CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Romance of the Violin

by: Claude Debussy, Fryderyk Chopin, Camille Saint-Saens, Franz Schubert, Vincenzo Bellini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Alexander Borodin, Antonin Dvorak, Claudio Monteverdi, Jules Massenet, Robert Schumann, Michael Stern, Craig Ogden, Gregory Knowles, John Constable, Jacob Heringman, Stephen Orton

Release Date October 28, 2003
I have several of Mr Bells CD's and enjoy all of them. This is the best CD I own. The music is very relaxing and the sound of the strad is awesome. We listen to it nightly (kids) as a bedtime routine and I never tire of it. You would not regret this purchase.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

UltraSound - Music for the Unborn Child

from: RCA

Release Date April 13, 1999
This product is wonderful and i would recommend it to anybody who is expecting a baby. It can be used also later on when the baby is born of course so it is a never-ending beautiful piece of music.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

The Very Best of Maria Callas

by: Maria Callas

Release Date February 12, 2002
I grew up on opera but not on Maria Callas. Joan Sutherland, Schwartzkoff, Victoria Los Angeles, and Mady Mesple (to name a few) crowded the airwaves of our home growing up. I had heard that Maria Callas was THE Diva of opera and bought one of her obscure recordings from a low budget bin while in Paris 10 years ago. It didn't impress me that much. Perhaps it was recorded during her voice decline. I could certainly tell she had a powerhouse voice but many of those arias were unknown to me and I didn't connect all that well with the CD.

After reading some of these reviews I decided to give her one more chance. Surely 50 million opera fans can't be all wrong! So I bought this disc and listened to it the other day. There are plenty ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

The Most Famous Opera Arias

from: EMI Classics

Release Date July 19, 1994
The conductor and the singers can make a beautiful song the opera that everyone jeers and hates. To have a Russian singer doing o mio babbino caro is just plain silly...give the woman a break and play something from Russian opera...give a beautiful melodic aria to a lyrical singer like Caballe...boo hiss. Try Opera's Greatest Moments where they give Hvorostvsky an aria from Pique Dame and leave the bel canto to bel canto singers.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

The Most Relaxing Classical Album In the World Ever, Volume II

by: Gabriel Faure, Frederic Chopin, Antonio Vivaldi, Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy, Sir Neville Marriner, Maris Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Sir Adrian Boult, Miklos Rozsa, Riccardo Muti, Stephen Cleobury, Sir John Barbirolli, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Berlin Philharmonic

Release Date March 11, 2003
Beautifully done, arranged, and selected. All are very good performances, and there are many lesser known but wonderful pieces such as the movement from Shostakovich's second piano concerto.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Rapture: Opera's Most Heavenly Moments

from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date October 08, 2002
I have more experience with other genres of music, but am interested in basically all kinds. I have been collecting CDs for nearly 2 decades but had no Opera in my collection. I did a little research and arrived at a conclusion. If I wanted the most and best Opera music for my money, I had to get this title, which is a double album, and "The Most Famous Opera Duets". Well, the latter was a steal with a list price under four dollars, and the former was a truly good compilation of many uplifting, diverse, impactful, and pleasant pieces. I am satisfied with my purchases and have filled the gap in my music collection. I can't see Opera getting better than this and the other title I mentioned. Enjoy!

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Philippe Jaroussky - Carestini (The Story of a Castrato)

from: Virgin Classics

Release Date November 20, 2007
This is a superb disc. Philippe Jaroussky is a wonderfully sensitive artist with equally fine collaboration between the players under the direction of Emmanuelle Haim. I also found the choice of material very interesting.
However, Virgin Classics need a severe black mark for their curious omission of any information about these artists in the ample booklet supplied with the disc. A pretty photograph is really not good enough.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Flute For Relaxation

from: RCA

Release Date October 10, 2000
This music is really soothing and relaxing. All you have to do is put the CD on and close your eyes. Stress relief on a CD. Great!

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

A Bride's Guide to Wedding Music

from: Naxos

Release Date February 19, 2002
If you're looking for full pieces, look at other CDs. This one gives relatively small offerings of various pieces, which is awesome if you're just trying to listen to a bunch of selections in hopes of finding the 'right' one. Check it out if you have a wedding on the horizon, need to pick a piece for your wedding, and have $10 to spare.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Marilyn Horne - The Complete Decca Recitals

from: Decca Records

Release Date April 15, 2008
I agree with the previous reviewers about Ms. Horne's voice and performances. There are many riches here: the singing is superb throughout, one or two optional unmusical high notes aside. The range of music is enormous and Horne sings it all with style and grace, including the odd collection that is the American Songbook (Copeland, Foster, Berlin and... Malotte!?) Most of these recitals were conducted by Henry Lewis. He is fine, but I really sat up and took notice when Zubin Mehta took over for the Mahler song cycles directly after listening to Lewis conduct the Mahler/Wagner songs. Horne seemed more engaged on the Mehta led disc, too.
The unfortunate news is that some of this music is unfamiliar (Nin and Bizet songs, some of the bel canto ... Read More: