| Hush | | Posted Friday, September 08, 2006 6:13:25 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | 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 vision and even his technique. On one hand we get Bobby McFerrin's impressionistic, improvisatory jazz/pop; on the other we enjoy Yo-Yo Ma's highly refined, formalized musicianship. Originally planned as a disc for children, Hush goes far beyond its initial premise, with each of the 13 tracks demonstrating these musicians' unique gifts and showing that, whether it's Vivaldi or jazz, it's all music and it's all a lot of fun. --David Vernier... | |
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| | | The Voyage: An Opera in Three Acts | | Posted Sunday, September 03, 2006 10:12:06 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in 1992, The Voyage commemorated the 500th anniversary of Columbus�s arrival in the New World. At the time of its premiere, Philip Glass was only the second composer in 26 years to receive a commission from the world�s largest and most prestigious opera house. Glass�s grand opera was ultimately the most expensive and monumental in the history of the Metropolitan Opera. It�s filled with great flare, fantastical elements, but firmly rooted in the personal intimate visions of the main characters. In considering Columbus as a subject for an opera, Glass bypassed the controversial historical persona; he focused rather on the explorer who had tremendous individual courage and drive to discover. It is this fundamental �spirit of discovery� which is at the heart of the opera. Orchestrally exciting, dramatically gripping, the opera explores the motivation of what drives individuals to explore and the consequences of their exploration. The recording, led by conductor Dennis Russell Davies highlights stellar performances by the Bruckner Orchester, chorus of the Landestheater Linz and a wonderful ensemble cast of singers. At its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, The New York Times said: The Voyage �has something for everybody�some bombastic insistence and some tender, lyrical music that is among Mr. Glass�s best�His music uses large brush strokes to create almost Baroque blocks of atmosphere. His polyrhythms have now been joined by long-lined lyricism suited to the voice and by some intriguing experimentation with harmonies and timbres. Some segments of the music are actually haunting.�... | |
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| | | Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church | | Posted Friday, September 01, 2006 10:13:09 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Need more evidence of the record industry's obsession with youth? Consider that budding Welsh diva Charlotte Church was a ripe, old 16 when this, her first greatest-hits anthology was released. Spanning her first four releases, as well as some outside collaborations and unreleased material, this 18-track collection underscores the soprano's seemingly boundless potential--as well as some potential career obstacles ahead. Her crystalline, still-maturing voice is best showcased on classically oriented works like Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesu," Franck's "Panis Angelicus," and her now-ubiquitous rendering of Delibes' "Flower Duet." She also excels on folk traditionals such as "She Moved Through the Fair" and "My Langan Love." But overwrought productions like the already-dated "Dream a Dream" and "Habanera," a faux-flamenco take on Bizet, nearly get the best of her. Still, her promising duet with fellow young phenom Josh Groban on "The Prayer" and her mature, dreamy reading of A Beautiful Mind's "All Love Can Be," as well as strong performances on the previously unreleased "It's the Heart That Matters Most" and "Bridge over Troubled Waters," are ample evidence of her potential for rewarding pop crossover--if she doesn't retire by 21. --Jerry McCulley... | |
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| | | Romance of the Violin | | Posted Tuesday, August 29, 2006 10:11:50 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Every track on this CD contains a beautiful melody, many of them easily recognizable, all of them exuding tranquility. "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi opens the disc, with Bell delicately accompanied by a harp and spinning the long melody with great sensitivity. Bellini's "Casta diva" from Norma lives up to its reputation as the epitome of bel canto in Bell's hands; his violin sings. The middle movement of Mozart's 21st Piano Concerto takes well to the violin, and Debussy's "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" is played with great warmth and sensuality. It would be easy to turn a recital like this into treacle, but Bell is wise enough to realize that the music is already sweet enough and he plays with great reserve and a minimum of sentimental slides. The light accompaniments always support, with woodwinds prominent but used with grace. This CD, in short, is a beauty: a fine gift, a lovely mood setter. --Robert Levine... | |
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| | | Puccini - Turandot / Sutherland · Pavarotti · Caballé · Ghiaurov · Krause · Pears · LPO · Mehta | | Posted Sunday, August 27, 2006 10:12:17 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Joan Sutherland is not usually considered a Puccini singer, and in fact she sang the role of Turandot only in the recording studio. But for that assignment she had exactly what was needed: a voice that seemed to have no upper limits and a personality that concealed vulnerability under an air of icy detachment. She also had an ideal set of colleagues, notably Luciano Pavarotti, whose "Nessun dorma" has become practically his signature tune. --Joe McLellan... | |
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| | | Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar | | Posted Thursday, August 24, 2006 10:11:45 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | This unique, 80-minute opera must be heard. The title means "Fountain of Tears" in Arabic and refers to the place in Granada where Federico Garcia Lorca was executed by Fascist soldiers in 1936. The work opens in a theater in Uruguay in 1969. As the actress Margarita Xirgu, who collaborated with Lorca in the 1920s and '30s, is about to go on stage, she recalls memories of him and his death and the survivor's guilt she feels. Musical images take us back as well. The sounds of hoofbeats, a fountain, and gun shots punctuate the otherwise beautiful, tonal, highly Spanish-influenced score, filled with flamenco and rumba rhythms. The vocal lines are all highly singable as well as dramatic. The work is mostly scored for women's voices: Margartita, sung by Dawn Upshaw; Lorca himself, sung by Kelley O'Connor; Nuria, Margarita's student, sung by Jessica Rivera. There is also an ensemble of women's voices that do most of the work. Margarita dies just before going onstage. The trio for her, Nuria, and Lorca is about as beautiful as anything you'll ever hear. "What a sad day it was in Granada / The stones began to cry" is a refrain that recurs throughout the opera, and the whole piece is sheer poetry. This is stunning. --Robert Levine... | |
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| | | Romance Of The Violin (Live From New York In Concert) | | Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2006 10:12:22 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | CD AUDIO SIDE: Entire Album DVD SIDE: * Entire album in Enhanced LPCM Stereo * Video of highlights from Joshua Bell Romance of the Violin Live from Lincoln Center with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra * Complete Discography This disc is intended to play on standard DVD and CD players. May not play on a limited number of models.... | |
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| | | Verdi: Requiem & Operatic Choruses | | Posted Saturday, August 19, 2006 10:12:02 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Robert Shaw learned from Arturo Toscanini, and in his stupendous 1987 recording for Telarc he managed to surpass the master on some points. He is unerring in his pacing and staging of climaxes, and draws phrasing and dynamics from the chorus that other conductors can only dream of. Points are made with exhilarating effect throughout the account: never has the bass drum in the Dies irae been as splendidly hammered as here, and the whooping brass in the Tuba mirum is breathtaking. The all-American solo quartet sounds a bit driven, especially the light-voiced Susan Dunn and Jerry Hadley, but their contribution is a strong one nonetheless. --Ted Libbey ... | |
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| | | Beyond Imagination | | Posted Thursday, August 17, 2006 10:12:43 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Plucked from a wet afternoon of busking Bizet and Puccini to passersby on the Piazza in Covent Garden in the spring of 2001, soprano Rebecca Knight and mezzo Karen England soon found themselves singing in slightly larger venues: the FA Cup and Champions League soccer finals. That the management company doing the plucking had recently performed a similar Cinderella crossover act for Russell Watson offered portent, and indeed the Babes--the moniker began as a joke--were soon on their way to this recording debut. The marketing shtick and its soccer connections may offend purists, but it's the football hooligans that the Babes are trying to win over here; can Borodin soothe the savage Manchester United fan? Their classically trained voices mesh gloriously, with England's warm mezzo showing particular character in her solo turns. The repertoire choices here cover material that may already be familiar to fans of Charlotte Church (i.e., Delibes "Flower Duet") and other crossover acts, but they do include some pleasant surprises, like Offenbach's Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann and "You Live On in My Heart," a reworking of Ennio Morricone's enchanting Cinema Paradiso theme with lyrics by Knight. But in a rush toward the musical middle of the road, it's the productions themselves that sometimes overwhelm the Babes with bathos ("Ave Maria"), hollow thunder ("Aida 2002"), and electro club kitsch (the 'Vibe Tribe' mix of "Flower Duet"). Former Art of Noise mainstay Anne Dudley's tastefully restrained coloring of Tchaikovsky's "1001 Nights" is one of the notable exceptions. They're babes, they sing opera--with fair promise--for the masses, and if they turn one in a hundred from football hooliganism to a well-mannered appreciation of Grieg and Dvorák, won't it all have been worth it? --Jerry McCulley... | |
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| | | Richard Strauss - Capriccio / Schwarzkopf, Wächter, Gedda, Fischer-Dieskau, Hotter, Ludwig, Moffo, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sawallisch | | Posted Monday, August 14, 2006 8:12:04 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Strauss's last opera is one of the wonders of lyric art: an intelligent conversation piece about aesthetic principles (which is more important, words or music?) wrapped in achingly beautiful music. Its humor and drama are subtler than we're used to, but the opera is no less pleasurable for it. Capriccio's reputation as a connoisseur's piece is well served by this 1957 recording that features a superb cast led by the distinguished Straussian Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. True, she could be mannered, but the role of the Countess who must decide between the poet and the musician fits her like a glove, and she's radiant in the final, soaring monologue. Everyone else in the cast is outstanding, and the monophonic sound is so clear that you almost won't miss stereo. Sawallisch has the Philharmonia playing with the utmost transparency. Karl Böhm's DG stereophonic version with Gundula Janowitz is almost as fine (although currently out of print), but this one, like vintage wine, just gets better and better. --Dan Davis... | |
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