OPERA STARS SHINE BRIGHT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

One reason record labels release so many vocal discs at this time of year is the never-waning desire of opera stars to record Christmas albums. As for the nonseasonal collections, perhaps someone thinks they'll make great stocking stuffers -- which they do.

Two of the Christmas records, from Franco-Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna and Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, couldn't be less alike.

Though infused with holiday spirit, ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER: ``Noel'' (DG) contains little that most Americans will associate with Christmas. That's actually a plus, for this record offers a voyage of discovery with its Scandinavian, English, German, French and Spanish folk songs, lullabies and carols. Von Otter, her voice as pure and brisk as a Nordic snowfall, rightly treats the material as if it were art song. She is partnered on piano by Bengt Forsberg, her longtime accompanist, who, in a break with tradition, gets seven of this CD's 28 tracks to himself.

Early this season, the mezzo released an even more unusual disc, ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER: ``I Let the Music Speak'' (DG), a collection of songs by Abba's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, her compatriots. As crossover projects go, this is among the more heartfelt and successful, with the mezzo -- one of music's true perfectionists -- singing pop in exquisite English. Abba fans will be especially interested in two tracks featuring Andersson on piano, ``I Walk With You, Mama'' and ``After the Rain,'' but it's von Otter's vamping versions of ``I Am Just a Girl'' and ``Money, Money, Money,'' an unlisted bonus, that are indispensable.

At the opposite end of the spectrum comes RENEE FLEMING: ``Homage: The Age of the Diva'' (Decca), with the much-loved American soprano singing music that fits her like a long, white evening glove. A concept album in the best sense, this disc pairs Fleming with sumptuous operatic arias (most from long-forgotten works) that were familiar to legends like Emmy Destinn, Maria Jeritza and Rosa Ponselle. The soprano is backed by Valery Gergiev and the Orchestra of the Maryinsky Theater, a veritable Stutz Bearcat of an ensemble, whose plush, muscular playing lends five-star support to Fleming's full-throated nostalgia trip.

With the passing of 2006, we'll bid farewell to yet another so-called Mozart year -- the 250th anniversary of his birth, should you care. But though the pretext may be ersatz, there's nothing artificial about two new discs of Mozart' s opera and concert arias, one featuring Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, the other Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena.

MAGDALENA KOZENA: ``Mozart Arias'' (DG) contains much familiar material -- selections from ``The Marriage of Figaro'' and ``Cosi fan tutte,'' the concert aria ``Ch'io mi scordi di te'' -- but her way in this music couldn't be fresher. In addition to her instantly seductive timbre, Kozena displays wide dramatic range in varied material.

Her efforts -- which include ``Al desio di chi t'adora,'' Susanna's rarely heard, technically daunting alternative aria from ``Figaro'' -- are invaluably assisted by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Simon Rattle, who normally conducts the Berlin Philharmonic. This group contains some of Europe's best period-instrument players, and the transparent textures they supply are particularly notable in an embellished version of ``Voi che sapete'' and a spare ``Ch'io mi scordi,'' with Jos van Immerseel on the fortepiano.

BRYN TERFEL: ``Tutto Mozart'' (DG) also offers plenty of hits, starting with ``Non piu andrai'' from ``The Marriage of Figaro,'' in whose title role the singer attained international fame. There are also arias featuring him as Don Giovanni and several excerpts from ``The Magic Flute'' in which he sings Papageno, a role he has not assumed on stage. In between, come rarities, pieces Mozart collaborated on or left incomplete. But no matter what the track, Terfel's luscious, flexible voice shines forth. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the venerable Charles Mackerras, an old hand in such material, couldn't be more supportive.

We live in a golden age of mezzos, and perfect proof comes in the form of ANGELIKA KIRCHSCHLAGER: ``Handel'' (Sony Classical). In arias from three operas -- ``Ariodante,'' ``Giulio Cesare'' and ``Arianna in Creta'' -- Kirchschlager, an Austrian, touches both the ground and the stratosphere with a voice that's equally at home in straightforward dramatic statement and ornate coloratura. Lithe, vibrant collaboration comes via the Swiss ensemble Kammerorchester Basel, led by Laurence Cummings, a Baroque-music specialist from Britain.

The greatest of our Handel singers, mezzo Lorraine Hunt Lieberson died this past summer, well before her time. But before she left us, she recorded a love letter from her husband, composer Peter Lieberson, LORRAINE HUNT LIEBERSON: ``Neruda Songs'' (Nonesuch). This song cycle, which had its premiere at Disney Hall in May 2005, sets five poems by Pablo Neruda to lush orchestral accompaniment, here provided by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine. Hunt Lieberson performs these gems, sung in Spanish, inimitably, indeed definitively -- with ravishing tonal beauty, deep textual understanding and the sort of searing emotion for which she was justly famous.

Some may balk at paying full price for a CD containing just 32 minutes of music, but it's quality not quantity you're buying.

Speaking of valedictories, one of the year's most welcome reissues is ELISABETH SCHWARZKOPF: ``To My Friends'' (Decca). Among the greatest singers of the last century, Schwarzkopf, who died in August at 90, left a vast legacy of operas and art-song recitals on disc. This one, recorded in 1977 and 1979, was her last and contains mostly lieder by Hugo Wolf, whose songs she vigorously championed throughout her life. Though Schwarzkopf' s voice lacks the richness and steadiness of her glory years (the 1950s and 1960s), her uncommonly knowing accounts of this repertory erase all cavils. The sparkling piano accompaniment comes courtesy of Geoffrey Parsons.

ROBERTO ALAGNA: ``The Christmas Album'' (Deutsche Grammophon) is in that grand tradition of heavily upholstered efforts with full symphony orchestra, several choruses and at least one children's choir. Think back to those TV Christmas specials of yore, and you'll have the sound in your head.

Alagna often struggles to be heard above the forces assembled to support him, and his English is, well -- let's say Latinate. But he brings plenty of gusto to all the selections -- from ``Adeste Fideles'' to ``Jingle Bells'' -- and I must confess to actually feeling moved during ``We Three Kings,'' sadly relegated to only part of a medley. But another emotion -- a most un-Christian one -- came over me during ``God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen,'' arranged in a manner that even Andrew Lloyd Webber would think overwrought. And if you've ever wondered whether Alagna can croon, his version of ``White Christmas,'' complete with ill-conceived tropical back- up, supplies the answer: yes, unfortunately.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Anne Sofie Von Otter has two holiday albums out this year.

Denise Grunstein/DG

(2 -- color) Roberto Alagna can sing -- even if the songs are a bit overwrought.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images