German Tenor

1. Rigoletto, opera Questa o quella
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

2. Rigoletto, opera Bella figlia dell'amore
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Felicie Huni-Mihacsek , Emmi Leisner , Theodor Scheidl , Helge Rosavaenge

3. Rigoletto, opera La donna è mobile
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

4. Il Trovatore, opera Ah sì ben mio... Di quella pira
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

5. La Traviata, opera Un dì felice eterea
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Margherita Perras , Helge Rosavaenge

6. La Traviata, opera Lungi da lei... De' miei bollenti spiriti
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

7. I Vespri siciliani, opera (Les vêpres siciliennes)
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

8. Un ballo in maschera, opera Dì tu se fedele
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

9. Un ballo in maschera, opera Forse la soglia attinse...
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

10. La forza del destino, opera La vita è inferno agli infelici...
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

11. La forza del destino, opera Solenne in quest'ora
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Gerhard Husch , Helge Rosavaenge

12. Aida, opera Se quel guerrier io fossi... Celeste Aida
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

13. Aida, opera Pur ti riveggo... Fuggiam gli ardori
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Felicie Huni-Mihacsek , Helge Rosavaenge

14. Aida, opera L'abborrita rivale... Gìa i sacerdoti adunansi
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Friedel Beckmann , Helge Rosavaenge

15. Aida, opera La fatal pietra... O terra addio
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Felicie Huni-Mihacsek , Helge Rosavaenge

16. Otello, opera Nium mi tema
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
with Helge Rosavaenge

17. Martha, opera Mag der Himmel euch vergeben
Composed by Friedrich von Flotow
with Hedwig von Debicka , Emmi Leisner , Rudolf Watzke , Helge Rosavaenge

18. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 Am stillen Herd
Composed by Richard Wagner
with Helge Rosavaenge

19. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 Morgenlich leuchtend
Composed by Richard Wagner
with Helge Rosavaenge

20. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 Selig wie die Sonne
Composed by Richard Wagner
with Hans Reinmar , Lydia Kinderman , Max Kuttner , Helge Rosavaenge , Pearl Yoder

21. Martha, opera Letzte Rose
Composed by Friedrich von Flotow
with Helge Rosavaenge

22. Martha, opera Ach so fromm
Composed by Friedrich von Flotow
with Helge Rosavaenge

23. Der Freischütz, opera in 3 acts, J. 277 Nein, länger trag ich nicht die Qualen
Composed by Carl Maria von Weber
with Helge Rosavaenge

24. Oberon, opera in 3 acts, J306 Seit frühester Jugend im Kampf und Streit
Composed by Carl Maria von Weber
with Helge Rosavaenge

25. Oberon, opera in 3 acts, J306 Du der diese Prüfung schickt
Composed by Carl Maria von Weber
with Helge Rosavaenge

26. Die Entführung aus dem Serail, opera, K. 384 Hier soll ich dich denn sehen
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
with Helge Rosavaenge

27. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620 Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
with Helge Rosavaenge

28. Fidelio, opera, Op. 72 Gott, welch Dunkel hier
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
with Helge Rosavaenge

29. Der Barbier von Bagdad, opera Ach das Lied hab ich getragen
Composed by Peter Cornelius
with Helge Rosavaenge

30. Der Barbier von Bagdad, opera O holdes Bild in Engelsschöne
Composed by Peter Cornelius
with Helge Rosavaenge , Ilonka Rosvaenge

31. Lohengrin, opera, WWV 75 Mein lieber Schwan
Composed by Richard Wagner
with Helge Rosavaenge

32. Lohengrin, opera, WWV 75 In fernem Land
Composed by Richard Wagner
with Helge Rosavaenge

Tracks:

La Boheme: Che gelida manina
Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai
Carmen Bizet: La fleur que tu m'avais jetee (Flower Song)
Luisa Miller: O! fede negar potessi .. Quando le sere al placido
La Traviata: Lunge da lei ... De' miei bollenti spiriti
Martha: M'appari
Giordano: Amor ti vieta
L'Africaine: Mi batte il cuor .. O paradiso
La Favorita: Favorita del re . . . Spirto gentil
Werther: 'Pourquoi me reveiller'
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: 'Morgenlich leuchtend in rosigem Schein'
Les Contes d'Hoffmann: O Dieu! De quelle ivresse
TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle
Pagliacci: Recitar! ... Vesti la giubba
Il Trovatore: Di quella pira
Aida: Se quel guerrier .. Celeste Aida
TOSCA: Recondita armonia
L'Elisir d'Amore: Una furtiva lagrima
La Gioconda: Cielo e mar!
Turandot: Nessun dorma

Customer Reviews:

The End of the Big Voice?.......2007-04-16

This CD, which is truly fine overall, reminds me of Marilyn Horne's lament that we have probably seen the end of the big voice and it makes me sad. I agree with the reviewer who refers to "microphonies". And more justice could be done to Bjorling's voice with a better transfer. But at some point, music becomes a matter of taste and I prefers singers who have the instrument and the support and the training, whether formal or not, to just let fly and take a chance on making a mistake. Domingo can be wonderful and so can his musicianship but he tends to be so stiff. I have to wonder at the virulence and asperity with which some people go after Pavarotti. It's true that late in his career he made some questionable recordings but the answer to that is simple: don't buy them. At his best, he belongs for all time in the top echelon of tenors. I love this CD and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys great (big) voices.

Fla Gator Lady.......2007-01-12

Highly recommend this CD with these beloved arias of the greatest tenors in opera. I have owned this CD for a couple of years and purchased another for a friend who always requests that I play it ... perfect for listening in the car, dinner, bridge games, relaxation ... just so perfect. You won't be disappointed in this one.

20 Great Tenor Arias.......2007-01-09

A great disc,combination of the greatest tenors of the 20th century and some of the most beautiful music ever written in any century,a must addition to any opera lovers collection.

Plesantly surprised..........2006-01-14

I don't remember how I found this CD the other day surfing through the "Amazon" such as it is, but I did. I listened to a few clips provided & on the strength of that, I purchased this CD.

