Ghosts of Christmas Eve

With the approach of New Year, it is all too easy for the spirit of Christmas to fade away all too soon. I started to feel it myself, so decided that the full Ghosts of Christmas Eve by Tran-Siberian Orchestra (and guest performers) was in order, and I offer it to others here.

Do try to find three-quarters of an hour to watch this from start to end, preferably uninterrupted – though there are natural breaks here and there in case of need.

There are a number of excellent solo and group performances, a simple but important storyline behind all that transpires and why it is presented in the exact form that it is; and of course there's Ossie Davis as the Caretaker, for which part he was the perfect choice...

Christmas Eve, Sarajevo

Yes, it's time for the perennial Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the one with the truly delightful child, the scraggy kittens and the snow-covered piano and rather distinguished orchestra conductor outside.

I make no apologies for re-posting this wonderful, magical and yet modern mini-masterpiece of video on this day each year. The occasion just wouldn't be quite the same without it...

Wizards in Winter – New Light Show

As is an annual tradition on this 'blog, I am featuring a light show set to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's excellent Wizards in Winter. I searched for a new one, created this year, and ploughed through (at least part of each of) more than a dozen 2013 videos of this.

Disappointingly, most were of low technical quality, poor sound, or were somewhat lacklustre as these shows go. One even started half-way through. I don't know what has happened: it suggests that much, perhaps most, of the sheer creativity and attention to technical and other matters has passed its peak and is now in decline. Or it could just be a bad year and 2014 will be back to the higher standard we have witnessed before.

In the end, I found two that were worthy of inclusion here, and I think this one is fractionally better than the other one, overall (despite having been taken in a way that makes the house seem to be listing to one side), so here it is for your enjoyment...

Christmas Eve, Sarajevo – Official!

Yes, there is now an official version of this annual video I post, and it allows embedding, so here it is!

Long-term visitors will already be well aware of this truly excellent video, featuring the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and a really great child as the production's fully deserved star, as I am sure the TSO members would unanimously agree...

Christmas 2012 – O Holy Night

Well, this is that night, as we celebrate it, regardless of what history tells us now, told us before, or might tell us one day in the future. As this appears, it is just a couple of minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve.

The important thing is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth on Earth, the fact rather than the precise timing, so for us this is that Holy Night, and to bring us to it is that most beautiful of carols O Holy Night. As per my own tradition, it is again Michael Crawford and the Sarajevo Children's Choir, along with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and this is because I still have not found another version that is as special as this one...

We Have Not Forgotten

...but for those who have, or have fallen into the (admittedly easy) trap of dismissing it all on a probably unwitting error, here is a timely reminder from the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School in the USA...

Christmas 2012 – Wizards in Winter, New Light Show

Yup, this light show to accompany the Trans-Siberian Orchestra classic Wizards in Winter is new this year, and is actually quite good and well worth an airing here (by now, you know just how much of an old fuss-pot I have become)...

Christmas 2012 – Christmas Canon Light Show

This is my perennial Christmas Canon by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and the Sarajevo Children's Choir – but this time we don't see the children, just a new light show produced this year.

It isn't one of the best of these light shows, but it works well enough with this canon, and is enjoyable enough to be well worth the sharing...