Sinfónico

1. Huapangos de Ruben Fuentes: Noche y Tu/Tres Consejos/La del Rebozo Blan

2. Maria Linda

3. Amor... y Mas Amor: Sabes una Cosa

4. Sones de Jalisco: La Negra/El Carretero/El Tren/Fiesta en el Corazón

5. José Alfredo Jiménez: Ella/El Jinete/Vámonos/Camino de Guanajuato

6. Violin Huapango

7. Pepe Guizar: El Mariachi/Sin Ti/Guadalajara

8. Bikina

Sinfónico,Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán,Sony International,Latin,Mariachi,Mexican,Mexico

Music

jazz

music

Jazz

Average customer rating: Bella Bellisimo Very nice collection of Italian classical repertoire Beautiful

Bella Tuscany: Music Inspired by Tuscany Manufacturer: Telarc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Albinoni | Albinoni, Tomaso | ( A ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Gabrieli, Giovanni | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mascagni | Mascagni, Pietro | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Puccini | Puccini, Giacomo | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Respighi | Respighi, Ottorino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Verdi | Verdi, Giuseppe | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Vivaldi | Vivaldi, Antonio | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra | ( C ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | ( A ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music $7.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Albinoni, Tomaso | ( A ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Gabrieli, Giovanni | ( G ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Mascagni, Pietro | ( M ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Puccini, Giacomo | ( P ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Respighi, Ottorino | ( R ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Verdi, Giuseppe | ( V ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Vivaldi, Antonio | ( V ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | ( A ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra | ( C ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Similar Items: Tuscany: A Romantic Journey Under the Tuscan Sun Provence: A Romantic Journey Dinner Classics: The Italian Album Dinner In Italy ASIN: B000294RMQ Release Date: 2004-06-22

Tracks:

1. O Mio Babino Caro - Erich Kunzel
2. Quando M'en Vo' - Erich Kunzel
3. Italiana - Jesus Lopez-Cobos
4. Danza Rustica - Jesus Lopez-Cobos
5. Sonate XIII - Empire Brass Quintet And Friends
6. Allegro - Yolanda Kondonassis
7. Allegro Non Molto - Yolanda Kondonassis
8. The Nightengale - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
9. The Cuckoo - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
10. Siciliana - Angel Romero
11. Che Gelida Manina - Fernando De La Mora
12. Humming Chorus - May Festival Chorus
13. Adagio - Angel Romero
14. Allegro - Paul Patterson
15. Di Provenza Il Mar, Il Suol - Erich Kunzel
16. Intermezzo Sinfonico - Erich Kunzel

Customer Reviews:

Bella Bellisimo.......2007-07-07

A wonderful compellation of Italian classical music. I love to hear it while I'm driving; it makes road rage disappear.

Very nice collection of Italian classical repertoire.......2007-01-11

Very enjoyable listening to this classical CD. I also highly recommend the CD of this series "LaBelle France Music Inspried by France".

Beautiful.......2007-01-09

I bought the CD after hearing it at a friend's home. It's quite different than the music I typically listen to; but it's quite lovely. It's very relaxing and reflective.

Average customer rating: Makes a Masterpiece out of Cavalleria Beautiful opera, but recording volume too extreme... Wonderful...look no further wangerian verismo The Best Cavalleria Rusticana Recording Ever!

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Herbert von Karajan Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Mascagni | Mascagni, Pietro | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Leoncavallo: Pagliacci Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana Verdi:Otello Beethoven: Fidelio Verdi - Don Carlo / Domingo · Caballé · Raimondi · Milnes · Verrett · Estes · Giulini ASIN: B000031WYP Release Date: 2000-01-11

Tracks:

1. Cavalleria Rusticana: Preludio - Siciliana
2. Cavalleria Rusticana: O Lola ch'hai di latti la cammisa
3. Cavalleria Rusticana: Tempo I
4. Cavalleria Rusticana: Allegro giocoso
5. Cavalleria Rusticana: Gli aranci olezzano
6. Cavalleria Rusticana: Largo
7. Cavalleria Rusticana: Dite, mamma Lucia...
8. Cavalleria Rusticana: Il cavallo scalpita
9. Cavalleria Rusticana: Beato voi, compar Alfio
10. Cavalleria Rusticana: Regina coeli laetare
11. Cavalleria Rusticana: Inneggiamo
12. Cavalleria Rusticana: Voi lo saoete, o mamma
13. Cavalleria Rusticana: Tu qui, Santuzza?
14. Cavalleria Rusticana: Fior di giaggiolo
15. Cavalleria Rusticana: Ah! lo vedi!
16. Cavalleria Rusticana: Oh! il Signore vi manda
17. Cavalleria Rusticana: Comare Santa
18. Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo sinfonico
19. Cavalleria Rusticana: A casa, a casa
20. Cavalleria Rusticana: Viva il vino spumeggiante
21. Cavalleria Rusticana: A voi tutti salute!
22. Cavalleria Rusticana: Mamma, quel vino e generoso

Customer Reviews:

Makes a Masterpiece out of Cavalleria.......2006-04-22

This disc proves how important it is to choose the right cast.

Karajan's restrained, wagnerian-influenced aproach is the apropriate way to interpret this opera!
The problem lies with the execution of Karajan's(/Mascagni's? ) vision, which demands a very able tenor, with perfect italian and flexibility of a lyric tenor together with the long breath of a heldentenor.
Such a tenor was found - Carlo Bergonzi.

Another important decision is who shall sing the part of Santuzza.
I think that a dramatic soprano/mezzo is the most effective.
Mezzo-soprano Fiorenza Cossotto as Santuzza is an excellent choice.
She sings beautifully without ever yelling, crying or screaming, but still with a certain dramatic impact.
The fact that she's a mezzo and not a soprano is also an advantage, for there are many low notes which should have dramatic strength many sopranos don't posses.
Nevertheless, she has no problem with the high notes either, and she could have easily developed into a fine dramatic soprano, but then we would have lost the greatest mezzo of the century.
Still, I would love to find a recording of her portraying a wagnerian role.

The rest of the cast is good, Allegri and Martino have beautiful voices and Guelfi is an apropriately violent Alfio.
The Chorus and Orchestra of La-Scala are the best.

Is there anything more to ask for?

Beautiful opera, but recording volume too extreme..........2006-01-02

I am not a sophisitcated opera afficiando. My love of opera is limited mostly to the operas I recall my father listening to on Sunday afternoons, Madame Butterfly, Aida, Tosca, and Cavalleria Rusticana. Cavalleria is my favorite, but unfortunately, this recording is not.

The volume extremes make it essentially impossible to listen to and enjoy. Listening in my car (a Jaguar XJ12), if the volume is loud enough to hear the softer portions, then when the louder portions arrive, I'm nearly scared into having an accident. I think my point is important to consider because nowadays about the only place you can listen to opera is in a car.

I'm online now to buy a different recording.

Wonderful...look no further.......2004-12-10

I think the story of this famous opera needs no telling. It is very accessible and very exciting....and it's short. All in all, a brilliant package.

The singers, however, are paired with one of my favourite conductors of all time. Herbert von Karajan has been criticised for making his music "too beautiful". Well, for me there can be no such thing. His conducting here is typically sensitive and his devotion to the singers was just pure genius. The chorus is excellent and their hymn with Santuzza goes the full way in making the audience sympathetic to the circumstances leading to her drastic actions.

So we come to Santuzza. Fiorenza Cossotto is one of those singers who give it her all. You hear it in her voice. She can rise, soar and float her notes like a warm current as well as stop your world with her chest register. Naturally, she excels in both mezzo and soprano roles. Not to eclipse her esteemed art, I would concur that she is every bit as astounding as the great Simionato.

Allegri's Mama Lucia seems an improvement over all the others I've heard. Not a wobbly, fruity note in sight, yet not the sort of melo-drama to leave you feeling overindulged. Her "Aiutateci noi..." for example, feels genuinely 'winded'- like someone who has heard the sort of new to make her quietly sit down. To complete the female protagonists, Martino's Lola made me applaud the CD-player as if it were a live performance! There she came along, singing sweetly, only to be caught unawares...in other words, the vocal acting and singing were excellent. BUT it get's better. The exchange with Santuzza (and here Cossoto deserves even more high praise) builds to an electrifying tension that gets released in sheer genius: Martino's "Io me ne vado"! I dare you not to laugh at the cat-fight metaphor when you listen to it!!

Bergonzi has always been a reliable tenor for me...in fact, perhaps more than that. While I can't claim that he was particularly amazing, he was amazing nonetheless. His Turridu is faultless...I only wish I hadn't heard Bjorling! But these should not be reasons to under-rate a great singer. Once again, Bergonzi gives a wholly Italian and aesthetically appealing performance. Nowhere is this more apparent than the cavatina at the beginning.

Finally, Guelfi's Alfio, with his resonant, secure baritone, is simply dashing. He colours his voice superbly (e.g., "Io me ne vado").

This is for me a first choice.

wangerian verismo.......2004-07-20

this is one of the recordings that made me believe that hvk knew what he was doing. he brings out details in the music that i'd never heard in other recordings. it was a revelation. one reviewer put it well: this is a wagnerian treatment of an italian opera, the music telling the story even w/o the words. i was impressed. a first rate version of cav. highly recommended. good price, too, considering it includes the libretto.

The Best Cavalleria Rusticana Recording Ever!.......2003-10-18

This is the ultimate live recording of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. The audience noise doesn't even exist in the recording. Karajan's choice of casting characters is very good. The La Scala Orchestra plays excellently like both Karajan and Mascagni himself wanted. And the La Scala chorus is the same way. Carlo Bergonzi is a Beniamino Gigli-like Turiddu and really sounds excellent the whole way through, especially in "O Lola, ch'ai di latti la cammisa" or "No, No, Turiddu" or "Compar Alfio, Lo So Che il Torto e mio", or even in "Mamma, Quel Vino e Generoso". Carlo Bergonzi is the best Turiddu ever. And Fiorenza Cossotto as Santuzza is as great as Mascagni wanted Santuzza to be like. Cossotto is like no other Santuzza: One who never oversings and one who's not a "Zinka Milanov acting like Maria Callas" like singer. She sings "Turiddu mi tolse l'Onore" and "Voi lo Sapete, O Mamma" nicely. Mariagrazia Allegri sings the role of Mamma Lucia excellently and she sounds as old as Mascagni wanted the character to sound. Giangiacomo Guelfi is the loudest and greatest Alfio to cast. He's a super-villain in "Il Cavallo Scalpita" and "Ad Essi Non Perdono". This is by far the only Cavalleria Rusticana for people to get.

Average customer rating:

Puccini: Messa di Gloria/Preludio Sinfonico/Crisantemi - Roberto Alagna, Thomas Hampson, Antonio Pappano, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Puccini | Puccini, Giacomo | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde [Includes Bonus DVD] ASIN: B000GEU6E0 Release Date: 2006-08-01

Tracks:

1. Preludio Sinfonico
2. Kyrie
3. Gloria In Excelsis Deo- Et In Terra Pax - Laudamus Te
4. Gratias Agiumus Tibi
5. Gloria in Excelsis Deo - Dominus Deus, Rex Coelestis
6. Qui Tolis Peccata Mundi -
7. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus
8. Cum Sancto Spiritu In Gloria Dei Patris - Gloria In Excelsis Deo Credo
9. Credo In Unum Deum
10. Et Incarnatus Est
11. Crucifixus Etiam Pro Nobis
12. Et Resurrexit Tertia Die - Et In Spiritum Sanctum
13. Et In Unam Sanctam Catholicam -
14. Et Exspecto Resurrectionem - Et Vitam Venturi Saeculi
15. Sanctus, Sanctus Sanctus. Dominus Deus Sabaoth
16. Benedictus Qui Venit In Nomine Domini
17. Agnus Dei
18. For String Orchestra

Average customer rating: The Best Of Karajan At A Cheap Price! Wow! WONDERFUL COLLECTION......... Enchanting! A music lover's dream

Romantic Adagio: Karajan Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Chopin | Chopin, Frédéric | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Delibes, Léo | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Dvorák, Antonín | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Grieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mascagni | Mascagni, Pietro | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Offenbach | Offenbach, Jacques | ( O ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Smetana | Smetana, Bedrich | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Divertimentos | Serenades & Divertimentos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Romantic | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Overtures | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | ( B ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Karajan: Adagio Adagio 2 Karajan Forever: The Greatest Classical Hits ASIN: B000001GS6 Release Date: 1997-01-28

Tracks:

1. Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo sinfonico
2. The Tales Of Hoffmann: Barcarolle
3. Romeo And Juliet: Love Theme
4. Les Sylphides: Nocturne
5. Eine kleine Nachtmusik: Romance
6. Vltava (The Moldau)
7. Scheherazade: The Young Prince And The Young Princess
8. Coppelia: Ballad
9. From Holberg's Time: Sarabande
10. Serenade For String Orchestra: Moderato
11. Carmen: Entr'acte III
12. Tristan And Isolde: Isoldes Liebestod - Wagner

Customer Reviews:

The Best Of Karajan At A Cheap Price! Wow!.......2005-08-15

Close to perfect, really, if at least one track included Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "Ode To Joy" or other Karajan-conducted slow movements from symphonies. Also if Ravel's Bolero or Debussy's La Mer were on here. This is truly an incomparable collection at the very affordable price of about 2-3 dollars. Karajan's magical interpretations of adagios are gloriously showcased. Karajan was without a doubt the greatest conductor immediately after the loss of Arturo Toscanini, who is still hailed as the number one conductor of all time. Karajan, like Toscanini, were giants of classical music, making the music such a powerful and emotional experience that it was as if they had written the pieces themselves. Karajan was so involved with the music he conducted that he was able to conduct with his eyes closed. He FELT the music and was genuinely passionate about conducting. In adagios, the more relaxed, sustained and lyrical aspects of the music is exposed as is the more graceful conducting of Karajan.

