| 1. What Do I Know |
| 2. El Dorado |
| 3. Virginia |
| 4. Stranger |
| 5. Morning Comes |
| 6. For So Long |
| 7. I Am |
| 8. Departing Louisiana |
| 9. For Thomas |
| 10. Harper's Ferry Blues |
| 11. Far From Enough |
| 12. Saturday Night |
| 13. Live My Life |
For So Long,Robyn Ludwick,Late Show Records,Contemporary Country,Country,Country-Folk,Pop
Average customer rating:
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Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls
Manufacturer: Nonesuch ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000005J1I Release Date: 1993-11-09 |
Tracks:
- Sweet And Lowdown
- Novelette In Fourths
- That Certain Feeling
- So Am I
- Rhapsody In Blue
- Swanee
- When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em...
- Kickin' The Clouds Away
- Idol Dreams
- On My Mind The Whole Night Long
- Scandal Walk
- An American In Paris
Customer Reviews:
Wonderfully American.......2007-05-14
When I listen to this CD now, and which is most surpring to me, I hear a profound pride in America - back "before." I play it when I have people over and we put burgers on the grill. This CD is the song of sitting in my back yard with the clouds blowing by and for the moment things feel OK.
"Before" - OK, there is no old perfect Amercia; but I'm thinking of the time before we learned to distill petroleum into toxic pollution, before pride meant vanity and thuggery, before hate-filled invective became public amusement, and before presidents went to war because it was good for business.
A Gersh-winner.......2007-01-07
The existing films of Gershwin (who died of a brain tumor at age 38 in 1937) show him to be a virtuoso at his instrument. His 1924 acoustic recording of Rhapsody In Blue (with the Paul Whiteman orchestra) is further evidence of this. But no film or recording has what is contained within the album GERSHWIN PLAYS GERSHWIN: THE PIANO ROLLS, and that is-- full fidelity range.
The CD comes in a standard jewel case packaged in a heavy paper slipcover. Biographical liner notes are included along with details on the rolls. The earliest performance in this set is from 1916, made when Gershwin was an 18-year-old song plugger. My favorites here are "Swanee," from 1920, and "An American In Paris," from 1933, which is undoubtedly one of the last significant piano rolls ever made.
Gershwin's dynamic performances are not in the least obscured by the few extra notes added to the piano rolls (such practice was standard in those days). Listening to these recordings is like sitting next to this brilliant man, observing his fingers fly over the keys as he plays some of his best work.
TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 60:36
Interesting... but I think I'd prefer a good Gershwin interpreter.......2006-05-14
This album is charming in its own way -- a taste of the music and performance style of a bygone era. Someone complained that these rolls were edited. So what? I'm going to review the final product, now how it was made. Do you eat sausage? Ask not what's in it!
I like to listen to this CD in short bits -- a few songs at a time. For some reason I find it to be fatiguing if I listen for more than 20 minutes or so. I'm not absolutely sure why this is so. Possibly the meter is just a little too metronomic on many of the songs. This lends a "mechanical" quality to the performances.
Additionally, I felt that the dynamic range was restricted. The music does get louder and softer, because of the piano rolls themselves and because of the computer programming used to read the piano rolls -- the dynamics were deliberately adjusted by the record producers in some spots, if I read the liner notes correctly. And yet. And yet. Still these songs do not dynamically "breathe" fully in and out the way they ought to. I find this disappointing, but I think it has something to do with inherent limitations in piano roll recording technique. I'm guessing.
Taken for what it is, it is an interesting concept, and the sound quality is very pleasant. The performances are very good for piano rolls, but fall short of what a good interpreter could do. Take, for example, the Rhapsody in Blue from Woody Allen's Manhattan soundtrack. Listen specifically to the piano part -- the dynamics and variations in rhythm. This is not by any means the best performance of Rhapsody, but it is better than the Gershwin rolls.
Gershwin's playing overated.......2006-04-09
transcriptions of Jelly Roll Morton's piano rolls (on the same label) instead because most of those are exactly how he played them and in my opinion Morton was a better musician in every way than Gershwin.
The jazzy Gershwin. What a CD!!!!!!!.......2006-02-23
Average customer rating:
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Yankee Doodle Dandy
Various Artists Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000066RM7 Release Date: 2002-06-18 |
Tracks:
- Main Title: Warner Bros. Signature/Yankee Doodle/Yankee Doodle Boy/Mary's A Grand Old Name/Off The Record - Warner Bros. Orchestra
- Early Years Sequence: Columbia The Gem Of The Ocean/The Dancing Master/While Strolling Through The Park One Day/At A Georgia Camp Meeting - Walter Huston
- I Was Born In Virginia - Walter Huston
- The Warmest Baby In The Bunch - Sally Sweetland
- Harrigan - Sally Sweetland
- Yankee Doodle Boy - James Cagney
- Little Johnny Jones Sequence: The Yankee Doodle Boy/Good Luck Johnny/Little Johnny Jones Special/Finale Special/All Aboard For Old Broadway/Rocket/Give My Regards To Broadway - James Cagney
- Medley: Oh, You Wonderful Girl/Blue Skies, Gray Skies/The Belle Of The Barber's Ball - Walter Huston
- Mary's A Grand Old Name - Sally Sweetland
- Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway - James Cagney
- Fay Templeton Medley: Mary's A Grand Old Name/Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway/So Long, Mary - Irene Manning
- You're A Grand Old Flag - Walter Huston
- Over There - Frances Langford
- Medley: In A Kingdom Of Our Own/Love Nest/Nellie Kelly, I Love You/The Man Who Owns Broadway/Molly Malone/Billie - Frances Langford
- Off The Record - James Cagney
- Finale And End Cast: Over There/Yankee Doodle Boy - James Cagney
- You Remind Me Of My Mother (Outtake) - James Cagney
- Medley: Oh, You Wonderful Girl/Blue Skies, Gray Skies/The Belle Of The Barber's Ball (Piano Only Version) - Walter Huston
- Give My Regards To Broadway (Rehearsal) - James Cagney
- You're A Grand Old Flag (Rehearsal) - James Cagney
Amazon.com
When one thinks of musicals from Hollywood's golden age, the initials MGM come almost instantly to mind. Indeed when veteran song-and-dance man George M. Cohan was negotiating a film based on his colorful life story, his first choice was Metro--until a falling out with studio chief Louis B. Mayer. But L.B.'s loss eventually became Warner Brothers'--and film history's--gain when the Burbank studio's Cohan musical became a massive, patriotic hit in the opening months of World War II. As chronicled in this vibrantly restored, first-ever complete soundtrack for the film, it was a compelling twist of fate. James Cagney turns in one of the screen's most ostensibly unlikely--and ultimately indelible--musical performances (netting him his only Best Actor Oscar ®), teaming with studio music director Roy Heindorf to update Cohan's once-quaint turn-of the-century patriotic ditties ("You're a Grand Old Flag," "Over There," "Yankee Doodle Boy") and infectious vaudevillian chestnuts ("Give My Regards to Broadway," "Harrigan") with bracing dollops of the studio's '40s orchestral sass--and, just months after Pearl Harbor, some crucial historical parallels. Also included are four bonus tracks that remarkably survived the film's preproduction, including an outtake of "You Remind Me of My Mother" and voice-and-piano-only rehearsal versions of "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "You're a Grand Old Flag" that further underscore Cagney's deceptively effortless ability to sell a song despite his limited musical gifts. It's a long overdue showcase for a true American film musical gem. --Jerry McCulleyCustomer Reviews:
Yankee Doodle Dandy Review.......2006-11-03
Yankee Doodle Dandy.......2006-06-30
Amazing! Wonderful! Just buy it - you won't be sorry!.......2005-03-05
I am so very glad I bought this CD. I own the DVD of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and watch it all the time, so I almost didn't buy this, wondering if I really needed yet another CD.
Well, thank God I didn't pay any attention to that dumb idea!
If you love "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and Cagney, you just have to buy this soundtrack. It's like being able to take the movie with you anywhere ... it's not just the songs - as others have said - but also includes bits of Cagney's voice-overs, even the tap-dancing from the end of "Little Johnny Jones." And since the audio system in my car is better than my TV's, it all seemed even bigger, richer and better. (George M. would love that!)
Wonderful, wonderful stuff!
