CD-Charts Position 111
Average Rating:

Solo Piano

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: CBS

Release Date April 03, 2006
With its minimalistic, repetitive chords and rhythms, the music in these pieces contains little in the way of traditional "development." This music progresses by flowing along rather than by forming an elaborate structure. As I listen, I feel as if I'm on a treadmill, sometimes walking faster, sometimes slower, but not really getting anywhere. My mind wanders, and I find myself thinking about other things rather than about the music. Perhaps this is how Glass wanted it to be. He has written a lot of film music, and much of his music does, indeed, seem like accompaniment.

This is not unpleasant music. But I find it something less than totally rewarding--seems more like the composition of a amateur.

CD-Charts Position 112
Average Rating:

Christmastide

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Universal Music Group

Release Date August 18, 2008
Christmastide is heavenly listening!Excellent sound & glorious arrangements.Jesseye Norman was in stupendous voice while making this recording.I listen to it every christmas,and I'm taken away every year by Jesseye's tremendous achievement.Her O Holy Night brings me to tears.She sings with much joy and with much sacred intensity too.Bringing an unigue interpretation to every single track on this album.Christmastide is destined to become a classic,thanks to Ms.Normans supreme contribution she brought to the making of this album.

CD-Charts Position 113
Average Rating:

Orchestral Music

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Universal Music Group

Release Date January 19, 1994
It's almost difficult to add to the praise that has been heaped on these recordings. Somehow Bernard Haitink works a very special magic with these scores, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is equally incandescent. Somehow Haitink's relatively laid-back approach really suits Debussy's ebb and flow. As just one example, the climaxes in "Nocturnes" seem to occur naturally, fairly leaping out of the haze, but then the composer lures you back into his shadowy, quiet world -- Haitink captures all this beautifully.

Some say the orchestra was in its glory days under Haitink. I don't quite agree, having heard them do marvelous work under Chailly and others, but in any case, they were playing at their absolute finest here. The shimmering ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 114
Average Rating:

Donizetti: La Fille Du Regiment

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal

Release Date April 15, 2008
It's almost difficult to add to the praise that has been heaped on these recordings. Somehow Bernard Haitink works a very special magic with these scores, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is equally incandescent. Somehow Haitink's relatively laid-back approach really suits Debussy's ebb and flow. As just one example, the climaxes in "Nocturnes" seem to occur naturally, fairly leaping out of the haze, but then the composer lures you back into his shadowy, quiet world -- Haitink captures all this beautifully.

Some say the orchestra was in its glory days under Haitink. I don't quite agree, having heard them do marvelous work under Chailly and others, but in any case, they were playing at their absolute finest here. The shimmering ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 115
Average Rating:

Original Three Tenors Concert (Full Screen)

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: José Carreras (II), Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Zubin Mehta
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date April 26, 1999
Not only did they have Mehta, but the LA Phil and LA Opera chorus which makes this outshine the first performance in 1990. Of course, both performances are certainly worth collecting and you may get someone into an opera house with these top tenors. I was in the audience that night and must say they all sounded in top voice to me live and recorded. After repeated viewings I never tire of the arias. They changed the program right up to performance time and the printed programs didn't match what was sung that night. Who cares! This is just plain fun for everyone involved as well as the viewer! My only complaint is that the subtitles are "English" but just the librettos are subtitled, not the English translation so I hestiate to show it to a newbie. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 116
Average Rating:

Carmen (London Philharmonic) -

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Kultur

Release Date March 01, 2006
Not only did they have Mehta, but the LA Phil and LA Opera chorus which makes this outshine the first performance in 1990. Of course, both performances are certainly worth collecting and you may get someone into an opera house with these top tenors. I was in the audience that night and must say they all sounded in top voice to me live and recorded. After repeated viewings I never tire of the arias. They changed the program right up to performance time and the printed programs didn't match what was sung that night. Who cares! This is just plain fun for everyone involved as well as the viewer! My only complaint is that the subtitles are "English" but just the librettos are subtitled, not the English translation so I hestiate to show it to a newbie. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 117
Average Rating:

Sacred Songs

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Renée Fleming

Release Date September 27, 2005
Not only did they have Mehta, but the LA Phil and LA Opera chorus which makes this outshine the first performance in 1990. Of course, both performances are certainly worth collecting and you may get someone into an opera house with these top tenors. I was in the audience that night and must say they all sounded in top voice to me live and recorded. After repeated viewings I never tire of the arias. They changed the program right up to performance time and the printed programs didn't match what was sung that night. Who cares! This is just plain fun for everyone involved as well as the viewer! My only complaint is that the subtitles are "English" but just the librettos are subtitled, not the English translation so I hestiate to show it to a newbie. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 118
Average Rating:

Music For Trumpet/Organ

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: EMI

Release Date December 10, 2002
Not only did they have Mehta, but the LA Phil and LA Opera chorus which makes this outshine the first performance in 1990. Of course, both performances are certainly worth collecting and you may get someone into an opera house with these top tenors. I was in the audience that night and must say they all sounded in top voice to me live and recorded. After repeated viewings I never tire of the arias. They changed the program right up to performance time and the printed programs didn't match what was sung that night. Who cares! This is just plain fun for everyone involved as well as the viewer! My only complaint is that the subtitles are "English" but just the librettos are subtitled, not the English translation so I hestiate to show it to a newbie. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 119
Average Rating:

Gloria/Nulla In Mundo Pax Sinc

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Universal Music Group

Release Date January 20, 1998
I would have given this CD 5 stars if Emma Kirkby had sung all of the cantatas on Disc 2. Unfortunately, most of the cantatas on this disc are sung by Catherine Bott, who in my musically illiterate opinion, sounds more like a mezzo-soprano than a true soprano. Kirkby on the other hand is a legend in early music and brings her trademark "purity of sound" to this recording. The gorgeous duet she sings with Judith Nelson on disc 1 is alone worth the price of this set (that's probably a slight exaggeration, but it's pretty damn good anyway).

Getting away from Kirkby a sec, the Gloria on CD 1 is indeed glorious. The choral movements are sharp and lively, having that quality of all good choirs of sounding not quite of this earth. Listening to this CD after a ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 120
Average Rating:

Claudio Monteverdi - Tancred The Crusader / Phillippe Bardy, Michelle Corboz

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Rosemary Hardy, Serge Merlin, Philippe Huttenlocher, Philippe Bardy
directed by: François Caillat

Release Date November 18, 2008
I would have given this CD 5 stars if Emma Kirkby had sung all of the cantatas on Disc 2. Unfortunately, most of the cantatas on this disc are sung by Catherine Bott, who in my musically illiterate opinion, sounds more like a mezzo-soprano than a true soprano. Kirkby on the other hand is a legend in early music and brings her trademark "purity of sound" to this recording. The gorgeous duet she sings with Judith Nelson on disc 1 is alone worth the price of this set (that's probably a slight exaggeration, but it's pretty damn good anyway).

Getting away from Kirkby a sec, the Gloria on CD 1 is indeed glorious. The choral movements are sharp and lively, having that quality of all good choirs of sounding not quite of this earth. Listening to this CD after a ... Read More: