The Bavarian Radio Choir under the direction of Howard Arman presents Christmas music from Italy on its new CD from BR-KLASSIK. With his Lauda per la natività del Signore, Ottorino Respighi transferred the medieval nativity play of the same name by the religious lyricist Jacopone da Todi into the 20th century. Prior to this, he had already repeatedly explored art forms of the past: in adaptations of early music, in re-creations and in free works based on Gregorian chants. He placed the medieval verses in the mouths of three soloists - the angel (soprano), the Virgin Mary (alto) and the shepherd (tenor) - as well as a chamber choir. The miracle of Christmas is brought to life in a simple yet impressive way with the select accompaniment of woodwind instruments, which may be reminiscent of the music of the Italian shepherds, with four-handed piano and triangle. Francesco Paolo Frontini is remembered less for his compositions than for several collections of Sicilian folk songs. From his Canti religiosi del popolo siciliano (Religious Songs of the Sicilian People), published in 1938, a collection of 22 songs for voice and piano, underlaid with both the verses in Sicilian dialect and their translation into standard Italian, Howard Arman selected eight, which he arranged for choir and instruments. Like Frontini, who already included regional variants from Catania and Palermo and other parts of the Mediterranean island, Arman also arranged different regional versions of two songs. The melody of the Italian Marian carol O sanctissima, which is well known in the German cultural area as one of the most popular Christmas carols with its opening verse O du fröhliche, may also have originated in Sicily. Howard Arman was again responsible for the arrangement.