CD-Charts Position 181

The Only Choral CD You'll Ever Need

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: RCA

Release Date March 06, 2001

CD-Charts Position 182
Average Rating:

Mendelssohn: Complete Choral Works [Box Set]

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Brilliant Classics

Release Date April 04, 2006
I've always thought Mendelssohn's sacred choral music (other than "Elijah") was unfairly overlooked by the classical music world. As a choral enthusiast as well as a huge fan of Mendelssohn, I was tremendously excited to come across this release. And I was not disappointed. The Chamber Choir of Europe sounds gorgeous in both the accompanied and a cappella pieces, delivering the elusive combination of vocal richness, impeccable blend, and precise intonation. Nicol Matt definitely leans more toward Romantic rather than Classical interpretations of these works, but the performances never feel "out of control,"--just warm, passionate and expressive. The soloists also sound terrific for the most part, and the orchestra playing is very fine as well. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 183
Average Rating:

Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire - Lied der Waldtaube - Erwartung / Minton, J. Martin, J. Norman, Zukerman, Harrell, Barenboim; Boulez

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
by: Arnold Schoenberg, Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez, Jessye Norman, Yvonne Minton, Daniel Barenboim, Lynn Harrell, Michel Debost, Antony Pay, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Janis Martin

Release Date July 13, 1993
I have a Boulez recording of the Pierrot Lunaire that I recorded on tape from a friend's Lp in 1979. I don't know anything about this lp, except that it is a Boulez's direction, but I think that it is an earlier version of this 1977 recording. The "sprechstimme" is realized better than the De Gaetani recording, obviously better than this '77 Boulez recording (here the reciter sing, and the Pierrot sould absolutely not be sung) and much better than the 1997 recording with Christine Schafer, who sing and often seems, I don't know how to say, almost like a "strangled hen"!... If anybody knows if this recording (my earlier Boulez recording on tape) is available on cd please tell us!!!

CD-Charts Position 184
Average Rating:

James Galway ~ Meditations

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
by: Jules Massenet, George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Tomaso Albinoni, Giovanni Pergolesi, Baldassare Galuppi, Johann Pachelbel, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Romano Antonio Piacentino, Antonio Vivaldi, Claude Debussy, John [composer] Field, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Joaquin Rodrigo, Sergey Rachmaninov, Fryderyk Chopin, Christoph Willibald Gluck, John Georgiadis, James Galway, Jorg Faerber, Claudio Scimone, Claudio Schimone, David Measham, Michael Tilson Thomas, Eduardo Mata, Charles Gerhardt

Release Date May 19, 1998
Ok people. I ordered this from Oct. 13 and NOw it's Nov. 3. I still didnt' get it. They told me it's gonna be delayed until the 14... I'm rating this only a one star not because SIR James Galway isn't a great flutist, but it's Amazon's crappy service and lack of interest.

CD-Charts Position 185
Average Rating:

Franz Schmidt: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln [Hybrid SACD]

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Chandos

Release Date April 29, 2008
I know only one other recording of Franz Schmidt's 'The Book with Seven Seals', and it has served me well for many years: Dimitri Mitropoulos leading the Vienna Philharmonic with absolutely first-class soloists Anton Dermota, Fritz Wunderlich, Hilde Gueden and Walter Berry, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival in the early 1960s. It is a stunning performance but the recorded sound is now dated. Frankly I never sought out another recording of this towering work. But now there are a number of newer recordings -- among them those led by Franz Welser-Möst, Fabio Luisi and Nikolaus Harnoncourt -- and thus, having not heard them, my review of this 2CD set conducted by Kristjan Järvi will necessarily be lacking comparisons. The present recording is compiled from two ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 186
Average Rating:

Albinoni: Adagio; Pachelbel: Canon

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date January 18, 1991
I have found that the performance style of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (OCO) typically coincides exactly with my personal preferences; it is certainly the case with this compilation. Specifically, I feel that OCO strives diligently to provide the emotional experience that the composer intended when the piece was written. One of my favorite pieces in the classical repertoire is track 3 - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and I have heard at least a dozen professional performances of it, both live and recorded. Most orchestras perform it with a very slow tempo, and give the piece an almost depressing mood. In contrast, the OCO presentation has a fairly quick pace and uplifting character, which I believe represents the original intent for the cantata. I found each ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 187
Average Rating:

As Steals the Morn: Handel Arias & Scenes for Tenor

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Harmonia Mundi (France)

Release Date June 12, 2007
I happened upon this recent CD based on nothing else other than the recent glut of Handel vocal recitals being offered on CD (that are literally unavailable anywhere else except via websites). Other reviewers here have already covered the merits and the less than favorable aspects of Mr. Padmore's singing. I found his voice attractive, musical, and beautifully produced. It is obviously not an instrument that will fill a large opera house or knock down the scenery at Bayreuth, but I haven't listened to this enjoyable a singer in a very long time. A very pleasant experience and highly recommended.

CD-Charts Position 188
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Handel - Theodora / Daneman, Croft, Taylor, Galstian, Berg, Slaars, Les Arts Florissants, Christie

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Erato

Release Date September 23, 2003
It's a tough choice.
Both William Christie's and Paul McCreesh's Theodora are great.

I think McCreesh's performance is more idiomatic, the choir is better disciplined and the playing and singing overall a tad more controlled and precise.
But Christie is livelier, more dramatic and at times more subtle and elegant too.

They both use different tempi for certain chorals and airs.
The chorus "Come mighty father" for instance is taken more rapidly and rhythmic by McCreesh.
Christie is slightly more timid and 'vocal' and I prefer it that way, his "Come mighty father" is 'lovely' where McCreesh's is 'jolly'

Theodora's air "With darkness deep as is my woe" is taken dramatically broader by McCreesh and I like it better ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 189
Average Rating:

Leonard Bernstein Conducts Haydn (Collectors Edition)

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date May 11, 2004
One of the remembered joys of my college days was encountering Bernstein's joyos "Creation" and Paris symphonies when they first came out in the Sixties. He brought extraaordinary inner life to all the Haydn he conducted from that period, and when he moved on to his second phase in Europe, Bernstein remained faithful to the composer. This bargain box collects all his later recordings on DG, but good as they are, all run second-best to their New York predeccesors. LB made the mistake of trying to turn Haydn into a more "important" composer, losing more than he gained in the process.

This "Creation" has its high points, but it's nowhere close to the earlier recording for effervescence and drama. Everything is smoothed out, and the soloists possess voices that are all ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 190
Average Rating:

America's Choir

CD-Charts > Music > Oratorios
by: Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Release Date July 13, 2004
I happen to be a fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, so I couldn't be happier with this CD!