Home For Christmas

By TERRY TEACHOUT

At last--a classy Christmas album. Von Otter, the best of all possible mezzo-sopranos, has put together a kaleidoscopically varied program of pop, jazz, classical and folk songs accompanied by an equally diverse instrumental ensemble (accordion, marimba, guitar, synthesizers, a brass quintet--you name it, she's got it). Every number, be it Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, O Come, All Ye Faithful or Benjamin Britten's Corpus Christi Carol, is sung with stylish grace and disarming sincerity. And unlike most classical singers, Von Otter knows how to make a pop tune swing.

--By Terry Teachout