CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

UltraSound - Music for the Unborn Child

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
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 2
Average Rating:

Mozart for Relaxation

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: RCA

Release Date March 09, 1999
A nice collection of Mozart arranged and performed as the title says - to relax.

It is not a definative collection as others have mentioned, but it the melodies are familiar and are things you know.

This leads to a good CD to put on, sit down and listen to with your eyes closed. One of the things I have been trying to do to help relax and calm down and I am very happy I bought this. I will be buying other titles in this series.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

The Most Famous Opera Duets

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: EMI Classics

Release Date April 12, 1994
Maybe these don't represent absolutely the greatest duets in all opera. But they represent some awfully good ones! The CD begins with a duet from "Les Pecheurs des Perles" (Puccini) and ends with the gloomy Miserere (from "Il Trovatore," by Verdi). In between are many more operas, from Donizetti and Mozart to Strauss and Wagner. Some of the finer singers of the past half century appear in various of these duets.

A bit more detail on a handful of these to illustrate.

"Sull'aria" from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro." Heather Harper and Judith Blegen sing the parts here. This is a sweet duet from the opera. The singer's voices meld well together and this represents a poignantly sung piece.

"Ah! Verrana a ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Puccini: Madama Butterfly (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Lucia Danieli, Nicolai Gedda, Herbert von Karajan, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: EMI Classics

Release Date August 19, 1997
While working on the PARALLEL PERSPECTIVES Archives page, I started thinking about Maria Callas & her rather bizarre, non-singing role in the equally bizarre 1970's Pier Passolini film MEDEA--and noticed this CD of Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY. I must admit that I was kind of turned-off to see that the CD was remastered from the original non-sterophonic LP (there's just so much even digital technology can do in salvaging pre-stereo operatic recordings) and I really only purchased it because I was curious hear Callas in one of her less notable roles (unbelievably there were only 3 performances).

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself really enjoying the entire production.

Of course director Herbert Von Karajan is ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Amore: Romantic Italian Love Songs

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: Decca

Release Date September 15, 1992
This is an amzing CD, probably one of Pavarotti's best. For anyone who loves opera and in particular this star, this is a MUST. Even more precious since Pavarotti's death.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Mozart - Requiem / Augér, Bartoli, Cole, Pape, Wiener Phil., Solti

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: Decca

Release Date March 10, 1992
To my great surprise, in the last two decades of his life Solti turned into a marvelous Mozart interpreter. His '80's Figaro, and '90's Magic Flute and Cosi fan Tutte are among my favorite versions, Sir Georg's sometimes abrasive nervous energy (and scholarly use of reduced orchestral forces) makes for fantastically dramatic, anti-romantic readings. This requiem, recorded on the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death in St Stephen's cathedral in Vienna benefits from an awesome reverberant acoustic, a quartet of fabluous operatic singers (and let's face it, this is an opera manque, religiose, not religious, "the sickly sweets of operatic sin" as Stravinsky called it, and a good thing too I say). Excerpts of the actual Mass ceremony are interspersed, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Romantica: The Very Best of Luciano Pavarotti

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: Decca

Release Date February 05, 2002
EASY LISTENING AND GREAT SINGER LOVE HIS MUSIC. CAN RELAX AND ENJOY SOCIAL GATHERING WITH HIS MUSIC IN BACK GROUND. PERFECT

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date May 14, 1996
This is not about the recording but more about Amazon. I just recently bought this item and I have to say that the sample recordings featured on this page is NOT the same recording on the CD. I can't find a way to contact Amazon, but I thought I'd let everyone know.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: EMI Classics

Release Date January 12, 1999
While there are other wonderful performances of tese works, Klemperer & Wunderlich and Ludwig are the equal of any. Baker/Haitink being the only other great contender . They're each great in their own way.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Pavarotti's Opera Made Easy-My Favourite Opera For Children

CD-Charts > Music > M to P
from: Decca

Release Date August 23, 1994
This is an excellent CD to introduce children to some of the more familiar operas. I would highly recommend this CD for children and also for adults who want to become familiar with opera.