Press Release
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CHRISTMAS WITHOUT WORDS
EP
Camerata Tchaikovsky
Yuri Zhislin, director
Catalogue Number: ORC100186
Release Date: December 3rd
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Christmas Without Words is a musical selection box of Christmas favourites, arranged for strings and performed by the world class musicians of the Camerata Tchaikovsky.
CHRISTMAS WITHOUT WORDS
1. Sleigh Ride
Leroy Anderson (arranged by Bjorn Kleiman)
Solo: Yuri Zhislin, sleigh bells, tongue clicks, the horse
2. Largo – second movement from Winter
Antonio Vivaldi
Solo: Yuri Zhislin, violin
3. Deck The Halls
Traditional (arranged by Bjorn Kleiman)
Solo: Yuri Zhislin, violin
4. Melodie, Op.42
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (arranged for violin and string orchestra by Yuri Zhislin)
Solo: Yuri Zhislin, violin
5. O Come All Ye Faithful
Traditional (arranged by Take 6, orchestrated by Yuri Zhislin)
6. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane
(arranged by Yuri Zhislin)
Solo: Yuri Zhislin, violin
7. By The Fireplace (“January”)
from The Seasons, Op.37
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(arranged by Bjorn Kleiman)
8. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Buck Ram, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent
(arranged by Yuri Zhislin)
Solo: Yuri Zhislin, violin
9. Silent Night
Traditional (arranged by Yuri Zhislin)
We are delighted to present this EP from Camerata Tchaikovsky’s latest project, “Christmas Without Words”.
After Camerata’s pre-Christmas concert at London’s King Place a few years back, where we played my arrangement of Silent Night as an encore, we all felt that it was so much fun to play these pieces we really ought to discuss the idea of recording an album of Christmas favourites given jazzy, string orchestra arrangements.
We came up with a programme which includes some of my own arrangements as well as those of a friend of mine, a brilliant violinist and arranger, Bjorn Kleiman. It also includes my orchestration of Take 6’s fantastic arrangement of O Come All Ye Faithful, taken from their 1991 album “Oh! He is Christmas”, as well as the 2nd movement of Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Tchaikovsky’s Melody, Op.42.
The name of the album speaks for itself, and we truly hope that these arrangements will make your Christmas time with friends and loved ones a little bit warmer and cosier; we can’t wait to perform live for you again.
Wishing you a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
Yuri and the Camerata Tchaikovsky team
Following the success of their previous Orchid Classics releases, Camerata Tchaikovsky returns with a special Christmas EP, Christmas Without Words – a musical selection box full of Christmas classics, arranged for strings. Many of the arrangements were made by the ensemble’s Founder and Music Director, Yuri Zhislin, who is also featured as soloist.
The EP sets off on a brisk Sleigh Ride with Leroy Anderson, contrasted with the delicate iciness of the Largo from Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’, one of his Four Seasons concertos. Tchaikovsky provides the other originally instrumental pieces: his Melodie, Op. 42 and ‘By the Fireplace’ from The Seasons.
Alongside these gems we hear gorgeous arrangements of Christmas songs, from the jollity of Deck the Halls to the charm of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. And there are traditional Christmas carols in the form of O Come All Ye Faithful and, to round off the recording in an atmosphere of ‘heavenly peace’, Silent Night.
Camerata Tchaikovsky Chamber Orchestra
Yuri Zhislin, Founder and Music Director
The Camerata Tchaikovsky (formerly The Russian Virtuosi of Europe) chamber orchestra brings together some of the finest string players from across Europe.
Since their critically acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut in 2004, they have enjoyed performances across the UK (London’s Cadogan Hall, Kings Place and St John’s Smith Square), as well as Russia, Western Europe and South America, appearing in the legendary Moscow Conservatoire, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Stadtscasino in Basel, Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires and Teatro Solis in Montevideo.
The ensemble has been a regular visitor to the London Chamber Music Society Series at London’s Kings Place since 2011. They have collaborated with the renowned trumpeter Sergei Nakariakov, the British saxophone star Jess Gillam, the Swedish soprano Karin Dahlberg and the “father” of Russian Rock, Boris Grebenshikov, among many others.
The orchestra’s debut album on the Orchid Classics label was chosen as “orchestral CD of the month” by the BBC Music Magazine in April 2016, and Camerata Tchaikovsky’s latest album “Russian Colours” features Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto in E-flat major, Op.109 – re-envisioned for solo viola and string orchestra.
Future plans include a return tour to Russia, Western Europe and South America.
Click the button above to download all album assets.