by Sir Charles Mackerras’s brilliantly atmospheric arrangements for chorus and orchestra, the legendary opera and lieder singer is heard here in a magical album that stands apart from her great classical recordings and that is now available for the first time in a release remastered from the original stereo tapes.

Most of the items on this recording are well-known Christmas carols or folk songs from many countries. The first song Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht is perhaps the most popular and familiar of all Christmas songs, in fact it is so universally known that most people have the mistaken idea that it is a folk song. Actually, however, it was composed by a humble Austrian organist and schoolmaster, Franz Xaver Gruber and it is here recorded for the first time in its original setting exactly as the composer wrote it.