CD-Charts Position 1
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42nd Street (2001 Revival Broadway Cast)

Search: Finale Ultimo
by: Al Dubin, Michael Cumpsty

Release Date June 12, 2001
I originally bought this simply because it featured the then down-and-out and now (after "Grey Gardens") legendary Christine Ebersole as faded diva Dorothy Brock. Better casting I could not imagine - and she proves it in her every appearance on this recording. Sadly that's not often.
This cast recording belongs to its ensemble, a brilliant crew of performers who shine in every number. Though this is a cast heavy show with a long line-up of leads and featured players, no one performer dominates this cast recording. You will be astonished at how many numbers credit the participation of the "ensemble" or the "full company". But it has to be said the result is a long line up of soaring numbers that more than live up to the potential of these ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Verdi: Aida Highlights

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from: Gala

Release Date June 06, 2000
This recording has wonderful, clear sound quality, but the performances, and especially the conducting, are not up to par. Jessye Norman sings everything beautifully with rich tone, and sounds magnificent in her two arias, but she is a lifeless Aïda. She pastes on Aïda's emotions. Her portrayal is too shallow. She sang this performance when she was still a lirico-spinto, and not yet a full-blown dramatic soprano. Her soft high notes are pretty, but hardly breathtaking and she cuts some forte high notes short, like the high B-flat on the word "Ah!" in "Ritorna vincitor". Pedro Lavirgen is a squillo-less Radamès. At least he puts a little more emotion into his singing than Norman does. His "Celeste Aïda" is surprisingly effective and well sung. His high ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Verdi: Aida

Search: Finale Ultimo
from: Bella Voce Records

Release Date May 21, 1996
I am personally a fan of Dame Gwyneth Jones in just about anything she sings, and I have to add that her Wagner and Strauss recordings are revelatory gems of music that I consider to be definitive interpretations of the characters. Her Elektra, for example, is simply magnificent in every facet imaginable. You have all the angst, drama, and thrilling vocalization without the camp gestures and vocal effects that lesser Elektras employ in their singing. But that is enough about Elektra. I have heard Gwyneth Jones in some Verdi, particularly a Don Carlo with Prevedi taped in the 60's when Jones was in glorious voice. While her Italian was not idiomatic, it certainly was a regal and sensitive portrayal of the queen with all the needed notes included. She was a magnificent ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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The Sound of Music (1998 Broadway Revival Cast)

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by: Rebecca Luker, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II

Release Date May 19, 1998
I have the movie soundtrack with Julie Andrews, a version with Mary Martin, but this is my favorite because it includes songs not heard in the movie: How Can Love Survive, No Way to Stop It, and Something Good.

CD-Charts Position 5
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Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)

Search: Finale Ultimo
by: Frederick Loewe, Moss Hart, Julie Andrews, Mary Berry, Robert Goulet, Richard Burton, Alan Jay Lerner

Release Date June 02, 1998
Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet. How could you go wrong? They really don't make them like this anymore. Jay Lerner's fantastic songs and a wonderful treatment of T.H. White's "The Once and Future King", one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, this cd is a must have for any fan of great musicals and probably all of us baby-boomers who still remember our country's own Camelot.
"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment That was known as Camelot."

CD-Charts Position 6
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Annie Warbucks (Original Off-Broadway Cast)

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by: Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin

Release Date November 16, 1993
I'm not reviewing this CD for the musical efforts of the people who recorded it. I want you community theatre people to know that this show is absolutely wonderful. The music is great, tuneful, and fun. Our theatre did ANNIE and a year later did ANNIE WARBUCKS. I'd loved both; but I loved the music in ANNIE WARBUCKS more and the story line was interesting. We had a great cast with great singers in our show. Don't be afraid to do this show.

CD-Charts Position 7
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Of Thee I Sing/Let 'em Eat Cake (1987 Studio Recording)

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from: Sony

Release Date October 25, 1990
Honestly, I absolutely cannot understand why these 2 masterpieces by the Gershwins are not part of standars musical repertoire, given the great qualities of the music and the immortal lucidity of the satire of the american political intitutions.
Waiting for the next great revival of these shows, Sony should AT LEAST reissue these recordings, which, in spite of the absence of spoken dialogues, are markstones of American musical theater.

CD-Charts Position 8
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Rossini: Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra

Search: Finale Ultimo
from: Opera Rara UK

Release Date October 08, 2002
This recording of Elisabetta treats the opera with complete attention to every lovely detail and nuance. The previous recording of note, featuring Caballe and mentioned by some of the other reviewers, has very competent singing but is seriously deficient as far as recording engineering and overall interpretation are concerned. The new recording treats the opera as a masterpiece; you hear every nuance of both voices and orchestra in a beautifully balanced, perfectly paced performance, with a conductor who reacts with exceptional sensitivity to every one of Rossini's many shifts in mood and color. The engineering (and possibly the conducting, it's hard to tell) of the older recording reduces the orchestra to a mushy background, with a very annoying, artificial sounding separation of soloists and orchestra, ... Read More: