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Sarah Brightman Classics

by: Sarah Brightman, Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Francisco Tarrega, George Frideric Handel, Fryderyk Chopin, Sergey Rachmaninov, Giacomo Puccini, Antonin Dvorak, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Marie Canteloube, Francesco Sartori, Paul Bateman

November 20, 2001
What a rare treat to hear such a wonderful voice! The music transcends the various languages( Latin, Italian, French, Spanish and almost no English) and communicates directly, beyond intellect, deeper to sooth the soul. This we expect from Opera and Religious selections such as Pucinni's "Nessun Dorma" and Lloyd Webber's "Piu Jesu". A favorite is the solo rendition of "Time To Say Good-bye". Orchestrations are as light and lyric as the voice. Some tracks are found on other CD's and the enclosed photos are a bit risque, but again, the music reaches a much higher plane than most. You won't be disappointed.

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The Music of John Williams: 40 Years of Film Music

from: Silva America

October 07, 2003
For those of us that have collected soundtracks for many years and specially John Williams' music, it might seem a little redundant to buy this four disc compliation of his music that has every single track that I am sure every collector owns at least once.
However once you start listening to the pieces you start to notice the little differences in their performance from the original versions.
There are subtle changes in rythm and tempo and even different instruments play certain parts.
These nuances make this redition of Willams' music a most enjoyable one.

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A Gala Christmas in Vienna

by: Christmas Traditional, Franz Xaver Gruber, Howard Blake, Anonymous, Trevor Horn / Hans Zimmer, John Francis Wade, James R. Murray, James (, Barry/ Gibb, Robin Gibb Maurice/ Gibb, Placido Jr. [son] Domingo, Roger Whittaker, Ian Anderson, Fred Coots, John Lennon / Yoko Ono, Christian Kolonovits, Steven Mercurio, Paul Bateman, Placido Domingo, Sarah Brightman, Helmut Lotti, Riccardo Cocciante

September 29, 1998
FOUR FOR THE PRICE OF ONE; BUT WHO NEEDS IT!?

Herein we have four skilled vocalists who by themselves are most enjoyable, especially Brightman and Domingo. But together singing songs that are wildly different as are their voices is just painful.

Of course, we all know the reason: the commercial money-making powers that be are interested only in doing just that. And their logic we know is that four will sell better than one. NOT ALWAYS TRUE!!!!In fact, there are no two voices on this disc that blend well and somehow the Christmas Medley mixing 'Child in a Manger' with 'Santa Claus is coming to Town' I find downright offensive.

Buy it if you must,but I am certain that each of these singers have individual ... Read More:

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Film Music by James Horner

from: Silva Screen Records

August 08, 2006
This cd is a very good sample of some of the works of James Horner. The orchestrations are good and I am thinking of buying some of the other artists in the same series. Good and cheap find if you are looking for a nice sample of Horner's work.

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Jerry Goldsmith: 40 Years of Film Music

by: Jerry Goldsmith

August 09, 2005
OK, there are a lot of movie composers that you could call the Big Leaguers. John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, and Jerry Goldsmith. I don't know who was in charge of this compilation, but I can't believe they would cull the "essential" music of such a gifted composer but overlook one of his most stirring and moving soundtracks. I'm talking of course about the 1970 war epic "Patton". To not include any of that music is just a travesty and that's why I am only giving this collection a 2 star rating.

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The Godfather: Trilogy 1, 2 & 3

from: Silva America

March 13, 2001
When I first reading the reviews to this Soundtrack collection, I was a bit skeptical, as I read many reviews which mentioned the differences among this collection and the original soundtracks. Being a huge fan of the films and their music, I was a bit nervous about my purchase, but figured how bad could it sound? It's the Godfather!

However, when I got the CD in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised. While I did notice some differences (Tarantella sounds somewhat changed) between the Collection songs and the original analogs, they were not a change for worse. These tracks produced the same, if not greater emotional response than those from the films.

Listening to the whole soundtrack is a great experience from beginning to end for fans of the films ... Read More:

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Way Out West: The Essential Western Film Music Collection, Vol. 2

from: Silva America

March 26, 2002
Who can listen to the theme from Bonanza, Blazing Saddles or the Shootout at Ok Corral without going back in time and reliving some old memories? I got this CD as a gift for someone and they were delighted with it. I listened to it with them in their home and it was everything I hoped it would be.

You don't usually hear these songs played by the City Of Prague Philharmonic and I have to tell you, the sound quality is full and dramatic. It's also a little unusual to see a collection like this which makes it nice as a gift because it's something the country and western fans on your list probably don't already have. I also liked the price, 38 songs on two discs for under $20. How can you beat that?

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Film Music by Bernard Herrmann

from: Silva America

April 10, 2007
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra performs and Silva Screen Records presents "FILM MUSIC MASTERWORKS BERNARD HERRMANN", the gems by composer Bernard Herrmann ... conducted by Paul Bateman, James Fitzpatrick and Nic Raine, this latest release, has all the rhythmically dynamic and poetic scores ever conceived --- Herrmann's music remains in your mind with haunting and forbidding themes that will stay with you the rest of your days --- a rare find for all the comprehensive collectors in us --- all the splendor of this composer on 13 Tracks --- Herrmann creates visual moods for each film he scores...all individually wrapped-up into one neat package ... just the way "film-score-buffs" like 'em...flavored with cues of action, adventure, mystery, romance, sentimental and suspense...the ... Read More:

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Choreography

by: Peter Hajioff Vanessa-Mae Cohen, Jon Cohen, Kad / Vanessa-Mae Cohen Jon / Achouri, George Frideric Handel, Aram Khachaturian, A. R. Rahman, Walter Taieb, Walter / Vanessa-Mae Taieb, Vanessa-Mae, Vangelis, Bill Whelan, Cliff Masterson, Matt Dunkley, Nick Ingman, Paul Bateman, Tolga Kashif, Davide Giovannini, Ray Fean, Martin Narman, Alejandro Schwarz, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Yves Cohen, Fergus Gerrand, Salah Dawson Miller, Paul Jayasinha, Brian Dunphy, Cathal Synnott, Deepa Narayan

September 20, 2004
Every summer I make a CD for exercising in my pool. I was looking for some Bollywood type music and came across Vanessa Mae. I love this CD, especially #4 Tango...

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The Essential Elmer Bernstein Film Music Collection

from: Silva America

June 07, 2005
These remakes done by The City of Prague Orch. are worthless. Thye come no where near the actual majesty of Bernstein's music. The original, or nothing.