Christmas in April with Peter Mattei

Any day is a good day to hear Peter Mattei sing—even Christmas music. This is not your standard pop/crossover Christmas record. Neither is it an esoteric program in the way that Christmas with the Palestrinas would be. It’s an absolutely beautiful, gentle program that you might hear in your local church; if your local church had an amazing chamber orchestra, and if Peter Mattei sang in your choir.  It’s simply Jul med Peter Mattei—his gorgeous voice backed by tasteful arrangements, with a few bells, but no whistles, and no backup singers.

OK, so why am I listening to Christmas in April? Well, PM just hasn’t recorded enough. I needed to hear more, so I grabbed this as a download. He actually has several Christmas albums, but my interest was picking up something as recent as possible. (This program was recorded in 2010.)

If you did not grow up in Sweden, many of these songs will be unfamiliar. But there are some chestnuts, too—like Stilla natt, Det är en ros utsprungen, and O Betlehem du lilla stad—for the traditionalists in the audience.

Mr. Mattei’s voice is smooth, light, warm, clear, and, in an odd way, comforting. This recording is a like a nice big warm hug, or a winter snuggle on the sofa in front of a crackling fire. He also has a beautiful, delicate, slightly vulnerable-sounding quality that I’ve begun to think of as the Swedish vibrato. (Miah Persson and Anne Hallenberg share this attribute, though I’ve not noticed it from ASvO.)

For a bonus, the orchestra intersperses movements from Lars-Erik Larsson's En Vintersaga—lovely, wintery, pastoral music. So don’t let unfamiliarity or over-familiarity deter you from the joys of listening to Peter Mattei in this beautiful Christmas program. Here’s a sample:

I also picked up (downloaded) Peter Mattei's latest opera recital disc, Great Baritone Arias, which is about 2 years old. This recital is just as wonderful, though in a bigger, more operatic way. (I was going to say it’s seductive but I thought maybe the hug simile was enough already.) 

He sings some expected Mozart arias (perfectly), some beautiful Tchaikovsky, and two gorgeous selections from Tannhäuser, including the justly famous warhorse, O du, mein holder Abenstern. (You know, there is a reason that famous, popular music is famous and popular.) There's also some Gounod and Verdi, and he even throws in a scene from Billy Budd. Listen to this disc, and get a musical hug from Peter Mattei. Like Cherubino, everything he does he always does well!