First it is a great buy. A booklet with pictures of each tenor, a small bio, the year recorded and TRANSLATIONS of each aria are provided. This is really nice. It seems more & more that translations are being left out. Being a former opera singer, I may know most of the words, but sometimes it's just nice to read along (sometimes it's just nice to listen too).

Being on the Decca label, there is admittedly quite a few Pavarotti selections. Out of 20 selections, he has 6 of them. But I love Pavarotti, so this is no problem for me. These are all early recordings & his voice is magnificent! Being a singer, I still marvel at his ability to sing "All'armi!" on a high D and still say the 2nd syllable "mi" on such a note! WOW. There is also of course his very sweet, impassioned and lyrical turn as Rodolfo in "La Boheme" as well as the lesser known (although I still have it on casette) "La Favorita" which has a particularly high tessitura.

Also featured are a young Plácido Domingo singing a VERY nice "Flower song/ La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" from Carmen. He usually sounds too pushed for me on the top notes (as one might expect from a Pavarotti fan, I like free top notes) but in this recording he is pretty darn fabulous. He also sings an aria from "Tales of Hoffman/Les Contes d'Hoffman" and I have always felt that he, like Neil Schicoff, were well suited to this role.

Lamentably there are only one selection each from Carreras, Correlli, Monaco, Aragall & Kollo. Especial kudos to the young recording they feature for Aragall. He had a very free and nice high tenor well suited to Verdi. Of course as his career went forward with the natural darkening of his voice and the "heavier" roles, he did start to develop a wobble. But this recording is before that. His top, his phrasing are all beautifully done in his featured aria from "La Traviata."
Mario del Monaco's "E lucevan le stelle" is hauntingly beautiful and has such a wonderful pianissimo in it that it makes you just want to gasp for beauty's sake. I now know every tenor I've heard sing this aria was trying to emulate what he did.

This is a great CD because it does bring together on one CD some of the greatest singers of the 20th/21st century. Bergonzi, di Stefano, Björling, in addition to the previously mentioned artists is quite an impressive collection. I'm sure there's only one of each for Carreras, Aragall (I believe they are formerly EMI/Angel artists) and perhaps some of the others because they are "imported" from another label. There's so much Pavarotti on this CD because he IS a Decca artist.

A highly recommended CD, affordable, not the usually obscure and unpolished artists that are sometimes found on compilations. Plus acutal linear notes and translations. Nicely done, Decca!!!

Absolutely Agree About Corelli.......2005-05-27

Franco Corelli's "Nessun Dorma" is still the best of them all - clear, passionate, and exciting. (And those final two notes...! Gives me chills just to think of it.) I was fortunate enough to see him live in both "Turandot" and "Romeo and Juliet" a year before his retirement, and he was still a Calaf and a Romeo to die for... as, of course, Liu and Juliet did! As it is, I tend to buy compilations depending on how much Corelli they include - though Bjorling is a strong second, and I have happy memories of Domingo. Long live the Golden Age of Operatic Tenors!

Average customer rating:

Best Music Ever for Home Wedding
Excellent resource for wedding planners
Great item!
Preview your wedding day
25 WEDDING FAVORITES

25 Wedding Favorites

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

Wedding Music | Miscellaneous | 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:

Classical Wedding
A Day to Remember - Instrumental Music for Your Wedding Day
Bride's Guide to Wedding Music
Heart Beats: Now & Forever - Timeless Wedding Songs
The Knot Collection of Ceremony and Wedding Music Selected by the Knot's Carley Roney

ASIN: B00004Y6T1
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Tracks:

Wedding March (Lohengrin)
Allegro I (Water Music) - Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Trumpet Voluntary
Minuet (Music For The Royal Fireworks)
Canon in D Major
Spring - Susan Lautenbacher
Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba (Solomon)
Air (Water Music) - Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Sheep May Safely Graze (Cantana No. 208)
Arioso
Bist Du Bei Mir' (Anna Magdalena Notebook)
Panis Angelicus
Weichet Nur' (Wedding Cantata)
Silent Worship (Tolomeo) - Mary Ann Hart
Ave Maria
Sehet In Zufriedenheit' (Wedding Cantata)
Ave Maria
Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring
Air On The G String - Mainz Chamber Orchestra
Pastorale (Messiah) - Eastman Chorale
Nocturne - Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Wedding Day At Troldhaugen - Utah Symphony Orchestra
Hornpipe (Water Music)
Wedding March
Toccata (5th Symphony)

Customer Reviews:

Best Music Ever for Home Wedding.......2007-07-20

The tape consists of 25 traditional wedding songs played by big orchestras; the music was beautiful and made a small ceremony into a special, unforgettable ceremony.

Excellent resource for wedding planners.......2007-04-05

I work regularly with people planning church weddings who want the service to be dignified, traditional and formal. Often they have "ear memory" of music they've heard in other weddings, but no idea about its composer or title. This CD is the best compilation I've found of music that fits those requirements. Selections include great music and performances make it easy to imagine how they would sound in a particular church or other setting. Includes works by Protestant, Catholic and secular composers.

Great item!.......2007-03-29

Great CD! Perfect when planning your wedding music. There are a variety of songs from various composers.

Preview your wedding day.......2006-08-14

This CD was inexpensive, and provided a great way to preview songs for my wedding. The CD had a good song selection. My fiance and I were able to get a better idea of how the songs would be at our wedding. Definitely an inexpensive tool that is worthwhile.

25 WEDDING FAVORITES.......2006-07-20

My daughter had to move her wedding 3 weeks before the event and the music she had arranged could not be there. I purchased this CD and we were thrilled with the price, the selections on the cd and how quickly it arrived. Thanks for providing the music for a beautiful wedding.

Average customer rating:

I hate to be rude, but . . .
Outstanding
Sacred Songs
My favorite of Fleming's CDs so far
Inspiring and beautiful

Sacred Songs

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | 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

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

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

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music

More Titles at Least 20% Off | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Cecilia Bartoli ~ Opera Proibita (Handel · Scarlatti · Caldara) / Les Musiciens du Louvre · Minkowski
Haunted Heart
The Inner Voice : The Making of a Singer
Bryn Terfel - Simple Gifts
HOMAGE: The Age of the Diva

ASIN: B000AM6OXK
Release Date: 2005-09-27

Tracks:

Ave Maria
Jesu bleibet meine Freude
Dank sei dir, Herr
Ave Maria, D839
Laudamus te
Panis Angelicus
Air: "He shall feed his Flock"
Simple Song
Pie Jesu
Domine Deus
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
Air: Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion
Abends will ich schlafen gehn
L'Adieu des bergers
Mariiegenlied, Op.76/52
Amazing Grace

Amazon.com

This lovely CD features Renée Fleming singing religious music in an unaffected, lovely manner. Many favorites are here: both the Bach/Gounod and Schubert versions of "Ave Maria," each offered with long breaths and soft tone; "Rejoice Greatly" from Messiah, delivered with virtuosity and gleaming sound, and "He Shall Feed His Flock," also from Messiah, sung in a smooth, laid-back manner. Bits of the Fauré Requiem and Poulenc Gloria are welcome, as is the gorgeous "L'Adieu des Bergers" from L'Enfance du Christ. In the prayer from Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Fleming is joined by the splendid Susan Graham, and a version of "Amazing Grace" features Mark O'Connor on violin. Two excerpts from Mozart's Mass in C Minor, pieces by Reger and Franck, and a few surprises round out this devotional CD. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

I hate to be rude, but . . ........2007-05-06

As stated earlier, I hate to be rude. However, Renee Fleming is not one of the greatest singers that I have heard. At many times, it sounds as if she is drunk, sliding into her notes at times. She also has a habit of hitting a note, and then quickly moving up or down for "dramatic effect". I'm sorry, but I just cannot listen to this. I know that everyone has their own opinions, and this is mine.
She is still a beautiful woman, and always will be. I have seen her concerts online, and she ISN'T bad, it's just that she doesn't have what I'm looking for in an opera singer!

Outstanding.......2007-03-07

I had seen this program on PBS and wanted the CD. Wonderful selection
of music and Renee Fleming's outstanding voice.

Sacred Songs.......2007-01-21

I always look for new presentations of Christmas songs. Rene Flemming did an excellent job in this recording. She has a super voice but sometimes the words of the song get lost in her singing style

My favorite of Fleming's CDs so far.......2006-12-07

There are only two cuts on this CD I tend to flip past (Amazing Grace and the Leonard Bernstein cut), but other than them, I totally love the rest! The cuts in German are divine! I could listen to this CD over and over again.

Inspiring and beautiful.......2006-07-20

I've always loved Renee Fleming's singing and this most recent album is just beautiful in every way. A rich voice, beautiful singing and a devout and magnificent artist. She makes even the most notorious evergreens come to life anew. I enjoyed it very much.

Average customer rating:

Bryn Terfel's beautiful voice.
Why do people think this guy can sing??
Relaxing
Bryn Terfel's Simple Gifts
A Heartfelt Offering Reminiscent of An Earlier Era

Bryn Terfel - Simple Gifts

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Bryn Terfel Sings Favorites
Sacred Songs
Bryn Terfel - Something Wonderful (Bryn Terfel sings Rodgers & Hammerstein)
Bryn Terfel - If Ever I Would Leave You (Songs from My Fair Lady, On a Clear Day, Camelot, The Little Prince, Brigadoon)
Renee and Bryn: Under the Stars

ASIN: B000B8ISN2
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Tracks:

Ave Verum Corpus, K.618 - Adapted by Chris Hazell
Deep River - Arranged by Chris Hazell
The Lord Bless You and Keep You
I'll Walk Beside You - Arranged by Chris Hazell
Stabat Mater
Still, Still, Still Weils Kindlein Schlafen Will
Simple Gifts - Arranged by Chris Hazell
How Great Thou Art
Panis Angelicus - Arranged by Chris Hazell
Bless This House - Arranged by Chris Hazell
Ave Verum Corpus
Cavatina - Arranged by Chris Hazell
The Rose
Amazing Grace - Arranged by Chris Hazell
God's Mercy
Morning Has Broken - Arranged by Chris Hazell
Nearer My God To Thee - Arranged by Chris Hazell
Ave Maria
Send In The Clowns - Arranged by Jonathan Tunick
God Will Be With You

Amazon.com

Everything about Bryn Terfel is over-life-size: his physique, his personality, his breath-control, and of course his extraordinarily beautiful voice. This recording displays his stunning vocalism and versatility to full advantage, but its title belies its content. Alhough it does include some simple pieces, the execution is fussy, overdone, and calculated for maximum external effect. The program ranges from Mozart, Pergolesi and pseudo-Bach to Sondheim in arrangements that are pure Hollywood, complete with throbbing strings and rolling drums, often destroying the spirit as well as the letter of the original compositions. It begins with Mozart's heavenly "Ave verum" arranged for baritone solo and chorus, frustratingly cut off after a few phrases (another setting of the same text by Karl Jenkins, written for Terfel, is more satisfying, being complete and original). The splendid baritone Simon Keenlyside joins him here as well as in the opening number of Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater;" originally for soprano and alto, this must be the baritones' revenge on female singers who usurp songs written for men, like Schubert's and Schumann's cycles. Franck's "Panis angelicus" also inexplicably becomes a duet; unfortunately, Terfel's and tenor Aled Jones' voices do not match. Bach-Gounod's popular "Ave Maria" is all swells and exaggerations. The rest of the program consists of folksongs, hymns, show and film tunes, inflated to operatic proportions and generally ending in a fade-out or a flourish. Even the title song is anything but simple. This record is not for purists who like their music performed the way the composer wrote it, but aficionados of great singing will love it. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Bryn Terfel's beautiful voice........2007-05-13

Bryn Terfel has a beautiful voice. Listening to him is very pleasant and definitely something to look forward to. I read a review saying he would replace tenor Pavroti. However, I believe that Mr. Terfel is a Baritone and not a Tenor. That does not detract from the fact that he should be considered one of the world's top male singers. His voice is truly impressive. This CD by Bryn Terfel is one from our collection that is outstanding and a favorite.

Why do people think this guy can sing??.......2007-04-27

Sorry, I think this guy is one of the most overrated singers out there today. He always sounds like he is singing holding his nose shut. VERY nasal sounding.

