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This DVD is the award-winning Vocal Majority's ("VM") most recent release; it was recorded live in December 2002 as part of a Christmas Eve television/radio broadcast entitled A Vocal Majority Christmas from the Dallas Convention Center. The holiday music is spectacular, and the video component provides an exciting added dimension.

You may wonder what benefits flow from having a musical DVD instead of a CD. After all, the VM already have four holiday CDs (Alleluia, Twelve Days of Christmas (also reviewed on this site), White Christmas, and The Secret of Christmas); what is so special about putting this beautiful music into a DVD format? The advantages are at least three-fold. First, if you enjoy live performances, then the DVD goes a long way towards making you a member of the audience. In addition, the visual impact provides a heightened flavor of the performers' personalities, as well as of the message that the music attempts to convey.

For me, the biggest reason to choose the DVD over the CD is apparent on the singers' faces. Do they love what they are doing? The DVD does an excellent job of presenting the pure joy the VM members experience as they sing; their eyes light with artistic fire, their emotive faces flash and move with each passage; and their entire bodies are electric with the sound of nearly 160 voices praising Christmas. Fantastic! As a former chorale member myself, I have personally experienced that tingly feeling of exultation when a song goes well, and that tingle pervades the VM each and every song.

The VM feature 160+ men, although I counted 156 men participating on A Vocal Majority Christmas. The live show is separated into two segments; Part 1 presents a mini-melodrama in which to showcase popular holiday tunes; Part 2 is the formal concert highlighting sacred Christmas music. The DVD features 17 cuts, although two of these really should not count (they are brief interludes of I'll Be Home for Christmas used to open and close the concert). Of the 15 remaining tracks, eight are popular, light-hearted carols in Part 1; the remaining seven cuts fall in Part 2 as the more serious classical pieces. Although the VM is most famous for its "a cappella" work, this concert does contain some instrumental accompaniment on seven of the 15 numbers. An orchestra in a pit in front of the stage assists on five songs; Ann Barnett provides minimal organ support on two others.

The concert opens with the VM's bus breaking down in Faith, Texas (population 4: Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, small boy) as they head home on Christmas Eve. The stage features a mock-up of a bus front, and the center part of the stage looks a lot like the Alamo dressed with a wreath for the holidays. The VM turns to a small family for help, and they all celebrate Christmas Eve by singing together while Grandfather is repairing the bus. Hokey? You betcha. But this is the VM, arguably the world's most celebrated "a cappella" barbershop group, and hokey helps to define this type of singing (and I say that with considerable affection). So the VM members pile off the bus wearing their colorful winter sweaters, and they end up gathering on risers to sing to the little boy and his family. When the more than 150 male voices lift in song, the sound has incredible power and undeniable emotion. Of the Part 1 offerings, Toyland and White Christmas are especially riveting. For one number, guest vocalists ACOUSTIX (another accomplished "a cappella" group) deliver a deliciously evil Mr. Grinch on You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.

At the end of Part 1, the bus is now fixed, but the little boy wants the VM to stay--so, the VM steps into Part 2 for their "formal" concert, now attired in black tuxes with white brocade vests, red neck ties, and a red kerchief in each breast pocket--very spiffy! The sacred selections are outstanding, too; best of all are O Holy Night, where the compelling music swells with magnificence near the end, then drops into a dramatically soft hush, and Hallelujah Chorus (from Handel's Messiah), an emotional barn burner that had the audience on its feet from the start.

For a live concert, the DVD's production values are quite good. On a few occasions, however, when the music closes in an impressive crescendo, the volume appears to overwhelm the sound system, and the recording is less clean. This occurs at the end of Toyland, for example.

If you are a fan of "a cappella" music, then you undoubtedly know the VM and will love owning A Vocal Majority Christmas. If you enjoy large choral presentations featuring gifted voices filled with enthusiasm for the holiday season, and you are willing to accommodate a little schmaltz, then this DVD belongs in your Christmas stocking. It's a keeper.

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2003)

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From the liner notes:

Production Credits

• Jim Clancy, Musical Director
• Greg Clancy, Associate Director
• Jeff Oxley, Soloist, "Winter Wonderland"
• Steve DeCrow, Soloist, "Christmas Time Is Here"
• Ann Barnett, Organ

Cast

• Mike Mahone, Grandfather
• Adrienne Terenzoni, Grandmother
• Wendy DeCrow, Mother
• Taylor Wilson, Small Boy
• Chuck Mitchell, Guy #1
• Nick Alexander, Guy #2
• Steve Brandt, Bus Driver
• Nick Alexander, Narrator

ACOUSTIX

• Todd Wilson, Tenor
• Rick Middaugh, Lead
• Jason January, Baritone
• Joel T. Rutherford, Bass

The Brian Piper Quartet

• Brian Piper, Piano/Keyboard
• Lynn Seaton, Bass
• Chris McGuire, Saxophone
• Ed Soph, Drums

156 VM men are listed as performing in A Vocal Majority Christmas

See also Vocal Majority's Twelve Days of Christmas.