Rattle & Hum

Tracks:

Helter Skelter
Van Diemen's Land
Desire
Hawkmoon 269
All Along The Watchtower
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Freedom For My People
Silver And Gold
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Angel Of Harlem
Love Rescue Me
When Love Comes To Town
Heartland
God Part II
The Star Spangled Banner
Bullet The Blue Sky
All I Want Is You

Amazon.com

The ill will that initially greeted Rattle and Hum--the follow-up to the band's massively successful Joshua Tree album--was due in large part to the bloated and self-important feature film that accompanied it, which showed the band as being simultaneously naive and pretentious as it "discovered" America. But as the film mercifully slips from memory, the music has remained, from the furious swirl of "Desire" and a clutch of live hits to insightful musical nods to heroes such as Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Billie Holiday. Songs like "When Love Comes to Town," a supercharged blues duet with B.B. King, suggests the quartet knew more about America from listening to its music than Phil Joanou's unintentional mockumentary suggested. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews:

Am I Buggin' Ya? I Don't Mean to Bug Ya!.......2007-05-28

For a U2 album, this is alright. For any other group it would be tremendous. I think this is a 3 star album if not for the fantastic remake of Helter Skelter. In true dramatic fashion, Bono states that "this is a song that Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, we're stealing it back" and then the great cover of a lost classic begins. Some wonderful songs on this U2 offering, some not so good. Still a worthy part of any music collection.

the movie stunk buy the cd.......2007-04-04

many people forget that cover tunes have been done for years , in fact the stones use to mix at least 2 or more covers into many of the great albums they did , hendrix covered dylan , so whats the deal ???? this is a great car cd and shows a band at muscular best. if you are a real fan this a great cd, it is not one to start your u2 collection . howevwer once you really discover how great this band is this one cd that is a must .

Powerfull.......2007-03-25

This cd contains live versions of earlier tracks and new studio tracks.
It also contains new tracks but in their live versions.
I will not rate this cd songs by songs, I will only tell you that I just love this one and review some of them.
The voice of Bono in "Hawkmoon 269" is simply amazing.
I just love "Angel of Harlem", very good songs ! "Love rescue me" is highly emotionnal, "When love comes to town" is a very good blues track with B.B.King, "Heartland" and "God part II" are great and "All I want is you" is one of my favorite U2 songs. A must have cd.

Quality Music.......2007-01-05

As I write this review, I feel torn. On one hand, I think that this album has a lot of good songs: Desire, Angel of harlem, Heartland, Silver and Gold, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Pride, and Bullet The Blue Sky.

However, I sometimes think that Rattle and Hum cost U2 dearly. Since U2 did so many cover songs from rock legends like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix, many people perceived this album to be "self important" and "conceited." By covering those famous artists, it was like U2 were saying: "Look, we're in the same category as The Beatles or Bob Dylan.

Perhaps if U2 had not taken such a self indulgent approach to this album, people would like them even more than they already do...which is a lot really.

U2's "American record".......2006-11-14

U2's '88 double-album is packed with greatest hits, live recordings, cover songs & superstar collaborations. This heavily American-influenced epic has the band exploring everything from gospel to folk to industrial to the blues to, well, about everything but jazz. Some hi-lites include...

LOVE RESCUE ME: co-written by Bob Dylan, the man who encouraged U2 to discover and explore their musical roots in the first place. This hushed and heartfelt masterpiece contains some of the most brilliant and confessionary lyrics you'll ever hear. The only question is whether it's Bono or Bob doing the confessing.

HEARTLAND: Another gorgeous slow-burner, this one harkening back to their more ethereal Unforgettable Fire sound.

GOD PART II: The direct precursor to 1990's The Fly - ominous, scathing, and ultra-modern.

BULLET THE BLUE SKY (LIVE): Starring Bono's famous "Well, the God I believe in isn't short on cash...Mister!" speech. Another choice rant is captured in the live version of their great b-side, SILVER AND GOLD. "Am I buggin' you? Didn't mean to...bug ya. Edge, play the blues!!!"

ALL I WANT IS YOU: Strong contender for greatest U2 tormented-love-anthem, alongside whoppers like One, Stay, With or Without You & So Cruel. Also features what may be the single most emotionally charged electric guitar solo ever performed.

My only complaint is that they should have released it as two separate albums - one live and one studio. The mix makes for a somewhat disjointed listen, but the quality of the songs and performances is off the charts. Bono, especially, is at his peak on this album, belting out drop-dead brilliant lyrics with matchless enthusiasm and confidence.

RATTLE & HUM was maligned by hipsters when it came out, but it was - and still is - a genuine rock spectacle for the ages.

John Adams - Harmonielehre · The Chairman Dances · Tromba lontana · Short Ride in a Fast Machine / Sir Simon Rattle

Average customer rating:

Terrific Big Big music
A Must-Have For Lovers of Contemporary Classic Music
I bought this because it sounded so good on the radio
Rattle and roll
A Finely Tuned Harmonielehre

John Adams - Harmonielehre · The Chairman Dances · Tromba lontana · Short Ride in a Fast Machine / Sir Simon Rattle
John Adams , Simon Rattle , Jonathan Holland , Wesley Warren , and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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On the Transmigration of Souls
John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur/My Father Knew Charles Ives
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Adams: Violin Concerto/Shaker Loops

ASIN: B000002RU2
Release Date: 1994-04-12

Tracks:

Harmonielehre: Part I.
Harmonielehre: Part II. The Anfortas Wound
Harmonielehre: Part III. Meister Eckhardt And Quackie
The Chairman Dances: Foxtrot For Orchestra
Two Fanfares: Tromba Lontana - Jonathan Holland
Short Ride In A Fast Machine

Customer Reviews:

Terrific Big Big music.......2007-05-15

Harmonielehre

I heard the St. Louis Symphony womp this puppy out at Carnegie Hall and it's just as great on this CD by Rattle et co. Vast, intricate, sailing, imaginative.

Buy it.

A Must-Have For Lovers of Contemporary Classic Music.......2007-03-28

This CD is a collection of some of the greatest pieces of contemporary classical music by one of the world's greatest living classical composers. The works herein are highly accessible in their intense rhythms, explosive energy, and original construction. It's difficult for me to heap enough praise on these works and this CD.

I bought this because it sounded so good on the radio.......2007-02-06

I heard The Chairman Dances and went right to Amazon to order this. This ia a lovely little gem of a CD, and it is so pleasing to find John Adams, another great modern American composer. I'm also a fan of composers such as Christopher Rouse, for example, and Joe Leniado Chira is my cousin. Modern composers are a precious resource that we should explore, demand more of and nurture. We afficianados would like to see symphony orchestras and ensembles giving more attention to the modern genre. Meanwhile, John Adams has impressed me with this disc. The Chairman Dances is my favorite. I can just see Chairman Mao doing a vigorous foxtrot to this, and Tricky Dick feeling jealous. This might be the music that opened China to the West.

Rattle and roll.......2007-01-12

Slouching back in the old easy chair I was very tempted to write an eloquent review after listening to this recording but why bother, no I
think I'll just go back and listen to it again. Care to join me ?

A Finely Tuned Harmonielehre.......2006-04-02

Should any friend ask what CD to obtain to begin an appreciation for the music of one of our greatest living composers, John Adams, this superb disc with Simon Rattle and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra would surely be at the top of the list. Rattle has selected the various sides of Adams' thoughts and offers performances that are sparkling and rich and very well performed.

For inclusiveness Rattle has elected excerpts from one of Adams operas, 'Nixon in China', in the facile and gently humorous yet tender 'The Chairman Dances', foxtrot for orchestra. For sheer showmanship there is the 'Tromba Lontana, fanfare for orchestra', and the often performed 'Short Ride in a Fast Machine, fanfare for orchestra'.

But the glory of the recording of course is the magnificent orchestral 'symphony' from 1984-85, the 'Harmonielehre'. Though this work has multiple recordings, not the least one being the premiere recording with Edo de Waart and the San Francisco Symphony, Simon Rattle brings to the work his usual insight into architecture that allows the listener to appreciate the splendors of each of the three sections.

But this listener, though long a champion for this masterwork, was still amazed to hear just how magnificently composed is 'Harmonielehre', hearing a live performance with John Adams conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The acoustic of Disney Hall allowed the huge percussion section of drums, gongs, bells, keyboards, triangles, etc and manipulations of each of these sections in the odd ways in which Adams achieves his effects to truly shine. Watching the performance enhances the auditory splendor. Rarely has the emotionally loaded aspect of the work been so revealed. One can only hope that Adams will record this performance to share the miracle. Grady Harp, April 06

Henry V: Original Soundtrack Recording (1989 Film)

Average customer rating:

Timeless Masterpiece
Non Nobis Domine
Beautiful soundtrack to Ken Branaugh's best Shakespeare film.
Passionate and inspiring
An Intriguing, Intense Score

Henry V: Original Soundtrack Recording (1989 Film)
Patrick Doyle , and Simon Rattle
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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Henry V
Hamlet: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996 Film)
Much Ado About Nothing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Shakespeare in Love
Sense and Sensibility: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1995 Film)

ASIN: B000002RRG
Release Date: 1990-05-08

Tracks:

Henry V: Opening Title - 'O! For A Muse Of Fire'
Henry V: Henry V Theme - The Boar's Head
Henry V: The Three Traitors
Henry V: Now, Lords, For France!
Henry V: The Death Of Falstaff
Henry V: 'Once More Unto The Breach'
Henry V: The Threat To The Governor Of Harfleur - Katherine Of France - The March To Calais
Henry V: The Death Of Bardolph
Henry V: 'Upon The King'
Henry V: St. Crispin's Day - The Battle Of Agincourt
Henry V: 'The Day Is Yours'
Henry V: 'Non nobis, Domine'
Henry V: The Wooing Of Katherine
Henry V: 'Let This Acceptance Take'
Henry V: End Title

Amazon.com

Composer Patrick Doyle's first film score accompanied Kenneth Branagh's first movie as director. For both, Henry V (1989) is a triumph. Branagh's vision of the play is a far darker, more realistic depiction than the morale-boosting patriotism of Laurence Olivier's 1945 classic. Doyle's score had to follow in the footsteps of William Walton, but undaunted, the first-timer rose to the challenge magnificently. Briefed by the director to follow "Shakespeare's golden words" and be "as bold as possible," Doyle produced music of epic scope, lyrical passion, and descriptive imagination. The score has a real flavor of opera--a trait that would become familiar in all of this composer's later work--as Doyle underscores the great speeches (notably the St Crispin's Day speech) with a tangible sense of drama, but one that is always sensitive to the nuances of the words. Set-pieces such as the death of Falstaff and the visceral Battle of Agincourt stand out, but the entire score feels operatically through-composed, unified by Doyle's strong instinct for melody. The melodramatic climax of his "Non nobis, Domine" (that's the composer singing at the beginning) unashamedly rivals "Land of Hope and Glory" for--as Branagh puts it--"hummability." Quite how they coaxed Sir Simon Rattle and the CBSO into the studio remains a mystery, but the result is one of the best performed, most orchestrally luxurious soundtracks ever recorded. Patrick Doyle's later scores may be more refined (try Hamlet, for example), but none quite match the sheer exuberance of this debut. --Mark Walker, Amazon.co.uk

Customer Reviews:

Timeless Masterpiece.......2007-06-07

Even if you've never seen the movie, this entire CD is fabulous. All of the music is dramatic and beautiful. . . but my favorite piece is "Non Nobis" I actually had my parents walk down the aisle to it at my wedding last month and everyone was BLOWN AWAY!!!

Non Nobis Domine.......2007-05-29

I've wanted this for a long time, & it lived up to my expectations.

Beautiful soundtrack to Ken Branaugh's best Shakespeare film........2007-01-10

It is rare to have a magnificent film about Shakespeare's plays accompanied by masterful music, but this one is a must have for fans of both.

Passionate and inspiring.......2006-12-17

The renditions of Non Nobis Domine are unmatched and bring me to tears everytime I hear it. Again and again I must return to this score and play it at full volume and let it sweep me up in the emotion. A favorite soundtrack to a favorite movie and a favorite in my collection.

An Intriguing, Intense Score.......2006-02-01

This soundtrack has a dark intensity very appropriate for the play's setting and subject. It begins with an eerie, striking opening title, and continues with a well-sequenced series of emotion- and thought-provoking pieces, interspersed with Latin hymns and brilliantly rendered speeches. It stands very well on its own. My only complaint is that the recording level isn't perfect in the opening piece; the orchestra comes in too loudly after the flutes open that segment, reducing clarity of tone.
For other excellent Shakespeare soundtracks, try Jocelyn Pook's The Merchant of Venice--which is even more fascinating than this CD is--and the uplifting Much Ado About Nothing composed by Patrick Doyle. Try also to order an out-of-print copy of the two-CD set Shakespeare at the Movies.

