CD-Charts Position 71
Average Rating:

La Luna

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Sarah Brightman

Release Date August 29, 2000
i bought many of her CDs. this one a pure enjoyment. what can you ask for more in this world? i enjoy playing this album at night because it has the power to bring me to another world where my heart can find a moment peace. LOVE SARAH!!!!

CD-Charts Position 72
Average Rating:

Olivier Messiaen

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Loriad, Bon

Release Date May 27, 2008
In honor of the 100th year of Olivier Messiaen's birth comes this six-disc set of some of his most groundbreaking and beautiful music. The protean composer was one of the 20th century's major visionaries as well as one of its most accessible artists, a claim few other musicians can make. While his output is immense, this box set functions both as a wonderful entry point for those unfamiliar with his work, and a welcome addition to the most ardent Messian fan's collection. An added bonus is the presence of two of the most gifted interpreters of his music: the virtuoso pianist Yvonne Loriod (Messiaen's widow), and legendary conductor/composer Pierre Boulez. The first two discs are devoted to Messiaen's "The Transfiguration of Christ," a monumental ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 73
Average Rating:

R. Strauss - Salome

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Teresa Stratas, Astrid Varnay, Bernd Weikl, Hans Beirer, Wieslaw Ochman
directed by: Götz Friedrich

Release Date July 10, 2007
This is one of the best opera productions I've ever seen. It is so compelling. The singing is superb and the costuming is perfect. I thought it must be a recently recorded piece but was astoninshed to see that it was done in the seventies. I am thrilled to have it in my collection of opera on DVD. Thank you so much.....Albert Kleppe

CD-Charts Position 74
Average Rating:

The Opera Gala: Live from Baden-Baden

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Ramón Vargas, Ludovic Tezier

Release Date January 08, 2008
Do not hesitate to buy this DVD. It is worth every dollar. The four singers really stand out, Netrebko with her angel-like voice, Vargas with a wonderful tenor voice, Garanca as a colorful mezzo and Tezier as a brilliant baritone. Each and every aria are outstandingly sung and when the four of them join to sing both an aria from Rigoletto and from Traviata their voices blend wonderfully. It is one of those treasures that are worth being discovered. Javier from Bariloche

CD-Charts Position 75
Average Rating:

Verdi - Rigoletto / Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, Edita Gruberova, Victoria Vergara, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Riccardo Chailly

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: G. Verdi, Wiener Opera Philharmoniker, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

Release Date July 04, 2006
Pavarotti is in his element. Wixell is OK. I do not see any special qualities in his performance. Gruberova looks and sounds mediocre. Enjoy Pavarotti! R.K.

CD-Charts Position 76
Average Rating:

Britten: Peter Grimes

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Peter Pears, Heather Harper, Bryan Drake, Elizabeth Bainbridge, Owen Brannigan
directed by: Joan Cross, Benjamin Britten

Release Date July 08, 2008
This is the only opera written after Puccini's TURANDOT that I consider to be an opera, let alone a masterpiece. If you enjoy GRIMES, my recommendation is to get this superb telecast plus the one with Vickers. Two very different interpretations that cannot be equalled today in any opera house. Britten wrote GRIMES for Pears so we have that link here as well as Britten's marvelous conducting. Vickers' Grimes is more tragic while Pears is pathetic but both deserve to be seen as two sides of one coin. Picture quality, sound, and supporting cast are top-rate.

CD-Charts Position 77
Average Rating:

Tannhauser

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
starring: Heinz Feldhoff, Gwyneth Jones, Franz Mazura, John Pickering, Robert Schunk

Release Date August 12, 2008
This is a recording of a live performance out of Bayreuth in 1978. Like most (though by no means all) Bayreuth audiences, this one is extraordinarily well-behaved, so coughs at inappropriate times aren't an issue and one gets all the benefits of a live performance without any of the drawbacks. There are curtain calls at the end of every act, but with the advent of the fast-forward button, these are not annoying.

As a warning, the production isn't strictly "traditional": Landgraf and the minnesingers are dressed in Faschist/Nazi style and the Venusberg is reimagined as a sort of opulent prison (Tannhauser looks through the strings of his harp during the overture as if they are prison bars.) Most of the time, though, the production makes sense: ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 78
Average Rating:

Andrea Bocelli: Under the Desert Sky [DVD Included]

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

Release Date November 07, 2006
If I need to listen to something to relax and enjoy, this is the best. The most beautiful songs you will ever listen to.

CD-Charts Position 79
Average Rating:

Beethoven's Wig, Vol. 2: More Sing-Along Symphonies

CD-Charts > Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Rounder / Umgd

Release Date March 16, 2004
My kids absolutely love this. They could listen to it over and over. I like it as well. A great, fun way to learn to love classical music.

CD-Charts Position 80
Average Rating:

Build Your Baby's Brain

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

Release Date August 25, 1998
I simply adore this CD. The compilation is great. It has uplifting moments and soothing moments. My baby is still in the womb and so I can't tell you if the enjoyment is there or not but I heard they can hear from in there and it seems very serene for now. I'd love a sequel.