The music included here is the moving and very Italianate Intermezzo from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni. Karajan really delivers here and is a fine first track to begin with. It's followed by the elegantly-executed Barcarolle, complete with nocturnal and watery modes from the Offenbach opera, The Tales of Hoffman. The Love Theme from the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by Tchaikovsky is priceless music and Tchaikovsky really steps up the emotional impact of the work. More charming and genteel phrasing is used in the music for the ballet Les Sylphides, with music from Chopin arranged for orchestra and for the Romanza in Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

I have never heard the true "Moldau" by Smetana until I heard it here. Under Karajan's baton, the river comes alive and the journey is much more compelling. The theme for the Young Prince and Princess from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" is simply gorgeous, full of romantic Russian-ism. Karajan takes us to the time of Holberg in Grieg's Holberg Suite in a fine interpretation of the Sarabande. Karajan conducting Dvorak's String Serenade in E major is noble. The final tracks are perhaps the most musically masterful, eventhough all the previous pieces were well-executed even if they are not bigger in scope. The Carmen music- Overture and Preludes are remarkable. Karajan is in fine form and the music is crisp, powerful and colorful. Karajan knew Carmen. How this proudly Austrian man knew how to bring out the magnetism of a French piece like Carmen is beyond me. He in fact conduced the best Carmen performances at the Salzburg Festival, the ones with Grace Bumbry and Jon Vickers in the late 60's.

Finally, the last piece is the Liebestod, the Finale from Wagner's great opera Tristan and Isolde. Now, if anything, get this cheap album for that !! You have not heard the Liebestod until you've heard it conducted by Karajan. In this recording, he is already a seasoned conductor with years of experience since his young conductor days in the 30's and 40's. Judging ffrom the cover in which his hair is white and his face is wrinkled I can discern this is a probably an 80's recording when he was in his old age (because Karajan began seriously recording for labels in the 80's most people assumed he was always white-haired). His interpretation of the Liebestod is powerful, and deeply spiritual, withou sounding affected or melodramatic. He is in full control of the music. He knew Wagner through the music. Isolde's final aria has been likened to an orgasm or to a spiritual transformation by music scholars. Karajan brings out every bit of this theory in his rendition. A young Karajan conducting the Liebestod is harder to find, but its probably preferable to go with this version since by this time he knew the Liebestod inside and out. It's breathtaking and climatic. It's the best piece of music ever and the best of Karajan's repertoire.

WONDERFUL COLLECTION................2002-03-13

THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING COLLECTION OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR
MUSIC WRITTEN. HERBERT VON KARAJAN IS AT HIS USUAL BEST. THIS IS A GREAT CD TO READ BY OR JUST SIT AND LISTEN TOO. I HIGHLY
RECOMMEND IT...

Enchanting!.......2001-01-11

This is the rare CD that will appeal to newcomers and afficionados alike. For a lover of classical music, it is often annoying to hear parts of a composition played out of context from the main piece but this is alleviated by the choice of music on this disc. As the name itself indicates, the selected pieces are highly melodic slow movements from masters of the genre. The composers on this CD need no introduction and the selection is by and large superb, with only one jarring note. Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana, Chopin's Nocturne from Les Sylphides, Tchaikovsky's Theme from Romeo & Juliet, Korsakov's Theme from Scheherazade, Dvorak's Moderato and of course Mozart's Romance from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik are melodies that live forever and the others are not far behind, with the possible execption of Smetana's Vltava which does not quite fit in with the overall theme of the disc. The icing on the cake of course is that the performances are by none other than the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan's baton. What more can one ask for? A perfect disc to listen to on a lazy evening or after a hard day's work. And for a newcomer to classical music, this disc is an excellent sampler that will whet the appetite for more.

A music lover's dream.......2000-04-30

The CD has all the lushness and slow tempi (adagio, of course) for which Karajan was renowned (and sometimes reviled). Every track is a gem, from the graceful ballet music of Les Sylphides to the opulent melody from Scheherazade. Particularly exquisite is the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. All in all, a beautiful listening experience, and highly recommended.

Average customer rating: Classical music CD for everyone ... in a nutshell Karajan Forever: The "Eternal" Classical Music Album Meditation!

Karajan Forever: The Greatest Classical Hits Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Albinoni | Albinoni, Tomaso | ( A ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by J.S. Bach | Bach, Johann Sebastian | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Dvorák, Antonín | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gluck | Gluck, Christoph W. | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Grieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mahler | Mahler, Gustav | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mascagni | Mascagni, Pietro | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Massenet | Massenet, Jules | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Offenbach | Offenbach, Jacques | ( O ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Ravel, Maurice | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Saint-Saëns, Camille | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schmidt | Schmidt, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Sibelius | Sibelius, Jean | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Strauss Jr., Johann | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Strauss | Strauss, Richard | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Verdi | Verdi, Giuseppe | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Vivaldi | Vivaldi, Antonio | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Prokofiev | Prokofiev, Sergei | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Concerto Grossi | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Divertimentos | Serenades & Divertimentos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Romantic | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Piano | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | ( B ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Karajan: Adagio Famous Overtures Albinoni: Adagio; Pachelbel: Canon Romantic Adagio: Karajan Karajan Conducts Grieg & Sibelius ASIN: B00008CLNO Release Date: 2003-06-10

Tracks:

1. Spring - Michel Schwalbe
2. Adagio In G Minor For Strings And Organ - Leon Spierer
3. Valese
4. Menuetto
5. Morning Mood
6. Valse Triste
7. Symphony No. 40 In G Minor, K. 550 (Molto Allegro)
8. Symphony No. 9 'From The New World' In E Minor
9. Intermezzo
10. 'Carmen' Suite, Prelude I (Allegro Giocoso)
11. Bolero (Conclusion)
12. 'The Sleeping Beauty', Valse
13. 'La Traviata', Prelude To Act III
14. Symphony No. 3 'Organ', In C Minor (Finale) - Pierre Cochereau

Tracks:

1. 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' (Introduction)
2. 'Cavalleria Rusticana', Intermezzo Sinfonico - Wolfgang Meyer
3. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Allegro)
4. Swan Lake, Suite Op. 20, Scene 1 (Swan Theme) - Michel Schwalbe
5. An Der Schonen, Blauen Donau
6. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 In G Major (1rst Movement)
7. Meditation - Michel Schwalbe
8. Badinerie From Suite No. 2 In B Minor - Karlheinz Zoeller
9. Barcarolle From 'La Gaiete Parisienne'
10. Piano Concerto No. 1 In B Flat Minor (Ex. 1rst Movement) - Lazar Berman
11. Adagietto From Symphony No. 5
12. Symphonie Classique (Finale. Molto Vivace)
13. Dance Of Teh Blessed Spirits From 'Orpheus And Eurydice - Karlheinz Zoeller
14. Danse De La Fee Dragee
15. Valse Des Fleurs

Customer Reviews:

Classical music CD for everyone.......2007-01-09

A great selection. I bought one for my husband, and later the other one for my parents.
Quality, and a superb selection of masterpieces.
A must have for classical music lovers, and for everyone who wants to get introduced to classical music.

... in a nutshell.......2006-09-08

Probably the best one-volume compilation of Karajan available, with the most broad-based approachable track list currently being offered to the general enthusiast/collector. Back in the vinyl days, there were two-disc sets available like the "Karajan Super Concert" or the three-volume "Karajan Conducts" set on Angel. Some of these have been re-arranged and re-released with new or different cover art on CD too, but here is a newly remastered set just as good or better than any of those.

It also contains probably the best short essay on what Herbert von Karajan was all about by Axel Bruggemann, that I have ever read. A CD or two of the "Adagio" set by this conductor (also on DG) may be a nice supplement too, otherwise you can't really go wrong with this two-disc set at a fairly affordable price.

Karajan Forever: The "Eternal" Classical Music Album.......2005-09-26

Another fine recording of classical music, as conducted by the man considered to be the greatest conductor of the 20th century- Herbert Von Karajan, whose position as conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic made that particular orchestra unbeatable and at number one in the list of world's greatest orchestras. Karajan was involved with the Berlin Philharmonic's musical development for years, until his death in 89, before the Berlin Wall fell, an event he did not live to see. This recording has to the best of Karajan's many collected classical pieces on record. It is a perfect introduction to classical music itself and to Karajan's style. A plethora of composer and time periods- from Baroque, to Classical to Romantic- are all on here. Vivaldi's Spring opens the CD, and is followed by the melancholy and fatalistic sounding Baroque classic Albinoni Adagio in G. This is followed by Mozart's 40th symhony. The first Romantic Era symphony on here is Dvorak's famous New World Symphony, which Karajan conducts with supreme mastership. The Intermezzo from the verisimo opera Cavalleria Rusticana is on here and sounds absolutely breathtaking. The suite of Bizet's Carmen is musically intoxicating and the Bolero has never sounded hotter, except for maybe Zubin Mehta conducting it which I've heard live and know is absolutely wonderful. The famous Waltz from Tchaikovsky's ballet masterpiece Sleeping Beauty is on here as well as the Third Act Prelude to Verdi's Traviata. The final track on CD 1 is Saint Saens Organ Symphony Finale.

The second disc opens with a masterful version of the powerfully evocative Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, another Austrian composer Karajan championed. The Swan Theme from Swan Lake is on here, as well as the Viennese Waltz favorite On the Beautiful Blue Danube- something I didn't know Karajan even conducted. But being Austrian, I'm not surprised. Karajan even conducted Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus as well as other waltzes. Back to Baroque, he continues with the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Bach and the gorgeous and somewhat gloomy Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck. The CD ends with the elegant and beautiful Waltz of the Flowers from Tchaikovsky's Nutracker. This is a must have for fans of classical music, as a lot of favorites are on here.

Meditation!.......2003-07-20

A veritable who's who of pieces & composers, the CDs Karajan Forever will hopefully live forever.
Herbert VonKarajan was the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1955 until his demise in 1989. His vision & helmsmanship of this magnificent orchestra have literally changed the way a whole generation heard music.

In this 2 CD collection, DG has kind of done a Greatest Hits. Everything from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi to Opera Overtures, Ballet Themes and Piano Concertos. There is truly something for everyone on this CD, but being an opera fan, 2 of my favorites are on disc 2. The Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana and the Meditation from Thais. This music simply transports the listener to another place and time. The Philharmonic is so in sync- so one that it is hard to believe how huge they really are. I can wholeheartedly recommend this CD without reservation. And it's a steal at $... for 2 new CDs. For more information on this CD & others in a line paying tribute to Maestro VonKarajan, go to his website: karajan.org
Enjoy!

Average customer rating: Great music, variable performances. "A" Material from Flagello Gorgeous stuff Flagello's "Film-Noir" Concerto

Nicolas Flagello: Piano Concerto No. 1; Dante's Farewell; Concerto Sinfonico Manufacturer: Naxos American ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Flagello, Nicolas | ( F ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Flagello: Symphony 1 / Sea Cliffs Howard Hanson: Organ Concerto; Fantasy Variations; Nymphs and Satyr; Summer Seascape; Pastorale; Serenade Rorem: Flute Concerto; Violin Concerto Camargo Guarnieri: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 3 Rorem: Double Concerto for Violin and Cello; After Reading Shakespeare ASIN: B000FGGKIU Release Date: 2006-06-20

Customer Reviews:

Great music, variable performances........2006-12-06

Flagello is a major find for me. Each of these scores shows a master at work. The first piano concerto (Flagello's three piano concerti all have different musical characters) is a kind of gloss on the Rachmaninoff second, but it's no mere rehash. Nevertheless, it's one of those Modern works that I believe have a real shot at popularity. It is an heroic piece, designed to have a crowd leap to its collective feet. Dante's Farewell - an example of the very difficult genre of dramatic scena - avoids the typical pitfalls. It's coherent and powerfully dramatic, as the poet's wife, Gemma, recounts his leaving Florence for the last time. The Concerto Sinfonico for sax quartet and orchestra overcomes the stigma of a composer "showing off" with an unusual combo of forces and from the first measures impresses as a great piece of music, rather than an exercise or stunt - powerful and poetic.

The performances range from Williams, Rankovich, and the Ukrainians' stellar to a fairly scrappy Concerto Sinfonico. Dante's Farewell, despite a superb musically- and textually-sensitive soloist (Susan Gonzalez) falls short, due I think to nothing more complicated than bad microphone placement (Gonzalez sounds too far forward and the orchestra too flat).

Still, one of my discs of the year.

"A" Material from Flagello.......2006-08-07

This is about my fifth foray into the music of Nicolas Flagello (Metropolitan Opera bass Ezio Flagello's brother, if the name sounds familiar), and after listening to it, I'm sure I'll be adding even more Flagello to my collection in the future.

The low price and interesting sounding program that originally attracted me to this disc did not prepare me for the high quality of the music's content, the vitality and commitment of the performances, and the sweet fullness of the recorded sound. There's an odd bonus of a painting by Flagello on the cover depicting the Amalfi Coast that looks eerily like the view of Toledo by El Greco.

The 29-minute Piano Concerto No. 1 has a pleasing similarity to the soundworld of Sam Barber's (much later) Piano Concerto, only Barber's is more dissonant. Flagello wrote two more piano concertos after this one, and, good as they are, they are not nearly so striking as his first. And this is a student composition, Flagello's first large-scale work. If most college degree requirement music aims at presenting forward looking musical ideas within a traditional, accessible context, this little baby must have knocked his professors' socks off. Bold, confident writing for the piano is combined with a sureness of hand in the orchestration that is nothing short of remarkable. Serbian/American pianist Tatjana Rankovich has already recorded Flagello's 2nd and 3rd concertos and some of his solo piano music. Her playing in this recording is mostly exemplary, although I could have wished for a bit better articulation in some runs about 11 minutes into the piece. And that horn solo in the second movement could have been a bit more in tune. Quibbles, really; pay no attention to my whining.

The second piece, the 14-minute "Dante's Farewell" for Soprano and Orchestra, is a tightly packed setting of a portion of an English-language monologue by Joseph Tusiani about Dante leaving his wife for his final trip to Rome, never to return. The dread and resignation mixed with moments of transcendent beauty are reminiscent of Mahler's final "Lied von der Erde," "The Farewell." Susan Gonzalez, who sang the premiere, is a bit too closely mic'd for my complete comfort and winds up sounding a bit harsh at times, but she's spot on in interpretation. The NRSO, Ukraine, under J.M. Williams gives us a scintillating performance of Anthony Sbordini's idiomatic orchestration produced from Flagello's short score.

For the final work on the CD, the 23-minute Concerto Sinfonico for Sax Quartet and Orchestra, Naxos switches to the Rutgers SO under Kynan Johns. Their strings are occasionally a little weak when exposed, but they deliver a convincing, full-bodied performance nonetheless of this long dark Nachtmusik of the soul. Flagello uses the sax quartet as Ralph Vaughan-Williams might, leaving the jazz ethos far behind and concentrating on exploiting their timbre in a completely classical context, where they sound ominous but luminous.

Sometimes it's hard to choose from the "trunkload" of titles available in Naxos' American Classics series of CDs. This should be an easy one to say "yes" to.

Gorgeous stuff.......2006-07-25

another superb recording by John M. Williams and the NRSU. big, unapologetically romantic. The Sax Quartet performance is rough with some mediocre ensemble playing (is it the conductor - K. Johns - the orchestra - Rutgers Univ?) but I have to give it 5 stars anyway because the piece is so great.
By the way, if you don't have any of Williams' other recordings on Naxos be sure to check them out - he is one of the top interpreters of American 20th C. music around. I would love to hear him conducting some of the top-tier American orchestras.

Flagello's "Film-Noir" Concerto.......2006-06-30

The Naxos American Music series has returned to listener awareness many long-lost scores and revived notice of a number of unjustly discarded composers. The present disc is the second issued by Naxos to document the work of the mid-Twentieth Century Italian-American master Nicolas Flagello (1928 - 1994). A previous disc featured Flagello's impressive First Symphony (1968) and two or three shorter works; the present one offers three equally ambitious scores including the composer's last completed work, a Concerto Sinfonico (1985) for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra. All are debut recordings. Like Paul Creston and Vittorio Giannini, New Yorker Flagello stemmed from Italian immigration to the United States in the late Nineteenth Century; like many Italians, the members of the Flagello family were domestically musical and they appreciated opera and symphony as integral parts of the civilized life to which they saw themselves as belonging. Like his fellow traditionalist composers, Flagello resisted doctrinaire modernism and worked out his own richly lyrical, yet often harmonically complex idiom; he sustained his determination to speak directly to non-specialist audiences from the inception of his compositional career right through to its end, when he had to fight against the ravages of a humiliating disease in order to ink the last crotchet in his final score.

Producer Walter Simmons has arranged the program in chronological order, starting with Flagello's graduation piece, his Piano Concerto No. 1 (1950), played here by Tatjana Rankovich (keyboard) and the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, who, by the way, grasp Flagello's big-muscled Gotham-City idiom like natives to the subway and skyscrapers born. The Ukrainians have the benefit, both in the Concerto and in "Dante's Farewell" (1962), of an American conductor, John McLaughlin Williams, who also seems to have imbibed Flagello into his bones and marrow. Flagello understood what a Twentieth Century neo-romantic piano concerto in the manner of Rachmaninov or Prokofiev is supposed to do: make big, cinematic gestures and "tell a conflict-story" musically. Flagello's Concerto does just this, especially in its large-scale opening movement. Only twenty-two when he composed the work, the Flagello the novice composer naturally exhibits what critics like to call influences. I hear the Russian keyboard composers, certainly, but I also hear Ernest Bloch (Concerto Symphonique) and Alexander Scriabin (Divine Poem), the latter especially in a trumpet-solo about halfway through the movement. An imbalance between the first movement, which clocks in at fifteen minutes, and the two others, which together do not quite add up to fifteen minutes, mars the Concerto, but in an odd way this flaw actually vindicates the first movement. Having drawn listeners into his persuasive esthetic "duration," he then lets them down a bit by failing to sustain the grandness of his architecture. One wants more from the finale than one gets; one wants what one gets in spades in the first movement. It is exciting music throughout even so.

"Dante's Farewell" (1962) is a cantata of sorts for soprano and orchestra, unperformed in Flagello's lifetime and left by him in piano short-score only. For the purpose of the present recording, composer Anthony Sbordini, thoroughly steeped in Flagello's sense of instrumentation, has orchestrated the score. The cantata sets a poem concerning the Thirteenth-Century Florentine poet's flight-in-exile from his native city, where a rival political faction had seized the polity and was exercising its power of vendetta on various notables. The winners, it seems, write not only the history books, but also the residence permits. "Dante's Farewell" has something in common with vocal-orchestral works by Gian Carlo Menotti, Charles Koechlin, and Flagello's older New York compatriot Vittorio Giannini; what Flagello has fashioned corresponds to a hybrid of dramatic "scena" in the Eighteenth-Century manner and symphonic poem in the Nineteenth Century manner. An ambitious soprano might make a stunner of a concert-program by pairing "Dante's Farewell" with Menotti's "Orfeo," Koechlin's "Sommeil de Canope," or Giannini's "Medead." The musical language of "Dante's Farewell" resembles that of the last: it is heavily chromatic and expressionist in idiom although it is not quite so rabid or strenuous a work as "Medead." Vocal soloist Susan Gonzalez does a fine job of enunciating the words. The Ukrainians again play in good form.

The cynosure of this program must be the Concerto Sinfonico, a score that proves that non-serial music can be as effectively haunted and surreal as anything by Schoenberg or Berg in their respective avant-garde moods. Other composers have written concerted works for the saxophone. Ingolf Dahl and Henry Brant both honored the instrument. Fewer have composed for saxophone quartet and orchestra, but this daunting task Flagello undertook at the end of his life while heroically resisting the onset of a dementia-producing affliction. A masterly work on a large scale, the Concerto Sinfonico achieves the effective balance among its three movements of which the Piano Concerto No. 1 falls short. The adjective "symphonic" in this score's Italianate title accurately describes it: this is more a symphony with soloists than a standard display concerto. (It nevertheless calls for devilishly accomplished solo players.) The first movement had me thinking, as I listened to it, of early 1950s "films-noirs," with their paranoid scenes of nocturnal big-city pursuit down seedy alleyways in Skid Row. Flagello has assimilated jazz-syncopations and jazz-like melody into this complex, contrapuntal, and constantly emotionally shifting movement. In the 1960s, they would have compared this music to the nightmare of a bad acid trip. The four saxophones constitute a single "super-soloist" whose raucous and reedy instrumental color contrasts strongly with the monochrome of the string-and-tympani-dominated orchestral background. (There are also a few woodwinds, but I do not think that my ears detected any brass; to extend the cinematic metaphor, imagine that this is indeed a black-and-white "tough guy" film with only the doomed protagonist appearing in subdued sepia-like color.) The middle movement offers some relief from the high tension, only to yield again to the atmosphere of a lethal chase in the fury-goaded finale. The members of the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet join with the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, once more under the commanding baton of Maestro Williams.

The Concerto Sinfonico is a real "find." If I were a classical-music disc jockey, I would program it during the ten-to-midnight slot on a Saturday late evening, sandwiching it between (let us say) George Rochberg's equally maniacal Second Symphony and Miklos Rosza's paranoid score for "The Lost Weekend." I might read some paragraphs from Franz Kafka in between just to ratchet up the Angst. As Naxos has been restoring to circulation some CDs from the discontinued Koch line of American music, maybe its powers will see their way to reissuing Flagello's Martin Luther King Requiem. That would be nice for music-lovers. But buy this disc now!

Average customer rating: Kunzel A Consistent Winner

Classics of the Silver Screen Manufacturer: Telarc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Barber | Barber, Samuel | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Dvorák, Antonín | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Liszt | Liszt, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mascagni | Mascagni, Pietro | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Pachelbel | Pachelbel, Johann | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Puccini | Puccini, Giacomo | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Vivaldi | Vivaldi, Antonio | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rachmaninov | Rachmaninov, Sergei | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Divertimentos | Serenades & Divertimentos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Piano | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Czech | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music Orchestral Pop | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Easy Listening | Pop | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Soundtracks | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Opera & Vocal | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Very Best of Erich Kunzel: Top 20 Beautiful Hollywood From the Heart Great Film Fantasies The Big Picture ASIN: B000003CW7 Release Date: 1990-07-13

Tracks:

1. Hot To Trot
2. Ordinary People - Pachelbel
3. The Witches Of Eastwick
4. Eine kleine Nachtmusik Serenade In G Major, K.525: Amadeus & The Wiches Of Eastwick - Allegro
5. Barry Lyndon
6. My Geisha
7. Somewhere In Time
8. Moonstruck
9. Raging Bull
10. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - Friska
11. Driving Miss Daisy
12. Elvira Madigan
13. Diva
14. Kramer Vs. Kramer
15. Brief Encounter & More
16. A Room With A View
17. The Elephant Man & Platoon

Customer Reviews:

Kunzel A Consistent Winner.......2007-07-12

I have yet to find anything that Kunzel does on CD that lacks imagination and quality. His renditions are excellent. Mastering quality is outstanding - leading to a most excellent product on just about any stereo system. I would have to say that "Kunzel" on the label is equal to the quality you would expect from RCA "Red Seal" products.

Average customer rating: A New Addition to My Favorites List Close but no bass Astounding! A GLORIOUS ALBUM Early but by no means lesser Puccini

Puccini - Messa di Gloria / Alagna, Hampson, Pappano Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Puccini | Puccini, Giacomo | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Puccini - Messa di Gloria / Carreras · Prey · LPO · Scimone Britten - Peter Grimes / Pears · C. Watson · Pease · Brannigan · J. Watson · Elms · Studholme · Kells · R. Nilsson · Lanigan · G. Evans · D. Kelly · ROH Covent Garden · Britten La Fanciulla del West Rossini - Stabat Mater / Orgonasova, Bartoli, Giménez, Scandiuzzi, Wiener Phil., Chung ASIN: B00005KGZQ Release Date: 2001-09-11

Tracks:

1. Andante Mosso
2. Kyrie
3. Gloria: Gloria In Excelsis Deo - In Terra Pax - Laudamus Te
4. Gratias Agimus Tibi
5. Gloria In Excelsis Deo - Dominus Deus, Rex Coelestis
6. Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi -
7. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus
8. Cum Sancto Spiritu In Gloria Dei Patri - Gloria In Excelsis Deo
9. Credo In Unum Deum
10. Et Incarnatus Est
11. Crucifixus Etiam Pro Nobis
12. Et Resurrexit Tertia Die - Et In Spiritum SAnctum
13. Et Unam Sanctam Catholicam
14. Et Expecto Resurrectionem - Et Vitam Venturi Saeculi
15. Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth
16. Benedictus Qui Venit In Nomine Domini
17. Agnus Dei
18. Crustantemi For String Orchestra (Andante Mesto)

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Roberto Alagna and Antonio Pappano are two-thirds of the EMI triumvirate (corresponding member, Angela Gheorghiu), which has done well by Puccini on previous discs. Although this one steps outside the operatic canon into the lesser margins of the composer's output, it's all done so eloquently you forget how undistinguished the material sometimes is. Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra are clearly in the middle of a love affair and seem to understand each other's every move. Alagna sails through his three sections, making slightly heavy weather of the "Gratias with worrying signs of a widening vibrato, but happy enough in the oddly amiable Agnus Dei" duet with Thomas Hampson. Ffor a good example of the current all-round health of the LSO after several years of conservative core-repertory craft under its chief conductor, Colin Davis, listen to how beautifully the strings phrase the enlarged string quartet movement Crisantemi, which, together with the Preludio sinfonico, makes a welcome filler. --Michael White

Customer Reviews:

A New Addition to My Favorites List.......2007-02-19

I have recently discovered this work and how delighted I am that I did! This music is very appealing. How could it not stir ones very soul? I think this is the third rendition I have heard and the quality of interpretation and performance is superb. The soloists are outstanding. Only the quality of the recording is somewhat lacking.

Close but no bass.......2005-08-20

My only complaint is that the bass solo "Crucifixus" is done without a bass soloist. That is, it is sung by all the basses, which I don't think is very effective. It makes the climaxes rather unclimactic and I think the peice would be much more dramatic and effective with a solo voice.

Astounding!.......2002-07-21

What a surprisingly good album! It begins with 8 minutes of contemplative and heartbreakingly beautiful music in the 'Preludio sinfonico'. Even though it was written while he was still a student, Puccini's talent for rendering exquisite turns of phrase is clearly evident. It's climax transports the listener to the same secret and elusive place as that of his best arias. It is a perfect teaser opening for the mass that follows. The 'Kyrie' is somber, serious and powerful - even Beethoven would have been proud. The 'Gloria' is youthful and exuberant. Roberto Alagna's solo "Gratias agimus tibi" although not as supple as you would like, has such an ingratiating melody that you cannot help but be swept up in it. The chorus carries the next section "Qui tollis peccata mundi" away like a grand and glorious Verdi march. The 'Credo' is both solemn and tender. Thomas Hampson is a perfect choice for his feather light 'Benedictus'. My praise goes on and on. This disc is a great glimpse into the early Puccini. A man with with a supreme ability to write for voice(s) and an uncanny ability to capture your imagination aurally.

A GLORIOUS ALBUM.......2001-12-23

With this glorious CD music lovers have an opportunity to revel in non-operatic Puccini works - the Messa di Gloria and two rather esoteric, but nonetheless stunning, orchestral pieces, "Preludio Sinfonico" and "Crisanterri." Among Puccini's earlier pieces, they are prelude to his later compositions.

Often described as the London Symphony Orchestra's "secret weapon," conductor Antonio Pappano is a sublime interpreter of Puccini. Soloists for this album could not be more splendid - tenor Robert Alagna, and vaunted baritone Thomas Hampson.

Conductor and singing super stars are a dynamic trio who have rendered an incomparable recording, richly textured with dramatic voice.

Early but by no means lesser Puccini.......2001-10-17

Since so many of Giacomo Puccini's most popular operas have had endless recordings released on CD, it is a delight to see the release of some non-operatic works and comparative rarities. Two of the pieces were written while he was a student at the Milan Conservatory, the 'Messa di Gloria' when he was 22 and the 'Preludio Sinfonico' when he was 24. These are by no means inferior works. The beginnings of the 'Puccini style' are already evident here, and although he is borrowing some ideas from other composers, he is also making them his own. If a twenty-something composer with a tenth of the young Puccini's talent came along today, it would be considered absolutely miraculous.

It certainly doesn't hurt that the young Puccini has such an ardent and sympathetic champion as Antonio Pappano. As he proved in the recording of 'La Rondine' he conducted, he has the gift of making 'minor' Puccini sound like major Puccini. He is the finest conductor this composer has had in at least 20 years, and is well on his way to genuine greatness. He has a very strong rapport with the London Symphony Orchestra, and is that rare conductor who can keep a tight rein on proceedings without damping expression or individuality. Not only am I eager to hear his upcoming 'Tosca' recording with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, I cannot wait to hear him conduct purely symphonic, non-vocal repertory.

It is no surprise that one of Puccini's first compositions was a mass, since he came from a very long line of church composers. The 'Messa di Gloria' is a somewhat grandiose misnomer for this piece - Puccini himself referred to it as the 'Messa di Quatro Voce' ('Mass for Four Voices'). While I admit to being no expert, I think this is one of the 'lightest' settings of the mass I have ever heard. The overall feeling is of tenderness (especially in the 'Kyrie') warmth, and cheerfulness, although there are some moments of high drama in the 'Credo'. I also noticed that the 'Sanctus' is a bit more subdued than in other composers' settings. Obviously, Verdi is a major influence here. At its climax, the 'Gloria' sounds like a lighter, jollier version of the 'Dies irae' from his 'Requiem'. The 'Qui tollis' reminds one of first of the 'Miserere' and then 'Va, pensiero', and the bass choral part with horns that begins 'Et expecto resurrectionem' is identical to the opening chords of 'Rigoletto'. And Puccini later recycled melodies from this work into some of his operas - the 'Kyrie' into 'Edgar' and the 'Agnus Dei' into the 'Madrigal' in 'Manon Lescaut'. I do think that the 'Agnus Dei', and the work as a whole, ends a bit abruptly. Still, I think the 'Messa di Gloria' deserves more performances, and I hope to sing it myself one day.

The London Symphony Chorus does a splendid job. Roberto Alagna and Thomas Hampson also do fine work in their solos and the 'Agnus Dei' duet, Alagna's melancholy heroism contrasting with Hampson's sweet elegance. However, I think Alagna's approach is a bit heavy for the cheerier sentiments of this piece, notably 'Gratias agimus tibi', and it might have worked even better with a brighter, more lightweight tone. He is also not entirely comfortable with some of the upward and downward octave leaps, and I suspect a few small things (including some minor mispronunciations) could have been corrected with more recording time. Perhaps I am being overly picky about what is basically a very good performance, but because I have such a high opinion of Alagna, especially under his 'musical brother' Pappano, I expect to be dazzled.

Even more valuable than the mass itself are the two 'bookends' which the rival recording on Erato does not include. It does not hurt that Pappano works some major wonders with the LSO string section. The 'Preludio Sinfonico', which is actually the loveliest work on the disc, is a deeply moving piece of nostalgia, and this team brings out all its sweetness and warmth. It reminds me a little of the intermezzo from 'Cavalleria Rusticana' at the beginning, but there are also echoes of the 'Lohengrin' overture, and the liner notes suggest Massenet's 'Esclarmonde', which I am not familiar with. The main melody, however, is definitely Puccini. Only the rather abrupt buildup to and letdown from the climax might possibly signal this as a student work, and Pappano softens the edges of this to the point where it isn't that noticeable. 'Cristantemi' is the most 'mature' selection on the disc, very dark and melancholy. It was written when Puccini was 32 (he claimed in one night), as an elegy for a man he admired. And we have another theme that gets recycled into 'Manon Lescaut', this one for the dying Manon in Act IV. Although this final version is for string orchestra, Pappano gives it the grace and delicacy of the string quartet it originally was.

The documentation includes an essay on the works, full texts (although the line 'sub Pontio Pilato' is missing from 'Crucifixus') and translations, all in French and German as well as English, plus photos of Alagna and Hampson. Unfortunately no biographies of any of the artists, and the cover photograph isn't entirely flattering to Pappano, who is actually quite a nice-looking fellow.

Unfortunately, I will forever have an association with this music and this CD that I hope no one else will ever have - it is what I was listening to when I found out about the destruction of the World Trade Center. But music has extraordinary healing power, and this CD is playing a major part in my emotional recovery, particularly the sweet, yearning strings of the 'Preludio Sinfonico'. For this, I will always be grateful to Maestro Pappano and his forces, and, of course, to Giacomo Puccini.

Average customer rating: Relaxing music at its finest! Get it for $9.99 at Sam's Club! Beautiful, moving music! You'll recognize many of the pieces Meditative, But Not Boring A Bargain and Beautiful

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Beethoven for Relaxation Vivaldi for Relaxation ASIN: B000001VUT Release Date: 1991-10-11

Tracks:

1. Canon
2. Andante From Piano Concerto No. 21: Elvira Madigan
3. Coppelia: Notturno
4. String Quintet In C: Adagio - Schubert
5. Orchestral Suite No. 3: Air - Bach
6. Clarinet Concerto: Adagio
7. Symphony No. 8 'Unfinished': Andante con moto - Schubert
8. Concerto, Op. 9 No. 2: Adagio
9. Orpheus And Eurydice: Dance Of The Blessed Spirits

Tracks:

1. Thais: Meditation
2. Romance In G, Op. 26
3. The Last Spring
4. Minuet
5. Serenade, Op. 3 No. 5
6. Poeme, Op. 41 No.6
7. Elegiac Melody No. 1
8. Serenade For String Orchestra: Elegia
9. I Love You
10. La Gioconda: Dance Of The Hours

Tracks:

1. Adagio
2. Romance In F Minor, Op. 11
3. Peer Gynt: Solveig's Song
4. Romance For Violin No. 2 In F, Op. 50
5. Rosamunde: Ballet Music In G
6. Symphony No. 5: Adagietto

Tracks:

1. Peer Gynt: Morning
2. Standchen (Serenade)
3. Mozartiana Suite: Preghiera (Ave Verum)
4. Moonlight Sonata: Adagio sostenuto
5. Piano Concerto No. 23 in A: 2nd Movement
6. Rosamunde: Intermezzo
7. Violin Concerto In E Minor: 2nd Movement
8. Serenade For String Orchestra: 1st Movement
9. L'Arlesienne, Suite No. 2: Intermezzo
10. Concierto De Aranjuea: 2nd Movement
11. Trout Quintet: Theme And Variations

Tracks:

1. The Tales Of Hoffmann: Barcarolle
2. Valse Triste
3. Liebestraum No. 3 In A Flat
4. Minuet
5. Oboe Concerto In D Minor: Oboe Concerto In D Minor (Excerpt)
6. Piano Sonata No. 8: Pathetique: 2nd Movement
7. Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo sinfonico
8. Christmas Oratorio: Sinfonia
9. Ave Maria
10. Horn Concerto No.3: 2nd Movement
11. Symphony No. 1: 3rd Movement
12. Traumerei
13. Peer Gynt: Ase's Death
14. Xerves: Largo
15. Symphony No. 9: From The New World: 2nd Movement

Tracks:

1. Swan Lake
2. Eine kleine Nachtmusik: Romance
3. Nocturne In B Major, Op. 9 No. 3
4. Madama Butterfly: Humming Chorus
5. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Notturno
6. Symphony No. 35: Haffner: Andante
7. Carmen Suite No. 1: Intermezzo
8. Piano Sonata In B-Flat Major, D.960: Andante sostenuto
9. Sinfonia Concertante In E Flat Major: Andante
10. Piano Concerto No. 2: Larghetto

Tracks:

1. Impromptu In G Flat Major
2. Evening Song
3. Serenade No. 1: Adagio non troppo
4. The Merry Peasant
5. Flute Quartet In G Major
6. Symphony No. 7: Allegretto
7. Cradle Song
8. Quartet in G Major: Theme And Variations
9. Barcarolle: The Seasons: June
10. Symphony No.36 'Linz': Poco adagio

Tracks:

1. Prelude In C Minor - Meditation
2. Piano Concerto In A Minor: Adagio - Meditation
3. Flute Concerto No. 2: Adagio non troppo - Meditation
4. Andante - Meditation
5. Impromptu In B Flat Major - Meditation
6. Clair de lune - Meditation
7. Divertimento In D, K.251: Andantino - Meditation
8. Caro mio ben - Meditation
9. Piano Concerto No. 9: Jeunehomme: Andante - Meditation
10. Theme And Variations - Meditation

Tracks:

1. The Sleeping Beauty: Panorama
2. Waltz, Op.39 No.15
3. Flute Concerto In G Minor: Andante
4. Impromptu In A Flat
5. Violin Concerto No. 5: Adagio
6. Symphony No. 3: Allegretto
7. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2: Andante
8. Piano Sonata No. 3: Largo
9. Suite No. 1: Intermezzo
10. Piano Concerto No. 3: Largo

Tracks:

1. La Traviata: Act 1: Prelude
2. Kinderscenen: Foreign Countries And People
3. Chanson triste
4. Symphony No. 5: Andante
5. La Campanella
6. Flute Concerto in B Flat: Adagio
7. Piano Sonata No. 2: Funeral March
8. Symphony No. 94: Surprise: Andante
9. Concerto for Flute and Harp: Andantino
10. Symphony No. 6: Pathetique: Adagio lamentoso

Customer Reviews:

Relaxing music at its finest!.......2005-10-14

This is a GREAT 10-CD set!The performances are top-notch, the music is varied, and the feelings engendered are wondrously beautiful.

Get it for $9.99 at Sam's Club!.......2005-06-22

Very nice set of CD's, very beatiful and relaxing, but don't pay $27, get it for $9 at Sam's Club. I know this will be censored but come on, how can you guys charge those saps that much! Amazon should try to find the best price for its customers, even if it sends them to different vendors. Censoring this message is a crime, DON'T DO IT. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Beautiful, moving music! You'll recognize many of the pieces.......2004-02-24

John Cheng's review, below, said it's "an undeniable bargain," and I whole heartedly agree! I especially LOVE Volume 5. I have a Typing/Resume business, and I listen to Volume 5 ALL the time on my computer while I'm doing my work. It inspires me to be creative and calms me down when I'm stressed.

I would say I've _easily_ listened to Volume 5 at least 100 times, and I'm still not tired of it. That's amazing for me, because I'm also a musician (singer/pianist) and I get bored easily. I actually found the Volume 5 CD at a Thrift store, and loved it so much that I bought the whole set recently. So I've only listened to a few of the other CD's in this set, so far, and they're also great.

This is NOT boring music. My clients and family have heard it also, and they've also mentioned how soothing and wonderful these pieces are. Most of you will probably recognize a lot of these songs! You'll be saying, "OH! I remember THIS one! I haven't heard this for YEARS!!!"

It's well worth the money for 10 very full CD's!!! Try it! You won't be disappointed!

Happy listening!
Betty, Owner of Betty's Desk Typing Service and Quality Resumes

Meditative, But Not Boring.......2002-06-21

Here's the deal: If you check out the individual CDs of this collection, you'll pay way too much. That said, compare this price, and realize it is a steal at twice the price.

The list of selections is immense. 101 selections. Most of it you've heard before, but that's OK. Despite the various cute names -- quite creative -- "Vol. 9"!... you can load your CD player and enjoy them withou