CD-Charts Position 31
Average Rating:

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

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
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 32
Average Rating:

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date May 14, 1996
I would like to clear up some confusion: THIS IS NOT THE RECORDED PERFORMANCE THAT CARL ORFF CONDONED!! Orff attended the rehearsals of Eugen Jochum's earlier **1953** mono recording of Carmina Burana and approved that final performance. That version is available on another DGG recording of all three pieces Orff wrote in a similar vein; the album is entitled "Trionfi". The 1953 recording presents a very different version than this stereo one that Jochum recorded 15 years later in 1968 AND WHICH ORFF DID NOT HEAR!! The earlier version is grittier, perhaps not as smoothly played or expertly sung, but altogether more primal and exciting. The early mono sound of that 1953 version is very good, easily the equal of the stereo sound except for the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 33
Average Rating:

Lanza: Greatest Hits

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

Release Date April 11, 1995
Excellent product. CD just as described and fast delivery. Love Mario Lanza and his voice.

CD-Charts Position 34
Average Rating:

The Complete EMI Recordings 1946-1984, Vol. 1: Orchestral [Box Set]

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

Release Date April 01, 2008
EMI has been releasing a great many ambitious box sets lately, some devoted to specific composers with as many as 30 CDs, but this dwarfs them all, and I'm just talking about volume one, the orchestral collection. Was i glad to see it done? Certainly! Do I heartily wish that a little more care had gone into the planning and execution? Heartily! The idea is a fine one, assembling all of Karajan's official EMI orchestral recordings in one package, and remastering many of them once again. But the execution is amateurish -- the paltry booklet giving the tracklist for each CD has no index, so if you are, say, only interested at a particular moment in hearing Karajan's interpretations of Johann Strauss II or Liszt, or even Bruckner (or any other composer, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 35
Average Rating:

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

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- 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 36
Average Rating:

Stefano Landi - Il Sant'Alessio / Jaroussky, Cencic, Guillon, Bertin, Les Arts Florissants, Christie, Lazar (Théâtre de Caen 2007)

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
starring: Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic, Damien Guillon, Pascal Bertin, William Christie
directed by: Benjamin Lazar

Release Date June 24, 2008
This is a very good way to get into this masterwork from Landi. Unfortunately, the DVD is reducing the impact of the production. I attended one of the performances at The Theatre Des Champs Elysees, and part of the magic is lost.
But Jarouski and Cencic are fantastic! And what a beautiful music!

CD-Charts Position 37
Average Rating:

The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Atlantic / Wea

Release Date August 30, 1994
when the cd arrived it played perfect. had all the literature and was perfect in everyway, better than a cd store. thanks amazon

CD-Charts Position 38
Average Rating:

The Mario Lanza Collection (3CD)

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: RCA Victor

Release Date November 12, 1991
I don't know how this could be any better. Mario sings like an angel and I love most of the selections. I have thoroughly enoyed listening to my cd's, over and over.

CD-Charts Position 39
Average Rating:

The Phantom Of The Opera (1986 Original London Cast)

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Polygram Records

Release Date October 25, 1990

As a PHANATIC, this double box set is a must-have. I must say that the box is cute, it has the complete libretto (with ALL dialogues)... all inside a little cute box.

I used to have a 80' double K7 set, given by my aunt when she saw the Phantom for the first time back in 90'. The main difference is that those K7 had the COMPLETE DIALOGUES, with NO cuts. And these CDs do not have little dialogues... but it still worths buying.

CD-Charts Position 40
Average Rating:

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
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.