Average customer rating:

"Lovely and Amazing"
I finally got around to getting this......
A great conductor and a rising mezzo make beautiful music together
Another winning recital by Kozena

Mozart Arias

Manufacturer: Archiv Produktion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000G6BJNK
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Tracks:

Giunse alfin il momento...Deh, vieni, non tardar...
Voi che sapete
Ch'io mi scordi di te... Non temer, amato bene, K.505
"In uomini, in soldati"
"Ei parte...Per pietà"
"E amore un ladroncello"
"Non più di fiori"
"Quando avran fine omai" - "Padre, germani, addio!"
Vado, ma dove? oh Dei!, K.583
"Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio"
Alma grande e nobil core, K.578
"Giunse alfin..." _ "Al desio di chi t'adora" (K.577)

Album Description

Magdalena KozenÃ¡'s first all-Mozart album--and her first

album in collaboration with partner Sir Simon Rattle--stands

out as one of the highlights of 2006's Mozart Anniversary

celebrations.

Magdalena is a natural Mozart singer, garnering rave reviews

and enchanting audiences wherever she performs Mozart

on stage. Recent performances in Philadelphia, Los Angeles,

Berkeley and New York (Carnegie Hall) have brought her

glowing praise.

This album is a collection of some of Mozart's finest arias

for female voice, mostly for mezzo-soprano but Magdalena

also taps her soprano potential with arias including Vitellia's

"Non piÃ¹ di fiori" from La Clemenza di Tito.

Sir Simon Rattle is the ideal conductor for this project,

delicately wrapping Magdalena's voice in vivid and sensitive

orchestral sounds of the Orchestra of the Age of

Enlightenment, the period ensemble with which he has

been working for more than a decade.

This release features one of the world's most exciting voices

joined by a brilliant conductor and ensemble--a Mozart

recording poised to captivate music lovers and critics

worldwide.

Customer Reviews:

"Lovely and Amazing".......2007-05-13

Kozena's approach to this series of Mozart arias, many of them old chestnuts, is innovative, yet always beautiful. As one reviewer has stated, he couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd so much enjoyed hearing "Voi che sapete." Kozena's magic in familiar music comes from her skills in ornamenting the nobly simple melodic lines. The listener is continually surprised by her rich but tasteful additions to the written score. She never overdoes them, so Mozart, I suspect, would not have responded to her singing in the way Rossini is reported to have done to a singer of his time who ornamented "Una Voce Poco Fa" to excess. He told her the aria she'd just sung for him was very beautiful, and then slyly inquired who'd written it!

I finally got around to getting this.............2007-04-07

release and I am glad I did. It is a really nice Mozart collection. In fact, I purchased this disc along with Garanca's Mozart disc on Virgin the same week and I have to say that they are two of the best Mozart programs I have purchased. Kozena's voice sounds great (as always) and her ornaments are unexpected but nice. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed "Voi che sapete" so much. The orchestra led by Rattle is wonderful as well. However, the one who really shines through this disc is Mozart.

A great conductor and a rising mezzo make beautiful music together.......2007-01-16

After flurries of gossip about their affair (both were married at the time) Simon Rattle took as his third wife the Czech mezzo Magdalena Kozena. For some reason their CD of Mozart arias hasn't created any waves here at Amazon. It should, becasue Kozena adds to three first-rate recitals on DG; the one in French is particularly fine. Her voice is warm and feminine, if a bit lacking in individuality. YOu can't pick it out instantly the way you could Janet Baker's or Christa Ludwig's. And she's a bit shy of personality compared to those two great predecessors. If she gains more confidence and drama, however, she could evolve into a great artist.

Her range here includes arias for both soprano and mezzo from all the great Mozart operas. It wasn't the best idea to start off with Susanna's 'Deh, vieni' from the Marriage of figaro; Kozena isns't light and witty. She immediately moves into Cherubino's 'Voi che sapete,' which suts her much better. She adds trills and decoration to the vocal line and handles them expertly. Adding to the period feeling, Rattle conducts the Orch. of the Age of Enlightenment, but he seems to have asked them to use vibrato in the modern style. In the concert aria with piano obbligato, 'Ch'io mi scordi di te,' Kozena is technically impeccable, but by now we are feeling a lack of temeprament. She is too wdded to correctness, which wasn't true of her swinging outside Mozart.

When the dozen arias are through, she has displayed enormous talent, and only her lack of drama causes me to hold back the fifth star. Schwarzkopf, von Otter, and other Mozart experts have nothing to fear quite yet, but Kozena should continue to rise--she certainly has all the voice and beauty she needs.

Another winning recital by Kozena.......2006-11-29

Kozena's first ever Mozart recital with Simon Rattle and the OAE is a sure winner - the voice is clear and perfect for this repertoire.

Average customer rating:

As good as can be
A requiem that does not drag
OK but ultimately underwhelming
Rattle is fine, Quasthoff is great
VERY BRAHMSIAN ACCOUNT OF THE REQUIEM

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Requiems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Songs by Mahler, Handel & Peter Lieberson
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 (The Mahler Arrangements)
Carl Nielsen, Orchestral Music

ASIN: B000MTEDIE
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Tracks:

I. Selig Sind, Die Da Leid Tragen
II. Denn Alles Fleisch, Es Ist Wie Gras
III. Herr, Lehre Doch Mich
IV. Wie Lieblich Sind SDeine Wohnungen
V. Ihr Habt Nun Traurigkeit
VI. Denn Wir Haben Hier Keine Bleibende Stadt
VII. Selig Sind Die Toten

Amazon.com

This is a big, monolithic performance of this somewhat monolithic work, but it doesn't sound impenetrable as it occasionally can. The second movement is as gigantic as any might want, but there's great spring in its last few minutes; elsewhere, Sir Simon Rattle leads with a clarity and energy that are decidedly not lament-like. The 4th movement, "Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen," seems to sway under Rattle's baton; it appears as a light interlude. There is great warmth in the "Ich habt nun Traurigkeit" movement and all pomp seems to die away. The fugal moments are crystal clear, even with the large orchestra and chorus (this is clearly not a "period" instrument performance), and both soloists--baritone Thomas Quasthoff and Dorothea Röschmann--sing their music with close attention to the text. The Berlin Philharmonic and Rundfunkchor are superb. This is a beautiful reading of a work that can be forbidding - highly recommended. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

As good as can be.......2007-07-07

Almost perfect performance. Ranks with the very best ever recorded. But the most perfect is still being awaited

A requiem that does not drag.......2007-07-03

The Berlin Philharmonic as usual sounds amazing. The choir sounds excellent and the internal balance is very good. Simon Rattle does not take slow tempos in this work. He is swift in some movements and the fuges move with great movement and energy. There are a few spots where I felt the tempo was to swift but he phrases and shapes the performance lovingly. In the big sections he allows the Berlin Philharmonic to play with the muscle and wieght that they so often bring to great works such as this.

A minor problem is in the balance of the solo voices. EMI has the solo voices to close in the final mix. This at times can bring a degree of harsness in their singing that might not be there had the voices been mixed more "naturally" as you would hear in a concert hall. The way companies mix soloist such as singers or instrumentalists is a problem as they tend to over mix the soloist rather then balance the sound somewhat more distance in the final mix as you would hear in the concert hall.

Other than how the solos are to closely mixed in the sound picture this is a very fine performance.

OK but ultimately underwhelming.......2007-04-16

I'm a huge fan of Rattle, this is the world's best orchestra, and both soloists are at the top of their game nowadays. So what went wrong?

The chorus, for one. The Berlin Rundfunkchor sounds bloodless and harsh: both because of its size (much smaller than what Brahms would have expected) as well as its overall sound, which is a good deal more "British" than the warm resonance of a group like the RIAS Kammerchor--which is more often the chorus the Berlin Philharmonic calls on. Now we know why.

But the problem also lies with Rattle, who essentially abdicates any sense of direction once he gets to the contrapuntal sections. He simply sets a fast but inert tempo and phones it in.

This combination of the bloodless choir and the bloodless conducting is all the more disappointing because it's juxtaposed with some wonderfully rich orchestral playing. Whoever says this ensemble has lost its deep, "Germanic" sound should listen to this recording as proof to the contrary.

Both Quasthoff and Roeschmann spread a bit in their top range, and both have a few difficulties shaping longer phrases--but I've never heard this from them before, which makes me suspect it's more a one-time thing. Otherwise, though, they're wonderful, and together with the orchestra they provide some needed warmth to a performance that--so uncharacteristically of Rattle--could use all the vitality it can muster.

Rattle is fine, Quasthoff is great.......2007-04-15

The reviewer below seems lost in his own personal reactions and hasn't given an accurate description of Simon Rattle's persuasive new German Requiem from Berlin. Far from being slow, traditional, and rich-sounding, this performance is 5 min. faster than Karajan from Vienna and 10 minn. faster than the classic Klemperer from London (both on EMI). What overall timings can't reveal is that Rattle takes slow sections slower than usual and fast ones faster. The chorus is smallish rather than employing large church choirs or a body like the Vienna Singverein. They sound no fuller than Gardiner's Monteverdi Choir on Philips. Textures are similarly streamlined. So much for the objective facts.

And the performance itself? Rattle avoided Brahms for twenty years on records and has turned to it late, no doubt out of a sense that his position in Berlin calls for it. One detects a certain lack of religious intensity in the opening movements, which is strongly at odds with Brahms's fervent Protestant intent. There's no lift, no soaring lyricism when harmonies shift upward. The timpani underlying the second movement should sound like the approach of fate--this is a work about death--but here it sounds merely like a drumbeat.

One could say that Rattle is giving us a lighter, less haunted approach than usual, not as perky perhaps as period performances from Gardiner and Herreweghe, but lacking the world-shaking grandeur of Klemperer. For many listeners the chief attraction will be the great Thomas Quasthoff, a totally convincing singer of Brhams lieder. The Gramohone reviewer grumbled that Quasthoff was having a bad night, but that would be an outstanding night for any other baritone. In fact his voice lacks a certain stability of tone at loud volume here, but he is never less than a passionate, riveting soloist, for me the best to be heard in the wonderful third and sixth movements since Hans HOtter for Karajan in the early postwar years. Rattle follows Quasthoff's lead, giving us freer expression and hushed spiritual intimacy from the chorus--this is the cry of souls coming face to face with mortality on Judgment Day.

I am not a particular fan of Dorothea Roschmann, who nevertheless gets a lot of plum jobs in opera and choral works nowadays. Here she is up against the likes of Schwarzkopf and Battle, whose singing of the Traurigkeit movement is exquisite. Roschmann can't match them for vocal purity, but she is emotionally gripping, which counts for a lot, and Rattle speeds up the movement, making it vocally less teacherous for her. Throughout the German Radio Choir, which I assume is professional or nearly so, sings quite accurately and with pure tone.

In all, this reading is a mixed bag. I don't think I really buy that Rattle is sympathetic to Brahms's religious feelings, but he is certainly skillful at extracting a convincing performance musically, and Quasthoff is a joy.

VERY BRAHMSIAN ACCOUNT OF THE REQUIEM.......2007-04-03

I'm not sure I've ever heard the Deutsches Requiem sound more Brahmsian. That may seem an odd remark, but many recordings make of it a sui generis piece, living in a funerary world of its own. But I hear in this performance from Rattle and the Berliners direct lines into the symphonies and the concertos that I'm seldom so conscious of with other performers. It's there in the melodic and rhythmic phrasing, in the orchestral textures, especially of the woodwind, and in the integration of choir and orchestra.

Like his recent Schubert Great C Major, this is in many ways an old fashioned performance. Tempi are broader than we get from more `authentic' modernists like John Eliot Gardiner, Roger Norrington and the like, textures are richer and warmer, it comes through as an altogether grander work. Brahms determined to write a very untraditional Requiem, not just in his choice of texts but in his focus on the bereaved who are left behind rather than the traditional prayers for the dead themselves. It was, after all, written soon after his mother's death and the central movement, `Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit', is a tender and moving memorial to her. Rattle reflects this humanity in his performance: it is perhaps the most humanist German Requiem since Kempe's wonderful performance with the same orchestra.

I don't want to leave the impression that this is an over-sombre, stodgy performance, though. Far from it. Those moments when the clouds clear and the sun comes out and the music starts to stir with life, movement and liveliness suit Rattle's ability to lift and energise a rhythm well. The fourth movement becomes almost a lilting waltz at times, a heavenly dance if you like. The big fugal passages with their strong undertow of typical Brahmsian pedal points have great energy and thrust. Even the imposing, deliberate tread of the `Alles Fleisch' funeral march always retains focus and purpose.

The performers are an impressive lot. The orchestra again shows itself to be in the very front rank, investing textures with colour and shape, phrasing solos with individuality while remaining consistent with the whole. The choir are exceptional: this is glorious, wonderfully disciplined choral singing. Roschmann is an ideally tender soprano soloist in that central, consolatory movement. Quastoff is eloquent as always, but do I detect just the first signs of wear and tear in the voice creeping in? Is there just a tad more spread to the tone when it's put under pressure than there used to be? It is nevertheless a fine performance. Perhaps neither soloist quite lives up to the perfect ethereal beauty of Grummer or the drama of Fischer-Dieskau on the Kempe recording, but they are certainly good enough to see off most of their modern rivals.

As a performance, the Kempe remains something very special. Among modern recordings, this new one is up there with the very best. Gardiner is worth exploring for a refreshingly brisker cleaner view: but for a more traditional take on the work this new Berlin performance is well worth hearing.

Average customer rating:

Among the best
Among the best recent Bruckner Fourths: 4.5stars

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 (The Mahler Arrangements)
Mahler - Symphony No. 2
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3; Poulenc: Organ Concerto; Barber: Toccata Festiva

ASIN: B000NPCMJE
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Tracks:

Bewegt, nicht zu schnell
Andante quasi allegretto
Scherzo- trio
Finale

Amazon.com

Bruckner's Fourth Symphony underwent a complicated revision history. This recording uses the Nowak from 1886. Bruckner himself nicknamed this symphony "The Romantic." Its 1881 premiere marked his first Viennese triumph; it remains his most popular symphony, despite its occasional repetitiousness and moments when grandeur becomes grandiosity. As always, the spirit of Wagner hovers over the harmonies and the orchestration. The solemn processionals and chorales reveal the devout Catholic, while the sonorities and the frequent rests and pauses recall the organist resetting his stops. The Symphony abounds with long, arching melodies - somber and prayerful, soaring and ecstatic - and innumerable climaxes, often aborted but gathering for the final triumph. The incomparable Berlin Philharmonic revels in the glorious orchestral sound, from each individual solo to the massed tuttis. The performance is immensely exciting, expressive, and evocative. The only flaw is the excessive dynamic contrast; keep a finger on the volume-control. --Edith Eisler

Album Description

Following up their release of Brahm's Ein Deutsches Requiem, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker continue to celebrate the orchestra's 125th year with an exploration of the 19th-century Germanic greats. On this recording they take on Bruckner's mighty Fourth Symphony, an uplifting spiritual journey across a huge musical landscape which commands the listener's attention and promises to remain in memory long after the final chords have died away.

Speaking of the individuality and overwhelming power of Bruckner's music, Rattle had this to say: "It's as though one's caught up in a gigantic wave...which simply will not stop until the last note and in fact when the last note is sounded, very often the audience simply doesn't applaud because there's a feeling to it still going out into space..."

Tracklisting:

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony No.4 in E-Flat Major "Romantic"
1. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell
2. Andante quasi allegretto
3. Scherzo- trio
4. Finale

Customer Reviews:

Among the best.......2007-07-03

This new recording of Bruckner 4 is among the best Bruckner 4th's I have heard.
I would set this recording along side Bohm or the Karajan(s) recordings. The tempos are often broad but Rattle has the vison and energy to keep the natural flow of the music. Rattle does not disrupte the music's natural flow as let say Celibidache often does.
The playing of the Berlin Philharmonic is nigh perfect and the intontion and ensemble continue to amaze. The recording is very good with a good wide range that does not confine the sound of this great orchestra.

Strongly recommended.

Among the best recent Bruckner Fourths: 4.5stars.......2007-05-14

There is no shortage of fine Bruckner 4s but this is another one. And it was recorded live, which I can't recall being true of many others, perhaps Wand's BPO CD for RCA. The performance has a slight Schubertian tinge but is weighty and powerful with plenty of impetus.

The BPO playing is outstanding as is the recording - with the slight caveat that the in opening pages of the first movement occasionally the brass attacks lack crispness and the recording doesn't seem quite as transparent sonically as the rest of the performance - was this perhaps recorded on a different night to the rest of the CD? But these are minor quibbles.

In fact the only reason I might not give this 5 stars is the presence in the catalogue of a more individual reading - namely that by Celibidache on EMI. Here Celi's interpretation and penchant for slightly slower speeds make absolute sense, and one ends up almost with a recreation rather than an interpretation. That would be my first choice.

Average customer rating:

Superb Mahler, superbly stated.

Mahler: Symphony No 2 (Resurrection )
Gustav Mahler , Simon Rattle , Arleen Auger , Janet Baker , and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and Orchestra
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Mahler: Symphony No6; Rückert Lieder
Mahler: Symphony No7
Mahler - Symphony 10 / Berliner Philharmoniker · Rattle

ASIN: B000EF5MIQ
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Tracks:

I. Allegro Maestoso (Mit Durchaus Ernstem Feierlichem Ausdruck)

Tracks:

II. Andante Moderato (Sehr Gemachlich)
III. In Ruhig Fliebender Bewegung
IV. Urlicht (Sehr Feierlich, Aber Schlicht)
V. Im Tempo Des Scherzo. Wild Herausfahrend --
Wieder Sehr Breit --
Ritardando... Maestoso --
Wieder Zuruckhaltend
Langsam. Misterioso --
Etwas Bewegter --
Mit Aufschwung, Aber Nicht Eilen

Customer Reviews:

Superb Mahler, superbly stated........2007-06-08

The "Recordings of the Century" series is simply a must-own for anyone who loves fine classical music. From the tyro to the scholar, these recordings represent the finest of the genre. If you need some Mahler - if you need Mahler's 2nd - this is among the finest. The pacing, the silences, the majestical bombast, the magnificence of the human voice; Everything one looks for in Mahler is here. While each listener may have his own desires and demands in classical music, this and others in the series cannot seriously be faulted. And if you need to really hear the best of Bjoerling, listen to his CD in this series.

Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings; Les Illuminations; Nocturne

Average customer rating:

Comparing Britten's 'Serenade' from Bostridge and rivals
Bostridge and Rattle Offer Definitive Britten
EXCELLENT SINGING: OUSTANDING PLAYING

Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings; Les Illuminations; Nocturne

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Britten: The Canticles; Ian Bostridge, David Daniels
Britten: Holy Sonnets Op35 / Bostridge, Johnson
Ian Bostridge - Songs of Faure, Debussy & Poulenc
Die Schone Mullerin
Music of Peter Lieberson: Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto

ASIN: B000AXZE3U
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Tracks:

I. Fanfare
II. Villes
IIIa. Phrase
IIIb. Antique
IV. Royaute
V. Marine
VI. Interlude
VII. Being Beauteous
VIII. Parade
IX. Depart
Prologue
Pastoral
Nocturne
Elegy
Dirge
Hymn
Sonnet
Epilogue
On A Poet's Lips I Slept
Below The Thunders Of The Upper Deep
Encinctured With A Twine Of Leaves
Midnight's Bell Goes Ting, Ting, Ting
But That Night When On My Bed I Lay
She Sleeps On Soft, Last Breaths
What Is More Gentle Than A Wind In Summer?
When Most I Wink, Then Do Mine Eyes Best See

Amazon.com

This is a wonderful record, in substance and execution. As Ian Bostridge writes in his passionately involved program notes, these three song cycles represent a pinnacle of the all-too-sparse literature for tenor and orchestra. We owe them to Britten's long personal and professional partnership with the great tenor Peter Pears, for whom he wrote all his vocal music. Listeners who remember Pears' unique and unmistakable voice and style will be astounded at how thoroughly Bostridge has made these works his own. His voice is very different but no less unique, and intoxicatingly beautiful. He has at his command colors and nuances which he uses so masterfully that they become an integral part of the music, never sounding artificial. Giving equal weight to words and music, Bostridge captures the lush sensuousness of the French cycle, set to poems of Rimbaud, the lyricism, lightness, serenity, horror and triumph of the Serenade, and the declamatory drama of the Nocturne (the last two use poetry from Shakespeare to Wilfred Owen). The cycles trace the development of Britten's style, from the tonal orientation and direct expressiveness of the first, through the greater emotional depth and variety of the second, to the descriptive, sardonic, wild, passionate rhetoric of the third. The orchestra's principals are superb in their extensive solos. Unfortunately, they are nameless except for Radek Baborák, a worthy successor to Dennis Brain, the virtuoso hornist for whom the Serenade was written. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Comparing Britten's 'Serenade' from Bostridge and rivals.......2006-06-26

In 1944, a year after it was composed, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings began a long streak of excellence on disc. Six decades later we have this acclaimed new one from Ian Bostridge, so it seems worthwhile to compare it to the best from the past. (I will name my personal favorites at the end.)

Pears 1944: The Gramophone calls this, the premiere recording, 'usurpassable,' and so it would seem with the unique combination of Peter Pears, the tenor voice for which the work was written, Dennis Brain, the young horn virtuoso whom Britten also had in mind, and Britten himself conducting. There are some drawbacks, though, principally the ugly wartime sonics, which are murky and boxed-in. Pears is not as dramatic as he would become later on, and although Brain is very musical and supple in tone, he doesn't extract the last ounce of intensity from his part.

Pears 1964: Pears' remake is the unsurpassable one, perhaps. We get excellent stereo from Decca, and Britten's conducting is more or less perfect. Barry Tuckwell sets a new standard in the horn part, taking hair-raising risks and underlining the darker side of the score. Pears has grown immensely in his interpretation of the poetry, but one can't escape that he is 20 years older--his voice is obviously under strain in the more difficult passages and at loud volume. Even so, his depth and artistry quickly make you forget anything but the music itself--a great recording.

Rolfe-Johnson 1991: The Gramophone loved this recording when it came out on Chandos. The outstanding performer here is the tenor, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, who took up Pears' artistic manetle. Like Pears he has a sweet, focused tenor with a prominent head tone (R-J's sound is less idiosyncratic than Pears'), but more importantly Rolfe-Johnson does almost as much with the poetry as his great predecessor. The conducting by Bryden Thomson is fine, and so is the horn player, Michael Thompson, though he is too cautious to take the kind of risks Tuckwell did.

Langridge 1994: This recording, originally on Collins Clasics, is on Naxos now. Philip Langridge is the doppelganger to Rolfe-Johnson, both bieng Britten specialists who have recorded most of his major tenor roles. Langridge has a bigger voice, with an unusual but pleasant nasality. It's less focused than Rolfe-Johnson's or Pears', so the pitch can spead a little, and some wobble creeps in under pressure. On this CD Langridge gives a notably quiet, tender reading, with a lot of variaiton in tone and poetic sensitivity. He is aided by the excellent conducting of Britten's disciple, Steuart Bedford. The horn playing of Frank Lloyd matches the singer in tenderness, even if he isn't the daredevil that Tuckwell ws--Lloyd's suppleness is closer to Brain in approach.

Bostridge 1999: The latest generation of Pears' descendants is represented by Ian Bostridgee, who has attained more fame than the previous two tenors outside Britain. Bostridge's voice started out quite slender and cooing, so he can't attack the Serenade's more strenuous parts head on. His solution is to give a lighter, quicker version that is refreshingly different. His hornist, Marie-Luise Neunecker, is a true virtuoso, more at home in this music than any player since Tuckwell. She is also caught in vivid, clear sound by EMI. Ingo Metzmacher's condcuting sometimes lacks zest and impact, though it passes muster well enough.

Bostridge 2005: Bostridge got to remake the Serenade for EMI after only a few years, not the twenty that Pears waited. In the interim his voice has acquired more weight--it's still the lightest of any being considered here, however--and that extra heft helps him to deepen his interpretation, adding more darkness and mystery to the text (mystery being one of this singer's best modes). The presence of Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil. strings certainly ups the ante, and the first horn of the orchestra, Radek Baborak, at last brings us Tuckwell's equal in daring and risk-taking. British critics have acclaimed this recording as the only modern one to stand beside Pears/Britten, but I think Rattle and Bostridge are both a little guilty of fussiness; every syllable and musical phrase is underlined to the point where we notice the performers more than the music at times.

I have owned Serenades by other singers like Martyn Hill and John Mark Ainsley, both on EMI and both in the boyish tenor vein of Bostridge, if without his notable intelligence and musical insight. I would be hapy to own either of Bostridge's efforts, but the ones that send chills down my spine are by Rolfe-Johnson and Pears 1964.

Bostridge and Rattle Offer Definitive Britten.......2005-11-30

Ian Bostridge continues to astound with the variety of his repertoire and the glowing beauty of his richly burnished tenor voice and his enormous musicality. Here he sings three of Benjamin Britten's finest works and with him in collaboration are Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. An embarrassment of riches!

Each of the three cycles feels as though Bostridge and Rattle are in complete agreement with Britten's intentions. 'Les Illuminations', designated as a work 'for high voice and strings', here benefits greatly from the timbre of Bostridge's baritone-infused tenor voice. The poems by Rimbaud were written by a man for a man and thus it feels more appropriate to have the male voice singing (though the numerous performances by sopranos do hold a special glow). Supported by some of the most lush strings sound ever recorded, Bostridge sings the songs with more passion than most. These are heartfelt and not the cerebral exercise they often receive. Yes, there are moments when memories of other performances rise - such as during the downward glissando of 'et je danse' when other singers caress every note in the fall. But the overall effect is very dramatic and, well, luminous.

'Serenade for tenor, horn and strings' finds Radek Baborak in the horn role. Again the pulsing Berlin strings under Rattle are almost unbearably beautiful. Bostridge's perfect diction again demonstrates how Britten was the finest composer for the English language. The cycle is involving in its survey of an interesting variety of poems. Likewise the Nocturne 'for tenor, seven obbligato instruments an strings' is a mature work of Britten's and has echoes of phrases from what by the time of its composition were closely identified with the 'Britten sound'. Again Bostridge sings with such purity of line and intense communication. His voice and thinking are married in a perfect effect.

Perhaps it is the fact that Bostridge commits his concert time to demanding lieder recitals with piano that makes him one of the most sought after vocal artists of the day. When he steps in front of an orchestra, especially such as the Berlin ensemble with Rattle on the podium, he is wholly at home with these beautiful but technically difficult cycles, and the degree of communication of both the music and the poetry are extraordinary. An added bonus with this CD is the personal set of program notes written by Bostridge. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, November 05

EXCELLENT SINGING: OUSTANDING PLAYING.......2005-11-23

This is a marvellous disc of the most famous Britten orchestral Song Cycles - not so much for Bostridge's singing as for the stunning playing of the strings of the Berlin Philharmonic and the excellent conducting of Simon Rattle.

The very opening bars of Les Illuminations give a thrilling taste of excitements to come as the violins and violas throw the fanfares from side to side of the stereo spectrum. In the hands of the Berlin Phil, Les Illuminations reveals itself to be as big a compendium of string orchestra techniques as the Frank Bridge Variations. Here are wonderfully light harmonics, creepy harmonic glissandos, perfectly together full-bodied pizzicati, haunting cantilenas, rich thrumming accompaniments. Ensemble throughout is impressively immaculate. Antique is hauntingly beautiful, Being Beauteous achingly so. Bostridge's singing is also impressive in these Rimbaud settings, bringing to some of the songs a real baritonal quality to set beside his more familiar headtones - perhaps suggesting that a Pelleas from him might be an interesting proposition. For me, the sound of the original soprano voice works better in these songs (they were first done by Sophie Weiss): it rises freer and cleaner of the string accompaniments. But Bostridge is fine among the tenor versions, up there with Pears himself.

The Serenade fares a little less well after such an impressive opening. Maybe the horn player, Radek Baborak, is to blame. He seems a little cautious - the phrases of the Prologue and Epilogue seem a little disjointed, the keening sounds of Blake's Sick Rose lack the last ounce of passionate commitment, the scary glissandi in the Lyke Wake Dirge are barely touched in compared to the hair-raising whoops of a Tuckwell or even a Brain and Ben Jonson's Queen and Huntress doesn't have quite the lightness of step she should. Bostridge, too, seems to be straining a bit hard and Fischer-Dieskau-like to get the last ounce of meaning from the text. The plosive 't' at the end of 'elephant' in Cotton's Pastoral practically splashes the listener. He has recorded the Serenade before (also with a German orchestra) and despite the wonderful playing here of the Berlin strings - their splendour falls magnificently on Tennyson's castle walls - it's the earlier version I would prefer.

The horn player is better in his onomatopoeic Middleton song in the Nocturne. Indeed, all the soloists are excellent in this cycle and I would single out Stefan Schweigert's bassoon solo in The Kraken for particular praise. The Nocturne always seems to get rather short shrift in comparison to the Serenade or even Les Illuminations. For me it is the finest of the three cycles. It is a central piece among Britten's explorations of sleep around that time - the Dream, the guitar Nocturnal, the piano Notturno, 'Let us Sleep' in War Requiem and 'Dormi nunc' in the Cantata Misericordium are all roughly contemporaneous. It is also more of a cycle than the Serenade with its linking 'breathing' motif on the strings (which was actually rescued from a setting of Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, written for but rejected from the Serenade). Bostridge is better here with a little less obvious pointing of words. He copes with the magical melismas of the Coleridge setting well. He holds nothing back in Wordsworth's nightmare recollections of the September Massacres with a full-bodied scream on the parlando 'Sleep no more'. Owen's Kind Ghosts sound more than ever like a precursor of the Owen settings in War Requiem and Rattle secures a wonderfully heavy tread from his string players. Perhaps only Pears had the secret of those magic Britten phrases that flow straight through the natural break in the voice (the arch of 'Thus I my best beloved's am' at the end of Canticle 1 or the rising Dona nobis pacem in War Requiem come to mind): Bostridge can't quite match him in the similar phrase for the last couplet of the Shakespeare Sonnet, but for the rest he does achieve a near perfect balance of melodic line with judicious pointing of Shakespeare's pun-fest.

The playing of the Berlin Philharmonic again is a joy to hear in this song. The voicing of the chord when all the obbligato instruments and the strings play together for the first time at the beginning of the Shakespeare is breathtaking and Rattle makes the climax of the Sonnet (and indeed the whole cycle) an overwhelming moment. The recording quality throughout this disc is superb - crystal clear but with true warmth and depth. Bostridge contributes a fascinating essay to the booklet and all the texts are there, too. All in all, an outstanding issue.

Average customer rating:

LO MEJOR DE LO MEJOR
A Very Fine Compilation

The Essential Falla

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Albéniz: Iberia; Granados: Goyescas
Granados: Spanish Dances
Falla: El Amor Brujo; Sombrero de tres picos; Noches en los jardines de España
Manuel de Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain / Isaac Albeniz: Rapsodia Espanola / Joaquin Turina: Rapsodia Sinfonica - Alicia de Larrocha / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
Ives: The Symphonies / Orchestral Sets 1 & 2

ASIN: B00001X59X
Release Date: 1999-10-12

Tracks:

Love The Magician: Introduction And Scene... In The Cave
Love The Magician: Song Of Suffering Love
Love The Magician: The Spectre... Dance Of Fear
Love The Magician: Magic Circle... Midnight
Love The Magician: Ritual Fire Dance
Love The Magician: Scene
Love The Magician: Song Of The Will-O'-The-Wisp
Love The Magician: Pantomime
Love The Magician: Dance Of The Game Of Love
Love The Magician: Finale: The Bells Of Dawn
Harpsichord Concerto: I. Allegro
Harpsichord Concerto: II. Lento
Harpsichord Concerto: III. Vivace
Homenaje 'Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy'
Psyche
Nights in the Gardens of Spain: I In The Generalife
Nights in the Gardens of Spain: II Distant Dance
Nights in the Gardens of Spain: III In The Gardens Of The Sierra de Cordoba

Tracks:

La Vida breve: Interludio y Danza
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: The Moorish Cloth
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Seguidilla From Murcia
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Asturian Song
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Jota
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Lullaby
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Song
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Polo
Four Spanish Pieces: Aragonesa
Four Spanish Pieces: Cubana
Four Spanish Pieces: Montanesa
Four Spanish Pieces: Andaluza
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: Introduction
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: Afternoon
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: Dance Of The Miller's Wife
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: The Grapes
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: The Neighbours' Dance
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: The Miller's Dance
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: The Corregidor's Dance
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: Final Dance

Customer Reviews:

LO MEJOR DE LO MEJOR.......2002-03-29

Una grabacion
magistral de los
clasicos de Manuel de Falla.
Este disco contiene el famoso
"Homage a Debussy" la unica
obra original compuesta para
guitarra por la mano del compositor.
Tremenda grabaccion, como para no
perdersela a ese precio...

A Very Fine Compilation.......2000-05-17

"The Essential Falla" is just that, including all of Manuel de Falla's major works (performed by the likes of Dutoit, Fruhbeck de Burgos and de Larrocha) on these two CDs. Highlights are excellent performances of Falla's three most famous works: "El amor brujo", "Noches en los jardines de Espana" and "El Sombrero de tres picos". The rest of the included music is perhaps less well-know but no less enjoyable. Perhaps the only quibble I have with this CD is the enclusion of the Harpsicord Concerto. While it is an enjoyable piece, it is very much a Stravinsky-esque neo-classical work, and it seems somewhat out of place amongst Falla's other, very Spanish, works. Nonetheless, if you enjoy 20th Century Spanish music, this CD is indeed an essential.

Average customer rating:

You ought to wait at least 25 years, Angel!
Simply the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
George Gershwin , Simon Rattle , Hyacinth Nicholls , London Philharmonic Orchestra , Camellia Johnson , Maureen Braithwaite , Colenton Freeman , Alan Tilvern , Anne Fridal , Autris Paige , Barrington Coleman , Billy J. Mitchell , Blair Wilson , Bruce Hubbard , Curtis Watson , Cynthia Clarey , Cynthia Haymon , Damon Evans , Gregg Baker , Harolyn Blackwell , Johnny Worthy , Linda Thompson , Marietta Simpson , Mervin Wallace , Michael Forest , Paula Ingram , Raemond Martin , Ron Travis , Ted Maynard , Wayne Marshall , Willard White , and William Johnson
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Anne Sofie von Otter - Grieg Songs
George Gershwin - Porgy & Bess / Trevor Nunn · Sir Simon Rattle · W. White · C. Haymon · Glyndebourne Opera
Verdi - Simon Boccanegra / Freni, Cappuccilli, Carreras, Ghiaurov, van Dam, Foiani, Teatro alla Scala, Abbado
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
Torroba - Luisa Fernanda

ASIN: B000AQACX4
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Tracks:

Introduction
Summertime And The Livin' Is Easy
Oh, Nobody knows When The Lawd Is Goin' To Call
Give Him To Me...Lissen To Yo' Daddy Warn You...
Here's The Ol' Crap Shark!...No, No, Brudder
Here Comes Big Boy!
Six To Make!
Jesus, He Killed Him!...That You, Sportin' Life?
Where Is Brudder Robbins?...Come On, Sister
Overflow, Overflow
A Saucer-Burial Set-up, I See
My Man's Gone Now
How De Saucer Stan' Now, My Sister?
Oh, The Train Is At The Station

Tracks:

Oh, I'm Agoin' Out To The Blackfish Banks
Mus' Be You Mens Forgot About De Picnic...Oh, I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
Lissen There, What I Tells You...I Hates Yo' Struttin' Style
Mornin', Lawyer, Lookin' For Somebody?
Boy. Come Here, Boy!
Buzzard Keep On Flyin' Over
'Lo, Bess, Goin' To De Picnic?
Honey, We Sure Goin' Strut Our Stuff Today!...Bess, You Is My Woman Now
Oh, I Can't Sit Down
I Ain't Got NO Shame Doin' What I Like To Do!
It Ain't Necessarily So...Shame On All You Sinners
Crown!...You Know Very Well Dis Crown!
Oh, What You Want Wid Bess?
Honey, Dat's All De Breakfast I Got Time For
Take Yo' Han's Off Me, I Say
Oh, Doctor Jesus
Oh Dey's So Fresh An' Fine
Porgy, Porgy, Dat You There, Ain't It?
I Wants To Stay Here, But I Ain't Worthy
Why You Been Out On That Wharf So Long, Clara?

Tracks:

Oh, Doctor Jesus
One Of Dese Mornings You Goin' To Rise Up Singin'
Oh, Dere's Somebody Kockin' At De Do'
You Is A Nice Parcel Of Christians!
A Red-Headed Woman Make A Choo-Choo Jump Its Track
All Right, I'm Goin' Out To Get Clara...Oh, Doctor Jesus
Clara, Clara, Don't You Be Downhearted...You Low-Life Skunk, Ain' You Got No Shame
Summertime...
Introduction...Wait For Us At The Corner
Come Out Here, Both Of You
Oh Lawd, What I Goin' Do? Oh, Gawd! They Goin' Make Him Look On Crown's Face!
Listen: There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York
Introduction
Good Mornin', Sisuh!...It's Porgy Comin' Home
Dem White Folks Sure Ain' Put Nuttin' Over On This Baby
Here Mingo, What's De Matter Wid You All?
Where's Bess?
Bess Is Gone
Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way