So Why Not?

So Why Not?

Track Listings

 
1. So Why Not?
2. Waterfall
3. My Sentiments Exactly
4. Summer Nights
5. My Little Brown Book
6. Out Of This World
7. If I Ever I Would Leave You
8. My Funny Valentine
9. Budini

So Why Not?,Buddy Montgomery,Landmark (Fantasy)

Jazz

Music

jazz

music
Handel: The Masterworks (Box Set)
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    Handel: The Masterworks (Box Set)

    Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics
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    5. Schubert: The Masterworks [Box Set]

    ASIN: B00062FLI8
    Release Date: 2004-11-30
    Handel - Messiah / Augér, von Otter, Chance, Crook, Tomlinson, English Concert,  Pinnock
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Ladies & gentleman: The Lord'n Savior, God Almighty
    • So Fashionable, and So Disappointing
    • A nice combination of period nad tradiitonal
    • Wait! Before you buy...
    • La mas bella y fidedigna interpretacion que se pueda obtener
    Handel - Messiah / Augér, von Otter, Chance, Crook, Tomlinson, English Concert, Pinnock
    George Frideric Handel , Arleen Auger , Anne Sofie von Otter , Trevor Pinnock , The English Concert & Choir , Michael Chance , Howard Crook , and John Tomlinson
    Manufacturer: Archiv Produktion
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    Binding: Audio CD

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    Similar Items:
    1. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
    2. Handel - Messiah / Ameling · A. Reynolds · Langridge · Howell · Marriner
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    ASIN: B0000057DB
    Release Date: 1990-10-25

    Tracks:

    1. Messiah: Part One - 1. Sinfony (Grave - Allegro moderato)
    2. Messiah: Part One - 2. Accompagnato : Comfort Ye My People
    3. Messiah: Part One - 3. Air : Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
    4. Messiah: Part One - 4. Chorus : And The Glory Of The Lord Shall Be Revealed
    5. Messiah: Part One - 5. Accompagnato : Thus Saith The Lord Of Hosts
    6. Messiah: Part One - 6. Air : But Who May Abide The Day Of His Coming
    7. Messiah: Part One - 7. Chorus : And He Shall Purify
    8. Messiah: Part One - 8. Recitative : Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive
    9. Messiah: Part One - 9. Air and Chorus : O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings
    10. Messiah: Part One - 10. Accompagnato : For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover
    11. Messiah: Part One - 11. Air : The People That Walked In Darkness
    12. Messiah: Part One - 12. Chorus : For Unto Us A Child Is Born
    13. Messiah: Part One - 13. Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)
    14. Messiah: Part One - 14. Recitative: There Were Shepherds Abiding In The Field - Accompagnato: And Lo, The Angel Of The Lord - 15. Recitative: And The Angel Said Unto Them - 16. Accompagnato: And Suddenly There Was With The Angel
    15. Messiah: Part One - 17. Chorus : Glory To God In The Highest
    16. Messiah: Part One - 18. Air : Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter Of Zion
    17. Messiah: Part One - 19. Recitative : Then Shall The Eyes Of The Blind
    18. Messiah: Part One - 20. Air : He Shall Feed His Flock
    19. Messiah: Part One - 21. Chorus : His Yoke Is Easy, His Burthen Is Light
    20. Messiah: Part Two - 22. Chorus : Behold The Lamb Of God
    21. Messiah: Part Two - Air : 23. He Was Despised

    Tracks:

    1. Messiah: Part Two - 24. Chorus : Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs
    2. Messiah: Part Two - 25. Chorus : And With His Stripes We Are Healed
    3. Messiah: Part Two - 26. Chorus : All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
    4. Messiah: Part Two - 27. Accompagnato : All They That See Him
    5. Messiah: Part Two - 28. Chorus : He Trusted In God
    6. Messiah: Part Two - 29. Accompagnato : Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart
    7. Messiah: Part Two - 30. Arioso : Behold, And See If There Be Any Sorrow
    8. Messiah: Part Two - 31. Accompagnato : He Was Cut Off Out Of The Land
    9. Messiah: Part Two - 32. Air : But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul
    10. Messiah: Part Two - 33. Chorus : Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates
    11. Messiah: Part Two - 34. Recitative : Unto Which Of The Angels
    12. Messiah: Part Two - 35. Chorus : Let All The Angels Of God Worship Him
    13. Messiah: Part Two - 36. Air : Thou Art Gone Up On High
    14. Messiah: Part Two - 37. Chorus : The Lord Gave The Word
    15. Messiah: Part Two - 38. Air : How Beautiful Are The Feet
    16. Messiah: Part Two - 39. Chorus : Their Sound Is Gone Out
    17. Messiah: Part Two - 40. Air : Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage
    18. Messiah: Part Two - 41. Chorus : Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder
    19. Messiah: Part Two - 42. Recitative : He That Dwelleth In Heaven
    20. Messiah: Part Two - 43. Air : Thou Shalt Break Them
    21. Messiah: Part Two - 44. Chorus : Hallelujah
    22. Messiah: Part Three - 45. Air : I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
    23. Messiah: Part Three - 46. Chorus : Since By Man Came Death
    24. Messiah: Part Three - 47. Recitative : Behold, I Tell You A Mystery
    25. Messiah: Part Three - 48. Air : The Trumpet Shall Sound
    26. Messiah: Part Three - 49. Recitative : Then Shall Be Brought To Pass
    27. Messiah: Part Three - 50. Duet : O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
    28. Messiah: Part Three - 51. Chorus : But Thanks Be To God
    29. Messiah: Part Three - 52. Air : If God Be For Us
    30. Messiah: Part Three - 53. Chorus : Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain --- Amen

    Amazon.com essential recording

    This is a terrific performance of Messiah. Not only are the soloists all superb, but Trevor Pinnock completely contradicts the image of many period instrument performances as small-scale, scrappy affairs. Indeed, he invests the choruses with as much genuine Handelian pomp as Beecham at his most extravagant. The trumpets really blaze, and the timpani thunder, and everyone simply has a great time. A joyous performance, just right for the holiday season. --David Hurwitz

    Amazon.com

    Trevor Pinnock meets with mixed success in this account of the Messiah with the English Concert & Choir and soloists Arleen Auger, Anne Sofie von Otter, Michael Chance, Howard Crook, and John Tomlinson, recorded and released in 1988. Its strengths are the strengths of the early-music movement in general. The size and distribution of the instrumental and vocal forces are optimal, which means that textures are clear and balances apt. Rhythms are nicely pointed, though often, in Pinnock's case, not quite well enough sprung. Tempos are well chosen; for example, "All we like sheep"--which turns out to be one of the set's best numbers--is a real bourré, and Pinnock animates it in just the right way. But the performance often seems workmanlike and unemotional, weighed down in too many instances by the humdrum work of the chorus. The alto section in particular, which is half male and half female, sings timidly and is constantly swallowing its entrances. Bass soloist John Tomlinson is a further drag on the effort. He has the right idea--that there's an Italian opera hiding behind all this biblical imagery--but his cottony sound is out of place, a misguided attempt to mimic Nicolai Ghiaurov. His usable range is less than a tenth (he croaks the low G's and F-sharps), and his diction is horrible. "Thus spake the Lord" is strangled, and when, in "The trumpet shall sound" Tomlinson gets to the words "we shall be changed," one can't help wishing that he had been changed too, right before the sessions started. --Ted Libbey

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Ladies & gentleman: The Lord'n Savior, God Almighty.......2007-06-13

    Handel's Messiah is my favorite piece of classical music. Of the two versions that I had I only have left this one, and it is not the best (the other had been a cheap recording whose author's name I forgot too). This version seems to lack a little enthusiasm from the voices; too melancholic. Anyway, this is the first review of any music that I write, and probably will be the last too, so I just want to leave my impression of how I feel when I hear these solemn and heavenly sounds. One feels so raised to the heavenlies... I can almost sense the presence of the Lord Almighty up yonder among the clouds, and me being carried in solemnity to meet Him. Far away are the buzzing sounds of earthly chores. The air is fresh and clean as we are raised above the valleys, and we come to meet God's elected amid the singing, stronger and stronger. Jubilant, bathed in the glorious rays of the Savior's Light, we come together and sing: Glory to God, glory to God, praise and glory for He is coming...

    2 out of 5 stars So Fashionable, and So Disappointing.......2007-02-01

    This would be a great 21st Century Reader's Digest version of Messiah, if such a thing existed any more. Handel did as much as he could, but really, the performers still have to do something besides posture, which, by the way, seems to me to characterize many performances these days. Fashionable, but musically deficient.

    Specifically: John Tomlinson sings like he thinks he IS God, instead of singing about Him. Heavy, cumbersome, and overblown. May I add boorish?

    Arleen Auger has a very sweet voice. And??

    Despite the program notes insisting that certain segments of this Messiah are given to "the contralto", Anne Sofie von Otter is NOT a contralto. Not even close.

    The male alto can barely sustain a legato line - why he insists upon throwing in those complicated, badly-performed embellishments I can't figure. Well, I can, but I'd really rather not say.

    Wake up, choristers!! It's 'For Unto Us A Child Is Born," not "Oy, I have to go to the grocery store today."

    Boy do I regret having spent almost $40 on this one. Thank goodness I have the Colin Davis to console me.

    4 out of 5 stars A nice combination of period nad tradiitonal.......2006-12-17



    This 1988 recording sits between the euqally English, euqally period-ifnluenced Hogwood and Garidner. Of the three, Hogwood sounds more 'authentic' because it uses boys in the chorus and singers schooled period practice. By comparison, Pinnock's soprano, Arleen Auger, and mozeeo, Von Otter, are essentially modern singers--gorgeous ones, of course, Gardiner is far more anemic in his conducting and uses a scrwny-sounding orchestra, so if that's more authentic, so be it. Of the three, Pinnock gives us more traditional music values in his emotional expression and instrumental timbres.

    The competiiton is mushc stiffer now than in 1988, but Pinnock's reading has survived the test of time. He is not a genuinely inspired conductor--sadly, Messiah has become a cottage industry that excludes most big-name talents--but neither are Gardiner and Hogwood. (For sheer musicality, I tend to put my money on Andrew Parrott, Robert King, Marc Minkowski, Niklaus Harnoncourt, and Rene Jacobs.) But he's certainly good eough. The reason I haven't given five stars is that the male soloists aren't first-rate, and in particular the Wotan voice of John Tomlinson sounds cavernous in the bass arias. Add to that Pinnock's tendency toward tepidness, and what you end up with is a very good but not great performance.

    5 out of 5 stars Wait! Before you buy..........2006-05-28

    ... This Messiah has recently been re-released at a much cheaper price. Go back and look for the DG "The Originals" release, which is being sold new for under $12.

    5 out of 5 stars La mas bella y fidedigna interpretacion que se pueda obtener.......2004-12-29

    Soy uno de los mas fanaticos seguidores de Handel y de su obra El Mesias... He escuchado muchas versiones de esta genial e impresionante obra del maestro Handel y, sencillamente no me queda mas que recomendar esta interpretacion, bajo la batuta del maestro Trevor Pinnock. Se nota la exigencia con que esta version se interpreto, dentro el contexto del arte barroco y la magnificencia de la pronunciacion del ingles de la epoca. La orquesta se luce impresionantemente desde la obertura... y le da a cada movimiento, toda aquella fuerza y a la vez delicadeza requerida en el sentimiento que aplica en cada uno de los textos biblicos escogidos por el guionista Jennens. El Coro del English Concert es arrebatador y demuestra maestria en la interpretacion de cada una de las arias que le corresponde. La soprano Arleen Auger, la puedo definir como un angel cantando y resulta ser una caricia a los oidos, a la vez que es capaz de arrancarle a uno las lagrimas por lo excelso de su magia interpretativa. El tenor Crook, aunque no es un tenor con tesitura para canto barroco, es realmente habil y agil al momento de interpretar los melismas caracteristicos de este brillante periodo musical. El contratenor Michael Chance, es fenomenal y quiera Dios que yo tenga el honor de conocer a este genio del canto: "But who may abide..." interpretado por Chance en esta version, es como para caer en extasis. La contralto Anne Sophie von Otter..., tiene una voz oscura y redondeada..., tambien resulta una caricia a los oidos y su "If God be for us..." es desbordante, capaz tambien de hacerle a uno derramar lagrimas por su belleza interpretativa. El bajo Tomlinson..., es barbaro!!! (Soy bajo-baritono en el Coro de la Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica...) A pesar de su voz tan oscura, es tremendamente agil cuando le toca cantar los melismas y es genial al alcanzar la tonalidad brillante en las partes de notas altas y agudas...; por ejemplo: "The people that walked in darkness..." y "Why do the nations..." Tengo seis años de experiencia, interpretando musica coral y tengo que decir que espere esos seis años, desde 1999, para felizmente cantar esta obra "El Mesias". Ha sido fantastico finalmente lograr este objetivo..., la espera valio la pena y debo admitir que mi inspiracion ha sido sin duda alguna, la version que puede usted encontrar en este disco compacto. Doy gracias a todos los que intervinieron en esta grabacion (al maestro Trevor Pinnock, al English Concert and Choir y a los solistas ya mencionados), en nombre mio y en nombre del maestro Handel.
    Handel: Messiah
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Finally a Messiah with fervor!
    • Great recording!
    • Good and Bad
    • This is a great recording!
    Handel: Messiah

    Manufacturer: Naxos
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    1. Christmas at Trinity

    ASIN: B00002R16A
    Release Date: 1999-11-30

    Tracks:

