Editorial Review

This lovely CD features Renée Fleming singing religious music in an unaffected, lovely manner. Many favorites are here: both the Bach/Gounod and Schubert versions of "Ave Maria," each offered with long breaths and soft tone; "Rejoice Greatly" from Read more

Reviews (52)

Inspiring and beautiful
I've always loved Renee Fleming's singing and this most recent album is just beautiful in every way. A rich voice, beautiful singing and a devout and magnificent artist. She makes even the most notorious evergreens come to life anew. I enjoyed it very much.

Truly inspiring
It is hard not to be impressed by Renee Fleming's voice.It is such a rich, versatile instrument and, by now, almost unmistakable.
Fantastic crossover collection!
My first reaction to this album was "whoa, Sarah Brightman sounds AMAZING! I didn't know she could sing so great... in such lovely unaffected manner... she really toned it DOWN! how classy!"
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Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Music for Voice and Keyboard    2. Cantata    3. Choral    4. Classical    5. Classical Artists    6. Classical Vocals    7. German/Austrian Romantic Opera    8. Mass    9. Miscellaneous    10. Miscellaneous Music    11. Modern Mass    12. Opera    13. Oratorio    14. Requiem/Requiem Section    15. Romantic Music for Voice and Keyboard    16. Sacred Choral Music    17. Sacred Music for Soloist & Chorus    18. Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble    19. Vocal   

Editorial Review

This is an extraordinary recording - extraordinary in concept, planning, preparation, and execution. Orchestras have been known to let an entire violin section stand up and play Paganini's "Perpetual motion" in unison - often with dubious results - but a cello section that can transform itself into a multi-layered ensemble is unique. Of course it only works if the section belongs to a great orchestra and consists of great individual players. The sound these cellists produce is incredible, from the sonority of an orchestra to delicate, transparent lines, from somber darkness to celestial radiance. They must have very strong thumbs: much of the music lies in the stratospheric thumb-position. Indeed, it is often hard to believe that these are cellos, not violins, or flutes and oboes. Their intonation, balance and unanimity are impeccable, and their stylistic versatility equals their technical command. The program, in excellent arrangements, some by the players themselves, ranges from a 17th-century Carissimi prayer (with chorus) through Bach, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Verdi, Piazzolla, whose Tango Suite gives the disc its title, Pärt, whose "Fratres" is heard in its original version, punctuated by bass-drum thuds, to contemporary Gospel shouts (with a jazz singer) by Volker Schlott, a Berlin-based jazz musician. The program ends with a frankly emotional, beautiful piece written for the 12 Cellists by Markus Stockhausen, who joins them on trumpet and flugelhorn. The recording's only flaw is its excessive dynamic contrast; let your ears revel in the Cellists' sound, but keep a finger on the volume control. Read more

Subjects:  1. Cantata    2. Chamber    3. Chamber Music    4. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    5. Choral    6. Choral Music    7. Classical    8. Classical Artists    9. Keyboard    10. Miscellaneous Vocal Music    11. Music For String Orchestra    12. Oratorio    13. Orchestral    14. Orchestral & Symphonic    15. Vocal    16. Vocal Music   

Reviews (2)

Be Thou My Vision
Track 3, Be Thou My Vision, was a surprise as the song was the final song played at my father's funeral.It set the closing mood most fittingly.While Be Thou My Vision is my favorite the entire collection is wonderfully mellow.I recommend it for for the mellow moods.

Reverent, beautiful
After criticizing Windham Hill in the past for often recycling the same songs over and over in various collections, I have to hand it to them with the new "Prayer" CD.It's a fine set of all-new acoustic versions of hymns or spiritual songs, plus a good number of original compositions.Producer Dawn Atkinson has done an excellent job of lining up a bunch of top-drawer people for "Prayer," and in working with the artists on the song selection.Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative    2. Ambient    3. Chamber Jazz    4. Choral    5. Choral Music    6. Contemporary Christian Music    7. Contemporary Instrumental    8. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    9. Folk-Jazz    10. Fusion    11. Keyboard    12. Keyboard Music    13. Meditation    14. Miscellaneous    15. Miscellaneous Music    16. Miscellaneous Vocal Music    17. Motet    18. Neo-Classical    19. New Age Collections    20. Pop   

Editorial Review

For those who want the most remembered passages of classical music's best-loved works, here's a package for you. On this bargain priced double-CD, you'll find music from 40 different classical composers; for the most part, the recordings excerpted here are some of the very best. Of course, you only get one Bach sampling (Read more

Reviews (26)

Waste of money
Watch out for the volume leveling mentioned in another review. Surely the compliers could have come up with a better sort order than by composer. The change in tempo/volume between pieces makes it impossible to enjoy. My two CD's ended up in the trash.
Great Music Compilation
This is a great CD full of many songs that you will recognize and enjoy.If you are someone who likes classical music but doesn't necessarily know which songs or which composers you like, then this CD is for you.You will likely recognize many of the songs as the classical songs you would have picked out to be your favorites.

If you like classical music don't buy this CD.
Most of the tracks were chopped down to 3-4 minutes so some of the best parts of the compositions are missing.I don't know what I was thinking trying to buy 40 classical songs on two CD's.If you really want to enjoy the music you would do better to purchase a CD with fewer, but better quality tracks. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music    2. Adagio for Orchestra    3. Cantata    4. Chamber    5. Chamber Music    6. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    7. Choral    8. Classical    9. Classical Composers    10. Classical Music    11. Classical Period Serenade/Cassation/Divertimento    12. Concerto    13. Film    14. Film Music    15. French Operetta    16. French Romantic Opera    17. German/Austrian Romantic Opera    18. Italian Romantic Opera    19. Keyboard    20. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title   

Editorial Review

The brief opening piece for chorus on this new release, "Da Pacem Domine," is based on a 9th century Gregorian work and has the usual, familiar--and very beautiful--Pärt-ian characteristics: a soft, endless stream of easy tritones and harmonies that make this plea for peace immensely moving. The major work, Read more

Reviews (9)

Austere beauty
I was dubious anyone could forge a respectable career after finishing seventh on American Idol. Whilst I am hopelessly addicted to the show, sometimes I'm not sure the finalists are especially talented.
a somber lament for a world of suffering
"Lamentate" reminds us that Arvo Part, the Estonian composer known as a "holy minimalist," was a modernist before he was a postmodernist.The 37-minute work opens with a bang, a great rumble from percussion and a minor-key fanfare from the horns, before subsiding into more typical Partian meditations.Dissonant menace periodically returns, however, marking this as Part's most Shostakovich-like composition.Alexie Lubimov plays the ethereal, searching piano part in a piano concerto that is not a piano concerto.The SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra is directed by Andrey Boreyko, and sounds superb across the dynamic spectrum.
Arvo Part is a singular force in modern symphonic music
Ever Since the Arvo Part ECM recording Tabula Rasa in 1984, the composer's profound philosophy of composition has been felt throughout the world of symphonic music. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Choral    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists    4. Concerto    5. Orchestral & Symphonic    6. Piano Concerto    7. Sacred Choral Music   

Editorial Review

Leonard Bernstein's Read more

Reviews (9)

Bernstein at His Best
This recording is a digital remastering of the two works, as originally recorded and issued on Columbia records. I listened to my old, now broken-down vinyl copies again and again, and am very pleased to have the works on CD. The performances are stunning and authoritative;the singing and the playing, exquisite;and the music, electrifyingly dramatic. This album is well worth owning!

Magnificently Performed
Leonard Bernstein's Kaddish Symphony is a powerful mass reflected on a Jewish background. With both the composer who is a Jewish American, and the first Cathloic president John F. Kennedy, whom Bernstein dedicated the music to after the tragic assisination, being pious believers of heritage, it's partly fit to empasize and create this "requiem" based on the pure Jewish heritage. ChichesterPsalms-A choral work or an orchestral work?
Although at first listen this piece is full of screeching and wailing, it is definitively Bernstein. The syncopated rhythms, odd time signatures, nods to American popular, blues and jazz idioms, as well as the explosive dynamics of this piece make it a fascinating listen. WHat I didn't like about this particular recording, led by the Maestro himself, is that one cannot understand much of the text. It is mushily inarticulated. The orchestra, however, is superb, especially the percussion, and the dynamics on this recording are well differentiated. The boy soprano in the 2nd movement(emulating boy David with his harp)sings gorgeously, but one can't understand a word of the Hebrew text of the 23rd Psalm, too bad.If only Bernstein had paid as much attention to the choir as he did to the orchestra, this would be a fabulous recording of a distinctive work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Symphony with Solo Voice and Chorus    2. Choral    3. Classical    4. Classical Artists    5. Classical Music    6. Orchestral & Symphonic    7. Psalm Setting    8. Symphonic   

Features

• Extra tracks
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (1)

Simply the Best
I can only say, that as far as I am concerned, this is just some of the best music I have ever heard.... Im guessing this is the way Bach intended his music to sound in the first place, and who better for that than the AMO and Koopman...and of course YO YO... if u love classic music, you are absolutly going to LOVE this cd..I highly recommend it ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra    2. Baroque Variations for Keyboard    3. Cantata    4. Cello Concerto    5. Chamber Music & Recitals    6. Choral    7. Choral Music    8. Chorale Prelude or Chorale Treatment for Keyboard    9. Classical    10. Classical Artists    11. Classical Music    12. Concerto    13. Keyboard    14. Music for Organ    15. Orchestral    16. Passion   

Editorial Review

What could be more sublime than a wall of dark, rotund Russian voices shimmering against the rising, ornate walls of a great cathedral? Not much, and this compilation of absolutely magnificent music proves it. The label Hearts of Space returns on this third choral collection to the ominous Slavic chant of their first choral album, Read more

Reviews (13)

It Doesn't Get any Better!!!
Having collected a decent library of sacred music over the years I can readily attest that this is the best sacred music CD that I own, my second favorite being a requiem chant by the monks of Solesmes. Further, upon listening to this CD everyone I know seems to respond to it with the same enthusiasm. Track 10 is my personal favorite, but there are no weak pieces here.The entire production hangs together well.Can't recommend it enough to novice or seasoned liturgical music listener.

If another Choral CD was so satisfying I will pay $50!
This Awesome recording along with the first Saced Treasures of Bortniansky, Chernikof, Gretchaninov, Rachminanov, Tchaikovsky, this more recent Sacred Treasures III, includes far more!!!
Inspired Beauty
Another elegant presentation in the Sacred Treasures series. In Sacred Treasures III, Ellen Holmes has artfully combined some of the best recordings of Russian choral music from the orthodox liturgy (many by Rachmaninov) with uniquely beautiful arrangements such as Gunnar Eriksson's arrangement of Bach's "Komm Susser Tod" and less familiar pieces like the wordless "Chorale" by Georgian composer Josif Kechakmadze, which I found to be engaging. The inspired beauty of this music reaches into the soul and instills a sense of peace, as only music can. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Choral    2. Classical    3. Classical Collections-Composer Desc.    4. Classical Music    5. Classical Vocals    6. Eastern Orthodox Chant    7. Eastern Orthodox Polyphony    8. Mass Section    9. Miscellaneous    10. Miscellaneous Music    11. New Age / Meditation    12. Pop    13. Russia    14. Sacred Music for more than one Soloist & Chorus    15. Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble    16. V/a Compilations    17. Vocal   

Editorial Review

This account of the Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (22)

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem
Brahms was a fabulous composer.I think his Requiem is a very musical piece including the beautiful voices.
Very good
First of all, it bothers me when people say Brahms "looks good on the page, but...".What does that mean, "looks good on the page"?Who are these people that own the scores to his music and are capable of instantaneously transposing several instruments in different clefs as well as different key signatures, know the timbres of each instrument at different volumes and marked styles of playing, and have the knowledge of harmony to know what these combinations of notes will sound like? Why aren't they conducting orchestras? Or do the notes somehow form the shape of a pretty little bird or something, and that's what they mean by the notes looking good on the page?
Died and gone to heaven
Seven stars, at least.I love Brahms and have many fine recordings of his major works, some very different from one another.In most cases I cannot say that one recording of a work is the best, except for this recording of the German Requiem. Wonderful.Klemperer, Fischer-Dieskau and Schwarzkopf are special together on this fine recording. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Choral    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Classical Music    5. Orchestral & Symphonic    6. Requiem/Requiem Section   

Editorial Review

This is the sequel to Yo-Yo Ma's wildly successful Read more

Reviews (8)

Concerts in a sailboat's cockpit
I discovered the first CD of these two when sailing in British Columbia this summer and played it over and over again when sipping wine under fine sunsets in the San Juan and Gulf Islands.There can be no better accompainment to the soft rocking of the boat and a fine wine.This second CD is as wonderful as the first.Pure lisening pleasure.

no that hot
I usually love Ma, but I don't know why I am not so hot on both of the new super discks. Perhaps it is the miking. I'm surprised noone mentioned it. My CD player is a Meridian. I would be interested in hearing how this effects the pleasure of listening to CDs.

Yo Yo Ma provides inspirational classical music.
Although I am not a musician or music expert, I can listen to this music many times and not get tired of it. It has the qualities embedded in it which I look for to keep me interested in its passages. Classical music such as this style should be mandatory listening in our school systems which are looking for things worth teaching. The pre-teens minds are being diluted with the current pop music. Our youth have little appreciation for the great things in life. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baroque Variations for Keyboard    2. Cantata    3. Cello Concerto    4. Chamber Music & Recitals    5. Choral    6. Chorale Prelude or Chorale Treatment for Keyboard    7. Classical    8. Classical Artists    9. Classical Music    10. Concerto    11. Keyboard   

Reviews (3)

a voice teacher and early music fan
This is musical treasure for Vivaldi lovers!All three works are conceived on a grand scale, and would have graced important feast days in the Church calendar.The well known Gloria has l2 movements including choruses and two soprano solos and l alto solo. It opens with an energetic opening chorus and closes at the other end of the emotional spectrum with a beautiful meditative altosolo "Domine Deus, Agnus Dei"; a triumph of musical economy as far removed from the convoluted vocal style of this operas as Vivaldi ever ventured.However, it is his theatrical flare that really sets the work alight! The "Dixit Dominus" is the grandest of the settings recorded here and one of Vivaldi's masterpieces.It belongs to a group of works which may have been written for the convent church of San Lorenzo in Venice.These 10 pieces were unusually ambitious:Vivaldi often calls for double choir and double orchestra, and he is keen to impress with the virtuosity of the solos and the contrapuntal ingenuity of the choruses.The uniqueness of the "Magnificat" with its nine movements is a work more concise than the previous two,but it shares with them the highly successful method of involving the Orchestra in the graphic illustration of the text.The performance by the Choir of King's College is first rate and the soloosts are of the highest quality. They are: Sarah Fox and Deborah Norman,sopranos-Michael Chance,countertenor-James Gilchrist,tenor-Jonathan Lemalu,bass.

Stellar Chorale Work on Vivaldi's Sacred Masterworks
Recorded in 2001 and released the following year, this is a lovely, clean recording of Vivaldi's three most famous sacred works for choral ensembles. The Cambridge's Choir of King's College, alongside the Academy of Ancient Music led by Stephen Cleobury, moves through each vital movement with appropriate fluidity and passion. With its familiar grandiose opening, the "Gloria" makes a strong impression here simply because the choir and orchestra perform it with enthusiasm and energy capturing the life-affirming spirit of the piece. Countertenor Michael Chance is a particular standout on his two mellifluous solos, "Domine Deus, Agnus Dei" and "Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris" with affecting dramatic shading. The "Dixit Dominus" is equally enthralling with particular harmonic splendor provided by sopranos Sarah Fox and Deborah Norman on "Virgam Virtutis tuae" and tenor James Gilchrist and bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu on "Dominus a dextris tuis".
Choral masterpiece

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Subjects:  1. Choral    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Classical Music    5. Classical Vocals    6. Gloria    7. Magnificat    8. Psalm Setting   

Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered

Subjects:  1. Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra    2. Chamber Music & Recitals    3. Choral    4. Classical    5. Classical Composers    6. Classical Music    7. Concerto    8. Concerto Grosso    9. Fugue for Keyboard    10. Italian Baroque Opera    11. Keyboard    12. Opera    13. Oratorio    14. Orchestral   

Editorial Review

Before Andrew Lloyd Webber's seemingly endless run of Broadway shows, when he was knownprimarily for Read more

Features

• Soundtrack

Reviews (17)

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S MOST SOLEMN PIECE OF MUSIC
When Andrew Lloyd Webber's father William, a classical composer in his own right, died in 1982, his by that time famous son decided to commemorate his death with a piece of newly composed music. But it was not the musical that ALW had in mind for this intimate occasion; he rather returned to his own classical roots he acquired while frequenting the Westminster music school, where his father was an organist.
Tacky, to say the least
In listening to the "Requiem" one easily sees why Lloyd Webber hasn't gained much of a reputation as a classical composer. It's just such a strange work, for one...okay, not horrifying, but certainly not a masterpiece.
A Requiem in and of itself
The trouble with reviewing Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem is trying to compare it to other Requiem's we are all familiar with without doing either work any unjustice.Sure, I hear a definite influence of Benjaimin Britten, perhaps even a little Bernstein Mass, but this is no War Requiem, and comparing it to other settings by Verdi, Berlioz, Faure, Durufle, or Mozart would be useless.Instead, realize this is a work unto itself.
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Subjects:  1. Choral    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Classical Music    5. Musicals    6. Requiem/Requiem Section    7. Show Tunes   

Reviews (14)

Amazing
I am not going to go into great detail. I am working on a degree in classical guitar and I can say this is something to strive for. His musical interpretation of the peices represented here are some of the best I've heard. His tone,color, and phrasing is incredible.

A gentleman musical agreement!
In guitar ` s playing there have been many renowned performers, gifted of exuberant technique. But curiously the Apollonian playing is not by itself strictly enough. The guitar is the instrument which is closer to heart as any other one. It demands from you passion and sentiment. There have been three well known guitarists, one of them from England and the other one from Spain and the third one from Japan whose sensibility was totally absent in their performances.
Extreme virtuosity
CP has become my chief inspiration to improve as a classical guitarist. His performances here are, without exception, phenomenal. He makes the most difficult pieces sound effortless. I prefer CP over John Williams because, while Williams is also unquestionably a master, he sounds a bit robotic to me at times. CP, on the other hand, never sacrifices musicality to precision. He sublimely maintains both. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Orchestral Work with Descriptive Title    2. Cantata    3. Chamber    4. Chamber Music    5. Choral    6. Classical    7. Classical Artists    8. Classical Music    9. Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb.    10. Concerto    11. Duo for Two String Instruments    12. Guitar Concerto    13. Guitar Etude    14. Guitar Solo    15. Instrumental Gospel    16. Keyboard    17. Keyboard Music    18. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    19. Lute Solo    20. Miscellaneous   

Reviews (8)

NOT OF THIS WORLD
Tabula Rasa: Silentium : This music is not of this world.I worship/pray in silence while driving with this music on with a palm facing the windshield.The haunting, surreal background...the two main violins mournfully cries out aloud...yet so beautiful...my heart cries with them.

