CD-Charts Position 121
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Welsh Choral Classics - Land of Song

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Various Artists

Release Date February 26, 2008
This compilation offers a excellent combination of hymns and welsh folk songs, with brilliant quality sound. Unlike some other Welsh Male voice CD's the singing is not drowned out by an organ or have an underemphasis on one of the parts. Easily the best Welsh male voice I've bought and it has become a much appreciated present to many relatives.

CD-Charts Position 122
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Chopin: Favourite Piano Works

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Vladimir Ashkenazy

Release Date September 18, 1995
As an avid lover of Chopin I felt a "Best of" collection would lack depth, however i found this to be simply not the case. From the deeply moving Nocturns, powerful Ballades to the surprisingly interesting waltzes and Sherzos this collection is the best introduction to a brilliant composer. Ashkenazy as ever plays Chopin's works with more fluency than almost anyone on modern record, enough to spark anyone's interest in Chopin and his era of piano musc, i strongly urge you to buy this collection and then expand upon it!

CD-Charts Position 123
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Treasure Island (Junior Classics)

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Robert Louis Stevenson

Release Date October 03, 2005
I have recently re-read this fantastic book after acquiring this Reader's Digest Printing to replace the copy my Mother bought me for Christmas 1957
and what memories - the Fear of 'Blind Pew',the bravery of Jim Hawkins -forever one of my favourite stories that has lost nothing through the passage of time

Jim Rogers

CD-Charts Position 124
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Meet Joe Black: Original Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
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 125
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Vaughan Williams - Hodie; Fantasia on Christmas Carols

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Stephen Gadd

Release Date October 29, 2007
This is a great CD. I had always thought that Hodie, despite great moments of inspiration (such as the marvellously inspiriting conclusion)was a rather inferior score to earlier choral scores like Sancta Civitas and Dona Nobis Pacem, but Hilary Davan Wetton's new Naxos (super-budget) version has forced me to revise my earlier view. I still believe that the beautiful Sancta Civitas is Vaughan Williams's choral masterpiece ( although Dona Nobis Pacem and the late, neglected Epithalamion are, respectively, works of great power and beauty) but Hodie comes across as a much greater score in this recording. The main reason for this, I think, is because the conductor takes many crucial sections at a considerably slower tempo than David Willcocks in his ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 126
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Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
from: Philips

Release Date May 10, 1993
I agree with the other reviewers here: this is a marvellous set, and a real bargain, too. Not only do you get all five of the Violin Concertos, but the sublime Sinfonia Concertante too, and all in impeccable performances.

Grumiaux was universally hailed as a truly great violinist and a wonderful interpreter of Mozart, and he shows why in this set. His technique is superb, he uses his virtuosity to show the music to its best advantage rather than to draw attention to the virtuosity itself and he has real feeling without ever slipping into schmaltz. For example, the well-known (perhaps over-exposed) Adagio of K216 is sublime, uplifting and heart-string tugging stuff without a hint of sentimentality; just sheer beauty, beautifully ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 127
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The Tallis Scholars sing Thomas Tallis

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
from: Gimell

Release Date May 31, 2004
This is one of the double CDs I bought after recently having had the memorable experience of attending an inspirational recital given by the Tallis Scholars in Beverley Minster. It delivers everything that I had hoped...and more! Definitely one to add to your collection!

CD-Charts Position 128
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Vaughan Williams: The Collectors Edition

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Various Artists

Release Date April 28, 2008
EMI's new 30-disc box-set is one of the truly outstanding contributions to Vaughan Williams' 50th anniversary celebrations. In one collection listeners now have virtually his entire output in recordings ranging from the very good to the exceptional: this set is a tribute of EMI's long-standing commitment to British music (now sadly curtailed).

Vernon Handley's magisterial cycle of the symphonies is beautifully played and recorded, and the major choral works and operas are all presented in excellent performances and recordings. There are some omissions (of course, since EMI did not record absolutely everything Vaughan Williams wrote) but these can be easily rectified through the additional purchase of the opera 'The Poisoned Kiss' and the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 129
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Puccini: La Bohème

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
from: Decca

Release Date August 05, 1987
In a recent BBC3 "CD Review" broadcast, Alexandra Wilson made a gallant attempt to achieve the impossible task of choosing amongst forty or so recordings of "La Boheme" - and while I agreed with her ultimate choice of the Beecham recording with Bjorling, Merrill and De Los Angeles, I have rather more regard for this discarded Karajan recording simply because Pavarotti's voice, in its prime, as she herself put it, "runs through the recording like a golden seam". The rest of the cast is wonderful, too, although Karajan's love for the score is manifested in a rather deliberately "beautiful" approach and thereby slightly undercuts the drama. I cannot be without either recording of this eternally youthful and moving opera, and although Freni was captured in slightly ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 130
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Garth - Cello Concertos Nos 1 - 6

CD-Charts > Music > Classical Instrumental
from: Divine Art

Release Date October 08, 2007
Do you like Correlli, Bach, and cello? Do you enjoy period instruments when they produce a warm, earthy timbre? Do you appreciate musicianship of quality and sensitivity? This is a lovely double cd, with a warm human vision at its centre. Richard Tunnicliffe's cello playing is a mellow, earthy delight, equally matched by the playing of the Avison Ensemble, who generate a rich, bouyant 'sprung rhythmn', which lifts the music effortlessly to another level. This is very well recorded, having an immediacy which would have you believe the musicians are in the room with you. Ideal music for relaxation, for mood enhancement, and with sufficient richness and complexity to reward repeat listening. This is a rich little treasure indeed.