CD-Charts Position 51
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Karl Jenkins - Requiem

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Karl Jenkins

Release Date March 21, 2005
This disc was a birthday present from a friend. I'll leave aside the issue of what kind of friend purchases a requiem for a birthday present, but I think it's important to say that I had not consciously listened to any of Karl Jenkins's music before I was given this CD. I understand that there is a kind of snobbery concerning the popular Jenkins - the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music briskly moves non-stop from the seventeenth-century cavalier composer John Jenkins to US conductor Newell Jenkins - so there may be something in this, but listening to this CD made it clear that Karl Jenkins certainly has talent. Perhaps it is the self-promotional aspect of his activities that rubs people up the wrong way. For instance, on the informative sleeve ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 52
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Glass: Violin Concerto

CD-Charts > Music > General
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 53
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Bach - Goldberg Variations (1981)

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Sony Classical

Release Date July 26, 2004
I feel compelled to write this review as I think it is slightly unfair to give a one-star review based on his constant humming.

I think the first thing to say is that the Goldberg Variations is a fantastic piece of music, and is pretty much infallable as far as music goes. Goulds playing achives a great depth and variety of tone, whilst maintaining a strong sence of clarity that lets all of Bach's lines sing through, I think Gould has achieved something mind-blowing here!

Whilst at first one could find the performance marred by his constant humming, and it is prevelant, especially when listening on headphones, it is worth listening past. I think it provides a unique insight into how he is shaping the music that we don't often ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 54
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Bach - Goldberg Variations (1955)

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Sony Classical

Release Date July 26, 2004
This is a truly iconic disc, the legendary performance that introduced an eccentric Canadian pianist to the world at large. Gould had made a sensational debut in New York with a programme that included Beethoven's Op 109 sonate, a Sweelinck fantasia and the Webern variations. Snapped up by a CBS talent scout, he requested his first release should be Bach's Goldberg Variations, a seldom performed work the Leipzig cantor wrote for an aristocratic insomniac. As the recording took place, Gould sat on his pigmy stool, swaying, groaning, humming and playing like a god. Inbetween takes he popped pills, donned his overcoat and ate arrowroot biscuits washed down with spring water as the press gathered curiously to see the spectacle. The resulting LP sold 40,000 copies, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 55
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The Only Choral Album You'll Ever Need

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Victor

Release Date October 06, 2003
whoever wrote the 'whats on this cd' blurb mislead me to buy this item - I needed the WHOLE of the Messiah AND THE WHOLE of Faure's Requiem and reading this blurb you think you have it - but guess what - there are only extracts - the titles given are just for the whole work - not the individual piece of music - so I cannot learn the pieces for two concerts I am performing in before Christmas off this - very misleading. Sorry - but it is not the only album Ill ever need.

CD-Charts Position 56
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The Only Piano Album You'll Ever Need

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Victor

Release Date May 26, 2003
As a professional concert pianist for the last thirty years or so, it was a great relief to find that they have released everything you need on 2 CDs. Sure enough, since I bought it I have been able to discard the 1000 or so CDs that I had collected of performers like Cortot, Horowitz, Rachmaninoff and Schnabel (and I now have enough room for a pool table!). They are simply not necessary when you have these two CDs.

CD-Charts Position 57
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Katherine Jenkins / Premiere

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Katherine Jenkins

Release Date April 05, 2004
The singing is very poor. Her voice is weak. Please try Renee Fleming or Anne Sofie Von Otter. They wipe the floor with Katherine vocally. I brought this CD to see what all the hype was and I can only assume it is because she is very pretty.Shame we cant say that about her voice

CD-Charts Position 58
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Saint-Saëns - Carnival of the Animals; Symphony No 3

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Cfp

Release Date February 05, 2007
The singing is very poor. Her voice is weak. Please try Renee Fleming or Anne Sofie Von Otter. They wipe the floor with Katherine vocally. I brought this CD to see what all the hype was and I can only assume it is because she is very pretty.Shame we cant say that about her voice

CD-Charts Position 59
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Last Night of the Proms Collection

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Philips

Release Date September 09, 1996
As a Yank and a lover of all things brit, I found this cd overwhelming. Play it at full blast and all the neighbors will join you in singing both the British version and American version of these wonderful, familiar, and sacred songs. What an experience!!!

CD-Charts Position 60
Average Rating:

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Haydn - The Creation

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Release Date November 06, 2006
As a Yank and a lover of all things brit, I found this cd overwhelming. Play it at full blast and all the neighbors will join you in singing both the British version and American version of these wonderful, familiar, and sacred songs. What an experience!!!