Oct 29: Sony Classical Releases Extended Edition of Jonas Kaufmann's Holiday Album - It's Christmas - with Seven New Songs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts: Maggie Stapleton, Jensen Artists
646.536.7864 x2 | maggie@jensenartists.com

Sony Music Masterworks: Larissa Slezak / Jamie Bertel
212-833-6075 / 8575 / 7549 

Jonas Kaufmann: It’s Christmas!
Extended Edition with Seven New Songs 
Available October 29, 2021 on Sony Classical – Preorder Now 

New Single Out Now – Trois anges sont venus ce soir – Listen Here

In 2020, Jonas Kaufmann’s recording of It’s Christmas! was an outstanding success that captured the spirit of the holiday season. Now the album has been extended to include seven newly recorded songs and will be re-released on October 29, 2021 on Sony Classical ahead of Kaufmann’s highly anticipated concert tour this winter. 

“The wonderful success of my first Christmas album, and the pleasure that it gave not just me personally but others, too, has lured me into returning to the studio this year to pay tribute to another holiday musical genre – intimate Alpine Stubnmusi – that for someone like myself, who grew up in Bavaria and Tyrol, invariably evokes the holiday spirit,” said Jonas Kaufmann.

One of the new tracks is available now as a single – the French Trois anges sont venus ce soir with a string ensemble – Listen Here. This song was brought to Kaufmann’s attention by his friend and fellow opera singer, Ludovic Tézier. The additional new tracks are six short gems are accompanied by Kaufmann’s Chiemgau colleague Stefanie Irányi in “original Stubnmusi scoring” for dulcimer, harp, violin, clarinet and double bass:

Der englische Gruß

Auf, ihr Hirtensleut

Als Maria übers Gebirge ging

Zu Bethlehem geboren

Jetzt fangen wir zum Singen an

Mariä Wiegenlied

Christmas has always had a special meaning for Kaufmann. As a child, he landed on the front page of a Munich newspaper – at the age of eight – after describing his family’s lively, musical Christmas Eve so vividly that he won a school prize. The songs he has chosen for It’s Christmas! reflect those happy memories and the pleasure of the Christmas holidays, ranging from grateful worship to the joy of celebrating with family and friends.

The album features a rich selection of carols from several countries and time periods, including traditional German holiday songs (O du fröhliche, O Tannenbaum, Still, still, still) that the young Kaufmann sang around the Christmas tree with his family every Christmas Eve, English carols (What Child Is This?, In the Bleak Midwinter) and beloved carols popular around the world such as O Holy Night. The album concludes with a selection of Kaufman’s favorite Christmas pop songs: Let It Snow!, Winter Wonderland, The Christmas Song, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and White Christmas.

The instrumentalists for the album were carefully selected based on their suitability, and include Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the Bachchor Salzburg and the St. Florianer Sängerknaben, all conducted by Jochen Reider, as well as harpist Florian Pedarnig and the Cologne Studio Big Band, conducted by Wieland Reissmann. Star trumpeter Till Brönner makes cameo appearances on Let It Snow! and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

The new It’s Christmas! (Extended Edition) album is due for release on October 29th as a limited 2-CD deluxe edition with comprehensive booklet, as a 2-CD set, as a limited edition, 2-LP vinyl and as a digital album.

Performances in support of the release include Weihnachten mit Jonas Kaufmann, a TV special devoted to the tenor, featuring several guest artists, broadcast at 22:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve, on the German TV station ZDF. Those in Europe will also have the opportunity to celebrate the holiday season with Jonas Kaufmann on tour, with performances in Mannheim, Munich, London, Düsseldorf, Hannover and Vienna.

It's Christmas (Extended Edition) Track List

CD 1:

1 Engel haben Himmelslieder / Gloria in excelsis Deo
2 Süßer die Glocken nie klingen
3 In dulci jubilo
4 Kommet, ihr Hirten
5 Tochter Zion
6 Ihr Kinderlein, kommet
7 Alle Jahre wieder
8 Was soll das bedeuten?
9 Vom Himmel hoch, ihr Englein, kommt!
10 Lasst uns froh und munter sein
11 Leise rieselt der Schnee
12 Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben
13 Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
14 Macht hoch die Tür
15 Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier, BWV 469
16 O du fröhliche
17 Still, still, still
18 O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf
19 Kling, Glöckchen, klingelingeling
20 Es wird scho glei dumpa
21 Maria durch ein Dornwald ging
22 Im Woid is so staad
23 Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her
24 O Tannenbaum
25 Stille Nacht
26 Der englische Gruß
27 Auf, ihr Hirtensleut
28 Als Maria übers Gebirge ging
29 Zu Bethlehem geboren
30 Jetzt fangen wir zum Singen an
31 Mariä Wiegenlied
32 Still, still, still

CD 2:

1 Adeste fideles
2 Cantique de Noël (Minuit, Chrétiens) / O Holy Night
3 Trois anges sont venus ce soir
4 Gesù bambino
5 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
6 In the Bleak Midwinter
7 Nu tändas tusen juleljus
8 Entre le boeuf et l'âne gris
9 What Child Is This?
10 Silent Night
11 White Christmas
12 Jingle Bells
13 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
14 Winter Wonderland
15 The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
16 Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
17 All I Want For Christmas Is You

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