Chi-Congo - Art Ensemble Of Chicago (The)

Advantages: The Original London Revival in all its glory
Disadvantages: Confusing if you haven't seen the show

...I purchased this CD fairly cheap, having not seen the show and when I first listened to it, I didn't warm to it much, so it stayed unplayed for a long while. Then I went and saw the touring production of Chicago and it suddenly started to make sense. I got the CD out, dusted it off and tried again and it was a much more rewarding experience. This CD and the production from which it comes is a lot different to the recent Chicago movie. The songs are the same (aside from the additions), but the style of it is much darker and more sinister and this is reflected in the music on this CD. I don't know why this should be, but the music featured here is just a bit more menacing. A lot of the credit for this fine CD (alongside Kander and Ebb) goes to Ruthie Henshall and Ute Lemper who positively sparkle as Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very good price, brilliant quality of performance and recording
Disadvantages: None to note

...There are moments in 'The Art of Fugue' that are much more valuable than just its incredible virtuosity. There are moments that surpass everything else that Bach wrote. I can't think of anything that moves me more deeply than the last fugue, the unfinished fugue. Not just because of all the emotional, sentimental views that we inevitably bring to it, not because we know that he died while half way through a bar. But because that last fugue has a sense of peace, that even for Bach, seems completely overwhelming. It's a still a serious world, deserted and rigid and without colour and without light and without motion. This piece reaches hundreds of years into the future. It creates an impression of an infinitely expanding universe. He literally signs his own name - by using the notes Bb A C B (H) for the theme - to the work he... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Awesome playing and musicianship. Easy listening.
Disadvantages: Perhaps not for the 'purist' folk music lover.

...In this, their first CD, Roby Lakatos (violin) and his Ensemble (consisting of piano, guitar, cymbalon, double bass, and another violin) take their listeners on an exhilarating journey through a variety of gypsy-inspired musical styles. Their flair, charm and sensitive musicianship are apparent from the first note to the last. Described as the ‘nonconformist of the violin’, Roby Lakatos was born into a family of Hungarian gypsy violin traditions dating back to the time of Beethoven! Being a nonconformist in every sense however, he has taken these traditions and moulded them to achieve his own unique musical voice. The incorporation of a guitar and piano into his gypsy ensemble for instance, are certainly not typical instruments of this genre. This CD, entitled simply ‘Lakatos’, consists of 13 tracks (see below for track... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful