Classical > Bellini, Vincenzo Classical > Vocal & Choral > by Orchestra / Ensemble

Pavarotti at his very best

Advantages: Young/Prime Pavarotti in core repertoire in brilliant stereo sound
Disadvantages: Very little

...(not a big figure in Pavarotti's career but beautifully sung) and Puccini with Nessun Dorma taking pride of place. The inclusion of Italian songs is good fun and very well sung, listen to the high notes in the mattinata, but there are not any of pavarotti's collaborations with celebrities like Sinatra etc which for me is a major plus but to others may be a bit of a let down depending how much you enjoy his 'pop' music output. His major early success ...
...regiment and Rodolfo in La Boheme the role he debuted in in very early 1960s. The roles are lyrical (Nemorino in Elisir d'amore) , middle weight (Boheme, Tosca) and quite heavy roles (Radames in Aida) so there is a good variety of work, probably the lyrical is more succesful but that is really just my preference (probably relates to the fact I like bel canto music which he sang so well in the 60s and 70s - A te o cara by the way is probably the finest ...

operalover2000 01.01.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Pavarotti's Greatest Hits

The Ultimate Classical Box

Advantages: Large variety of music
Disadvantages: none

I bought this bos set of 5 CDs from Asda for £5, what a bargain. I'm not usually a classical music fan, but it is great as backbround music for the class of children I teach, plus provides lots of inspiration for Art and Drama. The set contains 5 CDs. The first is classical favourites, most people will know a few from this disk which has 16 tracks. The 2nd disk is Classical Chillout and is all music that is fairly slow, soft and relaxing. This also ...
...16 of them. The 4th has only 11 tracks of Romantic classics, and the 5th has 16 tracks again titled tracks from the movies. I was very surprised to see music such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings on this album! So there are a total of 75 tracks to listen to, which I have done all in a row so I cant say what the total running time is, but there is a track for everyone on this album. I find it particularly useful as most classical ...

naughtyangel69 02.05.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of (The) Ultimate Classical Box

A proper journey into emotional Classical Music

Advantages: A decent collection of varied music
Disadvantages: Several 'sections' of music

I am myself a fan of music that particularly illuminates deeper aspects of ourselves; something that makes us 'think', or, as the back of this CD box says, 'uplifting, spine-tingling classical music'. How could I possibly go wrong with this? The answer is; I haven't. This is a lovely CD, the recordings are, if not beautifully clear, crisp and refreshed. The pieces are well played and some interpretations- for instance the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto ...
...beautiful I have heard. This CD obviously lacks the massive buying power of larger compilation producers but through this it has found less well-known, more abstract performers that tend to push a far deeper message through their music. The tracks are well-laid out and sourced; from the opening track of Sunrise from Also Sprach Zarathrustra by R. Strauss to the closing The Lamb by Tavener you feel as though you are not just listening to music, ...

sjmog 04.11.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Euphoric Classics - Classical High

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
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
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
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Requiem - Classical Music for Reflection & Meditation