CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

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Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin

Search: Chamber
by: Dmitri Hvorostovsky Nuccia Focile Neil Shicoff Orchestre de Paris Semyon Bychkov

Release Date October 17, 2005
This CD has to be bought if only for the waltz at the start of the second act. The singing will take your breath away. This opera and the 4th Symphony were written at a critical time in the composer's life, and the musical results are very dramatic.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

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Handel: Ariodante

Search: Chamber
by: Janet Baker James Bowman Norma Burrowes Edith Mathis English Chamber Orchestra Raymond Leppard

Release Date July 07, 2003
I had this recording(since it was first issued) on Casette,and now have it on CD(especially at the great price).
The sound is sharper and clearer on CD,than on Casette.
However,what I am leaving a review for is,to just say that it has to be one of the best Handel opera recordings ever.
You might ask,what makes it so?
Well,
Consider the cast:~
Janet Baker
Edith Mathis
Norma Burrowes
David Rendall
James Bowman
Samuel Ramey
All here at the peak of their careers.
and brought together,and conducted by Raymond Leppard.
I won't bore you(I could!) by going into detail about this recording.Just to say that the whole cast sings like a dream, and really put their hearts ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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Dame Janet Baker: Philips And Decca Recordings 1961-1979

Search: Chamber
by: Janet Baker

Release Date October 06, 2003
Here we have a 5 CD set of Janet Baker's Decca and Philips recordings.
all arias/songs have been remastered and all comes in a lovely packing. This is a must have set for any lovers of the mezzo voice!!! There is also a great EMI set of Janet which I also recommed.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel

Search: Chamber
by: Göteborgs Symfoniker Neeme Järvi

Release Date June 13, 2005
I must say firstly opera is not my thing, but I do enjoy Prokofiev

I have heard better in terms of recording quality, and the levels seemed a little unbalanced. That said, the emotion comes through, and the performances are all of a good quality.

I bought this on the back of having enjoyed a large bulk of his works, and the choral pieces in other works in particular. The work did not match my hopes, but did perhaps show me another element of Prokofiev that I had not seen.

Opera buffs may well enjoy this, but anyone looking on the back of his other works may want to give a miss if they have not experienced other opera's previously.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Vivaldi: Sacred Music

Search: Chamber
from: Philips

Release Date August 10, 1998
I must say firstly opera is not my thing, but I do enjoy Prokofiev

I have heard better in terms of recording quality, and the levels seemed a little unbalanced. That said, the emotion comes through, and the performances are all of a good quality.

I bought this on the back of having enjoyed a large bulk of his works, and the choral pieces in other works in particular. The work did not match my hopes, but did perhaps show me another element of Prokofiev that I had not seen.

Opera buffs may well enjoy this, but anyone looking on the back of his other works may want to give a miss if they have not experienced other opera's previously.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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VIVALDI/JUDITH TRIUMPHANS/NEGRI PM2

Search: Chamber
by: Vivaldi

Release Date October 05, 2004
I must say firstly opera is not my thing, but I do enjoy Prokofiev

I have heard better in terms of recording quality, and the levels seemed a little unbalanced. That said, the emotion comes through, and the performances are all of a good quality.

I bought this on the back of having enjoyed a large bulk of his works, and the choral pieces in other works in particular. The work did not match my hopes, but did perhaps show me another element of Prokofiev that I had not seen.

Opera buffs may well enjoy this, but anyone looking on the back of his other works may want to give a miss if they have not experienced other opera's previously.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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Die Zauberflote (Live, Salzburg,)

Search: Chamber
by: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lisa Della Casa, Leopold Simoneau, Walter Berry, Erika Koth, Kurt Bohme, George Szell, Wiener Staatspernchor, Wiener Philharmoniker

Release Date May 11, 2006
The playing of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is superb. The male singers are better than the females. Christoph Strehl being particularly worthy of mention. The portrait aria is very well sung with no evidence of strain.

I was disappointed by Röschmann's singing of Pamina's Lament. It was heavy-going, dreary and doesn't withstand repeated hearing. Erika Miklosa (the Queen) hits all the notes, but alas, has a none-too-pleasing flicker vibrato and a coloratura technique which prevented her from executing all the notes of the running passages clearly (eg. In the 1st aria, the semiquavers of F#s and Gs before she leaps up to the F in alt at the end sounded more like tremolo than semiquavers of alternating notes).

A flawed ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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Mozart - Die Zauberflöte / Magic flute (highlights)

Search: Chamber
by: Mahler Chamber Orchestra Claudio Abbado

Release Date May 14, 2007
The playing of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is superb. The male singers are better than the females. Christoph Strehl being particularly worthy of mention. The portrait aria is very well sung with no evidence of strain.

I was disappointed by Röschmann's singing of Pamina's Lament. It was heavy-going, dreary and doesn't withstand repeated hearing. Erika Miklosa (the Queen) hits all the notes, but alas, has a none-too-pleasing flicker vibrato and a coloratura technique which prevented her from executing all the notes of the running passages clearly (eg. In the 1st aria, the semiquavers of F#s and Gs before she leaps up to the F in alt at the end sounded more like tremolo than semiquavers of alternating notes).

A flawed ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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Mommy and Me: Adventures in Classics [CASSETTE]

Search: Chamber
by: Various Artists

Release Date June 26, 2001
The playing of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is superb. The male singers are better than the females. Christoph Strehl being particularly worthy of mention. The portrait aria is very well sung with no evidence of strain.

I was disappointed by Röschmann's singing of Pamina's Lament. It was heavy-going, dreary and doesn't withstand repeated hearing. Erika Miklosa (the Queen) hits all the notes, but alas, has a none-too-pleasing flicker vibrato and a coloratura technique which prevented her from executing all the notes of the running passages clearly (eg. In the 1st aria, the semiquavers of F#s and Gs before she leaps up to the F in alt at the end sounded more like tremolo than semiquavers of alternating notes).

A flawed ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Mommy and Me: Adventures in Classics

Search: Chamber
by: Various Artists

Release Date June 26, 2001
The playing of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is superb. The male singers are better than the females. Christoph Strehl being particularly worthy of mention. The portrait aria is very well sung with no evidence of strain.

I was disappointed by Röschmann's singing of Pamina's Lament. It was heavy-going, dreary and doesn't withstand repeated hearing. Erika Miklosa (the Queen) hits all the notes, but alas, has a none-too-pleasing flicker vibrato and a coloratura technique which prevented her from executing all the notes of the running passages clearly (eg. In the 1st aria, the semiquavers of F#s and Gs before she leaps up to the F in alt at the end sounded more like tremolo than semiquavers of alternating notes).

A flawed ... Read More: