Bach, CP: Hamburg Sinfonias

Advantages: Rich, creamy vocal; enveloping warmth; text, character alive; facile Baroque ornamentation; impeccable diction; fine Symphony.
Disadvantages: Only over an hour of music here; wanted more!

...If you’ll kindly pardon the gushing tone of this review, the blame for which you can lay wholly on the phenomenal British mezzo-soprano, Sarah Connolly (whom I hereby unofficially dub the operatic Anjelica Huston). Her riveting portrayal of the title character in Glyndebourne’s 2005 staging by David McVicar of Georg Frideric Händel’s ‘Giulio Cesare’ first made this writer into a very interested listener [reviewed here: http://dvd.ciao.co.uk/GiulioCesareHandelThreeDiscsReview5644748]. With this disc, she’s become a full-fledged Connolly fan. This 2004 CD comprises airs (arias) and orchestral sinfonias from four works by Händel, and any Händel/Baroque music or opera/vocal music lover will not regret its acquisition. This disc also heralds Ms Connolly’s superb turn as the aforementioned Giulio Cesare the very next year... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Brilliant, stirring, excitingly unpredictable, fresh performance; "genius" is not hyperbole in Argerich's case.
Disadvantages: Reflecting its LP origins, the CD lasts only 50' 16"!

...statement to the next, even within the very same phrase. You can’t help but give up and surrender completely to the emotional pull and richness of the music. Her control of the keyboard is amazing. Following the emphatic introductory chords in the Grave.Adagio of the Partita’s Sinfonia, listen as Martha drops the volume precipitously, beginning the Andante in a whisper, her notes now light and perfectly balanced. The Sinfonia (Partita) and the Allemandes (Partita and English Suite) mesmerize in they way they gently wash over you like liquid waves. In contrast, she attacks the English Suite Bourées with a relish and vitality that’s positively infectious. She commands your full attention from the first note to the last. She keeps things from growing monotonous and dull, something which can befall Bach’s works in lesser hands, given the somewhat... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Pure anger
Disadvantages: Mixed sound quality

...Somewhat surprisingly this is the Brooklyn bruisers first ever offical live release. Why is this surprising? Because the live forum showcases the band at their most powerful. It is in this arena that we witness them as the masters of crossover metal-core power. Previously I wasn't too much a fan on the band's studio output, primarily because the sterile recording environment has never managed to capture their ferocious angst attck. But that certainly changes in a live scenario. Clocking in a just over an hour, No Holds Barred contains 20 tracks of pure unadultered anger, genuine "wrong side of the tracks" attitude and fury. Recorded in Hamburg earlier this year during their highly successful European tour, the new album really does show how Biohazard are one of the only bands around at the moment who manage to convincingly combinte... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful