Ho-Ho-Hodgepodge: An Earful of Holiday Releases

            Kitka, “Wintersongs.”  The Stellar Eastern European women’s vocal octet brings a contemporary sensibility to centuries-old vocal traditions.  This collection features songs from Latvia, Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, Belarus, Hungary and Greece, some of pre-Christian origins celebrating the solstice.  With occasional dissonance, the group’s lush chorales can be hauntingly exotic one moment, sublimely beautiful the next, particularly on the complex a cappella selections.  Not knowing the language—many languages, actually—is no hindrance.