If you want to listen to an incredibly beautiful voice, buy one of Josh Groban's CD's--you won't regret it! He has the voice of the century!

Relaxing.......2007-02-03

Excellent selection of music. It covers many different types. My wife likes being able to hear the words with out instruments drowning out the vocals. I find it relaxing and many of the songs are familiar and very well done.

Bryn Terfel's Simple Gifts.......2006-02-25

Simply superb. I don't know what our local (Wash DC) paper was talking about when they said Deep River was the weakest link. I was enthralled from beginning to end. I have had the pleasure of hearing Bryn Terfel live in recital at the Kennedy Center. I can assure you that his voice has only improved with age. He was wonderful then and is spectacular now!

A Heartfelt Offering Reminiscent of An Earlier Era.......2006-02-15

Bryn Terfel harkens back to earlier American operatic stars such as Richard Tucker and Robert Merrill who crossed grenres to satisfy their unquenchable need to sing any and all songs that moved them to an appreciative public. These great singers all had their origins singing sacred music from their respective religions and learned to lay their considerable talents before the altar of the simple inspirational song.

This recording is wonderful on many levels. The selections are an unusual mixture of classical sacred music, spirituals, hymns, Lieder, Austrian Christmas and Gaelic songs, musical numbers and movie theme songs harmoniously combined to touch the soul of the listener in a gentle ebb and flow of devotion, intensity and tenderness. All of these songs are beautiful in and of themselves and in his hands, we experience them anew.

Bryn Terfel sings with the commitment necessary to make the awesome challenge of simplicity look easy. To my way of thinking, he is the most communicative and articulate singer today, bar none. He is a poet who savors the sound, feeling and meaning of each and every word and marries it uniquely and faithfully to the music. He transports the listener into the life of a song and transfixes us each and every moment. His enormous talent is not overwhelming or distractive and is inextricably and wholly intertwined with the music. This is greatness and it is very, very rare today.

I like the inclusion of the choir in several of the numbers as it reflects on the nature and context of the songs. I am less fond of the selections with the guest soloists as I feel they do not match his ability to "get inside" a song. The orchestra and orchestations are sensitive and enhancing.

This recording is simply wonderful and should have a broad appeal. It will move and inspire the believer, satisfy and fulfill the otherwise spiritual, calm the troubled and renew a flagging soul.

Average customer rating:

Cornucopia of Pavarotti's works
Don't...!!!
Great Tenor - Poor CD Quality
Great Music......Horrible Mastering
Surely I am proud to be an Italian-American!!

Pavarotti: Greatest Hits

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | 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

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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ASIN: B0000042HZ
Release Date: 1997-09-30

Tracks:

Turandot: Nessun dorma
La Boheme: Che gelida manina
La Traviata: Brindisi
Aida: Se quel guerrier io foss ... Celeste Aida
L'Elisir d'Amore: Una furtiva lagrima
Rigoletto: Questa o quella
Martha: M'appari
TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle
Fedora: Amor ti vieta
Pagliaccci: Recitar!... Vesti la guibba
Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai
Rigoletto: La donna e mobile
L'africana: Mi batte il cuor ... O paradiso
Werther: Pourquoi me reveiller
Carmen: La fleur que tu m'avais jetee
Manon Lescaut: Ma se vi talenta ... Tra voi, belle
La Gioconda: Cielo e mar!
TOSCA: Recondita armonia
La Favorita: Spirito gentil
II torvatore: Di quella pira
L'amico Fritz: Suzel, buon di

Tracks:

O sole mio
Torna a Surriento
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna: Core 'ngrato
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna: Funiculi Funicul
Notte 'e piscatore
O Holy Night (Cantique de Noel)
Panis angelicus
Ave Marie: Ave Maria
Mattinata
La danza
Caro mio ben
Caruso
My Way
Santa Lucia
Tu che m'hai preso il cuor
Mamma
La mai canzone al vento: La mia canzone al vento
Volare
Passione
Granda: Granada

Customer Reviews:

Cornucopia of Pavarotti's works.......2007-03-01

This is a "Super hits" CD, with over forty different cuts (quite a few of which have appeared elsewhere, of course). For those who are aficionados of Pavarotti, this is what might be called "hog heaven."

Disc 1 features estimable works such as "Nessun dorma" (well done, with his voice showing to good effect), "Che gelida manina" (excellently done, with good characterization), ""Celeste Aida" (elegantly sung), "Di quella pira" (a much better than average version), "E lucevan le stelle" (Pavarotti does a nice job in the Puccini-Verdi repertoire), "La donna e mobile" (sung with aplomb), "Recondita armonia" (the other aria from Tosca, which also shows Pavarotti's voice off to good effect), and so on.

Disc 2 is especially interesting, because it features a more popular set of works, from the redoubtable "O sole mio" (richly orchestrated and nicely sung, not overpowered by Pavarotti's operatic voice), "Core n'grato" (compare with Caruso's version), "Oh, holy night," "La danza" (spritely sung with excellent breath control in a treacherous song), "Santa Lucia" (again, smoothly sung), "Ave Maria" (seemingly sung with respect and affection).

A cornucopia of Pavarottiana. For those fans of Pavarotti, this "greatest hits" collection will be welcome. For those who may not be aware of this tenor when his voice was still fresh, this is a fine entrée to his work.

Don't...!!!.......2005-01-24

To combine a voice as beautiful as Pavarotti's with some of the world's greatest music and outstanding orchestras, and end up with this...`thing'...is unforgivable. After buying and listening to it, it brought to mind those painful words "A fool, a fool. I saw a fool today. I saw him in the mirror."

R. J. Rogers

Great Tenor - Poor CD Quality.......2004-10-11

I have never been a huge fan of Maestro Pavarotti but I must admit that this compilation is a masterful collection of his operatic highlights.

I particularily enjoy the first disc which contains just about all the major tenor arias. The singing is superb and listening to this CD it becomes obvious what the fuss over the pre-3 Tenors Pavarotti was all about - the man really did have one of the greatest tenor voices of all time.
His diction was flawless, his line perfect and his interpretation in keeping with the greatest of the Italian tenors of days gone by.

The second disc is interesting in that it is a bit uneven. It contains a few neapolitan standards, a x-mas song, a duet with Frank Sinatra and some other random selections.

Overall this is a 5 star CD but due to the extremely low volume, particularily on the first and most important disc I can only give it a 4 star rating.

On a final note, anyone puzzeled by the current hype over the now againg and commercially over-blown Pavarotti should purchase this CD. This is the great tenor in his prime and as such a CD well worth having...even if you're not a Pavarotti fan.
I'm still not, but I recognize greatness when I hear it.

Great Music......Horrible Mastering.......2004-07-24

Pavarotti has a voice that can take hold of you and change your entire mood...even if you don't know Italian. The problem with this set is the mastering (mastering evens out the volumes and signal to noise ratio on an album). The first CD in this collection is so quiet that you literally have to crank your player to get any kind of volume. For a professional CD this is absolutely unacceptable.
The song choices are good with the exception of "My Way" with Frank Sinatra. Both singers sound ....ummm...let's just say less than their best on the recording. It sits out like a boil on a pretty girl's face.

Surely I am proud to be an Italian-American!!.......2004-06-26

With his wondrous soaring vocals and the humble demeanor within his strong body, Pavarotti is an inspiration to Italian- Americans everywhere - Italian-Americans like me. My family plays his beautiful operas on vinyl nearly every day in me Papa's little wine and cheese shop on 18th and Broadway. The customers compliment the music with glee, pinching my plump cheeks with merriment and wishing me well on their way out the door. Ah, how I love this land of America!!

Oops, I am sorry, Nana.

My Nana has shushed me to "pipe down, little bambino."

Tracks:

The Seven Deadly Sins: Prologue: Andante sostenuto
The Seven Deadly Sins: Idleness: Allegro vivace
The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride: Allegretto, quasi andantino - Schneller Walzer
The Seven Deadly Sins: Anger: Molto agitato
The Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony: Largo
The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust: Moderato
The Seven Deadly Sins: Avarice: Allegro giusto
The Seven Deadly Sins: Envy: Allegro non troppo - Alla marcia, un poco tenuto
The Seven Deadly Sins: Epilogue: Andante sostenuto
The Threepenny Opera: 'Moritat vom Mackie Messer'
The Threepenny Opera: 'Barbara-Song'
The Threepenny Opera: 'Seerauberjenny'
Aufstief und Fall der Stadt mahogany: 'Havanna-Lied'
Aufstief und Fall der Stadt mahogany: 'Alabama-Song'
Aufstief und Fall der Stadt mahogany: 'Denn Wie Man Sich Bettet'
Happy End: 'Bilbao-Song'
Happy End: 'Surabaya-Johnny'
Happy End: 'Was die Herren Matrosen sagen'
Das Berliner Requiem: 'Ballade vom ertrunkenen Madchen'
Der Silbersee, Ein Wintermarchen: 'Lied der Fennimore'
Der Silbersee, Ein Wintermarchen: 'Casar Tod'

Amazon.com essential recording

Whether playing Anna in The Seven Deadly Sins or singing "Moritat vom Mackie Messer" ("Mack the Knife"), Lotte Lenya helped define the music of her husband, Kurt Weill. The duo literally created the soundtrack for the prewar Berlin of our fantasies--an exotic land of nicotine and nightlights--where cabaret, jazz, and the odd American instrumental influence all coexist happily. Now remastered, this collection gathers Lenya's legendary 1957 recordings of Sins and her 1955 recording Sings Berlin Theatre Songs. Forget subtlety--Lenya is all about emotion. On cuts like "Pirate Jenny," Lenya's voice sounds fluttery and frantic, and on "Surabaya-Johnny," her German sounds fragile and sweet, but mostly she's just herself--bittersweet, raw, and (most of all) human. In spirit, Marianne Faithfull, PJ Harvey, and a host of others all kept the torch of Lenya's style going. But after listening to these Berlin theater songs in classic form (and in their original tongue), you'll never hear them the same way again. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

One of the greats.......2007-04-17

When I was a student in 1965, the turntable in my college apartment was kept busy spinning The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Broadway show cast albums, Nina Simone and Lotte Lenya. Lotte Lenya? Yes, the widow of German composer Kurt Weill and the star of the legendary 1950s off-Broadway revival of THE THREEPENNY OPERA, who also played James Bond's adversary Rosa Kleb in the movie FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. (Rosa Kleb was a martial arts expert with poison knives in the toes of her shoes.) But my theory is that Lotte Lenya enjoyed great cachet with the baby-boomers primarily because of the cover of Bob Dylan's 1965 "Bringing It All Back Home" album. That cover shows Dylan and a brunette woman in a rather elegant setting crammed with books and phonograph records. Prominent among the stack of recordings is Lenya's "Berlin Theatre Songs of Kurt Weill" album. Even though this was the age of "Don't trust anyone over thirty," if Bob Dylan liked Lotte Lenya, then she was okay. I loved everything about her Berlin Theatre Songs album, from the expressionistic cover portrait to all the unfamiliar songs sung in quavery German.

Now that CDs have made phonograph records obsolete, I've wanted to replace my LP version of the Berlin Theatre Songs for some time. Well, I feel that I've hit the jackpot with this Masterworks Heritage CD reissue which is packaged with the Brecht-Weill THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, an experimental dance-drama that Brecht and Weill created in Paris after fleeing Nazi Germany. I had never heard THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. It is a revelation. It could have been written by no one else. The haunting melodies, the offbeat orchestrations and the unorthodox subject matter combine to form a Brecht-Weill classic. I love this music and have played it repeatedly for weeks. Lenya's voice during this period had not yet become raspy and her saucy personality shines through. My German is much better now than it was as a college student and I can at last appreciate Lenya's perfectly enunciated German. I find this recording mesmerizing. The CD is packaged as a foldout album/book, rather than a jewel box. It includes a brief essay by Teresa Stratas and helpful notes by Mario R. Mercado. Also included are more than a dozen sepia-toned photos of the recording session and four beautiful color photographs of Lenya in Hamburg in 1956. And of course, that wonderful Saul Bolasni portrait that graced the original LP is included on the inside cover of the jacket.

