Classical music reviews

There is no one like Kreisler-perfect intonation and just beautiful sound from that instrument are his, without being mawkish or sentimental in his playing.

I prefer other composers' music, but he is a master on anything. To hear what a violin should sound like, listen to Kreisler!

Fritz Kreisler was definitly one of the most recognized and best violin player of all times,after Jascha Heifetz. Besides being well known by his compositions, he was a violin virtuoso.His great sense of melodie, made him compose and make wonderful arrangments, with a great importance for the violin repertoire. The sound of his playing in unmistakable, and has a very particular way to play his musics, like for example, the beautiful Sch�n Rosmarin, where the first notes, make so easy to recognize the Kreisler's playing. I recommend this CD to every violinists and specially to those that want to hear a Master of the Violin playing. Just great !

Kreisler was the one of greatest of his generation of violinists. This collection highlights his own compositions and transcriptions, and is a wonderful example of his playing style--very polished, refined, with a touch of humor when needed. A great disc, and a worthy addition to your collection, especially if you like historic recordings.

You could make a strong case that of the pianists born since 1950 and coming to prominence in the last quarter of the twentieth century, Krystian Zimerman is the most distinguished. Born in Poland in 1956, he studied at Katowice Conservatory and won first prize at the 1975 Warsaw Chopin Competition, the youngest of all the contestants. Since then he has gone on to enjoy a major international career, although I believe his career has been primarily centered in Europe. For a pianist of his eminence over the last quarter-century, his recorded output is surprisingly modest, bespeaking his meticulous preparation and his reluctance to record until he feels he can make a definitive statement. (His "big," red-blooded Chopin is a revelation, and I have long wished that he would record more of it; so far we have been offered only a tantalizingly small portion.) Everything in this generous (total timing 2.20:48) two-CD selection from Zimerman's limited discography is well chosen and shows him in peak form. His versatility, his big technique, his handsome tone, his dynamic range (listen to the buildup to the stunning first climax in the Chopin ballade), his clarity, his characteristic intensity are all on display here. He is a DG recording artist, and the recordings here range from 1981 to 1991; inevitably, given six different venues, the sound is somewhat variable, but it is never less than quite good. Indeed the two magnificent Chopin performances (recorded in 1987) feature the best piano sound I have heard from DG. These and the seven Debussy preludes are my favorites of the selections included here. The only sour note for me is the silly liner notes, by one Peter Cosse: 4 � pages, in small print, of verbose, vacuous, highfalutin gush, from which the reader takes away nothing more than a general sense that the writer admires Zimerman's pianism. A waste of time and space. Come on, Philips; you can do better than this. But the notes are a minor annoyance, easily ignored. This is a fine introduction to a superb modern pianist, and can be confidently recommended to anyone who enjoys great pianism.

Zimerman has carefully selected some of his finest recordings for use in this album, and the result is a program of remarkable finish and vitality. Despite the level of perfection, the recordings sound remarkably in the moment; it is as if Zimerman invents the music on the spot! Zimerman's range of color and emotion, coupled with absolute command in every respect, are inspiration for a lifetime. The Brahms Concerto #2 with Bernstein and the Vienna PO is a must-have.

Krystian Zimerman is the pianist who can express the most refined iyricism and the most powerful thunder at the same time. With his playing, we can easily be moved into the 'real' world of genuine musician. In Brahms's E flat major piano concerto, we can see to what extent he revelates the composer's musical ideas. He is just Perfect! His Chopin is not a fragile, weak melody any more. It has got the internal strength beneath the texture. The pity is that the D minor concerto of the same composer and same performer is not in this CD. It's even much better. We can easily forget in these days what music can do for the human life, but Zimerman wonderfully makes you to think of it in new and deeper terms.

Kyung-Wha Chung has been one of the greatest violinists along with Perlman and Zukerman.
This is her recording of recital pieces since her sensational recording 'Con Amore' more than a decade ago.
Her sound is beautiful on this recording. Not Sarah Chang or Gil Shaham beautiful, She is making Kyung-Wha Chung sound, Which no violinists can make. She made us cry, she made us freeze, and she now makes us laugh with these light pieces. Listen to her Bach Air on G. And if you feel her, you will cry for sure.

I've always loved her music . . . and I enjoy this album very much. I bought another one of hers (Vivaldi CD) which came out very recently (like last year or this year) [....]

Anyway, I love the Vivaldi CD even more. It's really superb. It calms you down while at the same time motivates and excites you from the bottom of your heart. She's a great artist.

This is only the second recital disc she has done (the first was 'Con amore' in 1987). Chung is at her best here, warm and fiery at the same time - unlike just the impulsive Chung of 20 years ago. Ever since the late 1980s, her playing suffered from an uncertainty in the technique and expression - burnout maybe?. Anyway, since the middle of 1990s. her playing blossomed into a warmer, more 'pleasant' playing. Still fiery, but as I said, warm. And this disc shows Chung at her peak. She fully realsised the different facets of emotions the pieces can convey to the listener. Listen to 'Tambourin chinois' she really captures that 'Oriental feel' about the piece (very Viennese at the same time too) - I am Korean, so I know about these things (except for that Viennse thing!)! The whole disc is a pleasure to listener and I recommend every bit of this disc to anyone interested in Chung's playing. Buuuuuuuuuuuuy it!

the first thing that you must understand is that i am a metalhead to begin with. One of the bands that I like is a metal band by the name of Opeth, they are very heavy and dark, but they have accoustic classical guitar all throughout their music, with metal. I decided that it might be cool to check out some classical guitar because I love how they do it in their music. So I bought this CD and loved it! I love their mideival sound that they produce, wonderful!
(Pacific Coast Highway is the coolest track(8)!!)

This was and is such a remarkable disk, nothing has yet come close to match it's mix of styles and songs. It definitively marked the quartet's goal to step beyond the traditional classical into an adventurous realm of jazz, rock, african, americana, and even tossing in a little humor, without becoming "crossover" or "world music" as they now have. York's compositions "Quiccan" and "Bantu" move convincingly/decisively, unlike his drifting, overly subtle style of late. "Labyrinth" is such a great piece, I wish Ian Krouse would compose an entire cd for the group (his "Folia Variations" on their Evening in Granada" cd is also great). The Copland arrangement is full of energy and the Basie and Sousa pieces are just plain fun. This was the reason everyone started talking about this group, which makes it all the more sad they're going the direction they are now. Come back! Come back!

The L.A.G.Q.'s wide ranging abilities are well represented in this eclectic collection of twentieth century music. Ian Krouse's Labyrinth is a striking, intense homage to Led Zeppelin. His characteristic use of hammering dissonances resolve masterfully into fun, driving, bluesy rock passages. Andrew York's Bantu is a perfect platform for the quartet's ability to utilize the guitars extended techniques. The piece opens with all four members playing different rhythms and timbres on the body of the guitar. Each member then drops out of his rhythmic pattern and into a harmonic framework, one at a time, until all four members are doing so. The piece is concluded in a retrograde of the same pattern. One may question a guitar quartet's ability to do justice to the dynamic nature of Aaron Copland's Simple Gifts, but this outstanding performance should put such concerns to rest. Each piece on this disc is executed with the kind of exuberance and taste for which the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has become known.

Absolutly some of the most beautiful music you'll ever hear. It's all in French, but it doesn't matter. All it will do is make you want to learn how to speak French. I was given a tape of a copied CD and had to buy the CD. If you like this one then also get THE FRENCH ALBUM by Celine Dion. Very similiar voices. The music on both is gorgeous....sticks with you and you wind up humming it to yourself all day.

It's all here: style, clarity, feeling, and voice. Mouskouri sings a great variety of songs in her unique style and with her stunningly beautiful voice. Definately an album to buy and to cherish.

I ordered this CD recently through Amazon.Com. It has everything a fan of Nana Mouskouri like my self would hope for. Fantastic voice and orchestrations and even the words have much meaning. Pour ceux qui parlent le francais...les paroles des chansons sont inclus!

When I brought this album I assumed the sopranos featured in it would be more classic sopranos of decades past- Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, Montserrat Caballe, Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, etc. But instead we get a fine collection of soprano arias sung by divas of more recent years. The album feautes such artists as Edita Gruberova- an essentially lyric-coloratura soprano who sings one hell of a Doll Song from Tales of Hoffman is showcased here. Cheryl Struder as Violetta, Edith Mathis as Pamina, Karen Ott as the Queen as the Queen of the Night (Magic Flute) Kathleen Battle as Zerlina from Don Giovanni (Batti Batti)..I'm not thrilled about Miss Battle though her voice, a coloratura miracle, is good, she herself was an unprofessional and terrible diva drama queen with very bad manners. Mirella Freni is gloriously showcased her singing the emotionally moving Puccini heroines- Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut. Mirella Freni is a soprano I am very fond of. She had a voice that was flexible so she could sing not only fine Puccini roles as the ones previously mentioned (not to mention her Tosca) but Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's Russian opera Eugene Onegin and the French reperotire- she sings the best Micaela ever from Bizet's Carmen and Marguerite in Gounod's Faust as well as Juliette and Mirelle. It's fitting that Mirella Freni should be here in this album, for she is truly the last great "Italian" diva.

Anna Tomowa Sintow, a dramatic lyric soprano possessing a huge voice, is showcased here as Dona Ana in Don Giovanni singing "Or Sai Che L'onore" in a grand manner. She is also in the Trio with Agnes Baltsa for the richly layered cake of an opera that is Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Barbara Hendricks is here, as is Hildegard Behrens and Jessye Norman. These singers were making it big in the 80's and early 90's. I wish they could have made this album bigger. In the 80's there were many singers that were shining as brightly as any of these. For instance, the very neglected Ghena Dimitrova whose voice has to be without a doubt the most powerful ever!! Carol Vanness could have been featured as well, certainly she's a singer harkening to the best of Callas with a big voice as well as lyric subtle beauty.

I wish they could have just showcased sopranos of great allure from past and present. Kiri Te Kenawa as the Countess is fine but she did much more than Mozart- she sang Strauss extremely well. Callas is not here ? Whats' that all about ? She needs no introduction so I shan't comment on her. Anyone who knows opera will never avoid the mention of Callas. Katia Ricciarelli is here but she is singing Aida, something more fitting for the voice of Leontyne Price who did the best damn Aida ever. If only they could have featured her in this. Ricciarelli was much better as Tosca, Queen Elisabeth Valois in Don Carlo, Desdemona in Otello, or Luisa Miller- her voice is big but very lyric. And for an album of newer divas where is Renee Fleming ? Enough said. But not a bad album really.

I love opera and confess to being a soprano junkie. Even so, this is an impressive CD. I have a lot of opera in my collection, but this is one of the CDs that I reach for over and over again. This is a delightful confection, every track a joy. If you haven't liked opera before, this CD could convert you. If you love opera, you will be ecstatic. I would consider many of the tracks on this CD to be the definitive versions of the songs. Track 4 - The Doll's Song, is by itself worth the price of the CD, and started a love affair for me with Edita Gruberova that contines to this day. Track 2 - Sempre Libera is the best version of this very famous aria that I have ever heard. Track 10 - Otts Queen of the Night's Vengeance aria is excellent. If you have any love for sopranos, you cannot be without this CD.

This compilation album is a dazzling showcase of the multiple range and repertoire of the female singing voice in opera. It is a cd which fans of the opera and of sopranos should not be without. This "Mad About" series is a great way to get you into opera if you're not hooked into it already. Other titles in the "Mad" labels include "Mad About Puccini" "Mad About Wagner" "Mad About Italian Opera" etc. Look for them to add to you're collection. They're all very impressive. As the title indicates, this cd features the beauty and virtuosity of the soprano voice. The compilation album features some of the best singers of the last 30 years - among them Mirella Freni, Hildegard Behrens, Cheryl Struder, Kiri Te Kenawa and Agnes Baltsa. Of course, considering the total number of amazing sopranos who have graced the opera stage, this catalog of sopranos is very limited. Not showcased here is Maria Callas and her contribution to the opera world, Cecilia Bartoli whose mezzo-soprano style is dynamic, Beverly Sills whose coloratura ranks among the finest, Joan Sutherland, Shirley Verrett, Leontine Price, Elizabeth Schwartzkopff and Birgit Nilsson. These opera women have all been great artists throughout the 20th century and should have been featured on this cd.

The album makes use of the coloratura richness of Cheryl Struder in her role as Violetta from Verdi's Traviata. "Sempre Libera" is a tour de force aria and Struder really delivers all the goods. On here is the art of Mirella Freni, who was quite skilled at singing various Puccini heroines, from Tosca to Madama Butterfly. Freni's arias on here are "Vissi D'arte" and "Un Bel Di" respectively. But something that should have been used is her Russian repertoire. Mirella Freni performed as Tatiana from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin to great acclaim. Kiri Te Kenawa first achieved international recognition in her performance as The Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze Di Figaro. Her aria "Porgi Amor" is exquisite. Hildegard Behrens, a Wagnerian and German-singing soprano, was able to achieve equal success as Brunhilde and even as Tosca. The Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung, Wagner's masterpiece, is featured on the last track and Behrens is sensational as the suicidal Valkyrie. There it is, folks. This is a must have for fans of the soprano voice in opera. Look also for "Mad About Tenors".

I first received this CD as a Christmas present more than 6 years ago. My old copy was too scratched to play any more. I was so happy to see that Amazon carried this CD, it has all the best classics on it!

I listen to a variety of music from Cajun to classic rock, to classical---depending on my mood or the situation. This clasical ensemble truly encompasses some of the most hauntingly beautiful music ever to have been written by our civilization's most talented people. I never tire of listening to it.

"Mad About The Classics" provides some choice classical selections from 20 different composers. So all you get from Beethoven and Mozart and the 1st movement of the 5th Symphony and a Seranade from "Eine kleine Nachtmusik," but you also get works by Dvorak, Mascagni and Stravinski. Consequently, you get a nice mix of the old school (Bach, Brahams and Vivaldi) with much "newer" composers (Borodin, Saint-Saens and Pachelbel). You also get an excellent mix of music, with pieces from operas and ballets, overtures and symphonies, concertos and cantatas. You will probably recognize all 20 pieces included in this collection, but that is exactly what you expect from the "Mad About" series.

I own every Bernstein Mahler recording but place this one pretty far down on the list. The Vienna Phil. plays gorgeously, and the engineers capture everything in super-bright, detailed sonics. I can remember what a blockbuster this produciton was in its day. But Bernstein underlines with heavy ink, barely letting a single bar of the music speak for itself. James King is a bluff tenor soloist, sounding too burly and not sensitive enough to the text. Fischer-Dieskau tries to outdo Bernstein by dramatizing every syllable with leaned-on emphasis but showing no natural lyricism or poetic surrender to Mahler's line.

If you want the baritone version of this masterpiece, there is an excellent reading from Salonen on Sony with Bo Skovhus outsinging F-D by miles. An earlier, less exagerrated reading under Kletzki shows F-D off in better form for his many fans.

Overall, a disappointment from a great Mahlerian.

Here we have the most expressionist recording of Das Lied von der Erde I know, and I know about 20 recordings (Klemperer, Giulini, Haitink, Jochum, Rattle, Walter, etc), not too much, but enough to compare it with some other conductors and styles.

First of all it's important to forget the poor Decca recording, with lot of noise and not very well balanced. Anyway, if you can go to what the interpretation is, you will find a jewel of Mahler's music.

Leonard Bernstein is recorded here in his first years playing with the wiener orchestra and the good feeling between both can be felt since the very beginning of the work, from that breathtaking Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde that Bernstein understand like a terrible tale, like a touch of attention to the not prepared listeners. The power, the intensity of the orchestra's playing is really outstanding and James King singing is the ideal complement as he is too full of energy and mahlerian style. He's one of the most convincing singers in this complex first song, together with Wunderlich (EMI, with Klemperer), who sings really wonderful too.

The Bariton songs (No.2, 4 & 6) are sung by the greatest Mahler singer of all time, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who join his outstanding voice with a very natural and mature understanding of the scores, something he really feel like no other, as you can listen in the final Abschied, where you can think he's singing his own farewell, like Ferrier did, but, in my opinion, with a much more technical singing in this recording. The dynamics, the emotions, the tempi... are so great described by Dieskau that it really seems the work was composed for him.

The orchestra playing is not the typical from the late Wiener Philharmoniker we know, much more classical and "distant", as we can watch and listen in the new DVD releases of Mahler & Bernstein (DG). In this `60s recording the Wiener play in a state of hypnotism, following Bernstein baton and his vision of the work, a vision that will not change too much in the next years, and that brings this music full of emotion, power and lyrics, but a lyric from an expressionist point of view, very human and very devastated by the idea of departing, of the farewell. Anyway, Das Lied von der Erde is not a unique song, one feeling; it's a work of six very different pictures, every one a corner of the human soul and existence. Bernstein understand this multiple feelings very well and we can find how charm is his conducting sometimes, how wild others, how sad, how he aspires eternity at the end... The basses from the Wiener, the metals, the strings, woodwinds... give them best in this recording, not so refined like we can listen in the Giulini recording with Berlin (DG), for example, probably the most perfect from the technical point of view. This very little lost of perfection in some passages is because of the very fiery playing of the orchestra and the very deep emotion of the recording, one of the mahlerian monuments of all times.

As I wrote, the recording is not good, and it's curios that this same recording is released in a Deutsche Grammophon box (together with the rest of Mahler's symphonies and songs conducted by Bernstein) with a much more better and clean sound.

A must have, in my opinion with Klemperer (Philharmonia, EMI) and Giulini (Berlin, DG).

Mahler was inspired by Chinese poems and then here they are Das Lied von der Erde, the Song of the earth. Although my efforts of finding out the original Chinese poems was a failure, I do sense the achievements the Mahler had made to interpret the spirit of those Chinese poetry and the philosophy behind them.

Talking about the performance, this is the best I've ever had.

I am a huge Barbirolli Mahler fan. His 6th is frightening. The good news on this recording is that the sound is great. The bad news is that the playing isn't great. The strings are sloppy, but unforgivably the French Horns flub entrance after entrance, movement after movement, and are out of tune the most of the rest of the time. The end of the first movement is particularly horrifying. The piece was recorded in one day, but still was there not enough time to fix such terrible errors? Skip this one.

Thanks to the BBC for the many superb releases in this series, of which this is an excellent example.

As with his Mahler Third and Seventh in this same series, Barbirolli's Fourth is at or near the top among recorded performances. With so many Fourths out there, that's really saying something.

Every note is played with such loving care, every moment is handled with such attention to detail, and yet none of it seems fussy. As in the Third and Seventh, Barbirolli seems to completely understand how to project the symphony as a dramatic entity. Every detail and phrase is articulated in a way that hits home and makes its point, but nothing ever seems too much. And despite the inevitable bloopers (mostly from the horns in this case) that are to be expected in a live performance, the BBC Symphony plays with exceptional beauty and feeling.

The sound is superb for a live performance from 1967. A good number of audience coughs are audible, but it was Prague in January, after all.

Much as I like several other performances of this symphony--Karajan, van Beinum (never to my knowledge issued on CD), Szell, Britten (also part of this BBC series), and Klemperer--this may be my favorite. If you like other Barbirolli Mahler you've heard, grab this one. I think you'll be very happy you did.

The Berlioz makes an excellent filler, but the Mahler is obviously the main event here.

This performace is difintely one of a kind. Though the playing is not perfect, technically, as the Halle orchestra was not yet accustomed to Barbirolli's perfectionism, as is apparent in the Mahler 5th Symphony, Mahler 7th Symphony, or Bruckners 9th, it is still very high.

But unsurpassable is the feeling and excitement that Barbirolli manages to evoke out of this score (and all Mahler scores, for that matter). He is definitely a one of a kind conductor, whose legacy has not been recognized, both during and after his life-time. Had he come in contact with New York, not right after Toscanini left the orchestra, maybe we would have had even more of possibilities of remembering him.

The songs chosen here are fine but Mario sings with only a piano to back him up and this is the downfall of this CD.
If there was at least a small combo backing him up then this CD would be worth the money.
Instead it is too musically lacking and Mario's voice can't save it!

This was the golden age of music with the voice of the century in the performance of a lifetime. This disc will forever change your appreciation of the human voice. This is the singer who made opera lovers out of the bobby-soxers and movie goers out of the operaphiles. There never was an artist with such a combination of gifts in the history of recorded music-and it all came together that special night. There are operatic arias, Broadway show tunes, and even a piece that brings the audience to laughter. Mario's introductions display his warmth and humor. The piano accompanist and the hall's accoustics are excellent and the recording quality is as good as any from this era. I believe that live recordings can bring out the best in a singer and this disc proves me correct. Oh, to have been a member of that audience! While we may speculate on what would have been, let us be thankful for what we have. Number one on that list is this disc.

I saw opera for the first time through Lanza's movie The Great Caruso. Since then I became a Lanza fan. As I myself a "dilettante" tenor when taking solfeo lessons in my youth I was told never to try singing like Mario Lanza because it would hurt my voice. The reason given was that Lanza voice was specially engineered in the recording studio. This record shows what I always believe. Lanza voice was not only exceptional but that recorded live does not allow for "special" effects. His voice and his films are unforgettable. Pity he died too young when he was getting ready to move into performing opera in the great theaters of the world. I advise the new generation to listen to this record and enjoy one of the most beautiful voices of the 20th Century.