City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal

Average Rating:

.Vivere - Greatest Hits
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Andrea Bocelli

November 12, 2007
I have this CD on constant repeat! The music is so varied but holds your attention every step of the way. Bocelli's voice is one you just have to fall in love with. His "Romanza" is 1 of my favourites but "Vivo Per Lei" has me hooked also. GET THIS CD!!!!!!
>>See More Reviews & Details on Vivere - Greatest Hits

Used Price: £4.00

Average Rating:

.Vaughan Williams: Orchestral Works
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
from: British Composers

September 09, 1991
I JUST WANT TO AGREE WITH EVERY WORD THAT MR JORDAN HAD SAID ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR RECORDING, NOT JUST OF 'THE LARK', BUT OF SERENADE TO MUSIC ALSO. IN FACT I JUST LOVE EVERYTHING ON THIS ALBUM! I BOUGHT MY VINYL COPY IN THE EARLY 70'S AND IT IS NOW SO WORN OUT THAT I DECIDED TO LOOK TO SEE IF A CD WAS AVAILABLE. WHAT JOY! NOT ONLY HAVE I BEEN ABLE TO FIND A CD OF MY TREASURED RECORDING, BUT WITH BONUS TRACKS, AND AT AN INCREDIBLY LOW PRICE. FOR ME THIS IS THE PURCHASE OF THE MONTH.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Vaughan Williams: Orchestral Works

Used Price: £3.99

Average Rating:

.Vaughan Williams: Choral Works
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
from: British Composers

August 23, 1993
Neither work is particularly well known, even among enthusiasts for Vaughan Williams music. Don't let that put you off. Both are original and gripping works and Sancta Civitas is an extraordinary piece unlike any other work I know. It is the work in which the composer found the unique colours and dissonance that would lead to works like Job and the Fourth Symphony and is, perhaps, even finer than those great works. It is certainly original. The only previous recording that came anywhere near to doing the work justice was that conducted by Sir David Willcocks. This new account is in the same class and has the benefit of a superb modern recording that the earlier record cannot match. I genuinely believe that Sancta Civitas is one of Vaughan Williams' ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Vaughan Williams: Choral Works

Used Price: £3.57

Average Rating:

.Haydn: Trumpet Concerto & Hummel: Trumpet Concerto
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Alison Balsom, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

September 01, 2008
Neither work is particularly well known, even among enthusiasts for Vaughan Williams music. Don't let that put you off. Both are original and gripping works and Sancta Civitas is an extraordinary piece unlike any other work I know. It is the work in which the composer found the unique colours and dissonance that would lead to works like Job and the Fourth Symphony and is, perhaps, even finer than those great works. It is certainly original. The only previous recording that came anywhere near to doing the work justice was that conducted by Sir David Willcocks. This new account is in the same class and has the benefit of a superb modern recording that the earlier record cannot match. I genuinely believe that Sancta Civitas is one of Vaughan Williams' ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Haydn: Trumpet Concerto & Hummel: Trumpet Concerto

Used Price: £6.73

Average Rating:

.Works of Igor Stravinsky [22cd]
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Igor Stravinsky

July 02, 2007

It's common to find good value box sets from labels such as EMI Classics, Brilliant Classics and Warner Classics, but not so often on the Sony label.

In general, the bigger the set the better the value, with collections of more than ten discs often falling into the bargain category of under £1 a disc.

This collection though represents not only value for money but also provides pretty much all of Stravinsky's lifetime works (he composed around 127 pieces) in a compact box of just 5cm width thanks to the CDs being supplied in card sleeves.

The enclosed 24 booklet provides a biography of the composer, and more importantly full recording dates, venues, orchestras, soloists and conductors, and if this doesn't sound ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Works of Igor Stravinsky [22cd]

Used Price: £24.02

Average Rating:

.Classic FM Guitar - The Ultimate Collection
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
by: Various Artists

June 16, 2008
As the previous reviewer said, this is a great introduction to the world of classical guitar music. As usual with ClassicFM Cd's, the quality of the music on offer is superb, with a few well known pieces that have been arranged for the guitar; like Elgar's Nimrod etc.. As said before, if your new to this style, or you want something to just relax to, then you can't go wrong with this.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Classic FM Guitar - The Ultimate Collection

Used Price: £8.00

Average Rating:

.Elgar - Cello Concerto; Cockaigne; Sea Pictures
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
from: EMI Classics

August 02, 2004

There are now many releases in the EMI 'Great Recordings of the Century' series, and this has to be one of the best I've heard.

The three pieces on this CD date from the 1960's and all have benefited from recent remastering.

The 'Cello Concerto' is a 1965 recording performed by Jacqueline du Pre (who else would you expect?) and remains today, more than 40 years on, the standard to which all other performances of this work are measured. I'm sure I am amongst many others who regret not having seen such a gifted musician play live. I've seen several performances of Elgar's cello concerto, and always find that the best are when the soloist totally immerses him/herself into the music and brings out the emotions from somewhere deep within ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Elgar - Cello Concerto; Cockaigne; Sea Pictures

Used Price: £4.88

Average Rating:

.Saint-Saëns: The Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
from: Hyperion

September 03, 2001
There is no doubt that these are brilliant performances. But the question in my mind is how much do you want three discs of this music? The works are well crafted, certainly, and I suppose they do sparkle. There is often invention that is both surprising and delightful. But after a while one wishes for a bit more of the "red meat" of truly great romantic repertoire. I have something of a soft spot for Saint Saens but discovering his works can be a bit of a mixed experience - sometimes joyful and sometimes almost cringing (at a particularly banal tune, for example). In the end I am not sorry I bought these records and will return to them with pleasure in some moods. But there are byroads of the repertoire that I have mined with more consistently satisfying results than I have ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Saint-Saëns: The Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra

Used Price: £22.48

Average Rating:

.The Best of Arvo Pärt
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
from: EMI Classics

May 03, 2004
This is a music from the another dimension. Absolute clearity of the mind. A fragile balance you are looking... A touch of something beautiful that's uncomparable bigger than you.

Simple, but in very different way.

Must have!
>>See More Reviews & Details on The Best of Arvo Pärt

Used Price: £3.31

Average Rating:

.Bach - Sacred Arias & Cantatas
City Travel Guides > Classical Music > Opera and Vocal
by: English Concert

August 25, 2008
This is a long-awaited Bach disc from David Daniels. We are more accustomed to having him sing heroic Handel operatic roles, branch out into American folk songs, or even into Berlioz, but somehow it was inevitable that he would end up recording the Bach arias he has often sung in concert performances of the Passions, the B Minor Mass or Cantatas. And what a disc it has turned out to be. I had never heard him sing Bach before so this disc was a revelation to me. Andreas Scholl has received notable and deserved praise for the purity of his tone and somewhat restrained [Church] interpretation of Bach cantatas for alto, but Daniels' performances here are a different animal, as you would expect from an experienced operatic singer. But these are not vocal fireworks for the sake of it, ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Bach - Sacred Arias & Cantatas

Used Price: £7.14