CD-Charts Position 121

Baker Sings Gluck, Lully, Marcello, etc.

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
from: BBC Legends

Release Date May 20, 2003

CD-Charts Position 122
Average Rating:

Brahms: Symphony No. 1; Tragic Overture; Alto Rhapsody

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

Release Date June 08, 1999
I purchased the first movement of the symphony as an Amazon MP3 download. It sounds terrible. Maybe good enough for Brittany Spears "music," but adults with ears will find the sound quality of Amazon's MP3 downloads to be worthless.

I checked the specs on this download after placing it into my iTunes:

Length: 14 minutes
Size: 23.3 MB
Bit Rate: 232 kbps (VBR)
Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz

Now compare that to a movement that I recorded to iTunes from a Stravinsky CD (a WAV audio file):

Length: 3 minutes, 11 seconds
Size: 35.1 MB
Bit Rate: 1536 kbps
Sample Rate: 48.000 kHz

As you can see, the Stravinsky CD is clearly superior.

And yet, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 123
Average Rating:

Sibelius: Songs Vol. 1

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

Release Date September 26, 1994
In contrast to more sweeping works such as "Finlandia," Sibelius's vocal-and-piano songs are atmospheric, emotive, and intimate. This recording is a work of great beauty.

CD-Charts Position 124
Average Rating:

Schubert: Schwanengesang; 4 Lieder

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

Release Date April 10, 2001
I admire Mr. Bryson's opinions, but he's a bit off on this one. F-D made multiple versions of Schubert's great Schwanengesang, and I'm baffled why EMI calls this a Great Recording of the Century--they have another, better version from him in stereo in their Legends series. It's more mature and sitinctive in every respect than this ealier one in mono from the mid-Fifties.

Mr. Bryson says that the younger F-D was critcized for over-emphasis, but actually this habit cropped up late in his career. Her he is too smooth and bland, if anything. For lieder afficianados, this version sounds like imitation Gerard Husch and his honeyed baritone. When F-D matured, he began to bark and over-dramatize, but at least that was his true self. Personally, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 125
Average Rating:

Verdi: Rigoletto (Highlights) / Sutherland, Pavarotti

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

Release Date August 08, 2000
If you can't afford the full set of Rigoletto, this is the way to go. I have about 10 versions of this opera which is one of my all time favorites.
This Rigoletto is supreme. Sutherland sings up a storm, tossing of high D's and E's with extreme ease. Her trill is a marvel indeed. She is completely match with a young Pavarotti that matches Dame Joan's gorgeous voice. Pavarotti's high D is stunning.
The only competition with this Rigoletto is the one with Callas.
But Callas can't touch Sutherland in voice or technique.
In conclusion, this is the Rigoletto to get if you only want the highlights.

CD-Charts Position 126
Average Rating:

Bernstein - Wonderful Town / Simon Rattle (1999 Studio Cast)

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Composers- A-Z
by: Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Audra McDonald

Release Date September 14, 1999
"Wonderful Town," was one of Leonard Bernstein's earliest successes, but unfairly it has tended to be eclipsed by the later success of "West Side Story." Here, in a fizzing performance, starrily cast, Rattle rights the balance in a performance at once vigorously idiomatic and also refined in the many lyrical moments. The two characterful sisters finding their feet in the big city are brilliantly played here by Criswell and McDonald, not just charismatic as actreses, but singing superbly. Hampson as Robert just as commandingly bestrides the conflicting problem of Broadway and the classical tradition, and Brent in the cabaret tradition. Such numbers as "Ohio," 'A little bit in love,' 'Conversation piece' and 'Wrong note rag,' rounded off with the big tune of ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 127
Average Rating:

Forgotten Songs: Dawn Upshaw Sings Debussy

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

Release Date March 18, 1997
Full marks to Dawn Upshaw for reviving these forgotten songs. It is this beautiful recording, featuring Upshaw in her prime, which inspired me to reopen my long-forgotten scores of the Debussy mélodies, which I'd studied decades ago and only ever heard performed on disc by a past generation of singers such as Suzanne Danco and Maggie Teyte, whose recordings can now sound somewhat one-dimensional and appear stylistically dated. This recording, in a warm and spacious acoustic, not only gives the songs new colour but makes them seem much more contemporary. The digital sound does full justice to the lovely harmonic treatments of the piano parts, excellently played here.

There are now several recordings by contemporary French vocalists, but they tend to be rather ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 128
Average Rating:

The Jessye Norman Collection - Richard Strauss Lieder

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

Release Date May 10, 2005
Jessye Norman's voice is a force of nature, and this collection of Richard Strauss songs shows it off beautifully. Her singing style on these discs shows awesome power when singing with the full Gewandhaus Orchestra (disc 1) and delicate intimacy when singing with the wonderfully responsive piano accompaniment of Geoffrey Parsons (disc 2). Throughout, Jessye Norman's musicianship and diction remain both expressive and crystal clear.

For me the "Four Last Songs" of Richard Strauss, which begin the first disc, are the epitome of vocal music. As sung by Jessye Norman, they restore my faith in humanity. The additional Strauss songs add to that pleasure.

Both discs were recorded in the mid-1980's using DDD technology. The sound engineering is excellent. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 129
Average Rating:

Pavarotti's Opera Made Easy: My Favorite Love Songs

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

Release Date August 23, 1994
I really never cared much for opera until I purchased this CD.Now I recognize a lot of music from movies and stage that are actually operas.Must Have CD!!!!!!!!!!!!

CD-Charts Position 130
Average Rating:

The Jessye Norman Collection: Brahms and Schumann Lieder

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

Release Date May 10, 2005
I really enjoy these recordings that are at great tempi, they are great for diction and the musicianship is a fine quality.