CD-Charts Position 71
Average Rating:

Franz Joseph Haydn: The Creation

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Franz Joseph Haydn, Donna Carter, John Cheek, Jon Humphrey, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Robert Shaw

Release Date October 27, 1992
This oratorio is excellent. From a musical viewpoint, the orchestration, vocal work, and overall technics of this work are superbly done. In the spiritual sense, this oratorio manages to get the real feel of the Creation. You can see God's awesome works being performed before your eyes. When the final chorus is sung you leave with a greater sense of God and power.
One piece that is very well sung and is particularly uplifting is the hymn of thanks and praise to God which Adam and Eve sing. One thing I like about this work is that the fall of man into sin is not included. The Creation is the Creation, and we don't have to think of sin being in the world.
The soloists are some of the finest in the world, and robert Shaw is at his ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 72
Average Rating:

The Irish Tenors / McNamara, McDermott, Kearns, Tynan

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: John McDermott, Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan, Frank McNamara

Release Date March 09, 1999
Yes, my heart is in Ireland, and this CD makes me want to return -- and stay. What a joy this music is.

CD-Charts Position 73
Average Rating:

Tristan Und Isolde

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

Release Date November 11, 1997
I've heard many of the Tristans which reviewers have referred to, most notably Reiner's 1936 recording with Flagstad and Melchior, Furtwangler's 1952, and for modern comparison, Pappano's with Domingo, and while I'm always receptive to new interpretations, at the moment (well since 1966) this recording trumps all. How can there be anything more moving than Ludwig's call to the lovers for caution as day approaches "Habet Acht, Habet Acht !" or Windgassen's besieged lover, or for the ultimate erotic and tense (almost obscenely so) leibestod, Nilsson is superb. I agree with one of the reviewers that she can lack subtlety, and Flagstad offers more insight in Act 2, but you can't have it all, and I'll take drama and tension for my Tristan any day. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 74
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Richard Strauss: Salome [Remastered]

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

Release Date June 13, 2006
ABOUT THE ALBUM: Richard Strauss, Salome, Recorded At The Sofiensaal, Vienna, October, 1961, Released On LP, 1962 By Decca Record Company Limited, London, England, Released As A Remastered 2-CD Set, Decca Limited. Picture: Promotional Photo of Birgit Nilsson as Salome.

CAST: birgit Nilsson, soprano (Salome) Eberhard Wachter, baritone (Jochanaan), Gerhard Stolze, baritone, (Herod Tetrach) Grace Hoffmann, mezzo soprano (Herodias, wife of Herod) Josephine Veasey, mezzo soprano (Herodias' page) Aron Gestner (Narraboth) Kurt Equiluz (Jewish Councelor), Max Proebstl (Jewish Counselor) Nigel Douglas (page) Theodor Kirschbichler (Jewish Councelor) Zenon Kosnowski (Jewish councelor) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Georg Solti.

SOLTI'S ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 75
Average Rating:

Bellini - Norma / Maria Callas, Ludwig, Corelli, Zaccaria, Teatro alla Scala, Serafin

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Vincenzo Bellini, Tullio Serafin, Maria Callas, Christa Ludwig, Franco Corelli, Nicola Zaccaria, Piero de Palma

Release Date March 17, 1998
do you people hear callas' voice? it is not even "average" on this recording. her voice had been in decline before this and her worst days ahead can be heard from time to time on this album. i cringe when i hear her mangle so many high notes. however, as is often the case with a callas recording, the rest of the cast is excellent, allowing one to overlook her less glaring faults.
her interpretation is, as always, impeccable and she was probably a sight to see on stage... but the voice is going here and nearly gone. if you must have callas, at least get the earlier mono recording.

CD-Charts Position 76
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Donizetti - La Fille du Régiment / Sutherland, Pavarotti, Malas, Sinclair, ROH Covent Garden, Bonynge

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Gaetano Donizetti, Richard Bonynge, Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Orchestra and Chorus of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Monica Sinclair, Spiro Malas, Eric Garrett, Edith Coates

Release Date October 25, 1990
Ni que decir; Joanine hace toda una verdadera creación inigualable de la Marie!!; como si fuera escrita para ella; que manera de cantar por Dios; en 1968 en la cúspide de los años "vocalmente angeliacal"; rol trágico-cómico de "happy end" que marca el antes y depués de Joan Sutherland; que decir del magistral binomio Sutherland-Pavarotti, el más perfecto y eficaz en la historia de la ópera!; Joanine muestra una caraterización simplemente "perfecta" vocal e histriónicamente; su voz en la mejor forma, bien temperada, sin excesos, de forma, cuerpo y color perfectos; el maravilloso Tonio de Pavarotti, con una magna interpretación sin mancha y elocuente, con una voz técnicamente corregida 2 años atrás por la propia Joan, bien impostada, bien engolada, con dominio del fiatto ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 77
Average Rating:

Kiri

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Kiri Te Kanawa, Giacomo Puccini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Frideric Handel, George Gershwin, Giuseppe Verdi, Paul McCartney, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Marie-Joseph Canteloube, Gustave Charpentier

Release Date November 20, 2001
A terrific album by a great singer. This album represents the considerable territory that Kiri Te Kanawa covers in here repertoire. She moves easily from Handel to Puccini to Jerome Kern. The insertion of classic show tunes as a part of this CD is a nice little plus. Some opera stars absolutely kill popular music by overwhelming it with operatic technique (listen to Richard Tucker singing "What now my love"; this is a pleasant little tune, but it can't stand up to Tucker's voice of steel, using all the power at his command). Te Kanawa sings these songs, for the most part, nicely and does not overpower them with operatic conventions.

She does a wonderful job on Handel's "Let the bright seraphim," displaying good coloratura technique, as a matter of fact. This cut nicely illustrates ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 78
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11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Anonymous 4

Release Date September 09, 1997
As I have said in previous reviews about Anonymous 4, the group does perhaps the best interpretation of the ancient Chants that I have heard. This CD is no exception. It is arranged, as is fitting, into a semi-liturgical format, which means that each chant is serving a real function similar to that which it would have done in its own time. The voices are beautiful; the chants are beautiful. What more could you ask? I would caution, though, if you have ZERO appreciation for antiquity and the austerity of the original chants, this CD will not be for you. It has no instrumetation and interprets the neumes quite simply, letting St. Hildegard's beautiful words and melody make their mark without a whole lot of funny business. Thank goodness.
As a member of a chant schola, the only problem with CD's like this is ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 79
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On Yoolis Night: Medieval Carols & Motets

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Anonymous 4, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Johanna Rose

Release Date September 01, 1993
I have 13 of their CD's . This one is the best . Four exquisite voices , painstaking research , facinating liner notes , all of their music has this in common . What sets this apart is the clairity of the recording . Each of these ladies have amazing voices that come alive with a good set of speakers . All of the reverberations and harmonics are there , and in phase . Turn it up and listen to the crispness of each voice on every note . This is one of my favorite CD's of all time .

CD-Charts Position 80
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The Very Best of Beniamino Gigli

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

Release Date September 02, 2003
I bought this compilation along with "The Very Best of Franco Corelli" because of the low price tag. I was highly anticipating Corelli's superpowered renditions of my favorites but it turns out that THIS compilation was the better shopping decision. Though Gigli seems to add certain inflections and high notes in places where one wouldn't normally expect, he makes it seem as if the songs were written that way(maybe they were). Gigli's voice soars above the outdated recording equipment used to capture it. He sings with sweetness and power, a rare combination. The religious and italian party songs are gems and the "Nessun Dorma" is done well even though he was at the end of his career. Gigli is always called "a worthy successor to Caruso" or "the best since Caruso". After hearing this compilation I don't know why he is not ... Read More: