Nash Ensemble

1. Nonet for winds & strings in F major, Op.31 "Grand"
Composed by Louis Spohr
with Nash Ensemble

2. Octet for winds & strings in E major, Op.32
Composed by Louis Spohr
with Nash Ensemble

Tracks:

Samarkand
Oblivion
Meditation From Thais
Portrait
To Love You More
Reflexio
Aurora
Lady Grinning Soul
Ravel String Quartet IN F Major: Assez Vif - Tres Rythme
She Is Like The Swallow
My Funny Valentine
Nocturne/Bohemian Rhapsody

Amazon.com

Josh Groban fans who caught the singer's 2004 Closer tour would no doubt take note of Lucia Micarelli, who was the violinist and concertmaster for Groban. Like her boss, who also is executive producer of Music From A Farther Room, Micarelli is a young, attractive, and talented player who has the classical training, but who is also enchanted with pop music. Also like her boss, her strain of classical crossover works thanks to tasteful accompaniment, in this case from arranger/composer Paul Schwartz. The smartly chosen program of material comes from such varied catalogs as David Bowie and Rogers and Hart. Micarelli's playing is emotional without being overreaching, assertive when called upon, and nuanced. When she does go over-the-top pop on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," it's brief but fun; when she navigates Piazzolla's "Oblivion" she draws upon the song's passion more than its technical requisites. This is a debut with likeable pizzazz, coming in a genre not often enough known for it. -- Tad Hendrickson

Album Description

For anyone who has attended Josh Groban's phenomenal live show, you will have undoubtedly had the pleasure of seeing and hearing his lead violinist, Lucia Micarelli. Lucia came to Josh's tour after appearing with the Trans- Siberian Orchestra playing arenas across the U.S. in 2003. With the close of the second leg of Josh's tour, Lucia is recording her debut album in New York and London with producer Paul Schwartz. Musical selections will range from the works of composers Ravel and Ennio Morricone to David Bowie.

Customer Reviews:

Nice CD.......2007-07-15

This is one of my favorite CDs in my collection. I saw her play in person, and Live is much, much better then the CD.

Music from a Farther Room.......2007-05-22

I heard Lucia Micarelli during a 2007 Josh Groban concert. Her live solo performance in addition to her backgrounds for Groban were mesmerizing. I purchased this album to see if it was as enjoyable as her live work, and I was not disappointed. Micarelli performs a good mix of classical and pop pieces. My favorite tracks on the album are Smarkland, Meditation, Lady Grinning Soul, Portrait, and Nocturne/Bohemian Rhapsody.

relaxation.......2007-05-13

This CD is very well done. I was familiar with old favorites and delighted with new songs. I would like to hear more of the rock songs preformed by her. I think she's got a lot of talent and could possibly do well with the rock songs on a future album.

amazing.......2007-05-07

Lucia has power in her playing. I think that she shouldn't be allowed to play violin this good. Her raw talent is conveyed in every song. She doesn't just stick to classical, as the accompaniment music isn't just strings. I wished she had played a little more in Bohemian Rhapsody. I saw her in concert with Josh Groban and I knew I had to purchase this CD. Lucia is an inspiration and her love for the violin cannot be contained.

Talented violinist.......2007-03-29

When I saw and heard Lucia Micarelli perform with Josh Groban at a recent concert, I was so impressed with her talent, that I immediately went online to see what music of hers was available. Every item on her CD is wonderful, and I'm looking forward to her next CD.

Average customer rating:

breakdown by cd.
I'm not a music expert

Dvorák: The Masterworks [Box Set]

Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Mendelssohn: The Masterworks [Box Set]
Vivaldi: The Masterworks (Box Set)
Brahms: The Masterworks (Box Set)
Haydn: The Masterworks [Box Set]
Schubert: The Masterworks [Box Set]

ASIN: B00062FLJW
Release Date: 2004-11-30

Customer Reviews:

breakdown by cd........2007-01-14

CD1-7:SYMPHONIES 1-9

CD8:PIANO CONCERTO

CD9:VIOLIN CONCERTO & CELLO CONCERTO

CD10-11:REQUIEM

CD12-13:STABAT MATER

CD14:PIANO TRIOS OP.90 "DUMKY" & 21

CD15:PIANO TRIOS OP.65 & 26

CD16:PIANO QUARTETS

CD17:PIANO QUINTETS

CD18:STRING QUINTETS

CD19-20:MUSIC FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO

C21:SERENADE/HAUSMUSIK

CD22-31:THE COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS

CD32:SLAVONIC DANCES OP.46 & 72

CD33:PIANO DUET SLAVONIC DANCES

CD34:PIANO DUET LEGENDS FROM THE BOHEMIAN FOREST

CD35:PIANO WORKS

CD36-37:RUSALKA

CD38-40:SYMPHONIC POEMS

I'm not a music expert.......2005-08-25

I don't know too much about music. I own over 700 cds, but I don't play music and I don't have much experience with this music. My only point of reference was the ninth symphony, seeing as every other piece in this box set was new to me. It sounds fine, nothing wrong with it as far as I can see.

Now, here's what you'll get in this box set, seeing as Amazon does not give it a description. 40 cds! no joke, you get 40 cds in this box set. It features:
1. Complete symphonies
2. Complete symphonic poems
3. Cello concerto
4. Piano concerto
5. Violin concerto
6. Requiem
7. Stabat Mater
8. Slavonic Dances
9. Complete String quartets
10. Chamber music
11. Piano Works (solo and duet)
12. Rusalka

As far as I can tell, the only things missing are The Spectre's Bride and Jacobin. Seeing as it is 40 cds, i have not had an opportunity to listen to it, however what i have heard i have been quite satisfied with.

Average customer rating:

The "Clinker" of the bunch

Brahms: The Masterworks (Box Set)

Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Sextets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00062FLIS
Release Date: 2004-11-30

Customer Reviews:

The "Clinker" of the bunch.......2006-12-19

Having collected the entire "The Masterworks" series (including the Bach and Mozart Complete Works) this set is the 'clinker' of the bunch. First off... 6 CD's of Lieder 'historic' (pre-historic) recordings. No Overtures, No Orchestral Seranades, No Haydn Variations?? The performances of the Symphonies and the Concertos are shakey and not very well recorded. Brilliant Classics, who has done such a wonderful job with the Hadyn Complete Symphonies (licensed from Nimbus), the Mozart and Bach Complete sets, has stumbled a bit with this release.

Vaughan Williams - Along the Field on Wenlock Edge · Merciless Beauty · Ten Blake Songs, and others / Ainsley · The Nash Ensemble

Average customer rating:

Unsurpassed setting of poetry to music
Incomparable singing of English music
Blake Songs are the highlight

Vaughan Williams - Along the Field on Wenlock Edge · Merciless Beauty · Ten Blake Songs, and others / Ainsley · The Nash Ensemble
Ralph Vaughan Williams , John Mark Ainsley , and The Nash Ensemble
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

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Vaughan Williams: Over hill, over dale
Vaughan Williams: Complete Concertos
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Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Cotswold Romance / Death of Tintagiles - London Philharmonic Choir / London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Hickox
Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem/Four Hymns/Toward The Unknown Region/O Clap Your Hands/Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Re

ASIN: B00004WMWQ
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Tracks:

Merciless Beauty: Your Eyen Two
Merciless Beauty: So Hath Your Beauty
Merciless Beauty: Since I From Love
Two English Folksongs: Searching For Lambs
Two English Folksongs: The Lawyer
Ten Blake Songs: Infant Joy
Ten Blake Songs: A Poison Tree
Ten Blake Songs: The Piper
Ten Blake Songs: London
Ten Blake Songs: The Lamb
Ten Blake Songs: The Shepherd
Ten Blake Songs: Ah, Sun-Flower
Ten Blake Songs: Cruelty Has A Human Heart
Ten Blake Songs: The Divine Image
Ten Blake Songs: Eternity
Along The Field: We'll To The Woods No More
Along The Field
Along The Field: The Half-Moon Westers Low
Along The Field: In The Morning
Along The Field: The Sigh That Heaves The Grasses
Along The Field: Good-Bye
Along The Field: Fancy's Knell
Along The Field: With Rue My Heart Is Laden
On Wenlock Edge: On Wenlock Edge The Wood's In Trouble
On Wenlock Edge: From Far, From Eve And Morning
On Wenlock Edge: Is My Team Ploughing?
On Wenlock Edge: Oh, When I Was In Love With You
On Wenlock Edge: Bredon Hill
On Wenlock Edge: Clun

Customer Reviews:

Unsurpassed setting of poetry to music.......2006-08-23

Apart from the quality of the performance here, it's worth noting that perhaps no one has done a finer job of setting great poetry to music than Vaughan Williams. His settings of Blake's poems are superb: they reveal aspects of Blake many readers miss. His settings of A. E. Housman's poems are just as good. (Housman is not listed here, but he wrote about ten of the poems on this record.) I recommend that those teaching Blake or Housman play selections from this. High school students in particular are likely to find Blake more accessible after hearing the songs.

Incomparable singing of English music.......2001-10-05

This notable recording is a welcome addition to John Mark Ainsley's catalogue of English music; his lovely, cultivated yet heartfelt voice is heard to advantage throughout the disc, wonderfully supported by the Nash Ensemble. "On Wenlock Edge" is here given the best recorded performance I know; it is superbly sung and played, with "Bredon Hill" being an especially high point, from the lovely rising phrase of the first line through the drama of the central section and the poignancy of "And would not wait for me." "Is My Team Ploughing?" is sung with real mastery; dramatic without hand-wringing, melancholy without melodrama, it is a perfect example of the art of a singer unequalled today in the interpretation of English song.

Blake Songs are the highlight.......2001-02-19

I bought this recording because I adore the Blake songs and wished to have a recording of them at long last, and these are without question the highlight of this CD for me. I enjoy all the other songs, and Mr. Ainsley sings in tune with a beautiful tone, but they tend to blend together into one long opus.

Saint-Saëns: Piano Quartet; Piano Quintet; Septet; etc.

Average customer rating:

Excellent chamber works worthy of a listen!
For Saint Saens devotees
Two Hours' Worth of Chamber Music Pleasure
awesome!

Saint-Saëns: Piano Quartet; Piano Quintet; Septet; etc.

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Saint-Saëns: Les 5 Symphonies

ASIN: B00095L8X4
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Customer Reviews:

Excellent chamber works worthy of a listen!.......2007-04-01

The Nash Ensemble is one of my favorite chamber groups, and the performers invariably produce an excellent effort in most of their many recordings. Saint-Saens was a long-lived composing genius and certainly understood the writing of chamber works well - several outstanding reviews have already been offered, so I will not go into details; however, I rated these discs 5* (probably would have done 4 1/2*, if possible) simply to counteract the underserved rating of 3* - not sure even how valid this opinion may be for someone who states that "My only quibble with that is it's what you could say about 95 percent of classical music CDs." I would likely agree that this high percentage might refer to current 'pop' music, but as an owner of nearly 2000 classical music CDs, the statement is a reflection of ignorance. Furthermore, the Amazon price of this 2-CD set is indeed ridiculous - 'new' sets can be obtained for less that half that price on the Marketplace (which I use often); in addition, check out the Berkshire Record Outlet which sells numerous Hyperion CDs at ridiculously low prices (sorry, Amazon). So, please read the good reviews only.

For Saint Saens devotees.......2005-11-05

Assuming you are a devotee of Camille Saint Saens, what chamber music have you heard by him? Was it written in his typical late Romantic style? Did some of it begin to sound like Poulenc and other French composers after his time? Was it serious? Jovial? Profound? Does it rank with the chamber music of Brahms?

If you buy this set you'll have the answer to some but not all of these questions. For my money this is two CDs of music that essentially repeats itself. Nothing herein is particularly well developed musically even though some of it is very pleasant and some incurs toe-tapping.

The Nash Ensemble seems to be half-hearted about some of this music also. The pianist seems to go in and out of tune, sometimes being the straw that stirs the drink and other times being the drink. The recording is agreeable but in no way outstanding, which I find a bit odd for chamber music recorded in this century.

There is nothing in this package that will grab you like the Violin Concerto No. 3 or the "Organ" Symphony. You won't find anything too profound herein. And, like other reviewers have said on this site, it is a couple hours of pleasant listening.

My only quibble with that is it's what you could say about 95 percent of classical music CDs. If you have unlimited space in your home to store them, and unlimited time to hear them, fine.

I think this is a Saint Saens completist set that will best be used by his fans. Everyone else should sample it before investing the substantial asking price or wait for it to drop to discont price, where it is probably headed in a few years.

Two Hours' Worth of Chamber Music Pleasure.......2005-09-29

The Septet is probably Saint-Saens' most popular chamber work, so I tend to take it for granted. But listening to it again in the Nash's excellent performance, I'm struck by how wonderfully successful a work it is. Like Grieg's "Holberg Suite," it's a loving evocation of 18th-century music by an echt-Romantic composer. But unlike Grieg, Saint-Saens had a strong classical bent to his music making. When Gounod called Saint-Saens "the Beethoven of France," he gave cognizance to this fact; in an era when French composers spent most of their time trying to make it big in the opera world, Saint-Saens was a consummate master of all forms of music: orchestral, chamber, choral, and of course opera.

But back to that Septet. More than just a very attractive oddity, it contains one of Saint-Saens' most deeply felt slow movements and a minuet that is about as close to musical perfection as a composer can get whose name isn't Mozart!

In plain fact, this collection should be a reminder of just how much truly fine chamber music Saint-Saens crafted in his long life. Highpoints of the set are the Piano Quartet, one of the finest in the repertoire, and the Sonatas for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon written in the last year of the composer's life. Gentle and subdued as they are, autumnal works in the manner of Brahms's late chamber works, they still manage to gently exploit the comic potential of the clarinet and the bassoon. My favorite is the Clarinet Sonata, with its near-tragic slow movement and last movement in which the players seem to briefly lose their way harmonically in one recurring episode. Is this Saint-Saens' wry commentary on modern music circa 1920? Typical of Saint-Saens, the sonata is cyclic in nature, the opening allegretto returning at the very end of the sonata in the manner of a rondo--a rondo that covers four movements! A wonderful touch.

The Piano Quartet is another cyclic work; themes from the first and second movements return in the triumphant finale. That second movement, by the way, is one of Saint-Saens' most striking; highly contrapuntal, it proceeds at a processional pace that's haunting in its relentlessness.

The works aren't equally inspired of course. The precocious Tarentelle is derailed by a cloying Mendelssohn-meets-French-music-hall middle section, while the early Quintet starts out like a house afire only to be squelched, as is too often the case in Saint-Saens, by a less-than-sterling finale, with a superb melody that the composer doesn't quite know how to handle. But there are many more hits than misses among the works represented here.

It is a mark of the excellence of the performances by the Nash Ensemble that pieces I've taken for granted come up sounding fresh, especially the Caprice for flute, oboe, clarinet, and piano. A potpourri for sure, but a very gracious and beautifully crafted one. All it requires is lovely, assured playing such as we have here. Special praise is due Ian Brown, who is front and center in all these works, playing Saint-Saens' often-demanding piano parts with aplomb and with obvious relish.

Henry Wood Hall in London must be a great recording venue; at least the Hyperion engineers produce excellent results there. The sense of hall is palpable, and every instrument sounds natural and very "present." This package is two hours of real pleasure for chamber music lovers.

awesome!.......2005-09-28

This is a very enjoyable CD. I have found that everything the Nash Ensemble does is first rate. The first piece is an interesting septet including a trumpet. Especially in its middle sections, it is a wonderful piece. The piano quintet and quartet are quite different from each other and very satisfying. The woodwind sonatas which I had been familiar with from other versions are well done here. The aspect of Saint-Saens I found most enjoyable is the writing for the piano which is not simply supportive accompaniment but bubbly and virtuosic on its own. Just an excellent recording!
I had to go back and edit this to add a comment about the "Tarantelle"; a delightful piece with piano, clarinet and flute. This was the first piece to bring Saint-Saens to the attention of a wide audience and is available in its entirety as a preview at Hyperion's web site in their "listening room".

Average customer rating:

A great set

Fauré: Chamber Music (Box Set)

Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000667FW4
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Customer Reviews:

A great set.......2007-06-18

Outstanding sound and performances. One of the best sets from Brilliant.

The Chamber Music of Malcolm Arnold, Vol. 1

Average customer rating:

The Chamber Music of Malcolm Arnold, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000542GR
Release Date: 2001-02-13

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht Op4; Shostakovich: Trio No2, Op67

Average customer rating:

Warm and welcoming Shostakovich and Schoenberg

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht Op4; Shostakovich: Trio No2, Op67

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Icky Thump
Sky Blue Sky

ASIN: B00004LCB0
Release Date: 2000-06-27

Tracks:

I Prelude: Lento - Poco Piu Mosso - Lento
II Fugue: Adagio
III Scherzo: Allegretto
IV Intermezzo: Lento
V Finale: Allegretto
1 Spring Waltz: Allegretto
2 Waltz Scherzo: Allegretto Scherzando
3 Waltz: Tempo Di Valse
4 Waltz Charmaine: Allegretto
I Andante
II Allegro Non Troppo
III Largo
IV Allegretto

Tracks:

Langsam
Sehr Rasch
Viel Langsamer, Aber Doch Fliessend
Viel Langsamer
Etwas Bewegter
Ode To Napoleon Op.41 - Thomas Allen
Grave (Zwei Menschen Geh'n)
Poco Piu Mosso (Ich Trag Ein Kind)
(Sie Geht Mit Ungelenken Schritt)
Adagio (Das Kind, Das Du Empfangen Hast)
Adagio (Molto Tranquillo) (Er Lasst Sie Um Die Starken Huften)

Customer Reviews:

Warm and welcoming Shostakovich and Schoenberg.......2007-02-07

If you are not that familiar with the music of Shostakovich and Schoenberg -- as I was prior to this CD -- this is an excellent and friendly introduction. Both the Schoenberg and Shostakovich selections are among the composers' most accessible works.

Moreover, the Nash Ensemble has to be one of the finest chamber ensembles around. They play with exquisite command and finesse. And the Virgin engineers do a fine job of capturing their sound in a warm, ambient acoustic.

My first introduction to the Shostakovich Piano Quintet and Piano Trio was through a recording by the Borodin ensemble. Although their playing is beautiful and brought the music home to me, this recording by the Nash Ensemble is superior in part because the recorded sound is better and because the musicians seem to play with more vigor and commitment. The waltzes and the Piano trio round out the first disc with delightful and immediately appealing music.

The Schoenberg works are utterly remarkable. If you avoided Schoenberg because you were put off by his serial tonality, you don't need to avoid this CD. These works will convince you that Schoenberg was rooted in a romantic tradition prior to embarking on his serial tonal journey. The surprise jewel on this second disc was the Ode to Napoleon recited by Thomas Allen -- one can imagine it as a classical forerunner to rap music. I was particularly taken by how Schoenberg's harmonies could reach such moving climaxes in each of the works on this CD.

If you want to expose yourself to these composers to help develop an appreciation for their work, this is an excellent CD to obtain. I recommend it highly.

Average customer rating:

Clearance CD purchase.
Wonderful music
Some of My Favorite Chamber Music of All Time

Debussy, Ravel: Chamber Music

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 14 - 23
Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets / Alban Berg Quartet

ASIN: B00000632A
Release Date: 1998-05-05

Tracks:

Sonata For Violin And Piano In G Minor: I. Allegro vivo
Sonata For Violin And Piano In G Minor: II. Intermede. Fantasque et leger
Sonata For Violin And Piano In G Minor: III. Finale. Tres Anime
Sonata For Flute, Viola, & Harp: I. Pastorale. Lento, dolce rubato
Sonata For Flute, Viola, & Harp: II. Interlude. Tempo di minuetto
Sonata For Flute, Viola, And Harp: III. Finale. Allegro moderato ma resoluto
Syrinx For Solo Flute
Sonata For Cello And Piano In D Minor: I. Prologue. Lent
Sonata For Cello & Piano In D Minor: II. Serenade. Moderement anime
Sonata For Cello & Piano In D Minor: III. Finale. Anime
Les Chansons de Bilitis: I. Chant pastoral
Les Chansons de Bilitis: II. Les Comparaisons
Les Chansons de Bilitis: III. Les contes
Les Chansons de Bilitis: IV. Chanson
Les Chansons de Bilitis: V. La partie d'osselets
Les Chansons de Bilitis: VI. Bilitis
Les Chansons de Bilitis: VII. Le tombeau sans nom
Les Chansons de Bilitis: VIII. Les courtisanes egyptiennes
Les Chansons de Bilitis: IX. L'eau pure du bassin
Les Chansons de Bilitis: X. La danseuse aux crotales
Les Chansons de Bilitis: XI. Le souvenir de Mnasidika
Les Chansons de Bilitis: XII. Ia pluie au matin

Tracks:

Sonata For Violin & Cello: I. Allegro
Sonata For Violin & Cello: II. Tres vif
Sonata For Violin & Cello: III. Lent
Sonata For Violin & Cello: IV. Vif, Avec entrain
Trois Poemes de Stephane Mallarme: I. Soupir
Trois Poemes de Stephane Mallarme: II. Placet futile
Trois Poemes de Stephane Mallarme: III. Surgi de la croupe et du bond
Chansons madecasses: I. Nahandove
Chansons madecasses: II. Aoua !
Chansons madecasses: III. Il est doux de se coucher...
Piano Trio: I. Modere
Piano Trio: II. Pantoum
Piano Trio: III. Passacaille
Piano Trio: IV. Final (anime)

Amazon.com essential recording

These two discs, appealingly priced, offer an enticing array of chamber and vocal music by these two composers (who didn't especially like each other, actually, making their frequent coupling by record companies rather ironic). Neither do they sound at all alike. Debussy's late chamber music is harmonically acerbic, even austere, while his compatriot's is far more neoclassical in both form and mood. The Nash Ensemble has been playing this music for a long time, and their experience shows. In the vocal items, Sarah Walker is her typically ebullient, colorful self, offering performances of genuine insight and charm. She's a superb recital singer. Great stuff. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Clearance CD purchase........2007-01-09

The CD was new and played perfectly. Delivery was speedy. The musical performance was masterful in the expressive idiom of these composers.

Wonderful music.......2006-02-09

This beautiful yet inexpensive CD of impressionist chamber music has some of my favourite music ever, and it has that rare virtue of genuine, not superficial, beauty.
The sonata for flute, viola and harp, with its meditative, gentle atmosphere, is full of smooth, beautiful melodic lines, colourful harmonies combining free modality with extended and whole-tone influences, and some of the most exquisite timbral effects from combinations of the three instruments. Every moment is special!
The violin sonata combines impressionism with jazz influences to create a shadowy, etherial atmosphere; and the cello sonata is rhapsodic, dark, angry and plaintive.
The chansons de bilitis combines beautiful French poetry with incidental music.
Ravel's music is of a less mellifluous, more outwardly dramatic type: the violin-cello duet and the gorgeous piano trio are highlights.

Some of My Favorite Chamber Music of All Time.......2002-01-11

Some people know Debussy only for the "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," "La Mer" and his orchestration of Satie's "Gymnopédies." But Debussy expressed only a part of his musical world through large orchestra, and in many ways, not the most characteristic part, there. The soul of Debussy is really to be found in the piano music, and here in the chamber music.

There is perfect truth in the cliché, that chamber music reveals a more intimate side of the composer, than the grand gestures typical of the full orchestra.

Three of the last pieces Debussy wrote are here, the three sonatas (violin & piano; flute, viola & harp; and cello & piano). While taking my Master's, I was instructed to study the fl/va/hp sonata, and that was one of the happiest assignments of my school years. So if you are thinking of this disc, consider the source, and the fact that I would reckon this two-disc set worth $12 only for this marvelous sonata.

But even the listener who may not, perhaps, quite share my enthusiasm for this one piece, will find the other Debussy sonatas, and the Ravel piano trio and sonata for violin & cello, more than ample as accompaniment.

I think I should like the music for the "Chansons de Bilitis" well enough, though I can do without the narration.

Ravel's "Chansons madécasses" are by turns gracious and striking; at times, not at all the sort of music you expect of Ravel, but every bit as well made as you expect of Ravel.

Customer Reviews:

The Shanties are delightful.......2006-10-28

Although all the pieces on this CD are wonderful, the most compelling for me are the THREE SHANTIES FOR WIND QUINTET. It's easy to see why these are among Arnold's most popular compositions. The numerous variations on the folk ditty "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor" are marvelous; the middle section is slow and introspective, but the final movement really comes alive and is extremely appealing: the three-note ending, drawn out a bit, will put a big smile on everyone's face. The OBOE QUARTET from 1957 is all of a piece, though variations on the main theme occur in various places along the way. The middle part of the final section introduces a lovely tune with the oboe dominating nicely. The opening theme of the QUINTET goes from exuberant to somewhat dark and tension-filled, while in the second movement the repeated string notes add mystery and uncertainty; it's only in the final minute of the last movement that Arnold's humor comes to the fore to resolve the doubts. It's a great piece. I've listened to this CD repeatedly and enjoy it immensely.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Rockin' N Rollin' [Import]

XClassics

When My Heart Finds Christmas

Music: Wonder Kids: Toddler Bible Songs

White Boy Blues [Import]

You Like It Like That [CD-single]

WOW Gold

Vienna Waltz

Wildwood Flower: Classic Country Performances

Un Canto Al Amor [Import]

Winter's End

What Is It? [Import]

Winter in the Belly of a Snake

Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet; Nutcracker; Swan Lake

The Chronic