I think this CD is essential. For me, it conjures up a whole era, maybe a whole century. Five stars.

I cannot live without this album. .......2006-06-09

The Weill/Brecht "Seven Sins" may not be as famous as the Threepenny, and it's certainly not as long. The songs aren't "catchy"-- no Doors or Darin or David Bowie or Dresden Dolls are going to cover any of the ballet's nine pieces. But, in all its operatic beauty, it's one of my favourite musical works on this planet.

In short: the Seven Sins is unbelievable. It's Brecht/Weill at their very best. It will latch itself onto your brain, stick its claws into your skull, surpass anything you've ever heard before. From the very start -- just three notes that will, I promise, make you shiver -- to the beautiful, melancholy ending; it's what opera should be like, and it's beyond perfect.

Miss Lotte Lenya, who was the smartest woman in the world for marrying Kurt Weill TWICE, sings what's probably the definitive version of Anna-Anna. Yes, it's two octaves lower than what was intended (but if it's high-pitched warbling you're after, I can highly recommend the lovely Anne Sofie von Otter version), and some people seem to be slightly allergic to Lotte's voice. Which I still fail to understand. She embodies everything Weill writes -- every word out of her mouth feels just right, just exactly the way it was intended.

One other version I'm particularly fond of is the one starring Marianne Faithfull. The differences are easy to spot: Marianne sings in English. Marianne sounds more stoic. Marianne's choir is more overwhelming, but smoother, though the pieces don't fit together quite as well. Marianne is just slightly faster, less emotional, slightly sweeter. Lotte, on the other hand, gives it everything she's got -- never holds back -- and fills the part with emotion. Lotte's choir is tinny, Berlin-y cabaret-y. Lotte's orchestra is much more solid. And Lotte toys more with the lyrics. Both versions are perfect, and I would VERY highly recommend buying both if you can afford it, if just to compare.

Just like Marianne's CD, this album is filled up with as much other Brecht/Weill stuff as would still fit on the disc. The final notes of the Seven Sins epilogue are quickly followed with a gorgeous full Mack The Knife (yes, uncensored), an unbelievable (and definitive) Pirate Jenny, an Alabama Song... pretty much everything these people are famous for, and even some rather obsure songs. The orchestra and background singers mix perfectly with Lotte's vocals on every track. There's not a single flaw -- not in the music, not in the recording quality, nothing -- every bit of it is as perfect as these songs get.

Whether you're just starting out collecting Berlin cabaret, or finally look to complete your collection, this album is simply something you can't NOT buy. So buy it. Buy it. Yes. Excellent. And, if you're searching for more excellent related stuff, here's some other CDs I can recommend:

- Die Dreigroschenoper: 1999 version, starring Nina Hagen, Max Raabe, HK Gruber
- The Threepenny Opera: 1954 Blitzstein adaptation (English softened version)
- Jasperina de Jong - Sieben Rosen hat der Strach (Brecht tribute)
- Cathy Berberian - The Unforgettable
- The Tiger Lillies - Twopenny Opera (It's One Cheaper)

And a final note: avoid the Ute Lemper version at all costs. She's a great singer, absolutely, but will never be Anna-Anna.

Lenya and Weill at their best! Buy It........2005-11-04

'Lotte Lenya sings Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins and Berlin Theatre Songs' is a single CD combining two separate 1955 LPs recorded in Germany, five years after the death of husband and composer, Kurt Weill.

As a lifelong Weill fan who has heard many different interpretations of these songs most notably from Ute Lemper and Maria Stratas, I was struck by how dramaticly better was Lenya's performance of the lyrics. I think this goes far beyond the fact that many of these works were written specifically to be performed by Lenya in Berlin between 1927 and 1933. It is obvious to my ear that even though Lemper is a great cabaret singer, Lenya trumps this with years of performing on the live stage without the aid of electronic amplification.

Lenya does 'Die Sieben Todsunden' with the version done for a lower voice (same as Lemper) rewritten for her by Weill. As other reviewers have noted, this was originally a combination ballet / song cycle commissioned in Germany by George Balanchine where the singer and the ballerina perform two sisters, both named Anna.

None of the individual songs are nearly as popular on their own as the following collection of songs from the German works, 'The Threepenny Opera', 'Mahagonny', and 'Happy End'.

My first encounter with Lotty Lenya's singing was on a Columbia collection done on vinyl in the 1960s, done, probably following on her appearance in the second James Bond movie, 'From Russia, With Love' as the Russian Colonel Klebb. I think this recording is far superior to that issue or to any other recent recording where Lenya does songs she never performed on the stage.

"An important landmark in dancing history".......2001-06-16

The seven Deadly Sins was commissioned as a dance piece for Les Ballets 1933 with choreography by George Balanchine, Balanchine re-staged it at the New York City Ballet with Lenya at 1958. Anna Sokolow who has difficulties to work with Bertold Brecht to close (Galileo), gave her own independent interpretation to this play as a director with Netherland Dance Theatre in 1967 and at Detroit in 1967 (Cleo Laine).

"An important landmark in dancing history".......2001-06-16

The seven Deadly Sins was commissioned as a dance piece for Les Ballets in 1933 with choreography by George Balanchine. Balanchine restaged it at the New York City Ballet with Lenya in 1958. Anna Sokolow who had difficulties working with Bertold Brecht closely (Galileo), gave her own interpretation to this play as a director with Netherlands Dance Theatre in 1967 and in Detroit in 1976 (Cleo Laine, Mary Hinkson), and in Boston in 1990.

Average customer rating:

Outstanding
The heavens are telling
Uncle Abe rattles the house with this thing
Sir Robert with ASO and Chorus at their Best!
Celestial melodies

Choral Masterpieces

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

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

Requiems | Vocal Non-Opera | 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
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ASIN: B000003CTR
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Hallelujah
Ave Verum Corpus K.618
Kyrie Eleison
Passion Chorale
The Shepherds' Farewell
Lift Thine Eyes To The Mountains
He Watching Over Israel
Dona Nobis Pacem
Hallelujah
Worthy Is The Lamb
Sanctus
Bogoroditse Devo
Wie Lieblich Sind Deine Wohnungen
The Heavens Are Telling
Rex Tremendae

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding.......2007-01-12

-gave this as a Christmas gift to my brother-in-law, a church musician. He has listened over & over & thinks it is really outstanding. Thank you!

