Reviews – Jack Frost: A Winter Story

by Michael Beek, BBC Music Magazine

Alan Titchmarsh (narrator), Grace Davidson (soprano); Vienna Synchron Orchestra/Gottfried Rabl et al
Silva Screen Records SILCD1771

 

This is completely charming. Alan Titchmarsh narrates his own story, accompanied by Debbie Wiseman’s tuneful orchestral score, itself topped off by not one but two original carols.

Grace Davidson and Cerys Matthews (and son)’s warm vocals could melt the frostiest of hearts.

Piano solos and orchestral suites are a welcome addition to the underscored story.

5 stars. *****

 

by David Mellor

There’s no shortage of broadcasters who are very different when the mics go off. And precious few who ooze charm all the time because that’s who they really are. Such a one is Alan Titchmarsh.

My partner Penny started working with Alan in the 1980s, and when I asked her to comment on him she simply said: ‘Always had a smile on his face. Totally charming. That’s Alan.’

Alan and I are about the same age, and we too have worked together over more than 25 years at Classic FM. It soon became clear to me that Alan gets as much joy from music as he does from gardens.

He’s totally consumed by music, as is everywhere obvious in this delightful new album, where he writes the story of Jack Frost to music by the equally talented Debbie Wiseman.

Maybe there’s no White Christmas here, but there’s plenty of hummable stuff that will linger in your memory. And for me, secular Christmas music has always been as good as carols.

On Classic FM I have regularly played tracks from great artists like the Boston Pops, which in their own way make Christmas every bit as memorable as religious tunes. If this isn’t quite in that league, it’s still an album I will play over and over again down the years, and I cannot recommend it too highly.

In his liner note, Alan sets out the thinking behind it. ‘I wanted to evoke that magical feeling in childhood when you wake up one winter’s morning and find that while you were asleep the whole world has been transformed into a wonderland. The icy fingers of Jack Frost have crept across your windowpane and out there the houses and the trees are dusted over with sparkling crystal.’

This album, like Alan, oozes charm from every pore. Well worth getting and playing come Christmas. I certainly will.