CD-Charts Position 131

The Opera Gala: Live From Baden-Baden

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: SWR, Ramón Vargas, Anna Netrebko, Ludovic Tézier, Elina Garanca

Release Date December 04, 2007

CD-Charts Position 132
Average Rating:

V2 Suite For Flute And Jazz Pi

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

Release Date February 01, 2001
With this, the second in a series of jazz-classical fusion collections, Bolling has reached new heights. Every single piece is refreshingly original - no repeats are duds in this collection.

The style and expression are both freer and more intense - indeed this seems more "musical" in many ways. Once again it is almost impossible to select a "favorite" although JAZZY and AMOURESE are two that stand out. The sound is sheer perfection but it is the inventive aspect of the series that makes this collection shine.

CD-Charts Position 133
Average Rating:

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; A Night on Bald Mountain

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Sony Music Canada Inc.

Release Date April 22, 1994
This is bar none the best version of Pictures at an Exhibition currently available.

While others such as Jim Svedjda argue that the Bernstein, (New York Philharmonic, Sony Music) interpretation is better.

I am compelled to argue that this recording of Mr. Reiner's work is closer to the what Mussorgsky was aiming for, having the right mix of Russian sentimentality and emotional power.

Don't get me wrong Berstein is a great conductor, but his best interpretations are of american composers such as Arron Copeland, and George Gershwin.

One final note while I may be dead I still know what great music should sound like.

CD-Charts Position 134
Average Rating:

Humperkinck: Hansel and Gretel

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

Release Date September 16, 2008
This is bar none the best version of Pictures at an Exhibition currently available.

While others such as Jim Svedjda argue that the Bernstein, (New York Philharmonic, Sony Music) interpretation is better.

I am compelled to argue that this recording of Mr. Reiner's work is closer to the what Mussorgsky was aiming for, having the right mix of Russian sentimentality and emotional power.

Don't get me wrong Berstein is a great conductor, but his best interpretations are of american composers such as Arron Copeland, and George Gershwin.

One final note while I may be dead I still know what great music should sound like.

CD-Charts Position 135
Average Rating:

Janacek - The Makropulos Case / Davis, Silja, Begley, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Anja Silja, Victor Braun, Kim Begley, Anthony Roden
directed by: Nikolaus Lehnhoff

Release Date March 01, 2006
Sets, acting, conducting, playing, singing, all are absolutely excellent. But the performance of Anja Silja is worth the five stars on its own. From first entry she is rivetting, the voice impassioned but secure, the part lived rather than acted. Some have quibbled at her appearance, but not knowing how a 337 year old woman should look, I'm fine with it. The libretto implies she's a well-perserved woman in her late 30's and certainly Silja looks older than that, though not by enough to demand a total suspension of belief. She is supported by a fine cast of singers. I particularly enjoyed the performance of Robert Tear in the cameo part of Hauk. Andrew Davis conducts with his usual flair for Janacek. Those used to the old Mackerras performances will ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 136
Average Rating:

Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Haitink, Finley, Hagley, Fleming, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Andreas Schmidt, Renée Fleming, Gerald Finley, Alison Hagley
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date May 02, 2006
its good points, but suffers from a few miscues.
Sound SUCKS. I have to have the volume up very high in order to clearly hear what is going on. In another review of this dvd, someone mentioned that this is what the sound level is like in an opera house. Well. I have not been to Glyndebourne, but I have been to the Met and a few other places and I can say if I have to strain so hard to hear the music, I would ask for my money back.
Andreas Schmidt is not my favorite Almaviva. He acts like he went to the William Shatner school of acting. No flow at all. I have the same complaint about his singing in Italian-a punctuated delivery that felt very choppy to these ears.
Direction for this production was a bit weird at times. What is the deal with ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 137
Average Rating:

The #1 Classical Guitar Album

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Sean Kelly

Release Date November 06, 2007
its good points, but suffers from a few miscues.
Sound SUCKS. I have to have the volume up very high in order to clearly hear what is going on. In another review of this dvd, someone mentioned that this is what the sound level is like in an opera house. Well. I have not been to Glyndebourne, but I have been to the Met and a few other places and I can say if I have to strain so hard to hear the music, I would ask for my money back.
Andreas Schmidt is not my favorite Almaviva. He acts like he went to the William Shatner school of acting. No flow at all. I have the same complaint about his singing in Italian-a punctuated delivery that felt very choppy to these ears.
Direction for this production was a bit weird at times. What is the deal with ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 138
Average Rating:

Renée Fleming

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

Release Date October 10, 2000
How dare you drag a perfectly fine review through the mud? Disagreeing with someone is one thing but calling names, lying and making up stuff is quite another! Be ashamed of your manners! Sills would be shocked at such lies, she herself proposed to Renee that she should sing Norma! Sills knows better than you, foul-mouthed liar!

CD-Charts Position 139
Average Rating:

Pure

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Hayley Westenra

Release Date April 06, 2004
Ever since Charlotte Church turned into a tabloids' darling and a wannabe pop star, there's been a gap opened for a young, sweet-faced soprano. The best bet on filling it seems to be Hayley Westenra, a young singer/dancer from New Zealand.

The result: "Pure," an album that is reminiscent of early Sarah Brightman, back when she did folk songs and showtunes. Westenra sticks close to her classical sound with songs like the delicate "In Trutina" and the traditional New Zealand song "Pokarekare Ana," which is rendered with the backing of a a rather muddled male chorus and some swelling strings.

However, Westenra doesn't neglect more modern songs, and she does well in classical pop as well as straightforward classical. The big difference seems ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 140
Average Rating:

Cloudburst And Other Choral

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

Release Date February 07, 2006
This is music of transcendent beauty sung with passion and precision. Listen to the agonizing sorrow of David's lament for Absalom or the tranquil beauty of Whitacre's setting of Charles Anthony Silverstri's poem sleep. Whitacre draws on a wide variety of influences including, Part, Corigliano his teacher at the Juliard. There are moments when I think I hear echos of Howells, Warlock, or Britten which would make sense given the importance of choral music to his formation. Yet I would not want to leave the impression that his work is mere eclecticism. Whitacre has his own voice. His harmonic language is often complex but his musical argument is always clear and the ear led on through his ideas and drawn into his seductive sound world. Some listeners may find a certain sameness ... Read More: