The Spirit of Florence

Track Listings

1. Quel Squardo Sdegnosetto

2. Passacalle

3. Espagnoletta

4. Chiome d'Oro

5. Amarilli mia bella

6. Toccata Terza

7. Ciaconna

8. Se L'aura Spira

9. Gagliarda Prima

10. Pur ti Miro

11. Gigue

12. Passacaglio

13. Gagliarda Sequnda

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
This CD is the seventh Inside Sounds has produced for WONDERS: The Memphis International Cultural Series. It is intended to complement and is endorsed by the 2004 Masters of Florence exhibition. The music was recorded by Memphis-based Ensemble Seicento at Inside Sounds recording studio and celebrates Italian composers of the Renaissance and Baroque. The instruments played by these musicians are from this period, and the pieces they perform allow for improvisation, which was an important characteristic of the music. While several of the pieces feature beautiful vocal interpretatins, the ensemble demonstrates its finesse with captivatiing and delightful instrumentals. It is an excellent recording.

Tracks:

Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit - Various Artists
Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees - Various Artists
His Name So Sweet - Various Artists
'Roun' About The Mountain - Various Artists
Swing Low , Sweet Chariot - Various Artists
Sit Down, Servant - Various Artists
Were You There - Various Artists
He's Got The Whole World In His Hands - Various Artists
Deep River - Various Artists
Honor! Honor! - Various Artists
My Soul's Been Anchored In De Lord - Various Artists
On Ma Journey - Various Artists
A City Called Heaven - Various Artists
Ride On, King Jesus - Various Artists
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free - Various Artists
Sinner, Please Don't Let This Harvest Pass - Various Artists
Sweet Little Jesus Boy - Various Artists
There Is A Balm In Gilead - Various Artists
Let Us Cheer The Weary Traveler - Various Artists
Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit - Various Artists
My Way Is Cloudy - Various Artists
Nobody Knows The Touble I've Seen - Various Artists
I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray - Various Artists

Tracks:

Holy, Holy, Holy - Leontyne Price
Lead, Kindly Light - Leontyne Price
Blessed Assurance - Leontyne Price
Ave Maria - Leontyne Price
What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Leontyne Price
Amazing Grace - Leontyne Price
The Lord's Prayer - Leontyne Price
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior - Leontyne Price
The Church's One Foundation - Leontyne Price
Bless This House - Leontyne Price
I Need Thee Every Hour - Leontyne Price
Schlesische Volkslieder: Fairest Lord Jesus - Leontyne Price
I Wonder As I Wander - Leontyne Price
Ave Maria - Leontyne Price
Porgy And Bess: Summertime - Leontyne Price
America The Beautiful - Leontyne Price
Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing - Leontyne Price
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God - Leontyne Price
Battle Hymn Of The Republic - Leontyne Price

Customer Reviews:

The Price Club.......2005-04-28

"I am here," said Leontyne Price when interviewed as she opened the new Metropolitan Opera with Samuel Barber's underrated ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, "and you will know that I am the best and will hear me. The color of my skin or the kink of my hair or the spread of my mouth has nothing to do with what you are listening to." Back in the 1960s Price was one of the greatest divas in all of opera, and it wasn't just her voice but her magnificent stage presence, combined with her social activism. All of the above come into play in this collection of secular songs and ditties, some of them traditional plantation chanties and others, art songs and a scattering of pop music. And some of them, like Gershwin's "Summertime," cross the ever-permeable boundaries between Broadway and classical. These recordings were made at different times in Price's career, and her voice, while always angelic, has different shadings and reaches a different range of timbre in each separate recording date, but there is no question that, as time goes by, she is able to impart a richness of life experience noticeably absent from some of her earlier work.

"Ave Maria" sounds heavenly no matter which way you slice it, and as for "I Wonder As I Wander," it brings tears to your eyes. If you have a heart that's beating you will be moved by this rendition. "Ein feste Burg" is pretty strong, but Price seems more comfortable with the traditional spirituals, though perhaps it is the slightly off-kilter sounds of the Ambrosian Singers (what a name) who back her up on many of these tracks, that detract slightly from the experience. Compare "Lead Kindly Light" for a clear sense of what constitutes authority vs. what is a wee bit overproduced. If you had this compilation, and perhaps one of Leontyne Price's Christmas albums, you could attain nirvana any time you wanted to, just flip a switch and close your eyes, let her lift you up on wings of song.

A living legend.......2005-03-10

Leontyne Price (still alive) and already passing into immortality amongst vocal artists, both classical and popular. Leontyne Price stands at the pinnacle of her classical art, but those who only know her work in La Forza del destino or the Verdi Requiem are in for a heart rending treat with this album where Leontyne Price goes home to her roots in Mississippi and gives an unabashed account of the classic spirituals she sang as a young woman. Like John Mc Cormacks rendering of Irish songs there is a personal longing and devotion expressed here that reveals a side of the artist not known in the bulk of their "classical" repetoire. A sense of going home like Citizen Kane's rosebud, or as Dorothy Gale observes at the end of the Wizard of Oz "everything I could ever have wanted was right in my own backyard "

not your daddy's old timey spiritual.......2004-06-23

Agreed this is a good cd for a beautiful voice, but this is not, repeat not, for someone who wants to hear that old-timey religious fervor that you think of when you've been to a Black Baptist hand-clapping, standing, swaying, and singing service.

Immaculate Vocals of Leontyne Price.......2003-12-31

IMMACULATE, SUPERB vocal range and style! There's no other words that can complement Miss Leontyne Price's vocal arrangements. Miss Price's voice is strong, and shrills very nicely to the instruments played on many songs listed on this double CD which is a joy to treasure; every song listed are songs I was raised to hearing and singing. Miss Price is the reason why many of these songs remain in popularity and presently used. Miss Leontyne Price has been incredible in many of her past performances. This is my fourth CD of Miss Price and I am glad to own this particular CD forever and ever. Many thanks to the executors who found this remarkable album and upgraded it to a CD format! **Angi**

Great Gospel Stuff.......2001-04-12

This is a great CD. The only problem I have with it is that on some of the selections there is a boy's choir screaming in the background, and this takes away (a bit) from her performance. That said, her best selections are those that are either unaccompanied or those where her voice is not buried. Songs that strike me are - His Name So Sweet, He's Got The Whole World, Were You There, I Wonder as I Wander, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and my all time favourite Summertime. Enough said.

Mosaic: A Collection of African-American Spirituals With Piano and Guitar

Average customer rating:

Beauty, power, and clarity
Not traditional American Negro spirituals mostly.
Great opera, not spiritual style I thought title suggested.
A Glorious Burgeoning Diva!
Classical music with heart and soul

Mosaic: A Collection of African-American Spirituals With Piano and Guitar

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Electric Blues Guitar | Blues | Styles | Music

Modern Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs
Italian Songs for Tenor and Piano
Cecilia Bartoli ~ Opera Proibita (Handel · Scarlatti · Caldara) / Les Musiciens du Louvre · Minkowski

ASIN: B0006A9FUU
Release Date: 2004-11-30

Tracks:

Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit
Roun'about de Mountain
Lord, I Just Can't Keep from Cryin'
My Soul's Been Anchored
City Called Heaven
Give Me Jesus
O Glory
Come Down Angels
He Never Said a Mumblin' Word
Watch and Pray
Walk Together Children
Deep River
This Little Light of Mine
Lord, How Come Me Here?
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
Ride Up in the Chariot

Customer Reviews:

Beauty, power, and clarity.......2007-05-06

Buy this CD for her rendition of "He Never Said a Mumbalin' Word" alone --- truly lovely, simply brilliant.

Not traditional American Negro spirituals mostly........2005-10-24

If you are looking for the soulfull melodic or jubilation of traditional American Negro spirituals, this is not it. But it is masterful musicianship.

Great opera, not spiritual style I thought title suggested........2005-09-08

This is a very good classical collection. The rating would have been higher if the description had suggested the actual style of the music. I am giving it 3 stars because this is a very good OPERA style collection - not the spiritual style I was hoping for. Given the title and simple instruments, I thought it would be different - more relaxed. I wish a sample of the music had been available. If you want spirituals sung in an OPERA style you will love this. She is an amazing talent.

A Glorious Burgeoning Diva!.......2005-05-07

Though this particular selection of songs may not be one the recital lover would choose, MOSAIC introduces to the recording audience the magnificent voice of Angela M. Brown, a gifted singer whose career has been nurtured by appearances with small opera companies until her highly successful Metropolitan Opera debut in 'Aida' last year. Now this intelligent singer is currently replacing the indomitable Jessye Norman in a Detroit Opera premiere and even in that vulnerable position of comparison she is making a triumphant statement.

MOSAIC is pleasant enough recital of African American Spirituals with sensitive piano and guitar accompaniment. But it is in the few unaccompanied songs that the splendor of this very large voice with a seemingly bottomless register is best displayed. Brown has a glowing top as well as a lush bottom in her register and her attention to the control of the cascade of sound is simply thrilling. Brown knows this repertoire well and is convincing in her delivery of not only the message but the depth of emotion of each song.

Hopefully a recording of songs and arias will follow soon, especially as her opera reputation grows. But for now, MOSAIC is a fine introduction to a voice whose destiny seems assured. Grady Harp, May 05

Classical music with heart and soul.......2005-03-01

Daniel Alexander Payne, sixth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church worked tirelessly to purge emotionalism from African American modes of worship, and derided spirituals as "corn field ditties." Starting with the Fisk Jubilee Singers and into current century, composers such as Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Moses Hogan and Joseph Joubert have sought new, classical interpretations of these timeless, soulful songs.

I must confess, I've never been a big fan of classicised spirituals. Spirituals ARE emotional, expressions of unbearable pain, of longing, of optimism and ultimate belief in salvation. To strip them of that by prettying them up is to deny their very reason for being.

But having said all that: I absolutely loved MOSAIC! Angela Brown does not let her classical training get in the way of putting a song over with heart and soul. She obviously loves these songs, and her rich voice moved me to tears on several occasions. The instrumental accompaniments (Joseph Joubert on piano, Tyron Cooper on guitar) are gorgeously subtle and supportive.

The sound quality of this disc is superb, a fitting tribute to the many African American composers represented here. Highly recommended!

Average customer rating:

The Spirit of Florence

Manufacturer: Inside Sounds
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Galliardes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000297UQQ
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Tracks:

Quel Squardo Sdegnosetto
Passacalle
Espagnoletta
Chiome d'Oro
Amarilli mia bella
Toccata Terza
Ciaconna
Se L'aura Spira
Gagliarda Prima
Pur ti Miro
Gigue
Passacaglio
Gagliarda Sequnda

Album Description

This CD is the seventh Inside Sounds has produced for WONDERS: The Memphis International Cultural Series. It is intended to complement and is endorsed by the 2004 Masters of Florence exhibition. The music was recorded by Memphis-based Ensemble Seicento at Inside Sounds recording studio and celebrates Italian composers of the Renaissance and Baroque. The instruments played by these musicians are from this period, and the pieces they perform allow for improvisation, which was an important characteristic of the music. While several of the pieces feature beautiful vocal interpretatins, the ensemble demonstrates its finesse with captivatiing and delightful instrumentals. It is an excellent recording.

Average customer rating:

Medival Spirit [Box Set]

Manufacturer: L'empreinte Digitale
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Chants | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000IAE8
Release Date: 1999-03-09

Track Listings:

Track Listings

The Brightest Smile in Town

New Orleans Friends and Flavours

The Collection: Slow Dancer/Silk Degrees/Down Two Then Left [Box set]

Texas Rose [Import]

The 25th Day of December

Szymanowski/Khadem-Missagh

The Complete Hank Williams [Box set]

Strong True Love

Think Tank [Enhanced] [Explicit Lyrics]

Subtitles [EP]

Total 5

Pass Me Not: Sacred Steel Guitars, Vol. 2

Fish Are Praying for Rain

1. Quel Squardo Sdegnosetto
2. Passacalle
3. Espagnoletta
4. Chiome d'Oro
5. Amarilli mia bella
6. Toccata Terza
7. Ciaconna
8. Se L'aura Spira
9. Gagliarda Prima
10. Pur ti Miro
11. Gigue
12. Passacaglio
13. Gagliarda Sequnda