|
|
|
The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994
from: Atlantic / Wea
: :It's not opera; it's not a pop concert; it's not Broadway. It's all of these and none of them. Once you accept the fact that this sequel to the original blockbuster concert recording is less about music and more about entertainment and the power of musical personalities, you can appreciate what you're hearing as an event--phenomenal and bizarre, momentous and frivolous. This is an occasion to celebrate the voices and egos of three huge superstars, and to have fun listening as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carreras interact, bouncing lines off each ...
|
|
|
Arias By Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Gounod & Meyerbeer
from: Decca
:Album Description:Hailed as the 'Brando of opera,' Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott joins Decca with a deliciously charismatic and seductive debut album. Showcasing some of opera's most famous roles, Schrott demonstrates why audiences and critics around the world continue to cheer at every performance. Acclaimed for his portrayals in the operas of Mozart, Schrott is the first choice at the world's greatest opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera (where he will portray Don Giovanni this fall and winter), La Scala, the Royal Opera House, LA Opera, Washington National Opera and many others. Schrott's debut ...
|
|
|
Puccini - La Bohème / Freni, Pavarotti, Harwood, Berlin Phil., Karajan [Highlights]
: essential recording:These excerpts were taken from the recording that has established itself as the standard by which all others should be measured. Herbert von Karajan's orchestra is no less than perfect, as much a virtuosic performer as the singers, evoking each moment's unique mood. Can there be any doubt that Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni were born to sing Puccini? Their sweet, creamy voices splendidly blend, creating a complete aural portrait of the bohemians' souls. Elizabeth Harwood is a wonderfully high-strung Musetta, with the vocal talent to support her many moods. After ...
|
|
|
The Voice: The Ultimate Collection
from: Decca Records
:Album Description:The story of Russell Watson is inspirational: a factory worker born in Salford, North West England, Russell went from performing on the pub and club circuit in his spare time to singing for the Pope, prime ministers and presidents and selling over 5 million albums worldwide. Watson, otherwise known as 'The Voice,' is back with all his most popular hits on one CD. The Ultimate Collection features 'Nessun Dorma,' 'Funiculi, Funicula' 'Miserere,' and 'Nella Fantasia.' The new collection also contains two new bonus tracks, Elvis's #1 hit 'Can't Help Falling In Love' ...
|
|
|
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
:Description:The acclaimed 1995 Bayreuth production by Heiner Müller, conducted by Daniel Barenboim with fire and sensitivity. Siegfried Jerusalem and Waltraud Meier were the Tristan and Isolde of choice throughout the decade, and were at the height of their interpretive powers. Müller and stage designer Erich Wonder have compressed the monumental story into a clear and fascinating geometry of love, creating highly evocative spaces through projections of colors and forms. First DVD release of this memorable performance, in wide-screen format and 5.1 DTS Surround Sound. Staged by Heiner Müller. Filmed in 1995 at the ...
|
|
|
Jules Massenet - Manon / Dessay, Villazon, Ramey, Lanza, Henry, Perez, McVicar (Gran Teatre del Liceu 2007)
: :This imaginative Barcelona production of Massenet's tearjerker about a woman gone wrong in the dissolute world of 18th-century Paris features a brilliant performance of the title role by Natalie Dessay and an abundance of fine vocalism from most of her colleagues. Dessay's expressive face makes Manon's thoughts instantly accessible to the viewer, the way she holds her body, light in Manon's good moods, heavy when the tragedy unfolds. Her singing intensifies the drama as well, her opening aria innocent, her remembrances in Adieu mon petite table touching, the coloratura in her waltz song ...
|
|
|
R. Strauss - Salome
: : This filmed version of Strauss' shocker features Teresa Stratas as opera's most depraved teenager, and she's as perfect a Salome as one would ever hope to see or hear. Stratas inhabits the role, exploring the character's sensuousness as she vainly woos Jochanaan, her venomous hatred when she's rejected, the crazed look in her eyes when she demands his head--on a silver platter, no less. Such complete identification with a role, especially of a character so malignant helps make this 1974 Salome stand out among the many fine DVDs of the opera. The ...
|
|
|
Build Your Baby's Brain
from: Sony
: :Hundreds of compilation recordings have been thrust on the market in recent years on the theory that classical music makes a nice, non-threatening accompaniment to everything from working out to making love. And here we have one compilation promising to make your baby smarter. It's offensive enough that the music featured on these compilations is spliced up so that the most you hear of any work is a single movement; what's really annoying is the poor quality of so many of the featured performances. So it is some consolation that the artists here ...
|
|
|
Hush
from: Sony
: :The idea here was to put two masters together--one classical cellist, one improvisational singer/sound-effects performer--and voilà! instant amazing, unique, hip--and, hopefully, hit--record. The intriguing setup was to see what would happen when each led the other through the unfamiliar territory of his own specialty. The success of this recording lies not so much in the music or even in the overall performances, but in the fascinating and fun opportunity to sit in on the musicians' good-natured, respectful give-and-take, to witness an uncommon form of artistic chemistry that allows each performer to expand his ...
|
|
|
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Giuseppe di Stefano, Tullio Serafin
from: EMI Classics
: :The idea here was to put two masters together--one classical cellist, one improvisational singer/sound-effects performer--and voilà! instant amazing, unique, hip--and, hopefully, hit--record. The intriguing setup was to see what would happen when each led the other through the unfamiliar territory of his own specialty. The success of this recording lies not so much in the music or even in the overall performances, but in the fascinating and fun opportunity to sit in on the musicians' good-natured, respectful give-and-take, to witness an uncommon form of artistic chemistry that allows each performer to expand his ...
|
|