Bach: Cantata Sinfonias and Sonatas

Advantages: Relaxing, serene, dreamy
Disadvantages: The first track is not actual Albinoni

...is a compilation of Albinoni’s slower movements released on the Elektra label on the 24th August 1999. It has a running time of 1 hour 15 minutes and costs £6.99. I purchased my copy from Borders but the CD should be available at most good music shops. The Composer Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni was born on 8th June 1671 in Venice Italy, the eldest son of a wealthy paper merchant. A renowned violinist and composer, he preferred to work “dilettante” rather than seek employment with the church or court. Albinoni married an opera singer, Margherita Raimondi. Apart from this, not much more is actually known of Albinoni's life. In all Albinoni composed 81 operas, 99 sonatas, 59, concertos and 9 sinfonias. However, so much of his musical work has been lost particularly during the latter years of World War II and the bombing of the Dresden State library... 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: Everything you could ever want from a classical CD
Disadvantages: none

.... The Nutcracker - Suite Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky 17. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor Composed by Felix Mendelssohn 18. Cavalleria rusticana Composed by Pietro Mascagni 19. Gloria in D Composed by Antonio Vivaldi 20. Coronation Anthems Composed by George Frideric Handel 21. Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben' Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach 22. Requiem in D minor Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 23. Ave Maria Composed by Charles Gounod 24. Miserere mei Composed by Gregorio Allegri 25. Requiem Composed by Gabriel Fauré 26. Lakmé Composed by Léo Delibes 27. Les contes d'Hoffmann Composed by Jacques Offenbach 28. Pavane Composed by Gabriel Fauré 29. Gianni Schicchi Composed by Giacomo Puccini 30. Madama Butterfly Composed by Giacomo Puccini 31. Nabucco Composed... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful