Christmastime in Vienna

All the supertenors have their indulgences. Luciano Pavarotti has charity concerts in which he sings with Sting, José Carreras makes disc after disc of soppy love songs, and Placido Domingo can't stop making Christmas recordings--usually in Vienna. This one features a particularly odd assortment of guest stars: Mexican pop star Alejandro Fernández lends his pleasingly mellifluous voice to songs such as "Blanca Navidad" and "El nino del tambor," but those not already in love with French star Patricia Kaas may be baffled, even repelled. The French love to mix pop genres in ways that sound illogical to American ears, and she proves no exception, delivering pale imitations of Ethel Merman grace notes and Aretha Franklin phrasing with no sense of artistry, expression, or musical point of view. Domingo maintains his integrity throughout, even though this whole enterprise sounds hastily arranged, with some bad tuning in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen (that's a choir, in case you couldn't guess). --David Patrick Stearns