CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Titanic (1997 Original Broadway Cast)

by: Maury Yeston, Judy Blazer, Brian d'Arcy James

Release Date July 01, 1997
I'll admit it: I was coerced into participating in a local production of Titanic The Musical recently and while I never had, nor do I have any desires to perform on stage, I almost reluctantly fell in love with this incredibly moving story that involves an absolutely amazing musical score. I played Benjamin Guggenheim, who along with some of the most famous millionaires in the world (John Jacob Astor, George Widener and the Thayers, literally the Bill Gates and Donald Trumps of their day) died as the Largest Moving Object on the earth slipped beneath the waves, April 15th 1912.

First, one major difference between this re-telling of one of the greatest maritime disasters of all-time and others, there really isn't any two or three ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Koyaanisqatsi (1998 Re-recording)

from: Nonesuch

Release Date October 27, 1998
I've lived with and loved this film for a long time. And like a lot of people in these reviews I've often put the DVD on as background music, so I was happy to find a CD that could claim to have the full score, rather than the original version of the score which was cut for the LP format. However there are still some problems.

This isn't all of the music from the film. There are keyboard interludes and electronic sounds in the movie that aren't included on this recording. The most glaring of which is a segment at the end of Pruit Igoe that, to me anyway, constitutes an brief movement (in the film it's accompanied by portrait-style shots of random people, the longest of which is a fighter pilot). Maybe these simply aren't integral to ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess

from: Guild

Release Date July 08, 2008
I've lived with and loved this film for a long time. And like a lot of people in these reviews I've often put the DVD on as background music, so I was happy to find a CD that could claim to have the full score, rather than the original version of the score which was cut for the LP format. However there are still some problems.

This isn't all of the music from the film. There are keyboard interludes and electronic sounds in the movie that aren't included on this recording. The most glaring of which is a segment at the end of Pruit Igoe that, to me anyway, constitutes an brief movement (in the film it's accompanied by portrait-style shots of random people, the longest of which is a fighter pilot). Maybe these simply aren't integral to ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Naqoyqatsi (Score)

by: Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma

Release Date October 08, 2002
Glass is great, but Yo-Yo Ma really makes this album a masterpiece. Much better than the others. Highly recommended.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Tell Her I Love Her

by: George Flynn, Katherine Fink, Gerhard R. Koch, Julie Landsman, John Moses, Virgil Blackwell, Marc Goldberg

Release Date September 09, 2003
I really enjoyed listening to this cd. His voice is very soothing and easy to listen to. I especially enjoy listening to "Last Morning of my Life". It includes songs made famous by others such as"Back on my Feet" and "Young Girl". I have his other cd which features music from various operas. I would say you won't be sorry that you bought this cd!!!!!!

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

The Frogs (2004 Broadway Cast)

by: Stephen Sondheim, Nathan Lane, John Byner, Michael Siberry, Roger Bart

Release Date January 25, 2005
...doesn't mean it deserves 5 stars. Or even 4. It was Sondheim's first score and it shows. Other than one or two cute numbers, it is barely listenable. While the show may have been improved since it's original 1974 production at Yale, it just doesn't come together. I think it is a lovely academic excercise, but it is too anaesthetic and lopsided to serve as anything other than an academic excercise. Sondheim enthusiasts will no doubt rate it highly as they do anything he writes, but objectively, this recording exists solely to satiate showtune collectors.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Mendelssohn - Elijah / Terfel, Fleming, Bardon, Ainsley, Fulgoni, Paul Daniel

by: Libby Crabtree

Release Date October 14, 1997
As other reviewers have noted, it might not be the best *total* performance of Elijah (although it's still VERY good)....but Terfel gives the best Elijah performance that I've ever heard. If you haven't heard this recording, you are definitely missing out.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Powaqqatsi (1988 Film)

from: Nonesuch

Release Date October 25, 1990
Of three Qatsi movies, my favorite is certainly, Powaqqatsi because it is not just a gorgeous movie with amazing images; it is one of very precious experiences that happen rarely in life. What made this experience possible is above all and without doubt the MUSIC. It was not the first music by Philip Glass I heard. I like his minimalistic and somehow disturbing scores that go right to your senses for "The Hours", "Notes of the Scandal", and "The Illusionist" (2006). Powaqqatsi was the second movie in Reggio's "Qatsi" trilogy for me. Just before it, I saw "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982) or Life out of Balance", the first of three Reggio-Glass movies. I like "Koyaanisqatsi" very much but I think it is the images that make it so memorable. "Powaqqatsi" for me, is about Glass's magnificent, un-earthy, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Masters of the Voice: Soprano

from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date July 13, 2004
While many selections on this disc are enjoyable, some are absolutely execrable. Leontyne Price's performance of "He shall feed his flock/Come unto him" from "Messiah" is almost unbearably embarrassing to listen to, as is Mirella Freni's horrible "O Mio Babbino Caro." Equally baffling is the choice of Renata Tebaldi's "Un bel di", when there are far better performances of it available. A late recording of Birgit Nilsson's "Komm, o Hoffnung" does not do justice either to her or to Beethoven. One wonders why there are multiple tracks of Joan Sutherland, Cheryl Studer, and Montserrat Caballe, yet equally fine singers such as Margaret Price, Luciana Serra, and Hildegard Behrens are unrepresented. Get a pair of earplugs before listening to June Anderson's off-pitch, shrill quacking, hooting, and ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

P.D.Q. Bach: A Little Nightmare Music

from: Vanguard Records

Release Date January 25, 1990
This always happens to me. I can never hear "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees w/o seeing Robert Hayes & Julie Hagerty in "Airplane". "My Girl" conjures images of Belushi as Beethoven on SNL. Likewise, every time "Ein Kleine Nachtmusik" comes on NPR I have to sing along. This album is excellent, as is just about everything else from the PDQ Bach camp. BTW, even the liner notes are a hoot.