CD-Charts Position 191
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Tallis: Spem in alium · Latin Church Music /Taverner Consort & Choir · Parrott

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Virgin Veritas

Release Date August 04, 2003
As a fervent atheist, I was move greatly by the sheer depth of devotion reflected in this music. A conversation of a profound nature is started across the short chasm of four and a half centuries.
I was exposed to later choral music as a schoolboy (particularly Byrd- Tallis' protege) but never felt so overwelmed.
Other recordings may be technically superior, but this is great value.

CD-Charts Position 192
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Fauré: Requiem

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Naxos

Release Date December 31, 1993
This edition is amongst my very favourite choral recordings. The simplicity of Fauré's original score (as opposed to the great orchestral rendering he was made to write by his publisher) shows typical Fauré at work - great harmonic language and melody through the simplest of means - compare this with his D minor Piano Trio Op.120. There is so much more to it than Classic FM would have you think!

The performances are excellent, as one would hope from this great choir from Oxford, and the acoustic of Hertford College Chapel suits perfectly. The supplementals of the Messe Basse, some organ works and also de Severac's now-popular Tantum ergo (no doubt aided by this fine recording) add to what is a very good recording at an astonishing price! ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 193
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Glass: Violin Concerto

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Naxos

Release Date April 03, 2000
Glass's violin concerto is pleasant and immediately accessible. But, Glass's music is all very similar; its as if there is a number of ideas which get continously re-cycled. To my mind, Adams' concerto is stronger

CD-Charts Position 194
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Bach - Well-Tempered Clavier

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Hyperion

Release Date August 28, 2007
Having heard Angela Hewitt play the 48 Preludes and Fugues during her recent World Tour, I could not resist this CD set. Her playing is precise, intimate, thoughtful and bright - she extracts all the colours from each pair and the voices of each fugue are crystal clear. The music speaks for itself. This is as near perfect a performance as I have ever heard.

CD-Charts Position 195
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The Platinum Collection

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
by: Karl Jenkins

Release Date March 19, 2007
I bought this triple CD collection after borrowing the "Requiem" CD from a local library and really enjoying it. Containing as it does not only the Requiem and (very different) the first "Adiemus" volume but also "The Armed Man", I found it an excellent introduction to Karl Jenkins' music. The "Requiem" CD also includes Jenkins' rich "In These Stones Horizons Sing" evocation of Wales - a great bonus. Whilst there are tracks on each CD that I don't really respond to, there is much that I really enjoy and - at the time of writing at least - was able to buy the collection at an astonishingly low bargain price.

CD-Charts Position 196
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Chopin: Nocturnes and Ballades

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Double Decca

Release Date July 07, 1997
I don't think anyone could argue with Vladimir Ashkenazy's ability to perform Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev or Scriabin with great eloquence and passion. He seems so at home in that repertoire.
However, when placed in the entirely more intimate environment of Chopin he really doesn't seem to know what to do. His waltzes are bland and sound just like encore pieces with little or no real expression, his mazurkas are just too dull.
In Ashkenazy's hands the etudes do sound wonderful, however, and I like his recordings of the polonaises also, and the scherzi and ballades.
This recording of the nocturnes falls somewhere in the middle. However, the Nocturnes really are one of the cornerstones of piano music and there are many much better recordings to be had, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 197
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Various: Russell Walton - Reprise

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Universal Classics

Release Date November 18, 2002
I have already reviewed REPRISE but I just had to make comment on the new U.S. version. It is WONDERFUL . RUSSELL has co-wrote 4 NEW songs. They are IMMENSO SOGNO,TUTTO SEI PER ME, ALL OR NOTHING and DID YOU EVER. The "VOICE" is sensuous and intimate and every time I hear these songs I am in absolute BLISS. If it was on sale in the U.K. it would be flying off the shelves. If you get the chance buy it ,you will not regret it. The 4 new songs are worth the price of the CD. alone. THIS is RUSSELL at his very best..... Sandy.

CD-Charts Position 198
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Waiting for the Barbarians

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
by: Philip Glass

Release Date May 26, 2008
While not up to the dizzying standards of his best opera, 'Akhnaten', or other great recent work, such as the sublime 'Book of Longing', this is still a powerful work. Where the opera falls down is in the rather prosaic, leaden scoring for the lead voices (a common flaw in Glass's recent, more narrative operas), but the composer more than makes up for this with his ecstatic choral writing and adept instrumental orchestration. While not Glass's finest work, this flawed work still packs a wallop - dark, shimmering and trascendent, this is minimalism at its best and again underlines Glass's position as the world's greatest living composer.

CD-Charts Position 199
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Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Cello Concerto No. 1

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Theta

Release Date September 17, 2001
I've never written a review before, but my listening to this CD after I bought it earlier has compelled me to do so!

This recording of three truly great solists, Yo Yo Ma, André Previn and Leonard Bernstein, is simply fantastic. The amazing work of Shostakovich is given a new lease of life by these contemporary performers, who definitely breathe into it new life.

Typically, Shostakovich's cello music is attributed to Rostropovich, but I think Yo Yo Ma's interpretation of this - his edgy sound - is something to rival even him.

This is definitely a CD you'll want to play on loud - the orchestral clarity and recording quality is simply divine.

CD-Charts Position 200
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Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Venture

Release Date May 15, 1995
I was first introduced to Adiemus through the realm of advertising, as was most of the world. I did not know then that the music was available to buy, until I heard it on the radio. I noted down the title (unfortunately I did not hear the composer) and bought the album not entirely sure if I had made a good purchase or even if it was the same as I wanted. When I listened to it I had no need to worry. It was fantastic! I had never been into world music before hearing this but I wouldn't mind giving it a go now; for those of you who don't like that genre, it's still worth the buy as there is enough of the classical style in there.
The album has now become mega successful and is definitely an essential album for any classical or world music fan. This is composed by ... Read More: