An album of sacred arias released just in time for early Christmas shopping, recorded by a top notch tenor who also got his fair share in the looks department, initially sounds like a recipe for commercially calculated schmaltz. However, a lot of albums that fit this description have a kind of standard tracklist with no big surprises, while Juan Diego Florez' Santo includes Rossini and Bellini, crowned by a self-penned composition (which is the title track).
That's not to say it makes the music less available to a listener who may not listen to opera on a regular basis - "The" Ave Marias (Schubert & Bach/Gonoud), Panis Angelicus, Adeste Fideles and O Holy Night make sure of that. But the balance is kept - keeping in mind that it is a sacred arias CD and not strictly a Christmas album - by including a variety of other works that range from the well-known (Messiah) to the relatively obscure and more folk-inspired (Missa Criolla). The latter comes across as touchingly sincere, and lends the whole recording a charming feel that doesn't tend towards the too folksy or too schmaltzy side. It also works in the CD's favour that the Rossini tracks have great similarities with the same composer's opera arias - sprayed with intricate coloratura, high-spirited and enthusiastic - and so do not seem sentimental either.
One could argue that the contemplative side isn't well enough represented since the Ave Marias would be the best examples and they have lost a lot of their original value due to overexposure, but I think Kyrie from Missa Criolla and Santo have a contemplative quality in their earnestness and quiet charm.
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