CD-Charts Position 111
Average Rating:

Josh Groban In Concert (with Bonus DVD)

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
by: Walter Afanasieff, Albert / Sharron, Marti Hammond, David / Sager, Carole Bayer Foster, John Williams, Don MacLean, Johann Sebastian Bach, Walter / Crokaert, Lara Afanasieff, Adolphe Adam, Daniel Ezralow, Angie Stone, Lili Haydn, David Foster

Release Date December 03, 2002
For those of you unfamiliar with Josh Groban this is a great way to start. It is his first cd - self titled - What a voice. He has several other cd's as well as dvd's (awesome by the way) He changed my life - We call ourselves Grobonites a proud name to bear. Whatever you've heard about the music - if you haven't listened you truly need to. You will not be sorry about the investmant you've made. He has a charitable foundation that helps bring medicine and drinking water to villages in Africa. His foundation also works with AIDS patients. I've actually met him and was able to tell him that he helped me thru Cancer his voice kept me going thru some tough times. Please just listen once. (and it doesn't hurt that he's cute too!)

CD-Charts Position 112
Average Rating:

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
from: RCA

Release Date August 10, 1993
The old LP of this recording was my introduction to the Bartok Music for Strings Percussion and Celeste when I was a kid in the 1950s. What a treat to find it again after all these years! The clarity, precision and musicality are unsurpassed by any I have heard since. It even blows away the live performances I recently enjoyed with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin as well as Esa-Peka Solonen with the LA Phil. This is a definitive performance. No question about it.

CD-Charts Position 113
Average Rating:

The Essential Yo-Yo Ma

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
from: Sony

Release Date August 16, 2005
My nephew mentioned his desire to hear some classical music (Yo-Yo Ma, especially) on the boring trips back & forth from college. He really seemed to enjoy receiving the CD for Christmas!

CD-Charts Position 114
Average Rating:

Mozart - Die Zauberflote [Blu-ray]

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
starring: Simon Keenlyside, Dorothea Röschmann, Will Hartmann, Diana Damrau, Franz-Josef Selig

Release Date April 29, 2008
There is a clever juxtaposition of avant garde staging/theatrical setting with period subject material. The Queen of the Night is downright hot, not to mention the 3 maids. Pappageno stole the ovation! Although a small part, Pappagena is delightful. Regrettably, I don't know what to say about Tamino and Pamina but I'm sure they were great.

The singing is superbly articulate and the acting is second to none. Not just standing there singing with cheap backdrops! The orchestra is strong and the chorus powerful. The sets are meticulously done, eye catching but not distracting. The fire and water sequence is very creative. Its quite a production. Be sure to watch the ovations after it ends. The accolades are appropriately given ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 115
Average Rating:

Appassionato

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
from: SONY CLASSICS

Release Date January 09, 2007
I like the wide selection of music types included on this CD, from classical works to songs from musicals.

CD-Charts Position 116
Average Rating:

Bach: The Art of Fugue

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
by: Johann Sebastian Bach, Emerson String Quartet

Release Date August 12, 2003
The Emerson Quartet are the last word is modern, slick string quartet groups. Their extremely streamlined sound works very well sometimes, othertimes not. Their recording are usually worth a listen, and usually rank high with the Gramophone, Penguin & BBC critics, but I often find I enjoy other quartets more in given works, and have often traded in for different versions. Too often, they're just too slick. In this case, that slickness works in just the right way.
My other string quartet version is a magnificent one by The Juilliard Quartet, their approach being completely different from the present set. The Juilliard perform this work, solemnly, deeply, and slowly, as if played in a cloister, or the medieval room at The Metropolitan Museum ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 117
Average Rating:

The Three Tenors Christmas

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
by: Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras

Release Date October 31, 2000
The cd would not play all the songs. It would skip on serval of the selections.

CD-Charts Position 118
Average Rating:

Cecilia Bartoli - If You Love Me (Se tu m'ami ), 18th-Century Italian Songs

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
by: Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Caldara, Antonio Lotti, Antonio Cesti, Giovanni Paisiello, Anonymous, Benedetto Marcello, Giuseppe Giordani, Giulio Caccini, Alessandro Parisotti, Pietro Francesco Cavalli, Antonio Vivaldi, Giacomo Carissimi, Cecilia Bartoli, György Fischer

Release Date October 13, 1992
Cecilia Bartoli may not be the finest mezzo-soprano extant but few would doubt her exceptional artistry and professionalism. In "Se tu m'ami", she transforms simple, even primitive, melodies into beautiful, dare I say, rapturous arias, in the finest bel canto tradition. I now understand why Paisiello was a favourite of Buonaparte and why I should now acknowledge Vivaldi for his considerable versatility and creativity. The disc now occupies a top shelf in my CD rack. Bravissimo Cecilia.

CD-Charts Position 119
Average Rating:

Alina - Arvo Pärt

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
by: Vladimir Spivakov, Sergej Bezrodny, Dietmar Schwalke, Alexander Malter

Release Date February 01, 2000
This review will be in fragments, as this is how thoughts come to me when listening to this remarkable CD. As I type this, I am listening to it on my iPod, where you can hear the breathing of the musicians, the gentle scratch of the bow on the strings. It is an intimate experience.

The deeply impactful movie "Wit" uses parts of Mirror in Mirror in the soundtrack, and that was our introduction to this music. The search ensued, the CD purchased, and it is one of the gems in our large music collection. It transcends genre, and time.

My dad passed away early last year from a stroke - when he was in hospice, we played this music for him on his last day. It seemed like the most peaceful, soothing, spiritual music that we owned. I hope that he ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 120
Average Rating:

Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance Marches; Enigma Variations; Cockaigne Overture

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
from: EMI / Seraphim

Release Date October 17, 1995
Sir Adrian Boult in both the Enigma Variations and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, what more could anyone ask. How about Sir John Barbiolli in the Cockaigne Overture. With performances like these you can easily forgive the slight lapse in sound quality. I had all 5 Marches scattered on 5 different discs. Now they are all together with some great performances of Elgar masterpieces. At the price, there is no going wrong here.