The heavens are telling.......2005-10-21

This is a very great chorus, and one of Haydn's best as far as i am concerned. The pace, grandness and spirit of the piece all conjure in one's imagination the majesty of heaven, and God's throne. I cannot help but be moved to praise the God of the heavens and the earth.

kanmi ogundipe

Uncle Abe rattles the house with this thing.......2004-11-22

I came home from work one day when my uncle was visiting my wife and myself. He was recently retired from the ministry. He had heard a lot of choral music in his life. My aunt said he had the stereo ( power end of my stereo at the time was an Adcomm 555 amp. conservatively rated at 200 watts RMS per channel) up so loud it was rattling the whole house. I too have come to love this music. I mostly listen to rock and roll; but the way my uncle, and now I, play this thing, it is rock and roll from another era!!!

Sir Robert with ASO and Chorus at their Best!.......2003-11-16

After Mr Shaw spent many years in NYC and Cleveland with RCA Red Label,he came into Atlanta for a big change! Soon he switched to TELARC DIGITAL! I still Joyfully remember our Recording of the Christmas Nativity in Dec of 1975! Sir Robert, conducting with earphones encasing his head shouted: "Stop the taping, there is some Darn Sizzling noise in those Lights!" We may have not heard the word "Damn" lights, that he employed at times!

On both this newer release of TELARC and the older Recording of The Christmas Nativity, there are Bach's Chorale, Break Forth, Dona Nobis Pacem from the B-Minor Mass, Handel's Hallelujah! Plus the exquisite, Shepherds's Farewell to the Holy Family of Berlioz's The Infant Christ!

Those who may not be familiar with Berlioz from both recordings, will be richly rewarded by hearing them plus the Rex Tremendae from Berlioz''s Requiem and the other Kyrie from the Bach B-Minor! Absolutely, no other Christmas Music can ever approach these two splendid recordings, which are the basis of the ASO celebrating every Christmas with "Robert Shaw in the Spirit!"

Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

Celestial melodies.......2001-05-27

No matter what mood you are in, the gorgeous chorals will draft you through the paths of holiness, and you will find yourself situated in the Elysium, land of eternal joy, yet you are far from dead. The past grief, weariness, and worries will fade and torture your soul no more. You are set free.

Tracks:

Overture To 'Tannhauser'
Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
Hungarian Dance No.7
The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
Csardas Music
The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
Tzigane
Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
Caprice No.24
The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
The Violin Muted
Clair De Lune
The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
The Pizzicato Violin
Pizzicato Polka
In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
Hungarian Dance No.4
Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
Bolero
Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
Elfenreigen

Tracks:

Introduction To The Viola
Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
Cypresses (No.9)
The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
The 'Period' Viola In Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
Elfentanz, Op.39
Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
The Protecting Veil (Opening)
A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
Flamenco
Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
Symphony No.9 (Finale)
Introduction To The Double-Bass
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
Elegy No.1 In D Major
The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
Capriccio Di Bravura
Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
Sa'Dawi
Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
Chamber Music No.II
The Piccolo - Aptly Named
La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
A Variety Of Techniques
Chamber Music No.II
Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
Naelden, Naelden
The Bachian Oboe
Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
The Swan Of Tuonela
The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
Bolero
The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
...And Quite Low.
Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
Introduction To The Saxophone
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
Bolero
The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
Sax-O-Phun
The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
Bolero
The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
Symphony No.3 (Opening)
The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
The Ceremonial Trumpet
Fanfare For The Common Man
Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
Billy The Kid
The Trumpet As Character Actor
Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
The Birth Of The Trombone
Aenmerckt Nu Hier
The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
Canzon 12 In Double Echo
The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
Hosannah
The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
The Trombone As Caricaturist
Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
The Horn And The Hunt
Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
Walter Music (Minuet 1)
The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
Den Hoboecken Dans
Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
Gymnopedie No.2
The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
The Birth Of The Bongo
Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
Taking Advantage Of Tunability
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
Ravel And The Xylophone
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
Introducing The Vibraphone
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
Folk Dances
The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
Introducing The Tubular Bells
Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
Carmen Suite (Introduction)
But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Introducing The Celeste
The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
Petrushka (Russian Dance)
The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
Mahler's Sleighbells
Symphony No.4 (Opening)
A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Nocturnes
Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
The Oboe As Duck
Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
A Thunderstorm In A Million
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)

Tracks:

The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
Octet In F (Mvt 3)
The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
Canzon 28
Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
Images (Gigues)
A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')

Customer Reviews:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

Frank's view.......2006-08-19

This boxed set of CD's with booklet achieved all I had hoped that it would. There are good samples of individual instruments and well done commentary on each. The only drawback was that some of the samples were too brief and could have been longer, hoiwever I guess this fits in with time constraints of the medium. It has given me a lot of clues as to future purchases of CD's for listening to individual instruments. Altogeth a satisfactory purchase and a welcome addition to my collection.

Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

I've listened to classical music for years and am interested in composition. I bought this CD set to learn how an orchestra and its instruments work. I thought the CDs would be a nice but boring lecture. They aren't! Not only are they FUN but they are informative as well. I learned a huge amount from each CD and couldn't wait to listen to the next one.

The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!

I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.

