Classical > Bellini, Vincenzo Classical > Munich Radio Orchestra

Does exactly what it says on the tin!

Advantages: easy to find the piece of music you want
Disadvantages: maybe too familiar for the expert listener

...I have begun to explore the world of opera, deciding to inject a little culture in my life! My uncle had definitely been listening to my interests as this CD was one of the great gifts I had. It is a double disc album, cleverly titled 'The Only Opera Album You'll Ever Need! And I can honestly say that this may be a very true claim! Only the most famous arias are included on these cds, covering many composers including Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, ...
...with the place you'll recognise the song from, such as the British Airways advert, the films Fatal Attraction and Moonstruck and the Baileys tv advert. This is extremely helpful for those times when you just can't place where you know a song from. In my house this has also settled many arguments about which composers feature on which advert! The songs are beautifully performed by Luciano Pavarotti, Lesley Garrett, Placido Domingo and many other ...

fluffyfreak 08.01.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Only Opera Album You'll Ever Need, Volume 2

A Memorable Portrait of Vesselina Kasarova

Advantages: Kasarova's personal touch. Virtuosic without showing off
Disadvantages: She doesn't keep singing forever

...sung by the Bulgarian mezzo Vesselina Kasarova, and beautifully accompanied by maestro Friedrich Haider and the Munich Radio Orchestra/ Chorus of the Bavarian Radio. Vesselina Kasarova is known for her multi-coloured deep and melancholy voice (a very distinctly identifiable one at that!) and her interpretative intensity. Every note that she sings is a part of the story she is telling. Her florid coloratura (virtuoso decoration of the main melodic ...
...is a dream singer for anyone who likes drama and theatrically involved singing..... and she doesn't compromize any legato line to achieve it. Like her idol, WA Mozart, this gal can operate within the boundary while generating a singing experience that transcends it. The tracks included are: 1. HANDEL: Rinaldo: Or la tromba in suon festante 2. GLUCK: Orfeo ed Euridice: Che faro senza Euridice 3. MOZART: Le nozze di Figaro: Voi che sapete che cosa ...

EpinionSmorg 14.04.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Vesselina Kasarova: Famous Mezzo Arias

No tenors here.

Advantages: Wonderful music and 2 top artists
Disadvantages: One or two items are a bit long

...the operatic field there is no doubt that tenors are more popular than other male singers, partly because the composers usually used the tenor voice as a vehicle for his most beautiful tunes and the tenor is usually the hero in opera (with a few exceptions) This album by two of Americas greatest post war singers has been long awaited by opera enthusiasts. Samuel Ramey is one of the greatest bass singers in recent years. He can sing most of the bel-canto ...
...singing. Thomas Hampson too is a very important baritone and Lieder singer of some repute. This CD is interesting in that they chose certain duets that are not well known (Cimarosa "Il Matrimonio Segreto" and Donizetti's "Marino Faliero" ) The "Attila " duet is a bit disappointing as Hampson sounds very bland on it ; not like the rebellious Roman he should be. Ramey is usually predictable with his villain roles but here he is not the usual "devil" ...

tomo7 01.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of No Tenors Allowed

Sumptuous works by a little-known composer

Advantages: Good recordings of unfamiliar, but rewarding works
Disadvantages: None

Karlowicz is a relatively unknown composer whose chief claim to fame was his untimely death in a skiing accident just before the First World War. He left a small collection of works, the later of which (figured in this disc) show a talent that was tragically snuffed out before he could achieve greatness. The Symphonic Poems featured here reveal a composer adept at interesting orchestral effects (try the sad theme at the start of the Lithuanian Rhapsody, ...
...writing for the lower-toned instruments of the orchestra. Karlowicz has clearly learnt a lot from Richard Strauss, whose shadow fell across much pre-1914 music, but it often lacks the extrovert quality of the Gernman composer's tone poems; as the inlay notes say, there is a 'brooding' quality to much of this music, particularly evident in the middle sections of these works. Another feature of Karlowicz's writing is his tendency to pick himself up ...

chivhu 15.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Karlowicz: Symphonic Poems Vol 1

Music for Meditation

Advantages: A good introduction to sacred music
Disadvantages: A rather niche album on which those into the genre will find nothing new

...the same. Requiem is subtitled "music for Reflection and Meditation". It takes various well known settings of the requiem mass, together with a couple of other fitting pieces and puts them together in one place. If one is so minded, one should note that this album is NOT a requiem mass. The pieces don't follow in the right order but, having said that, to the knowledgeable, the whole album stands on its own as a good religious set. One of the other ...
...who are less well-known. When one says "requiem" one might think of Verdi or Mozart but here we also have offerings from Spanish composer Lobo (a motet) and the Italian Pergolesi (an extract from his Sabat Mater). I feel that Naxos have really got it right with this compilation. The perfect balance between the known and the unknown is struck with excerpts from the more well known Requiems by Mozart and Verdi featuring more than once meaning ...

CareBear 15.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Requiem - Classical Music for Reflection & Meditation