CD-Charts Position 131
Average Rating:

Carissimi: Jephte; Jonas

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Naxos

Release Date March 22, 2005
Jephte is easily Carissimi's best-known and most-performed composition, an oratorio in the operatic, declamatory style developed by Monteverdi and others at the beginning of the 17th C. Somehow I remember hearing an LP of it way back in 1958; I can't imagine what that sounded like, but I wasn't impressed. It was pompous, growly, and slow. It amazes me now to think it was even performed, when its musical nature was so poorly understood.

Fortunately, practice does make perfect, or more precisely, informed performance practice makes nearly perfect. This CD from the Italian performers who call themselves Consortium Carissimi is indeed nearly perfect: light and animated, transparent in pitch, sung without modern bullhorn vibrato, beautifully ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 132
Average Rating:

Pachelbel Canon

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Decca

Release Date October 25, 1990
For those of us who appreciate the art of album creation, this CD succeeds in transporting the listener back to the 18th Century to enjoy a concert of period hits. A good album (CD) should present the listener with a journey created to present a mood and or story that the artist wants you to experience, this album succeeds hands down. Enjoy Pachelbel Canon as it was meant to be heard as well as other movements of the same time period that complete your journey to the 18th Century music hall.

CD-Charts Position 133
Average Rating:

A Night With Handel / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Jonathon Keates

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
starring: Handel; Ainsley; Connolly; Bicket
directed by: Alexander Marengo

Release Date November 13, 2007
Candle-lit churches, cabs, and coffeehouses, fountians and bridges, art and architecture - London at night is the backdrop for this fantastic collage of some of Handle's most beautiful operatic arias sung by first-rate artists (Ainsley, Connolly, McFadden, Miles) and interspersed with bits of Handel biography. The idea is to impress us with the universality of Handel - and it works. In an hour-long wander through London streets we encounter a woman disappointed by a blind date ("False Imagine"/Ottone); a knife-wielding man pursued by intimidating thugs ("Al lampo del armi"/Guilio Cesare); an insomniac businessman suffering job-related stress ("Pastorello d'un povero armento"/Rodelinda); and of course the heartbreak of a woman spotting her lover with ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 134
Average Rating:

The Art of Fritz Wunderlich

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date September 13, 2005
Now folks, both of what the two other reviewers wrote about the tragical death of Fritz Wunderlich is wrong. Wunderlich died in hospital at September 17 1966. He had broken his skull, when he fell down the stairs in the hunting-house of a friend. Late in the evening of September 16, Wunderlich, as usual when not at home, had phoned his wife in Munich. He was very tired from strolling through the forest the whole day, making out the ideal locations for the hunt, which should start early in the next morning (Wunderlich was a passionate hunter). After he had wished his wife a good night, he went to the staircase in order to go down to his bedroom at the first floor. He still wore his heavy hunting boots - with open shoestrings! As walking downstairs, Wunderlich ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 135
Average Rating:

40 Famous Marches

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Decca

Release Date February 08, 2000
I was actually looking for The March Of The Gladiators (he famous circus music) When I found this album, but when I read all rest of the program, I knew I had to have it.
Most of the marches are by European composers, although J.P. Sousa is included, but many of the pieces are well known to American audiences as themes from movie, radio, and television shows, even though we don't know their titles.
Together they make a fascinating, lively, and truly entertaining musical show. I love to play this disc while working. It's fun to listen to, and helps set a brisk pace. Another practical use for this disc might be for storeowners to play it in place of muzak during the last hour before closing.(It would gently encourage shoppers to shop quickly and check ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 136
Average Rating:

The Complete Wedding Album

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Telarc

Release Date April 28, 1998
Some of the most beautiful music. Too bad we don't hear it more often than at weddings.

CD-Charts Position 137
Average Rating:

Cecilia Bartoli - Mozart Portraits

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
by: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Cecilia Bartoli, György Fischer, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Ingomar Raimer

Release Date September 13, 1994
If I could own just ONE Mozart recital disc, it would be this one. (Though Renee Fleming's Mozart collection is superb as well). I believe that the two arias for Fiordiligi in COSI FAN TUTTE included here are among Bartoli's very finest recordings to date. But all of the arias on this CD are memorably performed. Please buy "Mozart Portraits"!

CD-Charts Position 138
Average Rating:

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: EMI Classics

Release Date January 25, 2000
Llevaba mucho tiempo tratando de conseguir El Sueño de Geroncio y ha sido la primera vez que he utilizado este servicio. Ha merecido la pena. La grabación es magnífica y es una versión diferente a todas las que había escuchado. La calidad es estupenda aunque sea una grabación que tiene ya unos añitos.

CD-Charts Position 139
Average Rating:

Ultimate Classical Christmas Album of All Time

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Sony

Release Date October 01, 2002
Over and over we played "Die Menge der Engel" - - it is stunningly beautiful! The loftiness of the voices, wonderful.

We loved the boys/children's choruses on many of the other pieces on the album. Duets by Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavorati - - magnifico!

It is a pleasant compilation of traditional favorites and awesome classical pieces that are worth listening to again and again.

CD-Charts Position 140
Average Rating:

Cecilia Bartoli ~ Opera Proibita (Handel · Scarlatti · Caldara) / Les Musiciens du Louvre · Minkowski

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Decca

Release Date September 13, 2005
One can't help but be impressed with the agility in Bartoli's voice. Vocal fireworks! And yet the "Mentre io godo...", "Caldo sangue" and "Lascia la spina..." are so sweet and calming. I consider this CD a must have!