Advent calendar

Lusty performances, and a nice mix of familiar and less familiar selections. (BBC Music)

One of the most interesting programmes of carols this year (Gramophone)

This is a truly excellent and worthwhile disc (International Record Review)

At last, a Christmas disc you can enjoy for the quality of the performances! It would make a great gift, but you might want to keep it for yourself. This is a disc you can enjoy in private, and in the company of friends and family with above average taste in music. It’s that good. No Xmassy ersatz here. This is the real thing! The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford, conducted by David Crown make this a disc to cherish. Their enthusiasm is genuinely infectious. You get caught up in the sheer joy of the singing, excitement, whether you celebrate Christmas or not.  That’s high praise, especially in a market saturated with the blasé and conventional. The Somerville Choir are young, but older than many church choristers.  Thus they sing with freshness and energy, yet are mature enough to sound as if they’re singing because they have chosen, spontaneously, to get together and enjoy themselves. (Classical Iconoclast)