Remaining atop for the chart for the fifth consecutive week was The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's latest holiday recording, "Spirit of the Season." That disc also made its first appearance (at no. 190) on the Billboard 200, which lists the top-selling titles in all genres combined.
Rising one notch to no. 2 on the classical chart was crossover violinist André Rieu's "Radio City Music Hall: Live in New York," followed by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops' selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker at no. 3. Leaping up 14 places to no. 4 was The Birth of Christ, an oratorio by Christian contemporary composer Andrew T. Miller which made its chart debut the previous week at no. 18. In fifth place was "O Holy Night," a collection of Christmas music performed by "inspirational classical violinist" Jenny Oaks Baker, a former member of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Cecilia Bartoli's "Maria," a tribute disc to the legendary 19th-century mezzo Maria Malibran, fell four places to no. 6, followed by Simone Dinnerstein's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations.
Speaking of Goldbergs, the CBC box set of early radio recordings titled "Glenn Gould: The Young Maverick" has slipped off the classical chart after only a single week.
Returning to the chart were three titles: "Angel Voices" (no. 18), the original CD release by the London boys' choir Libera (the same group's "Angel Voices: Live in Concert" leapt from 21st to tenth place); Mychael Danna's score to last year's feature film The Nativity Story (no. 23); and Rieu's "The Homecoming!" (no. 24.)
The top title on last week's Billboard classical crossover chart, Josh Groban's "Noel," was also the no. 1 disc on the Billboard 200 chart for the second week in a row. For the third week running, in second through fifth place on the crossover chart were, in order: "The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere"; "One Chance," the debut CD by British tenor/reality TV show winner Paul Potts; Groban's "Awake"; and "Lo mejor de Andrea Bocelli: Vivere." The remainder of the crossover top 10 consisted of two more titles by Bocelli, two by Il Divo, and "Wolfgang's Big Night Out" by rock guitarist Brian Setzer and his orchestra.
