CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Chant: Music For The Soul

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Decca

Release Date July 01, 2008

This is one of the most beautiful sacred music ever, you reach peace, sublimity in a humble heart.
Please visit Heiligenkreuz when in Vienna, a delightful short trip (try to find out when the Cistercian monks sing in the church) you'll never forget the experience.

Walter M. Reimann
Toronto,Canada

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Andrea Bocelli

Release Date October 30, 2007
Andrea Bocelli has the most honest, believable voice that reaches the listener and raises all kinds of emotions... and he is not always speaking English.....

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Puccini - La Boheme (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series)

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Angela Gheorghiu, Ramon Vargas, Ainhoa Arteta, Ludovic Tezier, Quinn Kelsey
directed by: Nicola Luisotti (Conductor)

Release Date September 16, 2008
Britten - Peter Grimes (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series)

This DVD is a recording of the performance of La Boheme at the Met on April 5/2008 which was transmitted in HD worldwide. The first night was on 3/29th with the same cast, and the reviews in NY papers and the one here by Ivy Lin were based on the the opening night performance, not the one used on this disc. I attended the opening and agree with most of Ms. Lin's observations, i.e.: Vargas ' voice being "lyric,bright,ardent" hitting
the high C in Che Gelida Manina "delicately"; Gheorghiu's aggressiveness and sluttishness, and her being out of sync in her Act1 aria. I do not agree with her claim that Vargas was too chubby and phlegmatic to be a believable Rodolfo, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Four Last Songs

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Decca

Release Date September 16, 2008
This set of glorious performances by Renee Fleming, both the older ones included on the bonus disk and the new ones, especially the new versions of Strauss's Vier Letzte Lieder, seem to me so fine as to be nearly beyond praise. Listening to them, especially after reading some of the more critical comments here, has taken me back some 50 years to when I was a young lad in LA diving into the world of great singing, all on LPs then. There was much discussion in those days about Renata Tebaldi and Maria Callas -- in fact, there was a debate, and sometimes a bitter one, about whether Tebaldi was better than Callas, or Callas better than Tebaldi. (A similar debate was going on over the different sorts of violin playing offered by Francescatti and Heifetz.) ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Four Last Songs

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Decca

Release Date September 16, 2008
It says something sad about the current state of opera recordings that Renee Fleming hasn't been given a complete Strauss role on disc beyond Daphne, not the Marschallin or Ariadne. As evidenced here, she is uniquely gifted to assume those roles, as well as to sing Strauss's orchestral songs. Compared to her 1995 version with Eschenbach (BMG), the new one marks a quantum leap in artistry. Fleming won a Guggenheim fellowship to study in Germany as a young singer, I believe, and her ability to find meaning in Hesse's poetry is impresive. I think only Schwarzkopf surpasses her in that regard. And Fleming can spin out a long pianissimo better than anyone since Caballe in her prime.

Thielemann is also a much finer conductor than Eschenbach. He and his ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Luciano Pavarotti: The Best (Farewell Tour)

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Decca

Release Date September 13, 2005
I don't know of too many that would give fewer than five stars to Luciano Pavarotti. What an amazing voice...we are fortunate to have been part of one man's unbelievable talent!

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

One Chance

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Paul Potts

Release Date September 18, 2007
Best I have ever heard....I am 72 (USA) Wonderful.
There are not enough adjectives to give Paul Potts
the credit he deserves. Makes my heart happy and my eyes leak.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Italia

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Chris Botti

Release Date September 25, 2007
This CD is seductive, romantic, beautiful and timeless. I was a fan of Chris Botti before, but now I'm a disciple.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Luciano Pavarotti: Life in Seven Arias

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Luciano Pavarotti
directed by: Luciano Pavarotti

Release Date November 18, 2008
This CD is seductive, romantic, beautiful and timeless. I was a fan of Chris Botti before, but now I'm a disciple.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Adams: Doctor Atomic

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Finley, Rivera, Owens, Fink, Maddalena
directed by: Sellars;Renes

Release Date September 30, 2008
I've held off writing about Dr. Atomic. I've now watched it for the third time and haven't changed my mind. It's a masterpiece. There's no denying some of the power of the score, but it is in the many more introspective moments that I find its most arresting beauty and power.

Gerald Finley - a singer I went nuts for as Papageno nearly 20 years ago, still has a marvelously appealing boyish handsomeness that suits this role to a tee. This could be the role of his career so far. The voice is in absolutely peak condition, one of the most beautiful baritones singing today (in my opinion) with a winning combination of brightness, mellowness, one of the most even-sounding vibratos of any singer today and a light rich quality that simply gleams. His body was made for the stage, ... Read More: