CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

.

Handel: Athalia

Search: Ring Ring
by: Christopher Hogwood, Joan Sutherland, Emma Kirkby, James Bowman, Aled Jones, George Frideric Handel

Release Date September 22, 2003
It won the Gramophone choral award in 1987 but the star of this recording is the sublime and truly heavenly singing of Emma Kirby. The recording is a well balanced whole of exquiste moments. Sutherland's slightly deep toned color (a touch of mezzo-soprano color) and her slight vibrato technique make a wonderful counterpart of the evil queen contrasted to the group of the righteous. The choral singing is sublime, clear, direct and vibrant. This is must have for any ,not only for Handelians.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

.

Handel Ortorios (Messiah / Athalia / Esther / La Resurrezione) / AAM, Hogwood

Search: Ring Ring
from: Decca (Universal Classics)

Release Date June 13, 2005
It won the Gramophone choral award in 1987 but the star of this recording is the sublime and truly heavenly singing of Emma Kirby. The recording is a well balanced whole of exquiste moments. Sutherland's slightly deep toned color (a touch of mezzo-soprano color) and her slight vibrato technique make a wonderful counterpart of the evil queen contrasted to the group of the righteous. The choral singing is sublime, clear, direct and vibrant. This is must have for any ,not only for Handelians.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

.

Britten conducts Britten: Opera Vol.2

Search: Ring Ring
by: Benjamin Britten

Release Date November 08, 2004
It won the Gramophone choral award in 1987 but the star of this recording is the sublime and truly heavenly singing of Emma Kirby. The recording is a well balanced whole of exquiste moments. Sutherland's slightly deep toned color (a touch of mezzo-soprano color) and her slight vibrato technique make a wonderful counterpart of the evil queen contrasted to the group of the righteous. The choral singing is sublime, clear, direct and vibrant. This is must have for any ,not only for Handelians.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

.

Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Search: Ring Ring
from: London

Release Date March 22, 1990
This was the first opera I ever saw live, during its initial London run a few months after the Aldeburgh premiere. I still carry vivid memories of that evening as a magical experience. And magic certainly lies at the heart of this entrancing (almost literally) piece.

From the sounds of the forest breathing in the opening string glissandos to the fairies' glittering benediction on Duke Theseus house at the end, Britten conjures a wonderful array of colours and pictures from his relatively modest orchestra. Each group of characters is given its own distinctive orchestral palette - strings with woodwinds predominate for the Lovers, the trombone fills in its fatter, comical tones when the Rustics appear, horns add a touch of regality ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

.

Wagner: The Great Operas from the Bayreuth Festival (33 Disc Box Set)

Search: Ring Ring
by: Various Artists Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele Karl Böhm James Levine

Release Date November 05, 2008
I remember back in the days of LP, I had a huge Philips box containing this Dutchman, Tannhauser and the Knappertsbusch Parsifal from the 1960's. I concur with other reviewers that it is a pity Universal Classics has chosen the inferior Levine Parsifal for inclusion here, but the Tannhauser and Dutchman are the same performances conducted by Sawallisch. This time around, Universal adds Mastersinger, Lohengrin, Tristan and a complete Ring! Parsifal excepted, it is still a worthwhile set to have. Overall, all the other performances are fine. The Parsifal is simply bogged down by Levine's conducting. The Sawallisch Dutchman is immediate and gripping, vividly conducted. Silja sings so much better here than she did for Klemperer in the same opera on EMI. You ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

.

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen

Search: Ring Ring
from: Philips

Release Date August 02, 1994
This is, indeed, a great performance of the Ring, though to my mind not in the same class as Krauss or Furtwangler. In many ways it would be an ideal entry point for someone looking for a single recording of the cycle, but it is important to note that it is not perfect. Part of the delight of the Solti recording is the magnificent scale of the sound (this is a live recording, albeit from Bayreuth), which will draw new listeners in; more annoyingly this set does not have a libretto, which is crucial for people discovering the Ring. If you are new to the Ring, the Solti set is probably a better bet, or go for the wonderful Barenboim DVDs, where you can follow the action visually, and the text through subtitles.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

.

Haydn: The Seasons

Search: Ring Ring
from: Philips

Release Date November 15, 1999
Haydn's 'oratorio' (or whatever) The Seasons received its first performance in 1801, the 70th year of the composer's life. He was at the very height of his creative powers, and his inspiration had received a new jolt, as Beethoven's and Schubert's were later to do, through his exposure to Handel. He was not new to oratorio, indeed his Creation seems to me the only later work of that name that can be mentioned in the same breath as Handel's. He was also not unduly thrilled with the libretto of The Seasons, which comes in English and German versions but which he characterised tersely as 'franzoesischer Quark' (frenchified rubbish). For my own part, it's all one to me whether The Seasons counts as oratorio or not. For me it is an unqualified masterpiece, and a landmark in the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

.

Music Box, Vol. 1

Search: Ring Ring
by: Various Artists

Release Date September 30, 1997
Haydn's 'oratorio' (or whatever) The Seasons received its first performance in 1801, the 70th year of the composer's life. He was at the very height of his creative powers, and his inspiration had received a new jolt, as Beethoven's and Schubert's were later to do, through his exposure to Handel. He was not new to oratorio, indeed his Creation seems to me the only later work of that name that can be mentioned in the same breath as Handel's. He was also not unduly thrilled with the libretto of The Seasons, which comes in English and German versions but which he characterised tersely as 'franzoesischer Quark' (frenchified rubbish). For my own part, it's all one to me whether The Seasons counts as oratorio or not. For me it is an unqualified masterpiece, and a landmark in the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

.

Hallelujah Handel

Search: Ring Ring
by: Classical Kids

Release Date September 12, 1995
Haydn's 'oratorio' (or whatever) The Seasons received its first performance in 1801, the 70th year of the composer's life. He was at the very height of his creative powers, and his inspiration had received a new jolt, as Beethoven's and Schubert's were later to do, through his exposure to Handel. He was not new to oratorio, indeed his Creation seems to me the only later work of that name that can be mentioned in the same breath as Handel's. He was also not unduly thrilled with the libretto of The Seasons, which comes in English and German versions but which he characterised tersely as 'franzoesischer Quark' (frenchified rubbish). For my own part, it's all one to me whether The Seasons counts as oratorio or not. For me it is an unqualified masterpiece, and a landmark in the ... Read More: