|
|
|
Italian Opera Arias [Includes DVD]
from: Virgin Classics
|
|
|
Adams: Harmonium
from: Ecm Records
: :Harmonium is John Adams's breakthrough work. After experimenting with a number of different styles, he settled on consonance and simplicity, and became famous upon the work's premiere in 1981. It exemplifies his music--a listener-friendly West Coast minimalism using tasteful, keyboards-enhanced instrumentation and having a generally mellow sound. Adams harmonizes seemingly disparate parts: dense, complex, death-obsessed poems by two very different writers, one by the worldly John Donne and two by the reclusive Emily Dickinson, sung by a choral group rather ...
|
|
|
Andrea Bocelli: Under the Desert Sky [DVD Included]
: :It's impossible to hear Andrea Bocelli singing Perry Como's 'It's Impossible' without being overcome by a sense of utter enchantment. As the ripe-hearted have known since 1997's Romanza, though, Bocelli's French-perfume-like appeal generally lingers well beyond a single song, suffusing entire lovestruck evenings with its richness and warmth. And so it goes with Under the Desert Sky. Recorded at a floating concert venue near Las Vegas (thus the title), Bocelli's first CD/DVD combo plays like an elaborate seduction. Cue up ...
|
|
|
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 ...
|
|
|
Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Bach, Brahms: Alexis Weissenberg - Classic Archive
: : 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 ...
|
|
|
Puccini - La Bohème / Freni, Pavarotti, Harwood, Ghiaurov, Karajan
: essential recording:The score for La Bohème comes to glowing life under Herbert von Karajan's baton, and Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti make beautiful music together as the ill-fated lovers. The smaller parts are wonderfully sung, the comedy sharply profiled, and the pathos contained in such a way that the opera's ending proves remarkably gripping. London's sound is excellent. --Ted Libbey
|
|
|
Leos Janacek - From the House of Dead / MCO, ASC, Boulez, Chereau (Festival Aix-en-Provence 2007)
: :Few operas match Janácek's From the House of the Dead for sustained intensity and raw emotional power, especially effective in this 2007 Aix-en-Provence Festival staging. The opera is an ensemble work requiring an evenly matched cast of singing actors and a first-class orchestra under the baton of a conductor who masters Janácek's but tricky rhythmic patterns, gritty folk-based melodies, and brilliant orchestration. That's what it gets in this staging by Patrice Chéreau and conductor Pierre Boulez, whose precision and attention ...
|
|
|
Josh Groban In Concert (with Bonus DVD)
: :\N :Josh Groban in Concert has all the ingredients to be a long-running PBS staple: a young (21), good-looking performer with a golden voice; songs in Italian and Spanish for the crossover crowd (i.e., Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman) and pop and movie songs for the mainstream; guest stars galore (David Foster, John Williams, Angie Stone, Andrea Corr, Lili Haydn); a large orchestra; and striking but not obtrusive visual effects. The centerpiece of this DVD-CD combo (also available in ...
|
|
|
Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Eschwe, Netrebko, Villazon, Wiener Staatsoper
: :Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore is one of the staples of the comic opera repertory. The plot hinges on whether earnest but dim-witted Nemorino will snag Adina, the flirtatious heroine. She's a tease who takes up with Belcore, an army sergeant, to make Nemorino jealous. After numerous (and humorous) plot twists that include a phony love potion, it all ends happily. Adina and Nemorino declare their love for each other, Belcore is dumped, and the fraudulent Dulcamara does a landslide business in ...
|
|
|
Beethoven's Wig 3: Many More Sing-Along Symphonies
from: Rounder / Umgd
: :This CD is a Grammy Award nominee and winner of 40 national awards for the series, Beethoven's Wig. Beethoven's Wig celebrates the instruments! With more zany lyrics set to the greatest hits of classical music, these Sing Along Symphonies feature a variety of different instruments from the familiar to the fascinating. The instrument performance of each piece is also included without lyrics. A fun foundation for classical music that will last a lifetime. Includes songs such as Bull in ...
|
|
