Christmas Choral Spectacular, A [DVD Audio] - Bournemouth Symphony Chorus & Orchestra

Advantages: This is a recording containing excellent content, with wonderful sound quality due to top-notch recording technique, and the presence of stellarly talented artists.
Disadvantages: It is often disappointing to be listening to a wonderful piece of music only to discover that merely a portion of the piece is contained on the recording.

...This is an eclectic and, at the same time, fascinating recording. It contains some of the more interesting repertoire of one of the USA's most famous and talented symphony orchestras, along with an assortment of conductors long-attached to the CSO. In short, my favorite piece among all of those contained in this collection, is the Mahler Symphony No. 8. For anyone who knows this piece, they will be more than pleased by this performance. The conducting, orchestra playing, choral singing and preparation, and soloist singing is almost unmatched. Especially notable is the performance of the Mater Gloriosa, a somewhat thankless role, performed especially beautifully by soprano Jann Jaffe. Of course, anyone who knows the piece cannot help but be drawn to this music. This famous "Symphony of a Thousand" is a masterpiece whose listening... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Some hugely effective underscore cues that bring a lot of dramatic gravitas the music needs
Disadvantages: As a final Star Wars score by Williams it misses it's mark in the end

...in "Grievous Speaks to Lord Sidious"; and even appropriate themes for the Emperor, Luke and Leia, the Death Star, and Yoda are unusually underplayed or are missing entirely. As mentioned previously, the primary new theme in Revenge of the Sith is "Battle of the Heroes," an epic, choral heavy piece written for the climactic lightsaber battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan. The concert version of the theme has already been circulated widely as a music video in the manner of "Duel of the Fates" (a trend sadly omitted for "Across the Stars") and is on itself a spectacularly effective theme. It opens with a turbulent string figure to which the brass and choir augment a more drawn-out melody with trumpets and horns surging above the other elements. The main contrast in the cue comes in the form of a quotation of the Force theme near the end before... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Choral Symphony
Disadvantages: Nothing

...On the first time, The Nineth Symphony of Beethoven is kwoning like "Choral Symphony" because in the foursth and the last movement it is singing by a Tenor, Baritone, Soprano and Messo Soprano Voices with a Choral Voices that they are singing in another way the "joy song". This symphony (the last one) of Beethoven was released the May 7th of 1821 when he was a deaf person, so he never could listen his composition years at 3 or 4 years after Beethoven died. So it was his last composition, been for me the best compousers. In the first movement of this Symphony "Allegro ma non troppo" begining with the introduction of wind instrument like oboe and the violas and violin continues the music and then continues with this music specially the wind instrument with a hard musical notes that it is characteristic of this 15 minutes music... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful