“Vánoce” is the Czech word for Christmas–and beyond that you’ll need to know the language or have a good dictionary to figure out most of the rest of what’s going on here since virtually all of the notes and track listings accompanying this recording are in Czech. Suffice it to say that this is a Christmas-themed program that features the voice of soprano Eva Urbanová, accompanied by violin (housle) and positiv organ (varhanni pozitiv). A few tracks are performed by instruments alone, and in general the selections are the work of relatively obscure 18th/early-19th-century composers, the one exception being Franz Gruber whose Silent Night (Tichá noc, svatá noc) is tenderly sung by Urbanová joined by both violin and organ. Although musically speaking nothing really stands out here, most interesting is the medley of Czech carols that occurs near disc’s end. Here are some very charming tunes, some with more than an air of familiarity and some that would be worth getting to know–and it would have been nice to have words–even Czech ones–to go with these selections. While certainly characterful, Urbanová’s slightly harsh, often uncomfortably penetrating vocal quality will not be for everyone, but her love of these songs clearly comes through in her careful, expressive manner. The recording is exceptionally clear but it’s also very close–a little more room for voice and instruments to “season” would have created a more pleasing ambience. The closing track, Jaroslav Mácha’s little song titled Beránku Boží (something about a lamb), is a lovely finale.