    1. Messiah: No. 1 Overture
    2. Messiah: No. 2 Arioso For Tenor
    3. Messiah: No. 3 Air For Tenor
    4. Messiah: No. 4 Chorus
    5. Messiah: No. 5 Recitative For Bass
    6. Messiah: No. 6 Air For Bass
    7. Messiah: No. 7 Chorus
    8. Messiah: No. 8 Recitative For Alto
    9. Messiah: No. 9 Air For Alto And Chorus
    10. Messiah: No. 10 Arioso For Bass
    11. Messiah: No. 11 Air For Bass
    12. Messiah: No. 12 Chorus
    13. Messiah: No. 13 Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)
    14. Messiah: No. 14a Recitative And No. 14b Arioso For Soprano
    15. Messiah: No. 15 Recitative For Soprano
    16. Messiah: No. 16 Arioso For Soprano
    17. Messiah: No. 17 Chorus
    18. Messiah: No. 18 Air For Soprano
    19. Messiah: No. 19 Recitative For Alto
    20. Messiah: No. 20 Air For Alto And Soprano
    21. Messiah: No. 21 Chorus
    22. Messiah: No. 22 Chorus
    23. Messiah: No. 23 Air For Alto
    24. Messiah: No. 24 Chorus
    25. Messiah: No. 25 Chorus
    26. Messiah: No. 26 Chorus

    Tracks:

    1. Messiah: No. 27 Arioso For Tenor
    2. Messiah: No. 28 Chorus
    3. Messiah: No. 29 Recitative For Tenor
    4. Messiah: No. 30 Air For Tenor
    5. Messiah: No. 31 Recitative For Tenor
    6. Messiah: No. 32 Air For Tenor
    7. Messiah: No. 33 Chorus
    8. Messiah: No. 34 Recitative For Tenor
    9. Messiah: No. 35 Chorus
    10. Messiah: No. 36 Air For Alto
    11. Messiah: No. 37 Chorus
    12. Messiah: No. 38 Aria For Soprano
    13. Messiah: No. 39 Chorus
    14. Messiah: No. 40 Air For Bass
    15. Messiah: No. 41 Chorus
    16. Messiah: No. 42 Recitative For Tenor
    17. Messiah: No. 43 Air For Tenor
    18. Messiah: No. 44 Chorus
    19. Messiah: No. 45 Air For Soprano
    20. Messiah: No. 46 Chorus
    21. Messiah: No. 47 Recitative For Bass
    22. Messiah: No. 48 Air For Bass
    23. Messiah: No. 49 Recitative For Alto
    24. Messiah: No. 50 Duet For Alto And Tenor
    25. Messiah: No. 51 Chorus
    26. Messiah: No. 52 Air For Soprano
    27. Messiah: No. 53 Chorus
    28. Messiah: Amen

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Finally a Messiah with fervor!.......2005-10-20

    I've hunted a thrilling performance of The Messiah through 240 versions so far. This is the best I've found. Some are self-conscious, dutifully singing as instructed. Some are almost childish in their lilt. Some are overblown with so much bombast that you can barely hear the heart of the music. Some are concentrated on faithfulness to the original instruments. If you want a performance that will make you shiver with the power and joy of the music, this is the one. The singers are singing about GLORY. They sound as if they are ecstatic. The musicians are at one with the music and they create a virtual cathedral wherever this CD is played, just close your eyes. Or, let your own imagery, be it celestial, or of great oceans...carry you away.

    5 out of 5 stars Great recording!.......2003-09-22

    There are so many performances of the Messiah out there that it is very difficult to point to a difinative one, but I'd put this in the catagory of the "very good" ones. As other reviewers have said, every performance is different and has its own character. Each has stronger and weaker points. Here the conductor and musicians have made good, solid musical choices. There is an amazing attention to detail which is not so obvious the first listen through but which makes the piece shine. The tempos seem to be right on, and there is no frivolous over-embellishment by the soloists. There is no attempt to be showey. The dramatic dynamics in the first section of the overture are interesting, but seem to work after you hear it a few times. This performance also includes sections which are often omitted (Second half of "He shall feed his flock," "Thou art gone up on high," "Great was the company of the preachers," and "Death where is thy sting"). I prefer the more intimate quality of a small ensemble of musicians to the mega-performances by the London Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, etc.. As with this performance, the smaller group lends a clarity to the music, where the larger ensembles can get a little "muddy" at times. Just my personal preference. Overall, this is a very good performance, and certainly the low price (being on the Naxos lable) makes this a clear choice.

    2 out of 5 stars Good and Bad.......2000-04-09

    I was more interested in "The Messiah" for the religious content than as a music critic, but this was too much. The strings are tinny. The orchestra is plodding. The soloists and choir are thankfully very good and seem to understand the meaning of the words. It is a shame the sound mix is uneven. The male parts come across loud and clear, but the poor women. For instance, No. 9 Oh thou that tellest..., the soloist sounded like she was singing in an echo chamber far from the mike. This is one of the most disappointing versions of "The Messiah" I have heard in a long time.

    4 out of 5 stars This is a great recording!.......2000-02-11

    I was really surprised with the new that the Messiah's New World premiere was held at Trinity Church in October 1770, twenty-eight years after it was written. This fact only will make one proud in having this CD among his collection.

    Anyhow, this is nothing more than a historic detail and would not count if this recording had not an outstanding first-rate ensemble of singers. Without doubt there is no definitive version of Messiah. Each one has its own distinctive touch and feeling and exploring it is always a pleasant journey through imagination.

    As stated by the conductor: "we must concede that performing Messiah with twenty singers and an appropriately balanced instrumental ensemble represents, at best, an imperfect comprimise", it will be easy to understand that this recording does not stand among the greatest and will probably carry some imperfections. I will mention two that kind of disppointed me a little bit. The Overture and the Chorus Worthy is the Lamb, for some reason misses the habitual vigor and strenght. Everything else is great and this is definitely a worth buying.
    Carmen (Sung in English)
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • English is an asset and a drawback
    • You Will Love Opera After Hearing Carmen In English
    • A wholly credible "Carmen" -- finally!
    • I love Carmen!
    Carmen (Sung in English)
    Bizet , Bardon , Gavin , Plazas , Magee , and Parry
    Manufacturer: Chandos
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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    5. Mozart - Don Giovanni / Garry Magee · Cullagh · Banks · Plazas · Shore · Tierny · PO · David Parry

    ASIN: B00007JGRN
    Release Date: 2003-03-11

    Tracks:

    1. Prelude
    2. In The Plaza
    3. Just Look At That Delicious Morsel
    4. Here Come Our New Soldier Boys
    5. Jose! There Was A Girl Here Looking For You Just Now
    6. Off With You Old Soldier Boys
    7. Corporal! Sir!
    8. We Have Heard The Bell Summon Us To Meet Here
    9. Ah, Just Look!
    10. But Why Hasn't She Come, Our Carmencita?
    11. Love's A Bird Wild As Any Rebel
    12. Carmen! We Will Follow You High And Low!
    13. The Cheek Of It!
    14. Give Me News Of My Mother!
    15. Your Dear Mother And I Were Leaving Church This Morning
    16. I See My Mother's Face!
    17. Wait A Moment - I'm Going To Read The Letter
    18. Come And Help
    19. So, Corporal: Tell Me What Happened
    20. Well, Carmencita: What Do You Have To Say For Yourself?
    21. Where Are You Taking Me?
    22. There's An Old Bar In The City
    23. Careful - It's Lieutenant!
    24. Entr'acte
    25. From Far Away Mysterious Sounds
    26. Bravo, Bravo! More! Keep Dancing!
    27. Hurrah! Hurrah! The Torero!
    28. Who's That? It's Escamillo, The Bullfighter From Granada
    29. Hurrah! Hurrah! The Torero!
    30. You're Most Kind
    31. We'll Come With You, Senor Torero
    32. Toreador, Be Ready!
    33. At Last! We Got Rid Of Them As Quickly As We Could
    34. There's A Little Job That We're Starting!
    35. Being In Love Is Not A Reason

    Tracks:

    1. To Bid You Welcome To Our Bar
    2. La La La La La La La La...
    3. Back To Camp!... Go At Once!
    4. That Flow'r You Threw To Me I Treasured
    5. No, It's Not Love At All!
    6. Hello! Carmen!
    7. Lieutenant Fair, It's True
    8. The Sky Above The Open Road
    9. Entr'acte
    10. Keep Going, Dear Old Friend, Kep Going!
    11. Right! Let's Stop For A While
    12. Shuffle! Cut Them!
    13. In Vain You Would Avoid The Bitter Things They're Saying
    14. You're Back!
    15. As For That Man, It Should Be Easy!
    16. Is This The Place?
    17. I Say That There's Nothing To Fear
    18. It's Him! I'm Sure It's Him Over There!
    19. Escamillo Is My Name, And I Come From Granada
    20. She Had A Lover Here
    21. Hola! Hola! Jose!
    22. You Should Take Care, Carmen
    23. Alas! Jose, Your Mother Is Ill
    24. Entr'acte
    25. A Few Cuartos! A Few Cuartos!
    26. Here They Come! Here They Come!
    27. If You Love Me, Carmen
    28. It's You! It's Me!
    29. Viva! Viva! What A Corrida!

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars English is an asset and a drawback.......2004-07-20

    The best thing about this recording of Carmen is the libretto. Conductor David Parry penned this facile and dramatic English translation. He avoids the pitfalls of literal translation to achieve an idiomatic flow that matches the rhythm of the original lyrics. I use this as a reference libretto for any of the French Carmens.

    Unfortunately, the performance suffers from being sung in English. The singers declaim their parts with such proper British diction that Carmen comes across as a school marm. The spoken dialog is delivered beat for deliberate beat and is dripping with reverb. It makes the plaza, tavern and mountain pass all sound like a sewer pipe.

    This is a good first Carmen for someone trying to understand the work. The libretto itself is a good investment for further listening. For an enjoyable performance with an emphasis on character and action, I recommend Regina Resnik on the London Double Decker set.

    5 out of 5 stars You Will Love Opera After Hearing Carmen In English.......2004-02-09

    What a perfect introduction to opera. This newly released recording will surely get you hooked into opera. Carmen, a French opera by Georges Bizet, is the most recognizable and most popular in the opera world. It's famous melodies- the overture, the Habanera, The Toreador Song have all been featured in everything from cellular phone ring tones to Superbowl Commercial (last year's Superbowl with The "Opera In English" label has been making Italian operas into English for a number of years now. Also on the market are Verdi's La Traviata in English (with soprano Valerie Masterson as Violetta) Handel's Julius Caesar with Janet Baker and even Wagner's epic Ring Of The Nibeling sung in English. This is a terrific recording and I highly recommend it if you want to get into opera. Listen to this version first and then try the real, original French version Bizet had written. Patricia Bardon is sensational, sexy and dramatic as Carmen.

    The real strength of this version is the dynamic drama. With the advantage of being sung in English, we get better insight on characters' emotions and motives, and we understand the drama a lot better. Carmen is all about great drama. Bizet drew the plot from the French writer Prosper Merimee's dark short story. Carmen is the ultimate femme fatale- a devil-may-care, sexy Gypsy living in Spain, seduces the conservatively raised soldier Don Jose, stealing him away from his fiancee, the passive Micaela, living a life of underground smuggling and rowdy taverns. "Habanera" and "The Gypsy Song and Dance" are very expressive of Carmen's extraordinarily liberal lifestyle. Don Jose, however, has fallen deeply in love- as he shows us in his song/aria "The Flower Song". But Carmen soon becomes tired of his constancy. Don Jose wants a committed, monogamous relationship with Carmen. But Carmen will not submit to love, since she is first and foremost a carnal creature. Eventually, she falls for the handsome Toreador Escamillo. Don Jose, consumed by jealousy, stabs Carmen at a bullfight after Carmen declares her love for Escamillo and rejects Don Jose's love. Don Jose's crazed, obscessive personality shines through in the English version as well. This tragedy has been done in English before so don't think this is the first time. Back in the 50's, there was a film, starring black actors "Carmen Jones" which was treated the same way as this opera- more like an English Broadway musical and with the dubbed singing voice of Marilyn Horne as Carmen. All in all, this recording is excellent.

    5 out of 5 stars A wholly credible "Carmen" -- finally!.......2003-09-17

    This recording really sells "Carmen" as a drama. Although I have two other recordings of this opera and have seen it performed several times, it never quite worked for me dramatically. But thanks to the fine performances, conducting, and translation here, I've become a "Carmen" convert. Producing a good English-language performance of a foreign opera, especially a warhorse like "Carmen," is much more difficult than it might appear. You need performers who not only can sing the parts (of course) but also can sing *English* and make it halfway intelligible and make it sound like English and make it dramatically convincing to English-speakers. The singers on this recording do an excellent job all around. Don't be put off if you don't recognize their names -- they are up to the task musically and (especially) in their acting. Admittedly, as with *all* English-language recordings, some passages are very hard to understand without reading along, but most of the time the words are clear and effective. I would recommend this recording to any opera beginner or opera lover, even those who normally turn up their noses at performances in translation.

    4 out of 5 stars I love Carmen!.......2003-08-15

    I do. I can think of no other opera with more melodic inventiveness, and few others with so sure a dramatic pulse. Carmen is popular and it thrills me to say that it is also a very good opera - not always true of popular things.

    And what of this recording? Carmen sits well in English, so it is good to hear in translation, although some of the detais in the text jar. Escamillo refers to Jose as "my dear", which sounds rather peculiar, and the guide's line to Micaela: "it's not exactly inviting, is it?" sounds distinctly Middle England rather than Rural Spain. Some of the performers, not least Carmen herself, make the words work, although there are long tracts, especially with the chorus, where the language is distinctly indistinct.

    The soloists are, by and large, strong. Patricia Bardon's deep, Handel-friendly voice adapts well to Carmen and she colours the music with phenomenal detail, sounding sexy and provocative from the start with an edge of pride and anger that emerges as the show goes on. She is out of her depth above the stave, though, and some extra top notes in the second act don't show her off to her best advantage. I have previously said that Julian Gavin is poorly served by recordings, though here he sounds much more even and gives a thrilling and musical performance (but his wooden spoken lines let him down). Mary Plazas is a lovely Micaela, rich-voiced and sincere (and word-perfect), but Garry Magee sounds miscast as Escamillo, lacking the ballast at the bottom of the voice to do justice to this tricky role.

    The supporting cast is good (Mary Hegarty seems to do nothing but Frasquita these days!) but the really treasurable thing is the conducting. Stepping out of Italian Ottocento, David Parry turns his hand to this French Comedie with an appropriate lightness of touch. His pacing and handling of the set pieces is exemplary and the enrtractes go with a real swing.

    A pleasure, then, for the Carmen naive or a novelty for the Carmen-acquainted. I nearly wrote Carmen-weary - but I don't think it's possible.
    Elaine Stritch - At Liberty (2002 Original Broadway Production)
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • A National Treasure
    • Stritch is superb
    • Entertaining but grating on the ears
    • Great Broadway Review
    • Elaine Stritch at Liberty
    Elaine Stritch - At Liberty (2002 Original Broadway Production)
    Elaine Stritch , Irving Berlin , John/ Stritch, Elaine Lohr , Porter P. Grainger , Albert Hague , Stephen Sondheim , Carl Sigman , Richard Rodgers , Sir Noel Coward , George Gershwin , Jule Styne , John Campo , and Billy Miller
    Manufacturer: Drg
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    1. Elaine Stritch at Liberty
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    3. Stritch
    4. Company - A Musical Comedy (1970 Original Broadway Cast)
    5. Company (2006 Broadway Revival Cast)

    ASIN: B000060P33
    Release Date: 2002-04-02

    Tracks:

    1. There's No Business Like Show Business (Berlin)
    2. Caca
    3. I Want a Long Time Daddy (Grainger)
    4. A Piece of Mahler
    5. This Is All Very New to Me (Hague/Horwitt)
    6. Going to New York
    7. Marlon Brando
    8. Broadway Baby (Sondheim)
    9. My First Broadway Show
    10. Civilization (Hilliard/Sigman)
    11. Ethel Merman
    12. Can You Use Any Money Today? (Berlin)
    13. Pal Joey
    14. Zip (Hart/Rodgers)
    15. Ben Gazzara
    16. Nokl Coward
    17. Why Do the Wrong People Travel (Coward)
    18. Richard Burton
    19. But Not for Me/If Love Were All (Gershwin/Gershwin)
    20. I'm Still Here (Sondheim)
    21. Booze
    22. Little Things You Do Together (Sondheim)
    23. The Ladies Who Lunch (Sondheim)
    24. John Bay
    25. There Was Never a Baby Like My Baby (Comden/Green/Styne)
    26. I've Been to a Marvelous Party (Coward)
    27. God So Quickly
    28. The Party's Over (Comden/Green/Styne)
    29. Absent Almost Always
    30. Something Good (Rodgers)

    Tracks:

    1. I'm Still Here (Sondheim)
    2. Booze
    3. Little Things You Do Together (Sondheim)
    4. The Ladies Who Lunch (Sondheim)
    5. John Bay
    6. There Was Never a Baby Like My Baby (Comden/Green/Styne)
    7. I've Been to a Marvelous Party (Coward)
    8. God So Quickly
    9. The Party's Over (Comden/Green/Styne)
    10. Absent Almost Always
    11. Something Good (Rodgers)

    Amazon.com

    Elaine Stritch is a legend and she knows it. And so she came up with a whole one-woman show about the best topic she could think of: her life in the theater. And what a trip it's been. From Ethel Merman to Noel Coward, Stritch has worked with some of the greatest names to grace the American stage, and she has anecdotes about all of them (most are included on this recording). In this show, she hits all the marks with the acuity of a seasoned pro who's seen it all and whose love for the theater remains undiluted. Stritch is not a traditionally pretty singer (those gravelly pipes!), but she absolutely knows how to give life to a song, extracting the last drop of meaning, dropping pauses for effect with deadly accuracy. Sondheim's "Ladies Who Lunch" and "Broadway Baby" will be hers forever, and a case could be made for the hilarious "Zip" (from Pal Joey) and the obscure, spectacularly politically incorrect "Civilization" (from the revue Angel in the Wings) as well. Fittingly, this two-CD set includes "I'm Still Here," which may well be Stritch's motto. If you're looking for a concise yet bewitching history of the musical, this is it. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A National Treasure.......2007-07-05

    This double CD is stuffed full of great songs and amazing stories. My favorite stories are of Elaine's date with Marlon Brando, what she thought some lyric are/meant, and her time in Compant. The total honesty that she brings it all together is touching and inspiring.

    Very few people have the length or variety of a career that Elaine Stritch has had. I am sure that she has enough stories to do ten more shows.

    If you love Broadway then you must buy this CD.

    5 out of 5 stars Stritch is superb.......2007-06-27

    The only disappointment is that I missed the show live. This is a terrific honest performance by an actor who has a deep well of experience from which to draw. From her early childhood memories, through acting school, her loves, her struggles and more, Ms Stritch weaves a fascinating and completely enthralling story. Ultimately, she lives the songs, rather than just performs and this is what really marks her out.
    I am so glad, she's still here!

    3 out of 5 stars Entertaining but grating on the ears.......2007-05-11

    I've never been able to understand what is so great about Elaine Stritch's singing. It's simple: she can't sing. I've tried and tried to like her, and I do, as an actress, but NOT as a singer. Listening to these CDs, all I hear is a grouchy old lady voice with no vibrato, no range, and no ability to hold notes. If she were to try out for American Idol she would get cringes! I love her humor and honesty, and that's why I bought this, but the voice...ugh.

    5 out of 5 stars Great Broadway Review.......2007-04-11

    I thoroughly enjoy this collection of stories from her experiences from a teenage girl in Michigan through her career, very funny, some sad and great entertainment.

    4 out of 5 stars Elaine Stritch at Liberty.......2007-01-19

    Completely entertaining---a bit maudilin in places, but a must have for any Elaine Stritch fan.

    Certainly worth the money!
    Tippett: King Priam
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • An AntiWar Masterpiece
    • Visceral power & beauty coupled with stunning performances!!
    • One of the best and most easily grasped of modern operas
    Tippett: King Priam

    Manufacturer: Chandos
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    All Works by TippettAll Works by Tippett | Tippett, Michael | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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    ASIN: B000000AXV
    Release Date: 1995-11-14

    Tracks:

    1. King Priam: Prelude
    2. King Priam: Hecuba: What Is It, Nurse?
    3. King Priam: Priam: Old Man Of Troy, You're Welcome
    4. King Priam: Hecuba: Then Am I No Longer Mother To This Child
    5. King Priam: Priam: A Father And A King
    6. King Priam: Priam: The Queen Is Right
    7. King Priam: First Interlude - Nurse, Old Man: Thus Shall A Story Begin
    8. King Priam: 1st Huntsman: The Bull Is Away Over There
    9. King Priam: Paris: They Have Taken My Bull
    10. King Priam: Hector: Father, He's A Shepherd Boy
    11. King Priam: Priam: So I'd Hoped It Might Be
    12. King Priam: Second Interlude - Nurse, Young Guard, Old Man: Ah, But Life, Life Is A Bitter Charade
    13. King Priam: Helen, Paris: Ah, Ah ...
    14. King Priam: Hermes: Divine Go-between, That's Who I Am
    15. King Priam: Paris: Lady Athene, If I Honor You ...
    16. King Priam: Paris: Lady Hera, If I Honor You ...
    17. King Priam: Paris: Aphrodite, If I Honor You ...
    18. King Priam: Hector: So You've Given Up Fighting!
    19. King Priam: Priam: So Trojans Honor Menelaus ...
    20. King Priam: First Interlude - Old Man: Hermes, Hermes, With The Winged Feet Come Quick!
    21. King Priam: Achilles: O Rich-soiled Land
    22. King Priam: Achilles: Why Are You Weeping, Patroclus?
    23. King Priam: Second Interlude - Old Man: O, O, What A Threat To Troy
    24. King Priam: Hermes: A Hero In Achilles Armour ...
    25. King Priam: Hector: All Trojans, All Fought Bravely

    Tracks:

    1. King Priam: Serving Woman: Lady Andromache, Should We Not Light The Fire?
    2. King Priam: Hecuba: Daughter Andromache, You Must Go Out ...
    3. King Priam: Andromache: Did You Hear?
    4. King Priam: Helen: Let Her Rave
    5. King Priam: Hecuba: O That My Ears Should Hear Impiety So Gross!
    6. King Priam: Andromache: Now You Shall Go
    7. King Priam: First Interlude - Serving Women: No ... No ... No ... We Have It From The Runner
    8. King Priam: Priam: What Is Happening?
    9. King Priam: Young Guard: A Crime
    10. King Priam: Nurse: The Soul Will Answer From Where The Pain Is Quickest
    11. King Priam: Second Interlude
    12. King Priam: Achilles: Priam! Here! What Is This?
    13. King Priam: Priam: I Clasp Your Knees, Achilles
    14. King Priam: Achilles: Old Man, I Am Touched
    15. King Priam: Third Interlude -
    16. King Priam: Paris: Where Is My Father, Where Is Priam?
    17. King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ah! Ah, Ah!
    18. King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ha, Ha, Ha
    19. King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ah!

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars An AntiWar Masterpiece.......2002-08-26

    Tippett and Britten were composers who, though very different in temperment and style, had many interests in common. One of the overiding concerns with both composers was the moral response to war and it's horrors. For Britten, the War Requiem and Owen Wingrave are his very clear moral response to war. Tippet, in his fashion is much more psychological in this work, which must rank as one of Tippett's best and most powerful operatic statements.

    King Priam is a dramatic tour de force. Based on the Illiad as seen through the eyes of the Trojans, the work is a meditation on the inevitability of fate in mass movements like war. Priam, though illdisposed to the war, is unable to stop or control it as it takes both of his sons, his kingdom and then finally his own life. He emerges as a figure of moral power and grandeur, but ultimately as impotent and tragic. This libretto is one of Tippett's best and most clear statements.

    Musically, Priam is a powerhouse, inaugurating Tippett's second major style. Priam is constructed in a mosaic style. Small chamber groups of instruments with defined musical content are assigned to characters. As the work develops, these small groups combine and recombine in a shifting maze of patterns that seems to endlessly reinvent itself. The music starts out as largely tonal, but the tonality breaks down as Fate takes over and dooms the Trojans. The work is never serial, but it takes an almost Bergian view of tonality, sometimes more and sometimes less tonal as the dramatic situation warrants. The vocal lines are mostly declaimed, but with moments of lyricism that are unfogettable, such as Priam's first aria, A Father and a King, or the beautiful scene between Priam and Achilles in the third act. And Achilles war cry at the end of act two is bone chilling!

    This is a great performance of this piece. Many of the singers originated the roles and sing them with power and authority. Phillip Langridge is terrific as Paris. Robert Tear is a marvelous Achilles. David Aetherton conducts this difficult score with precision and a fine ear for balances.

    This is a profound opera by a major 20th century composer. If you like Britten, you should own this as well. It is increasingly looking like Tippett's masterpiece.

    5 out of 5 stars Visceral power & beauty coupled with stunning performances!!.......2001-06-13

    I bought this on a whim, having heard only the slightest bit of Tippett's orchestral music and none of his operas. I expected the music to be "difficult," and the performances stilted, but I was oh so wrong! Yes, this is definitely late 20th century music -- often dissonant and atonal, but it is utterly beautiful, emotionally moving music. I'm a huge fan of Britten's operas, and judge all modern opera composers by his standards, and (pardon my gushing) Sir Michael is more than up to the challenge. First of all, he takes on the daunting task of adapting the Iliad into a opera libretto and manages to compress the drama beautifully into 3 acts that tell the story imaginatively, comprehensively and in a wholly theatrical manner. Second, he uses the music to heighten the sense of character by giving each persona a unique style of vocal line and orchestration (yes, this is what all composers do, or try to do, but Tippett succeeds in a way few others do). Several of the characters are accompanied by solo instruments (bravura parts of concerto-like difficulty performed brilliantly) -- Achilles by solo guitar, Helen by solo cello, King Priam by violin, etc. Three characters form a sort of Greek chorus who comment on the action and bring a sense of questioning morality to the whole.

    All of the solo singers are astutely cast and sing with amazing power. Standouts (difficult to single out any of them, they're all so brilliant): Phillip Langridge is first-rate as Paris, Priam's second son -- he sings with enormous power and pathos at the same time. Felicity Palmer is velvety sex personified as Helen. Norman Bailey as Priam has a raw edginess to his sound, which lends such a sense of reality to a man pushed to the edge by fate and his warring sons. The London Philharmonia gives a virtuoso performance, led sensitively and intelligently by David Atherton. The digital sound is crystal clear and beautifully engineered: the sound couldn't be better live at the Met! Take a chance on this one, and enter into an operatic world you will never forget.

    5 out of 5 stars One of the best and most easily grasped of modern operas.......1999-02-27

    Contemporary opera was never the same after King Priam, a suitable irony given that the Opera is perhaps the most easily grasped by the listening public of the 5 Tippett Operas. Even so, the "crisis of King Prian" stylistically and emotionally is the germ-seed for the eccentrism yet to come in "The Knot Garden", "The Ice Break", and "New Year". Tippett's theme is the futility of choice and the nature of the impact of choice on humanity in the micro-sphere of the individual and the macro-sphere of the community and history. Tippett's unusual yet perfectly conceived recasting of the Iliad from the Trojan persepctive does more than summarize plot, but pauses to comment on the universal human potential implicit therein. A must-buy for Tippett fans and for anyone who likes opera, Greek Mythology, classical music, or a good story.

    --Justin Laird Weaver
    Handel - Messiah / Vyvyan · Sinclair · Vickers · Tozzi · Royal PO · Beecham
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Beecham's noisy Messiah
    • The Big Victorian Handel 'Messiah': Indulge Yourself!
    • Comfort Ye!
    • Familiarity hasn't bred much affection
    • Thanks to Jon!
    Handel - Messiah / Vyvyan · Sinclair · Vickers · Tozzi · Royal PO · Beecham
    George Frideric Handel , Sir Thomas Beecham , Jennifer Vyvyan , Monica Sinclair , Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , Jon Vickers , and Giorgio Tozzi
    Manufacturer: RCA
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    1. Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis
    2. Handel: Messiah
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    ASIN: B000003FB8
    Release Date: 1992-07-14

    Tracks:

    1. Messiah: Overture - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
    2. Messiah: Recit: Comfort Ye, My People (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    3. Messiah: Air: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    4. Messiah: Chorus: And The Glory Of The Lord - John McCarthy
    5. Messiah: Recit: Thus Saith The Lord Of Hosts (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    6. Messiah: Air: But Who May Abide (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    7. Messiah: Chorus: And He Shall Purify - John McCarthy
    8. Messiah: Recit: Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
    9. Messiah: Air & Chorus: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings (Contralto) - John McCarthy
    10. Messiah: Recit: For, Behold, Darkness Shall Cover (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    11. Messiah: Air: The People That Walked In Darkness (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    12. Messiah: Chorus: For Unto Us A Child Is Born - John McCarthy
    13. Messiah: Pastoral Symphony - Royal Philharmonic Chorus
    14. Messiah: Recit: There Were Shepherds Abiding (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
    15. Messiah: Recit: And The Angel Said Unto Them (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
    16. Messiah: Recit: And Suddenly There Was (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
    17. Messiah: Chorus: Glory To God In The Highest - John McCarthy
    18. Messiah: Air: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
    19. Messiah: Recit: Then Shall The Eyes (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
    20. Messiah: Air: He Shall Feed His Flock; Come Unto Him (Contralto & Soprano) - Monica Sinclair
    21. Messiah: Chorus: His Yoke Is Easy - John McCarthy

    Tracks:

    1. Messiah: Chorus: Behold The Lamb Of God - John McCarthy
    2. Messiah: Air: He Was Despised (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
    3. Messiah: Chorus: Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs - John McCarthy
    4. Messiah: Chorus: And With His Stripes We Are Healed - John McCarthy
    5. Messiah: Chorus: All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray - John McCarthy
    6. Messiah: Recit: All They That See Him (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    7. Messiah: Chorus: He Trusted In God - John McCarthy
    8. Messiah: Recit: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    9. Messiah: Air: Behold, And See If There Be (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    10. Messiah: Recit: He Was Cut Off Out Of The Land (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    11. Messiah: Air: But Thou Didst Not Leave (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    12. Messiah: Chorus: Lift Up Your Heads - John McCarthy
    13. Messiah: Air: How Beautiful Are The Feet (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
    14. Messiah: Chorus: Their Sound Is Gone Out Into All Lands - John McCarthy
    15. Messiah: Air: Why Do The Nations So Furious Rage (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    16. Messiah: Chorus: Lets Us Break Their Bonds Asunder - John McCarthy
    17. Messiah: Recit: He That Dwelleth In Heaven (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    18. Messiah: Air: Thou Shalt Break Them (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    19. Messiah: Chorus: Hallelujah! - John McCarthy
    20. Messiah: Part III - Air: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
    21. Messiah: Chorus: Since By Man Came Death - John McCarthy
    22. Messiah: Recit: Behold, I Tell You A Mystery (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    23. Messiah: Air: The Trumpet Shall Sound (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    24. Messiah: Chorus: Worthy Is The Lamb - John McCarthy

    Tracks:

    1. Messiah: Recit: Unto Which Of The Angels (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
    2. Messiah: Chorus: Let All The Angels Of God Worship Him - John McCarthy
    3. Messiah: Air: Thou Art Gone Up On High (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
    4. Messiah: Chorus: The Lord Gave The Word - John McCarthy
    5. Messiah: Recit: Then Shall Be Brought To Pass (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
    6. Messiah: Duet: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? (Contralto & Tenor) - Monica Sinclair
    7. Messiah: Chorus: But Thanks Be To God - John McCarthy
    8. Messiah: Air: If God Be For Us (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan

    Amazon.com essential recording

    Sir Thomas Beecham's Messiah has become notorious among baroque purists (like this writer) for embodying the worst excesses of pre-1960 Handel performance: ponderous tempos, stentorian opera singers, huge lumbering choruses and orchestras, crashing cymbals, clanging triangles.... Well, we'll need a new straw man: this performance is WONDERFUL. Jon Vickers and Giorgio Tozzi negotiate Handel's writing surprisingly well; Jennifer Vyvyan takes to it naturally. The chorus and orchestra (yes, including trombones, tuba, triangle, and cymbals) may obscure the part-writing, but they fill the music with power, grandeur, and faith. If Mozart could re-orchestrate Messiah, why not Beecham? This may not be Handel's Messiah as such, it may even be a period piece itself--but it's magnificent. --Matthew Westphal

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars Beecham's noisy Messiah.......2006-12-23

    Here's the famous Messiah from Thomas Beecham and forces that uses crashing cymbals, enhanced timpani and brass to make it sound like a collusion between classical forces, a rock band and Canadian Brass. Listen to second CD excerpt from "Hallelujah!" for the opening cymbal crash to get an idea of what's going on.

    This performance has been debated for 40 years as to whether it is musically adept, musically correct, an exemplar of the English choral tradition, or just a big old batch of fun at Handel's expense. I first owned this during a time when I also owned a recording Handel's "Royal Fireworks Music" featuring 40 woodwinds. The two made roughly an equal amount of noise.

    There isn't much question this performance is completely out of step with the way Handel is performed in most venues today. Check out the wonderful Jon Vickers' highly operatic opening aria, "Comfort ye", then compare that to any leaned-out period group you've heard. You'll get another idea of the dimension of Beecham's project.

    While not on the agenda of the Flat Earth Society, the only real interest in a performance like this -- especially having to endure it on three CDs when just about everyone else puts it on two -- is nostalgia or history, whichever happens to be the case for you.

    My personal favorite version is in the 4-CD box of "Messiah" and "Israel In Egypt" where Andrew Parrott leads his Taverner Choir & Players and some of the best early music singers including Emma Kirkby, Emily van Evera, Margaret Cable, David Thomas, and Joseph Cornwall. HIs Messiah isn't perfect -- it uses a countertenor for a bass in one aria -- but it is more moderate than most PPP recordings and has a wonderful romantic edge to most of the score. It comes with a top notch recording of "Israel in Egypt" and still costs less than the Beehcham.

    5 out of 5 stars The Big Victorian Handel 'Messiah': Indulge Yourself!.......2006-12-16

    We live in an era when purity of intent and respect for composers' works is at an all time high. Not only are we blessed with superb 'authentic' performances on period instruments and with small choruses and countertenors and state of the art bel canto singers for Handel's evergreen "Messiah", there are many superlative recordings that are as polished as any one work on current recordings. Supposedly we are hearing Messiah the way Handel envisioned it. Perhaps so, but who is to say that had Handel the resources available today he wouldn't have jumped for joy at the drama of the old British Choral Societies version that Sir Thomas Beecham conducts on this anything but dusty recording from many years ago. The 'Old School' had its good points.

