Average Rating:

.

Andrea Bocelli - Sacred Arias / Myung-Whun Chung

by: George Frideric Handel, Giulio Caccini, Charles Gounod, Franz Schubert, Cesar Franck, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner, Pietro Mascagni, Louis Niedermeyer, Franz Xaver Gruber, John Francis Wade, Jean-Paul Lecot, Myung-Whun Chung, Andrea Bocelli

November 09, 1999
from start to finish a wonderfuly dismal and solemn collection of religious arias. Best suited at a funeral or during a serious session of misanthropy and introflection. A definate must have for serious opera fans!!!!!

Average Rating:

.

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. . .

Average Rating:

.

Gods, Kings & Demons (Opera Arias)

from: Deutsche Grammophon

November 11, 2008
I cannot tell a lie - I downloaded this album (I paid!) from the DG site as soon as it was available in Germany, so I've been listening for a month or two. However, my car player wouldn't play the 'homemade' CD so I purchased a store version from Amazon. Rene Pape is gorgeous to look at and to listen to. I've crossed the ocean twice to hear him sing. After years of buying collections and operas so that I could hear one measly aria from him, it's a great treat to have a whole CD of Rene. Many of his iconic arias, like Ella Giamai M'amo from Don Carlo and the great King Marke aria from Tristan and Isolde are here. But the one I listen to over and over is Act II, Romance: "Na vozdusnom okeane" RUBENSTEIN: Demon. The music is as melodic ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

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 tell ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

World's Very Best Opera for Kids... in English!

from: Children's Group

September 23, 2003
I love this CD and can't wait to use it with my music students when school resumes. Opera is always a difficult subject to create affinity for...this will be extremely helpful!

Average Rating:

.

Sacred Arias [Special Edition with Bonus DVD]

by: Andrea Bocelli, Giulio Caccini, Cesar Franck, Charles Gounod, Franz Xaver Gruber, George Frideric Handel, Jean-Paul Lecot, Eric Levi, Steven Mercurio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Louis Niedermeyer, Gioachino Rossini, Franz Schubert, Giuseppe Verdi, John Francis Wade, Richard Wagner, Myung-Whun Chung, Santa Cecilia National Academy Orchestra Rome

October 14, 2003
This CD/DVD combo is a huge bargain and sounds as though the music was coming directly from heaven. The Church in which the concert was held is beautiful, with vaulted ceiling. Highly recommended for serious lovers of sacred arias.

Average Rating:

.

Halloween

from: American Gramaphone

September 23, 2003
I love Halloween, I love Mannheim Steamroller. But I don't love this album. Mannheim Steamroller is perfectly suited to Christmas music but they just don't get spooky right. Take a pass on this and buy another one of their Christmas albums instead.

Average Rating:

.

Wagner: The Great Operas from the Bayreuth Festival

from: Decca

June 17, 2008
There's not really a lot to say about a package containing all post-Rienzi operas from Bayreuth at less than $2/disc. I can't seriously imagine anyone being disappointed by this set: cast after cast of superb singers, conductors -- all bathed in that glorious Bayreuth sound. Some might argue over one performance vs. others, but there are no disappointments here. Decca deserves congratulations for making this available.

Average Rating:

.

25 Wedding Favorites

from: Vox (Classical)

September 05, 2000
CD has a good selection of songs, particularly for a formal wedding; however the last 5 songs on my CD were garbled so I can't evaluate those.
Worth the money, and I would buy again (hoping that the entire CD was clear and easy to understand.

Average Rating:

.

Tannhauser

starring: Heinz Feldhoff, Gwyneth Jones, Franz Mazura, John Pickering, Robert Schunk

August 12, 2008
Time to celebrate! Finally this memorable production comes on DVD! What made the folks at DG wait such a long time? There were so many other sub-par DVD performances of this opera available out there long before this version was available. This is perhaps the only version of the opera that I have seen where I have not been bored or just turned off by some director's "vision". And boy does this opera need all the help it can get-which is exactly what happens here! First is the production itself which successfully combines (mostly) the traditional directions of the composer with a good jolt of the modern perspective. Of course nowadays this production would probably be seen as tame compared the the Munich production (w/ Rene Kollo and Waltraud Meier), although ... Read More: