Verbum caro factum est: A Christmas Greeting

Having given us some of the most luminously beautiful recordings of Bach, this superb Japanese choir embraces the Christmas spirit for an imaginative collection of old favorites and enchanting organ interludes. Christmas carols are interspersed with numbers from Louis-Claude Daquin’s enchanting *Nouveau livre de noëls*, played on an organ of real character by Masato Suzuki, son of Bach Collegium Japan’s director, Masaaki Suzuki. The cleverly stitched-together medley of “Away in a Manger,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” and “Ding, Dong! Merrily on High” is outstanding.