Tracks:

Symphony No. 104 In D Major 'London': Menuetto - Allegro
Harpsicord Concerto In D Major: Vivace
Symphony No. 100 In G Major 'Miltary': Allegretto
Mass No. 2 In E- Flat Major: Great Organ Mass
Symphony No. 82 In C Major 'The Bear': Vivace assai
Keyboard Sonata No. 48 In C Major: Allegro con brio
Symphony No. 45 In F-Sharp Minor 'Farewell': Allegro assai
Violin Concerto No. 1 In C Major: Allegro moderato
Allegro con spirito
Symphony No. 96 In D Major 'Miracle': Allegro
Symphony No. 96 In D Major 'Miracle': Andante
Baryton Divertimento No. 107 In D Major: Minuet and Trio
Music Clock
Trumpet Concerto In E-Flat Major: Adagio
Symphony No. 45 In F-Sharp Minor 'Farewell': Adagio
Symphony No. 82 In C Major 'The Bear': Vivace
Symphony No.11 In G Major 'Miltary': Excerpts
Philemon And Baucis: Tenor Aria 'Nemo'
Symphony No. 104 In D Major 'London': Allegro spiritoso
Horn Concerto No. 2 In D Major: Allegro
Symphony No. 101 In D Major 'Clock': Presto; Menuetto (Allegretto)
Symphony No. 94 In G Major 'Surprise': Andante
Symphony No. 96 In D Major 'Miracle': Vivace assai
Symphony No. 101 In D Major 'Clock': Andante
Symphony No. 104 In D Major 'London': Andante
Mass in D-flat Major: Gloria
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76 No. 3 Emperor
The Creation: Chrous: 'The Heavens are Telling'
Austrian National Anthem
Cello Concerto In D Major, Hob. VIIb, No. 2: Moderato
Cello Concerto In D Major, Hob. VIIb, No. 2: Adagio
Cello Concerto In D Major, Hob. VIIb, No. 2: Allegro molto

Average customer rating:

Magnificent soprano!
Vintage Mozart!!
Bel Canto
Sublime
Why I love Kathleen

Kathleen Battle Sings Mozart

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Battle, Kathleen | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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The Bach Album
Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall
The Best of Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Battle - Bel Canto Arias

ASIN: B000002RO3
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Vorrei spiegarvi, oh dio!
Exsultate, jubilate
Il re pastore: L'amero, saro costante
Basta, vincesti...ah non lasciarmi, no
Un moto di gioia
Ch'io mi scordi di te...non temer, amato bene - Scena And Rondo
Misera, dove son!...ah! non son'io che parlo

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent soprano!.......2007-03-28

Kathleen Battle is one in a line of incredibly talented American born sopranos including Anna Moffo, Renee Fleming, Leontyne Price, etc. She has a beautiful voice and perfectly suited to sing Bach, Handel and Mozart. This disc will open your eyes to the beauty of Mozart if you do not already appreciate his work. The standouts here are "Vorrei spiegarvi" which will send chills up your spine, "exsultate jubilate", "l'amero saro costante", "un moto di gioia", and "misera, dove son". Andre Previn does an outstanding job at the conductor's helm.
I was terribly saddened that this great diva's career was sidetracked by supposed temperament difficulties. I'll not fault her too much because we only know the Met Opera's version. Besides, Battle is forgiven for the sheer gorgeousness of her singing. Mozart himself would be so pleased if he heard this cd.

Vintage Mozart!!.......2007-01-12

I was not familiar with Kathleen Battle's voice prior to listening to this recording. I am now, and what a beautiful and talented voice she has!! She has reinforced my belief that Mozart is one of the greatest composers. I never tire listening to Mozart; I listen to this recording often. I am pleased, as I am sure you will be, to have this recording by Ms. Battle in my music library.

Bel Canto.......2006-12-30

The date on my copy, and I assume it is the recording date, I bought it very many years ago, is 1985. It used to be one of my favorite CDs. I won't call Battle an angel because there is no such thing, and I don't know how one would sound if there were. But her voice is warm and smooth and quintessentially beautiful. I love it. I was sorry to read in a review of another CD of hers that she is a gorgon. It diminishes my love greatly, as it did my liking for Callas, who had a poorer voice to begin with. I like to think well of my heroes. This compliation of Mozart is bel canto, but with not so much coloratura. It is deeply pleasurable and soothing. It is sublime, with the meaning that 100 years of Tin Pan Alley and pop tune lyric writers have given it (perfectly pleasurable and agreeable), not the meaning that the word originally or actually had/has (awesome). Compare this Mozart recital with Sutherland's collection of Mozart arias in her Art of collection. (I'm writing these comments under Battle's CD because Sutherland's is in a 6 disc collection that I just opened last night, the only disc I've listened to from it is the Mozart.) I do not like Mozart's operas. That's a fact, and that's all there is to it. Take it or leave it. They bore me green. However, some of his tunes (art songs) and some arias from his operas are divine. And Battle and Sutherland sang some of them. Sutherland's disc is coloratura all the way. It too is exquisitely beautiful, as I expect the whole collection to be. I don't know which I prefer. Must I choose? I perfer Sutherland's disc. Battle's selections are soothing and dreamy. Sutherland's are soothing but arousing at the same time. But that's just my preference. Bel canto (which means beautiful singing) is of course very beautiful (that's redundant), but I prefer coloratura singing, which comes from bel canto, and which many consider an excess, or at least that it can be an excess. I am not one of those. I love the ornamentation. It delights and pleases me. Mozart and the Italians of the 1st half of the 19th Century are considered the bel canto and coloratura masters (though there are instances of coloratura if not bel canto (?!) through the history of music). Notes. I paid full price for my Battle when it came out. Now it's available for a song. If you like just beautiful female music that can make an entire 6 or 7 minute piece with one word for a lyric, I highly recommend it. And if you do want it, and Newbury Comics is an Amazon Marketplace seller of it, you'd be in safe hands and save even more money buying it from them. Likewise the Sutherland Art of 6 disc set. I think I got that from Newbury Comics, and I saved $20, and by spending an extra $2 postage (for expedited shipping), had it in my hands in about 3 days. 4 wonderful things. Mozart's tunes, Battle, Sutherland, and Newbury Comics. I recommend them all.

Sublime.......2006-12-27

If there is a more exquisite CD in my collection, I don't know what it is. When I went shopping for stereo speakers years ago, I used this CD to test the high range. Mrs. Battle's voice is otherworldly in its purity, clarity, and delicacy. This recording is artistically, programmatically, and technologically flawless.

Steve

Why I love Kathleen.......2006-09-21

This album was the reason I fell in love with Kathleen Battle. Her voice is clean, beautiful and pure, just the right type of voice for Mozart.

Track Listings: