|
|
|
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / WNO · Mackerras
: :Regarded by G & S fans as the best of the all the operettas, The Mikado is given a sizzling performance by Sir Charles Mackerras, who--by leaving off the overture (which isn't by Sullivan anyway)-- manages to squeeze the piece onto one CD. He also shortens the 'list' song since Gilbert's original features a prominent use of the 'N' word, which, not withstanding the fact that he's making fun of people who performed in black-face in the 19th century, isn't worth the trouble it would cause by leaving it in. The singers are ...
|
|
|
Gilbert & Sullivan - Highlights from The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard, Trial of Jury
: :Regarded by G & S fans as the best of the all the operettas, The Mikado is given a sizzling performance by Sir Charles Mackerras, who--by leaving off the overture (which isn't by Sullivan anyway)-- manages to squeeze the piece onto one CD. He also shortens the 'list' song since Gilbert's original features a prominent use of the 'N' word, which, not withstanding the fact that he's making fun of people who performed in black-face in the 19th century, isn't worth the trouble it would cause by leaving it in. The singers are ...
|
|
|
On the Town (1992 London Concert Cast)
from: Polygram Records
: :Three sailors on shore leave chasing after women in the Big City--that's the premise for On the Town, the brilliant, innovative, and electrically vibrant 1944 show by Leonard Bernstein (and Jerome Robbins, Adolph Green, and Betty Comden) that literally overflows with great songs and dance music. This version features a strong cast and three numbers cut from the New York premiere. It's well worth a visit. --David Vernier
|
|
|
Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro / Gens · Ciofi · Kirchschlager · Regazzo · Keenlyside · McLaughlin · van Rensburg · Abete · Rial · Concerto Köln · René Jacobs
: :René Jacobs has done it again. Following on the heels of his superb Cosi fan tutte, he now offers a Nozze di Figaro which is alive and vibrant; it seems to be happening in real time. There's so little artifice in the characters' recitatives and the rhythm is so conversational that we get the impression of real people, in a real pickle of a situation. The singing/acting is stunning, with Simon Keenlyside's Count the best on CD (a dangerous man just in control of his anger), Veronique Gens' Countess girlish and womanly in ...
|
|
|
Purcell: Dido And Aeneas
: :René Jacobs has done it again. Following on the heels of his superb Cosi fan tutte, he now offers a Nozze di Figaro which is alive and vibrant; it seems to be happening in real time. There's so little artifice in the characters' recitatives and the rhythm is so conversational that we get the impression of real people, in a real pickle of a situation. The singing/acting is stunning, with Simon Keenlyside's Count the best on CD (a dangerous man just in control of his anger), Veronique Gens' Countess girlish and womanly in ...
|
|
|
Mozart - Requiem / McLaughlin, M. Ewing, Hauptmann, Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernstein
: :As with his performance of the Mass in C Minor with these same forces, Leonard Bernstein provides another outstanding performance, certainly one of the very finest available of this oft-recorded music. Without indulging in the sort of Romantic mannerisms that sometimes afflict his Mozart, Bernstein urges his Bavarian forces on to heights of passion and intensity that never upset the music's natural proportions. A magnificent disc. --David Hurwitz
|
|
|
No. 1 Mozart Album
from: Decca
: :As with his performance of the Mass in C Minor with these same forces, Leonard Bernstein provides another outstanding performance, certainly one of the very finest available of this oft-recorded music. Without indulging in the sort of Romantic mannerisms that sometimes afflict his Mozart, Bernstein urges his Bavarian forces on to heights of passion and intensity that never upset the music's natural proportions. A magnificent disc. --David Hurwitz
|
|
|
Puccini: Suor Angelica / Bonynge, Sutherland
from: Decca
: :Though Puccini's trilogy of one-act operas, Il Trittico, is hard to love in its totality, Suor Angelica shows the composer retreating from melodramatic verismo into a more lyrical expression, as befits this story of a nun driven to suicide when told her child is dead. Though this cast isn't ideal, it more than does the job, with Joan Sutherland in unusually articulate, dramatically alert form. As her evil, unyielding aunt, Christa Ludwig avoids obvious melodramatics and is plenty chilling as a result. Lots of good singers turn up in minor roles, such as ...
|
|
|
Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro / Gens, Ciofi, Kirchschlager, Regazzo, Keenlyside, Concerto Köln, Jacobs [Hybrid SACD]
from: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
: : René Jacobs has done it again. Following on the heels of his superb Cosi fan tutte, he now offers a Nozze di Figaro which is alive and vibrant; it seems to be happening in real time. There's so little artifice in the characters' recitatives and the rhythm is so conversational that we get the impression of real people, in a real pickle of a situation. The singing/acting is stunning, with Simon Keenlyside's Count the best on CD (a dangerous man just in control of his anger), Veronique Gens' Countess girlish and womanly ...
|
|
|
Escape Through Opera
: : René Jacobs has done it again. Following on the heels of his superb Cosi fan tutte, he now offers a Nozze di Figaro which is alive and vibrant; it seems to be happening in real time. There's so little artifice in the characters' recitatives and the rhythm is so conversational that we get the impression of real people, in a real pickle of a situation. The singing/acting is stunning, with Simon Keenlyside's Count the best on CD (a dangerous man just in control of his anger), Veronique Gens' Countess girlish and womanly ...
|
|
