Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum - I'll be back when its finished!
Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum - I'll be back when its finished!
Member since:24.08.2003
Reviews:93
Members who trust:73
Imagine bringing all the true classic greats onto one album; Vanessa Mae, Nigel Kennedy, Pavarotti, Leslie Garrett, Paul McCartney (no you didn't misread that last one) It should be the most phenominal album of all time, all these great names on 2 CDs, and in places it is, but there are some really odd, weird choices on this album that completely spoil it for me and in my opinion create an opportunity missed.
The album opens with the amazing Ave Maria sung by Bocelli this piece always gives such a fantastic feeling of calm and serenity and always lifts any mood. There are some truly great tracks here and the highlight for me is Vanessa Mae performing Bachs Toccata and Fugue in D minor (The piece associated with Dracula movies) This piece is usually played accompanied by a full traditional orchestra or there is a great arrangement for the organ. (I played the organ version at my daughters christening - couldn't resist, much to the disgust of the regular congregation) Vanessa is undoubtable incredibly talented and beautiful and why can't I play like that? (Sorry a touch of my jealous side coming out) she plays this piece with such incredable energy and movement it is
worth buying the whole CD just for this. She has the backing of a modern 'rock' beat and there are even some ibiza style clubbing influences creeping into this arrangement, at one point she inserts a couple of bars of the South Bank Show theme music (paganini) into it. If you are a classical music purist I can guarantee you will hate it, I am not and I love it.
Some of the other truly great tracks on this CD worth a mention are Adiemus, O Sole Mio by the 3 tenors and no recent classic compilation would be complete without John Williams Star Wars theme, there is even the theme music to Inspector Morse but and its a big but, there are some very strange choices for a classical musical CD. The first one that made me do a double take was seeing the name Paul Mccartney and my first reaction was - it must be a different one - sadly its not. Sir Paul wrote a series of mood pieces to accompany a poem, The Standing Stone and the piece on here is called Celebration. Now no one will argue with me when I say that Paul McCartney has been one of the most important influences on todays music scene and has written some truely great music - this is not, in my opinion one of them, It does not inspire or excite me in any way and frankly he should leave classical music alone and stick to what he is good at. It is however the 8th track on the first CD so is a good time to go and put the kettle on.
The next choice that I would have left off is the Monks of Silos singing Puer natus est nobis, I know they are good but in all honesty not really my thing. But as number 11 on the CD the kettle has boiled and I can go and make the tea.
My main gripe with this CD comes in at number 15 on the 2nd CD. 'All that Jazz' from the musical Chicago. Now even the most novice of classical music critic knows the difference between Classic and Jazz, personally I can not even describe it as Classic Jazz. It follows a waltz from Shostakovich so does not in my opinion fit in with the rest of the pieces on the CD. I don't dislike the piece that much but if I had wanted to listen to Jazz that is what I would have bought. My final critisism of the album is that all the really great, famous stuff is on the first disc most people, myself included, enjoy listening to the well know music it is well known because it is good! so why not spread it out. I very rarely listen to disc 2 at all.
I would recommend this CD if you are a fairly heavy classical music fan but if you just enjoy the famous stuff there are other far more suitable CDs out there.
This CD is available from amazon at £15.99 and in their review they mention that there is 'something for everyone' this is probably true but by trying to please everyone they have put in many things that don't. This idea was a great opportunity and I do enjoy listening to the CD but they could have exploited the idea so much better than they did as all of the featured artists have an exiting varied repertoire and they could have easily created an album with an excellent range of high energy and serene music - sadly they only half did.
CD 1
01 Bach/Gounod Ave Maria - BOCELLI 02 Vivaldi Winter 4 Seasons - KENNEDY 03 Puccini turandot Nessun Dorma - PAVAROTTI 04 Delibes duet from Lakmé - GARRETT 05 Toccata and Fugue - MAE 06 Handel Let the Bright Seraphim - TE KANAWA 07 Adiemus - JENKINS 08 Celebration - MCCARTNEY 09 Braveheart - HORNER 10 Di Capua O sole mio - 3 TENORS 11 Puer natus est nobis - MONKS OF SILOS 12 The Piano - NYMAN 13 Vivaldi Nulla in mundo pax sincera - KIRKBY 14 Puccini Che gelida manina - CARRERAS 15 Star Wars - WILLIAMS 16 The Beyondness of things - BARRY 17 Gaudete - MEDIEVAL BAEBES 18 World in union - TERFEL
CD 2
01 Giordano La mamma morta - CALLAS 02 Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending (KENNEDY 03 Cavatina - WILLIAMS 04 Elgar Cello concero - DU PRÉ 05 Caccini Ave Maria - GARRETT 06 Barber Agnus Dei - NEW COLLEGE CHOIR OXFORD 07 Bruch Scottish Fantasy Andante Sostenuto - MAE 08 Myfanwy - TERFEL 09 Inspector Morse - PHELOUNG 10 Pucinni La Boheme O soave fanciulla - ALAGNA ND GHEORGHIU 11 Casta Diva - FILIPPA GIORDANO 12 Rutter The lord is my Shepherd - KINGS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE 13 Chorale 1 (Adiemus II) - JENKINS 14 Shostakovich Waltz no 2 - RIEU 15 All that Jazz (Chicago) - LEMPER 16 Tavener song fof Athene - KINGS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE 17 Byrd Agnus Dei - DOWNSIDE ABBEY 18 Verdi Rigoletto La donne e mobile - PAVAROTTI
Thanks for reading M
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