Holiday stars — The Mormon Tabernacle Choir earns access to the world's best performers

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Craig Jessop and Mack Wilberg were sitting in Renee Fleming's New York apartment. It had taken some time to get an appointment with her, because, as music director Jessop says, "She's the reigning opera soprano on the planet. But we really wanted her to do our Christmas concert." So there they were, on a Friday afternoon.

Two days earlier, just before they left Salt Lake City, Fleming's office had called to say she'd like them to bring an arrangement of "Deck the Halls" with them. Wilberg, the choir's associate director and arranger, had a day and a half to do it, but he had the freshly finished arrangement with him when he stepped off the plane in New York.

So, Fleming said to the men, sing it for me. Wilberg played the piano and Jessop sang the song — his rich, baritone singing on an arrangement designed for soprano. But apparently it worked. Fleming agreed to do the concert.

"Mack ended up doing seven arrangements for her, some that she has taken out on her own tour."

Fleming's "Angels From the Realms of Glory" is one of the selections on "The Wonder of Christmas," the latest CD produced by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. The 16-track album features live recordings from the choir's holiday concerts over the past five years.

"We'd had an impressive lineup of guests during that time," says Jessop, "so we decided it would be fun to do a retrospective. Mack and I sat down and listened to them all and chose what we thought were the best examples." They include performances by Fleming, Angela Lansbury, Frederica Von Stade, Bryn Terfel and Audra McDonald, as well as selections by the choir.

To a person, says Jessop of their guests, "they were all great to work with. They all have great stature as artists, but they were even nicer people."

He has favorite memories involving each one:

• "Angela Lansbury had never worked with a choir. When we first asked her, she said, 'You know, I'm just an actress who sings.' But I've never worked with a harder-working or more professional person. She came early. She wanted everything to be right. And she was thrilled when we told her we wanted her to sing 'Beauty and the Beast."'

• Welsh artist Terfel was also a joy to work with. "He's the greatest baritone on the planet. A Welsh TV station came here to do a story on him. He came out onstage in his black tie and tails — and then the lining of his coat had a Welsh dragon. He was blown away by the Conference Center, and you could just tell how much the audience loved him."