Spare brilliance
Spending a lot of words describing P�rt's music seems like defeating the purpose.It is transcendent, haunting, solemn, quiet, and all the other things the other reviewers say.I view it, stylistically, as somewhere between the minimalism of Glass et al, and the ambient textures of Steve Roach -- if that description makes any sense.I find myself a little more at home with his instrumental pieces than his choral work, but that's just personal preference. Magnificat: Magnificent!
I realize the title of this review is pretty silly, but I had to think of something.Read more

Subjects:  1. Chamber Music & Recitals    2. Choral    3. Classical    4. Classical Composers    5. Classical Music    6. Concerto    7. Concerto for Two String Instruments    8. Magnificat    9. Music For String Orchestra    10. Orchestral    11. Requiem/Requiem Section    12. Sacred Choral Music with keyboard (or continuo)   

Editorial Review

This sampler album of excerpts from seven other Anonymous 4 releases is a good introduction for anyone who is unacquainted with the A4's startlingly pure singing and virtually celestial blend. But if you fall under the spell of this outstanding a capella quartet, the present disc will become extraneous because you'll want to own the complete recordings from which it's drawn. If you prefer complete works to samplers, try taking the plunge with "An English Ladymass" or "On Yoolis Night." Read more

Reviews (3)

If Angels Ever Recorded A CD
Four female voices have never blended together so perfectly and beautifully as do those of the 'Anonymous 4.' Their CD titled, 'Portrait' contains a selection of tracks from seven other previous CD's, kind of a "Best Of" you might say.
another exquisite performance
This amazing quartette is so talented.The Christmas cd reminds me of Christmas 50 years ago in rural England where I grew up.It contains the only rendition of The Holly and the Ivy I have heard that actually does the carol justice.

Anonymous, but in no way generic
I learned about this quartet though a review in Stereophile magazine. Although they don't publish a lot of reviews, I've had exceptionally good luck with their past picks and have been able to branch out successfully in new musical directions as a result.Read more

Subjects:  1. Choral    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists    4. Classical Music    5. Mass    6. Miscellaneous    7. Miscellaneous Music    8. Response   

Reviews (8)

Glorious Gloria
This is a very enjoyable performance of Vivaldi's exuberant Gloria: crisp baroque ornaments with exceptional solo voices, smooth choral work; light clear orchestral accompaniment.
Enjoyable recording
I have now performed both of these choral masterworks.This recording is useful as a rehearsal aid for myself and made it easy for me to learn the pieces in between choir rehearsal nights.I am also a big Dawn Upshaw fan, mostly because she has performed with us on several occasions, so I admit to being biased about this recording because she is included.I do look for Robert Shaw recordings when possible because I consider him to be an authority on choral singing.I think the mastering on this CD was well done and overall, it's a clean recording which is enjoyable for listening's sake as well as for a rehearsal aid.

Great Baroque Choral Music
This is the difinitive recording of Vivaldi's Gloria and Bach's Magnificat on modern instruments.Not but 50 years ago (when period performances were nearly non-existent) choirs like the Roger Wagner Chorale were butchering these works.Robert Shaw comes along and performs Handel's Messiah like nobody's ever heard, with lively tempos and light articulation; finally scholarship and performance practice catch up to what we have today.
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Subjects:  1. Choral    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Classical Music    5. Gloria    6. Magnificat    7. Orchestral & Symphonic   

Editorial Review

Robert Shaw, despite being a fine choral conductor, was often a pretty boring interpreter--like most choral conductors, in fact. However, there were times that he really put everything together, particularly in his many fine recordings for Telarc, and this is one of the best. Of course, it helps that the music itself is largely pretty subdued, but Shaw directs a performance of exemplary clarity and genuine nobility of utterance. Gorgeous recorded sound too. Read more

Reviews (18)

Another Excellent Shaw Recording
It becomes hard after awhile for me to