Classical > Offenbach, Jacques Classical > Vienna Philharmonic 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

Terrific Selection

Advantages: Golden-age singers in great sound and a good variety of performances
Disadvantages: None

I listen to this CD an awful lot and I am very happy with it. The mixture of French and Italian opera here is excellent. Some of the very best opera singers DECCA have ever had are here, Sutherland, Pavarotti (a lot of Pavarotti), Carreras (rather strained but potent beside Kiri te Kanawa in 1987), Caballe, Freni, Bergonzi all star. Particularly impressive is the duet with Mario del Monaco and Ettore Bastianini from La Forza del Destino which is ...
...but in terrific stereo sound (it is amazing that the recording, the oldest selection on this cd, is from over 50 years ago you simply couldnt tell from the sound. The quality of the stereo is good amongst all the extracts, even the only live performance, Pavarotti and Kiri Te Kanawa in Otello from 1991 with Georg Solti, is free from much background noise. A lot of good singing is brought together here and this proves a invaluable resource for finding ...

operalover2000 01.01.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Great Opera Duets

HISTORY OF TENORS ON ONE CD

Advantages: All the hero's in one
Disadvantages: Mixed sound recordings Sound louder and quieter in places

...first glance you would imagine the CD to be the normal mainstream nonsense with Russell Watson singing Amor ti Vieta, but when looking at the back you do see that this is a quality CD. So lights down low CD player on high and a nice Glass of wine and you are ready for an audio trip through operatic tenor modern history. Track List: (THERE ARE 27 TRACKS IF YOU WANT A SUMMARY OF EACH ONE THEN READ ON OTHERWISE HEAD FOR BOTTOM OF REVIEW) Track 1: O ...
...the Cd. Nothing but quality technique and voice on show here, one of the best renditions you'll ever hear Track 2: Morgenlich leuchtend sung by Peter Anders Not my favourite song and a big jump in quality from the first track but still an adept singer, the first sign that there is going to be a wide variation of voice and style on this record Track 3: Bimba, dagli occh sung by Hedwig von Debicka and Helge Rosvaenge The first Duet we hear on the ...

jameslucjan 19.09.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Greatest Tenors of the 20th Century

RADIO IN A BOX

Advantages: Every tune's a winner
Disadvantages: Nothing new

...Grieg- Peer Gynt (In the Hall of the Mountain King) If you don't know these pieces, then this would be an ideal CD for you if you feel you ought to know what the most commonly known classical pieces are. It could be treated as a mini-course on accepted masterpieces, and the booklet, (minimal, 2 CD-sized sides per CD), gives you a pert selection of related anecdotes to astound your friends with. (For example, Rutter's pick is "A Gaelic Blessing". ...
...as "garlic dressing". Radio 3 would not share this blasphemy with you I'm sure! If you already know all these pieces (and are something of a music buff), don't instantly dismiss this CD. I'm a music graduate and knew almost all of them inside out, and I usually prefer to have "whole" works on CD. But this set does fill a gap- that "I can't decide what I really want to listen to but I want something jolly or that I haven't heard for ages because ...

Tricksty 10.08.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Hall of Fame - The great Composers

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