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Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies

by: Beethoven's Wig

March 05, 2002
The first time I sampled this, I thought it was a bit 'corny' but I still bought it because of the very many recommendations it received.

I did not regret my decision because after hearing the whole album with my kids, I was just delighted to see them respond to each song so well so much so that after a few days of listening to it, they can already sing the lyrics. Hearing them hum the tunes while playing always brings a smile to my face.

Anything to make kids genuinely appreciate the beauty and finer things in life that many regrettably ignore now, I'm all for it. As with food, kids will lap up whatever their parents introduce to them. So this is good for starters alongside with the Classical Kids series.

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The #1 Opera Album

by: Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Léo Delibes, Georges Bizet, Umberto Giordano, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner, Gioachino Rossini, Alfredo Catalani, Jacques Offenbach, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Charles Gounod, Gaetano Donizetti, Pietro Mascagni, Antonin Dvorak, Richard Bonynge, Herbert von Karajan, Alberto Erede, Lamberto Gardelli, Giuseppe Patane, John Mauceri, Zubin Mehta, Charles Dutoit, Gyorgy Fischer, Riccardo Chailly, Istvan Kertesz, Leone Magiera, Evelino Pido, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Luciano Pavarotti, Jussi Bjorling, Renata Tebaldi

February 27, 2001
I heard this CD on a PBS pledge drive (it was a premium) and found myself loving every cut on it! I was in my car and just wanted to keep on driving and listening. This is by far my most-played CD - I've had to make it a weekend only listen to prevent getting burned out on it. HIGHLY recommend it. Even if you are unfamiliar with some of the pieces, you will quickly learn to love them. . . . I must end this review - I'm off to listen to the "flower duet" for the 100th time. . .

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The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever!

by: Johann Sebastian Bach, Léo Delibes, Gabriel Fauré, Erik Satie, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Edvard Grieg, Johann Pachelbel, Claude Debussy, Felix Mendelssohn, Camille Saint-Saens, Henryk Gorecki, Antonio Vivaldi, Edward Elgar, Jocelyn Pook, Sergey Rachmaninov, Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Luigi Boccherini, Jules Massenet, Ludwig van Beethoven, Jacques Offenbach, Pietro Mascagni, Antonin Dvorak, Giacomo Puccini, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Alexander Borodin, Joaquin Rodrigo, Samuel Barber

March 30, 1999
If you are looking for a soothing, beautiful collection of well-known classical music, this is the one. This purchse was for a gift to my sister, who heard my album and "Had to have it."

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The Most Famous Opera Duets

from: EMI Classics

April 12, 1994
Maybe these don't represent absolutely the greatest duets in all opera. But they represent some awfully good ones! The CD begins with a duet from "Les Pecheurs des Perles" (Puccini) and ends with the gloomy Miserere (from "Il Trovatore," by Verdi). In between are many more operas, from Donizetti and Mozart to Strauss and Wagner. Some of the finer singers of the past half century appear in various of these duets.

A bit more detail on a handful of these to illustrate.

"Sull'aria" from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro." Heather Harper and Judith Blegen sing the parts here. This is a sweet duet from the opera. The singer's voices meld well together and this represents a poignantly sung piece.

"Ah! Verrana a ... Read More:

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The Opera Gala: Live from Baden-Baden

starring: Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Ramón Vargas, Ludovic Tezier

January 08, 2008
Do not hesitate to buy this DVD. It is worth every dollar. The four singers really stand out, Netrebko with her angel-like voice, Vargas with a wonderful tenor voice, Garanca as a colorful mezzo and Tezier as a brilliant baritone. Each and every aria are outstandingly sung and when the four of them join to sing both an aria from Rigoletto and from Traviata their voices blend wonderfully. It is one of those treasures that are worth being discovered. Javier from Bariloche

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The Most Famous Opera Arias

from: EMI Classics

July 19, 1994
The conductor and the singers can make a beautiful song the opera that everyone jeers and hates. To have a Russian singer doing o mio babbino caro is just plain silly...give the woman a break and play something from Russian opera...give a beautiful melodic aria to a lyrical singer like Caballe...boo hiss. Try Opera's Greatest Moments where they give Hvorostvsky an aria from Pique Dame and leave the bel canto to bel canto singers.

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The East Village Opera Company

from: Decca

September 27, 2005
You'll love The East Village Opera Company. They add their own distinct sounds to such classics as Nessa Dorma. It is a great addition to your collection of Il Divo, Russell Watson, Amici Forever, Michael Amante, and 10 Tenors. Give it a shot I am glad I did. Also watch for them on tour.

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Rapture: Opera's Most Heavenly Moments

from: Deutsche Grammophon

October 08, 2002
I have more experience with other genres of music, but am interested in basically all kinds. I have been collecting CDs for nearly 2 decades but had no Opera in my collection. I did a little research and arrived at a conclusion. If I wanted the most and best Opera music for my money, I had to get this title, which is a double album, and "The Most Famous Opera Duets". Well, the latter was a steal with a list price under four dollars, and the former was a truly good compilation of many uplifting, diverse, impactful, and pleasant pieces. I am satisfied with my purchases and have filled the gap in my music collection. I can't see Opera getting better than this and the other title I mentioned. Enjoy!

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The Best Opera Album in the World...Ever!

from: Angel Records

July 27, 1999
I'm not opera literate, so I was looking for some kind of introduction that had some familiar arias and that would connect me to others that I had not heard. I liked that the notes with the cd indicated where a new listener may have heard some of the music (in a commercial, during an important scene in a movie, etc). This was the source of a lot of 'Ah ha!' moments. It even inspired me to rent a dvd of a live version of Turandot and to put others on my Netflix queue. I owe my newly aroused curiosity about opera, believe it or not, to Il Divo. I had to know what these guys sing when they're not reinterpreting pop songs. I'm glad I started this journey and this cd was a good start.

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Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church

by: Charlotte Church

November 26, 2002
Charlotte Church is truly amazing, she has such a lovely angelic,magical,and beautiful voice. I have all of her cd's and they are all truly wonderful. This is worth owning to as is everything Charlotte Church comes out with. It as all of her songs that we're put out as singles and that was on the charts. No one can touch Charlotte Church at all her voice ranges higher than so many singers that she just will always be the top to me. Charlotte truly deserves to have this best of album and it is good to hear all of her music from the beginning up to some of her later stuff all on one terrific album.