CD-Charts Position 21
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Vaughan Williams: Choral Works

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: British Composers

Release Date August 23, 1993
Neither work is particularly well known, even among enthusiasts for Vaughan Williams music. Don't let that put you off. Both are original and gripping works and Sancta Civitas is an extraordinary piece unlike any other work I know. It is the work in which the composer found the unique colours and dissonance that would lead to works like Job and the Fourth Symphony and is, perhaps, even finer than those great works. It is certainly original. The only previous recording that came anywhere near to doing the work justice was that conducted by Sir David Willcocks. This new account is in the same class and has the benefit of a superb modern recording that the earlier record cannot match. I genuinely believe that Sancta Civitas is one of Vaughan Williams' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 22
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Echoes: The Einaudi Collection

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Bmg

Release Date September 01, 2003
I love piano music and after hearing one of the tracks on Classic FM was determined to buy a copy of this CD. I was looking forward to listening to it but after the first three tracks I started to feel disappointed. Einaudi is best listened to in isolation - ie on Classic FM. An entire CD of his is pretty boring and rather depressing to be honest. There is little differentiation from one song to the next: most are solemn, ponderous, many are written in 3/4 time giving the impression of a long waltz. I think hearing a track on the radio amongst other music does Einaudi's music more justice but he needs to vary the tone, the rhythm, and the mood of his pieces more, in my opinion, to be considered a composer of any real worth or value. Someone else said that ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 23
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Holst: The Planets / Elgar: Enigma Variations

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: EMI Classics

Release Date March 11, 2002
This version of The Planets has replaced my recent LSO version.
Why? Well, the balance between the contributing elements is the best i've heard so far: The bass is thunderous analogue and the high woodwind/strings are like crystal in equal measure. This is a superb achievement and exceptionally important for, 'large orchestra' where Dynamics become a recording engineer's delight or problem depending on how good they are. And these people are the best: Abbey road have done a fantastic job on the remastering of a late 70's classic, although there is one thing they could never tackle: Is this as Holst intended?

Bolt was a friend of Holst and was given the opportunity to first conduct the piece; Bolt read and heard the original 'two piano' score ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 24
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Beethoven: Violin Concerto / Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 / Horrace Silver: Creepin In /Nigel Kennedy

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
by: Nigel Kennedy

Release Date April 14, 2008
i too am a fan of nigel kennedy , but this recording doesnt do anything for me though as ever it is exceptionaly well played...but the combination of "modern" bits in among the classical music only distracts me..i like one or the other but if you are more adventurous than me,i highly recomend it!

CD-Charts Position 25
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Rejoice

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
by: Katherine Jenkins

Release Date November 19, 2007
I'm surprised by the number of reviewers who criticise Katherine because she has not performed in opera and then compare her unfavourably with leading opera singers. Nowhere on this CD (or any of her CDs and DVDs) is she described as an opera singer and her recordings do not claim to be opera. Her recordings do include some arias from opera (though not here) and these are sung very well, but she also includes Welsh songs,(again sadly none on this disc), hyms, songs from musicals and other works. This variety increases that buyers might not like every track. I bought this CD because it contains 'Samcta Maria' set to the music of the Intermezzo from Mascagmi's Cacalleria Rusticana' 'Be Still My Soul' the hymn set to the main theme from Finlandia by Sibelius and 'Somewhere' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 26
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Puccini: Turandot

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Decca

Release Date February 07, 1985
Read all the other reviews for soloist analysis etc. What I wish to add is do not be put off by the age of this recording. This was recorded by Decca in their glory days.The dynamic range, frequency range, soundstaging, capture of the hall sound, can (and does) put many a modern recording to shame. The breathing sounds and creaking stage boards only cement the performance. If you want to know how good your system is, can you hear the tube trains passing underneath and the birds outside.

For many including myself this is and will always be a definitive/landmark recording/performance.

CD-Charts Position 27
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Bel Canto Spectacular

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
by: Juan Diego Flórez Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana Daniel Oren

Release Date July 07, 2008
If anything, this recital shows Florez to be in even better voice than in his last album "Voce d'Italia: Arias for Rubini" (see my review). Despite the beauty of Florez' singing there, a few top notes showed signs of strain; here, the voice is more easily produced, sweeter and more characterful than ever before. For me, the plum item is his newly minted account off that old warhorse "Una furtive lagrima"; he sings with power and delicacy, managing some heart-stopping diminuendi and maintaining seamless legato. The Italian version of Florez' calling card aria with the nine high C's is as thrilling as ever and the more interesting for being less frequently heard. The choice of repertoire is judicious: a preponderance of Donizetti but a very varied selection of his arias, then two ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 28
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Into Paradise

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
by: All Angels

Release Date November 26, 2007

Into Paradise, released in November 2007, is the second of the five album deal which All Angels signed with Universal Classics and Jazz in 2006.

Good follow-up albums often prove more difficult to produce than the debut, particularly as the self titled album 'All Angels' released in 2006 was such a commercial success in a market dominated by the likes of G4, IL Divo and Blake.

This album is another varied collection of classical and contemporary music, to which the four girls apply their lovely vocal harmony skills to provide a combination of calming and uplifting moods.

Most of the classics are well known favourites (which I think is essential to keep a young fan base satisfied), and the popular songs like Paul Simon's `Sound of Silence' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 29
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Meet Joe Black: Original Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
from: Universal Music International

Release Date March 20, 1999
I bought this cd because Amazon offered it as a double deal for under a tenner! I loved the last song - Somewhere over the Rainbow and thought why not treat yourself to it, it costs nothing! Anyway,it is such a beautiful collection and I totally love it. Very relaxing to listen to but in no way boring, it lulls you, then teases you, then absorbs you - superb. I think it allows you to have a glass of wine and ponder or as I just did peel the potatoes and ponder!!! There's more than one gem on this cd - it is a collection of gems. Treat yourself!

CD-Charts Position 30
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Vaughan Williams - Complete Symphonies

CD-Charts > Music > Classical
by: London Philharmonic Orchestra

Release Date September 20, 2004
and I like the box too: I can always pick it out among the other VW sets ;-)
A wonderful evocative 3rd, a tense war study. Not very pastoral, nor bucolic or lyrical: I do not agree much with Vernon Handley's interpretation. Rather it is the past remembered, resigned melancholy that something is not quite right, yet with self-discovery and steely determination that is discussed and evolved by the soloists. Never forget that a war demands and makes a different mindset we do not understand. I find Rued Langgaard's deeply disturbing 4th Symphony, "Leaf Fall" 1916, to be in good company here.
Haitink's take on things generally differs just a bit from the English conductors, but I think "In the Fen Country" in particular justifies buying the set. Yeah, I know it's Cambridge ... Read More: