Andrea Bocelli is a great new talent when it comes to tenor voices, and this is another excellent album. He does more than justice to the three versions of 'Ave Maria' here (including one which wasn't familiar to me), and altogether this is a very appealing choice of arias to listen to during a quiet evening by the fire or - my choice - at full volume in the car! The inclusion of a couple of Christmas carols is no doubt because of its original release ...
Advantages: Some great music Disadvantages: Compilations!
...on? I don't think Classic FMs listeners are quite ready for that yet. The track list for the Opera is:
1. Delibes: Flower Duet (Lakmé) 2. Rossini: Largo al Factotum (Barber of Seville) 3. Puccini: Nessun Dorma (Turandot) 4. Dvorak: Song to the Moon (Rusalka)
5. Bizet: Au Fond du Temple Saint (The Pearl Fishers)
6. Bellini: Casta Diva (Norma)
7. Puccini: Che Gelida Manina (La Boheme)
8. Mascagni: Easter Hymn (Cavalleria Rusticana)
9. Bizet: ... ...(Madame Butterfly)
12. Verdi: Celeste Aidi (Aidi)
13. Mozart: La ci darem la mano (Don Giovanni)
14. Verdi: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Nabucco)
15. Puccini: O mio Babbino Caro (Gianni Schicchi)
The Opera CD is probably my least listened to of the three, not because I dislike Opera, to the contrary I love it, but after all I have said about background music I tend to use the CD's when we have people round and Opera is not everyone's cup of ...
Advantages: An excellent introduction to Classical Music Disadvantages: None
This is a companion set to Naxos' "The A~Z of Opera" (previously reviewed.. It follows the same format and is an ideal compilation for people who are new to classical music as well as classical music buffs. It contains a double CD with two and a half hours of classical music (as you would expect) and a 562 page book (not quite as thick as the Opera one) compiled and written again by Keith Anderson.
So what's in the pack?
~~ The Book
This contains ... ...same size as a CD and fairly thick. The text is concise and clear and informative, with portraits of composers throughout. After the index you get 450 pages of concise histories of composers, with recommendations of recordings from the Naxos catalogue. It is arranged in alphabetical order, and starts with Adolphe Adam and is completed by Bernd Alois Zimmerman. As well as details about the composer there are sections on the different types of music ...
Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here. Disadvantages: None at all!
As a fantastically talented eighteen-year-old, Anne-Sophie Mutter already awed me with her sensitive and thoughtful eloquence in her 1981 recording of the Brahms violin concerto (with Herbert von Karajan directing the Berlin Philharmonic). However, there’s an even deeper understanding in Mutter’s reading of the Brahms piece on this newer disc. This performance was taped live at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, New York City, in 1997. Kurt Masur ... ...difference of fifteen years separates the two recordings. In the time between, she married, had children, and then was widowed at a very young age. When Mutter returned to her instrument, she would bring a greater strength, emotional depth and insight to her playing, lending a maturity and assuredness to her performances. I’ve always found a rare, affecting quality in Mutter's distinctive sound. A pure, silvery tone unlike any other flows effortlessly ...
Advantages: I found this so relaxing I did fall a sleep the first time I played it, so it works for me. Disadvantages: Have to say again as I fell asleep the first time I played it I had to play it again, but I guess thats not that much of a disadvantage really.
If like me you like to have a Sunday relaxing with soothing sounds that can transport you anywhere you would rather be, then try this one out. Ok I like to have thos e Sunday moments any day of the week & I found this music brings me those moments.
I loved the pure sounds as they gently build to fill my mind with peace, sounds strange but that is what this music does. There is enough emotion in some of the music to inspire the heart, but most are ... ...to end your day off after a mad boss or raging family, come to think of it... nice item to give your made boss to bring them down, or give the family members that need chilling!.
Nearly 6 hours of chill time, with composers such as: Ralph Vaughan Williams & Alexander Porfir'yevich Borodin; Conducted by: Neville Marriner & Stephen Cleobury; amoung other proformers as: Stephen Hough (Piano); Danielle Millet (Mezzo soprano); Mady Mesplé (Soprano); ...
Package, to drive, nippy, economical, relaible (*)
