Classical > Gounod, Charles (François) Classical

Quite a versatile album, if not totally so.

Advantages: Good packaging, good performances.
Disadvantages: Not the artist's strongest performance.

Jonas Kaufmann isn't an Italian singer. He owns a large, dark lyrical tenor voice bordering on 'spinto'. Many of the tracks in this album feature Italian operatic arias that could only be termed his 'second best' (his best lies with German composers like Schubert, Strauss, Mahler, Mozart et al). Even so, this album offers considerable joy to the listener since Kaufmann owns not only a sizeable and expressive instrument, but also owns considerable ...
...these recordings. You may find his voice not entirely Verdian or Puccinian, but his interpretation of works of this genre is more than acceptable. The best tracks on this album are those arias from French operas. Kaufmann's French and Italian are both idiomatic, as well as his English, considering that his native tongue is German. Of these foreign languages, he is strongest in French. For lovers of French opera, the arias by Massent, Bizet et al ...

shinabel 26.06.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Jonas Kaufmann - Romantic Arias

The Best Review in the World...Ever!!

Advantages: All the pieces are short
Disadvantages: There are 4 of them

This is a truly awesome collection of the most popular classics. I have to say that it is probably factually correct and thus not questionable under the Trades Description Act. Here are 4, not 3, but 4 CDs packed full with a seemingly endless flow of tunes you will instantly recognise. Now, let's be honest, who will this appeal to? Well not me that's for sure, but here are the top ten reasons why buying this CD collection may be an option for you: ...
...2. You want a quick bluffers guide to classical music so you can impress your mother-in-law at the Proms 3. You are a music teacher and need a resource for the class 4. You are a Classic FM fan 5. You are writing a music quiz and have no other classical CDs 6. You have a short attention span 7. You are buying something posh for your working class granny 8. You can't stand long pieces of classical music 9. You need shiny objects to keep the ...

Rogerbyname 21.06.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of (The) Best Classical Album in the World...Ever!

Best Classical Album in the world

Advantages: Good variety or composers and styles
Disadvantages: no specific interest to one composer

Welcome to the world of Classical Music. If you are a fanatical performer, conductor or an avid listener then this is the product for you. 'The best classical album in the world . . . ever' is exactly what it says it is. This product is best suited to the general listener, rather than the listener with a specific interest in a particular composer. But all will enjoy the variety and class that this Cd offers. Music ranging from all periods of music ...
...for everyone. The selection of moods chosen are hugely varied, from schindlers list with its moving lyrical violin solo to the hallelujah chorus with its triumphant melodies. So whether you want to chill out or to be inspired, this is the collection for you. A bargain at under £10 ...

pdillon91 05.08.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of The Best Classical Album in the World ... Ever!

Voice of an Angel???????

Advantages: Good for upsetting opera lovers
Disadvantages: You could lose the will to live

Some people possess the strangest CDs, don’t they? You wonder why they buy them in the first place and whether they actually listen to them once they own them. Idly browsing through Ciao’s classical music pages, I found that someone had proposed this disc to Ciao; and as I just happen to have a copy in my extensive collection it seemed fitting that I dusted it down and listened to it again – and wrote a review. I freely admit that I listen to it ...
...many high society girls of the time she was given music lessons. She took them seriously and gave her first piano recital at the age of twelve. When she was seventeen she announced her intention to go to Europe and become a professional musician but her father refused to let her go, believing that a woman’s place was in the home. Having a very definite mind of her own she eloped with a Doctor Jenkins, enduring an unhappy marriage until a divorce ...

Floon 06.10.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Glory of the Human Voice-Florence Foster Jenkins

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