    Beecham goes all out with an orchestration, while attributed to Sir Eugene Goosens is also probably some of Beecham's own inimitable tinkering, that adds instruments not only in numbers but also in color and depth of sound. Winds double strings, percussion includes the full battery instead of just tympani, the big cello and viola sound stand equally with the big violin sound, etc. The chorus is huge, and while this allows the big dramatic moments to be intense, the fine diction Beecham demanded remains solidly intact.

    The soloists are in an operatic class of their own. Jennifer Vyvyan and Monica Sinclair were major singers when this recording was made and their singing is big and well ornamented. Jon Vickers and Giorgio Tozzi bring Verdi into the room and he is a welcome visitor to Beecham's vision of this work.

    For this listener, who prefers the 'correct, authentic' performance, this recording and others even older that celebrate the BIG Messiah are a delight. And that just proves that performance standards, no matter the interpretation of the conductor, are paramount: Beecham gives a solid, convincing interpretation to the operatic Messiah. It is lush, and huge, and absolutely wonderful to hear again! Grady Harp, December 06

    5 out of 5 stars Comfort Ye!.......2006-10-30

    If your not familiar with "Messiah" don't let the reviews scare you - this is certainly a great choice for your first or only recording. There is a lot of feeling in the playing and singing, and i feel it is quite respectful not only of the composer, but the subject matter. It includes a booklet with all the lyrics, and an essay by Beecham himself about the piece. It is a complete recording, with a "bonus cd" of extra verses not usually performed (as explained in the essay). The audio quality is great for the time it was recorded. Its much more worthy to be listened to and contemplated than to be put on as backround music at Christmastime. The price is certainly reasonable in light of the quality of the performance.

    3 out of 5 stars Familiarity hasn't bred much affection.......2005-11-02

    I first became acquainted with this recording at the tender age of 12 when I received the original Soria edition as a Christmas gift. I remember being intensely disappointed at what seemed to me then as more circus than music. Time has mellowed that negative reaction and gives a more balanced assessment of Beecham's achievement - I bought the CD reissue after all. It still doesn't inspire much affection in yours truly although I can appreciate the soloists' contributions, particularly Tozzi. The lamented Vyvyan was in better voice with Boult. Here she has a rapid vibrato and a curious way of articulating the high notes. The orchestrations seem to maintain more of the clarity of the writing by concentrating on the bass and the top without clogging up the middle voices in the manner of the Victorians. There are three pieces where it just doesn't work at all to these ears: the brassy "All we like sheep," "Hallelujah" (which summons visions of Fucik's 'Entry of the Gladiators' every time I hear it), and the disintegration of the obbligato trumpet into flute noodlings in "The trumpet shall sound," in a lightweight performance that is at odds with the grandeur of the text. I'll also admit that the splashy brilliance of "For unto us a Child is born" and the surging drama of "Surely, He hath borne our griefs" are very satisfying.

    In the forty some recordings I own (and the many performances I've attended) there's no best and no definitive. This is one I respect but don't care to hear very often.

    3 out of 5 stars Thanks to Jon!.......2005-03-08

    This recording is worth having first of all beacause of the credible singing of Jon Vickers! Yes, he really sings on the words. The "Comfort Ye" and "Every valley..." have a knew dimension after Jons reading of the score. Of course I know that in tradition we want a very much more lyrical voice to this masterpiece. But he's not alone here, and now we are already into the problem; the choir! It's just terrible, yes terrible!
    I'm just ending up with "Thanks to Jon!"




    Sacred Music Complete
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • great, great!!!
    • ALL THE MUSIC YOU EVER NEED!!
    Sacred Music Complete
    Purcell , King , and Kings Consort
    Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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    ASIN: B00006RHQJ
    Release Date: 2002-12-10

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars great, great!!!.......2006-12-05

    This is the way ,I think, Purcell should sound. No pomp and surcomstance but only great music.

    5 out of 5 stars ALL THE MUSIC YOU EVER NEED!!.......2003-05-23

    This boxed set is by far one of the best purchases I have ever made. As a Purcell freak, this hits every button I have. The cast of characters include the inequitable Robert King, New College Choir, Bowman, and a host of other venerable persons. Likewise the attention to period performance of these works makes it an essential addition to the library of any serious anglophile/Musicologist etc. Now if only the Britten Realizations of all Purcell's songs could be recorded alongside the originals! You will Love this set!
    Söderström sings Liszt, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, etc.
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Söderström sings Liszt, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, etc.

      Manufacturer: BBC Legends
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      Grieg, EdvardGrieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by LisztAll Works by Liszt | Liszt, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by NielsenAll Works by Nielsen | Nielsen, Carl | ( N ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by SchubertAll Works by Schubert | Schubert, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by SibeliusAll Works by Sibelius | Sibelius, Jean | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by StraussAll Works by Strauss | Strauss, Richard | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by TchaikovskyAll Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by WolfAll Works by Wolf | Wolf, Hugo | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      All Works by RachmaninovAll Works by Rachmaninov | Rachmaninov, Sergei | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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      Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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      GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
      Modern & 20th CenturyModern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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      ASIN: B0000CABI6
      Release Date: 2003-10-21
      Tchaikovsky: Songs
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Tchaikovsky: Songs

        Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

        All Works by TchaikovskyAll Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
        GeneralGeneral | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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        ClassicalClassical | Imports | Stores | Music
        ASIN: B000002ZRV
        Release Date: 1993-03-04

        Tracks:

        1. Last Night, Op.60 No.1
        2. To Forget So Soon
        3. The Nightingale, Op.60 No.4
        4. It Was In The Early Spring, Op.38 No.2
        5. Amid The Din Of The Ball, Op.38 No.3
        6. The Fearful Minute, Op.28 No.6
        7. Do Not Believe, My Friend, Op.6 No.1
        8. The Cuckoo, Op.54 No.8
        9. Was I Not A Little Blade Of Grass?, Op.47 No.7
        10. Cradle Song, Op.16 No.1
        11. Behind The Window, Op.60 No.10
        12. Ser, Op.63 No.6
        13. The Canary, Op.25 No.4
        14. Not A Word, O My Friend, Op.6 No.2
        15. Lullaby In A Storm, Op.54 No.10
        16. Spring, Op.54 No.9
        17. Why Did I Dream Of You?, Op.28 No.3
        18. None But The Lonely Heart, Op.6 No.6
        19. Does The Day Reign?, Op.47 No.6
        20. If Only I Had Known, Op.47 No.1
        21. Why?, Op.6 No.5

        Jazz Music:

        1. Sonny Stitt & The Top Brass
        2. Soul Trombone [Limited Edition] [Original recording remastered] [Import]
        3. Soultrane [Import]
        4. Spellbinder [Original recording remastered]
        5. Steamin [Import]
        6. Sunday at the Village Vanguard [Import]
        7. Take Twelve
        8. Terumasa Hino/Masabumi Kikuchi Quntet [Import] [Original recording remastered]
        9. That's Him [Import]
        10. The Indispensible, Vol. 3-4 (1937-1938) [Import]

        Jazz Music

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