What a find!!.......2003-06-15
Monumental effort must have gone into this soundtrack, given the age of the original recordings. The tracks here are crisp, clear, and bright, with no evidence of how long ago they were first put down. The editors were also generous in their inclusion of dialogue that ties some of the tracks together (for example, we hear the man tell Johny Jones to watch for the skyrocket, then we hear the skyrocket as it leads into "Give My Regards to Broadway"). There are a couple of places where the endings are slightly abrupt but this is because, in the movie, the music fades into extended dialogue.
The only bit of dialogue I expected to hear in a song, but didn't, is in "Over There" near the very end of the film, when Cagney/Cohan has fallen in step with the soldiers going off to WWII, as they're singing "Over There", when the soldier nearest him says something like, "What's wrong, old timer, don't know the words?" and Cagney says, "Seems to me I do" and starts singing along. That's minor and pales next to how wonderful the rest of this soundtrack is.
One of the biggest treats on this CD is that we get to hear some of Cagney's tapping, notably in "Give My Regards to Broadway", "You're a Grand Old Flag", and - one of my favorite moments in movie history - when he dances down the White House stairs to "Yankee Doodle" near the end).
The outtake is not a humorous one, simply a track they decided not to use. It and the rehearsal tracks are all just the performers voices with piano accompaniment. I especially enjoyed hearing Cagney rehearsing "You're a Grand Old Flag".
If you like Cagney, if you like Cohan's music, if you like movies "the way they used to make them", or if you're not ashamed to get a little choked up with patriotism once in a while, you will not be disappointed in this CD!
A Soundtrack Every American Should Own.......2002-09-23
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Instruments of the Orchestra
Various Artists Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00006O0NT Release Date: 2002-12-03 |
Tracks:
- Overture To 'Tannhauser'
- Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
- We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
- Hungarian Dance No.7
- The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
- Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
- But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
- The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
- The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
- Csardas Music
- The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
- The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
- Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
- The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
- Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
- Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
- The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
- Tzigane
- Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
- Caprice No.24
- The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
- Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
- Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
- Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
- Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
- The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
- The Violin Muted
- Clair De Lune
- The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
- Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
- The Pizzicato Violin
- Pizzicato Polka
- In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
- Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
- Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
- The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
- The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
- Hungarian Dance No.4
- Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
- The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
- Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
- Bolero
- Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
- Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
- Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
- Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
- Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
- Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
- And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
- Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
- The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
- Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
- The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
- Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
- Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
- The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
- Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
- Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
- Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
- The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
- Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
- Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
- Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
- Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
- Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
- To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
- Elfenreigen
Tracks:
- Introduction To The Viola
- Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
- Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
- Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
- Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
- Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
- The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
- Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
- The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
- Cypresses (No.9)
- The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
- Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
- The 'Period' Viola In Bach
- Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
- The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
- Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
- Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
- Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
- Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
- Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
- In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
- Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
- But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
- Elfentanz, Op.39
- Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
- The Protecting Veil (Opening)
- A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
- Flamenco
- Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
- Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
- It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
- Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
- It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
- Symphony No.9 (Finale)
- Introduction To The Double-Bass
- The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
- But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
- Elegy No.1 In D Major
- The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
- Capriccio Di Bravura
- Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
- The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
- Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds
Tracks:
- The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
- Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
- The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
- Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
- The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
- Sa'Dawi
- Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
- Chamber Music No.II
- The Piccolo - Aptly Named
- La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
- From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
- Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
- A Variety Of Techniques
- Chamber Music No.II
- Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
- The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
- From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
- Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
- An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
- Naelden, Naelden
- The Bachian Oboe
- Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
- Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
- Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
- The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
- The Swan Of Tuonela
- The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
- Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
- Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
- Bolero
- The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
- Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
- As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
- Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
- The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
- The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
- The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
- ...And Quite Low.
- Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
- The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
- Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
- But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
- Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
- Introduction To The Saxophone
- Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
- The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
- L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
- The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
- Bolero
- The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
- Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
- The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
- Sax-O-Phun
- The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
- Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
- The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
- Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
- Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
- And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
- Bolero
- The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
- Symphony No.3 (Opening)
- The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
- The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
- Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
- The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
- The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
- Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
- The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
- Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
- The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
- Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
- Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
- The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
- Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)
Tracks:
- The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
- Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
- The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
- Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
- The Ceremonial Trumpet
- Fanfare For The Common Man
- Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
- Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
- The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
- Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
- The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
- Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
- The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
- Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
- The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
- Billy The Kid
- The Trumpet As Character Actor
- Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
- The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
- Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
- The Birth Of The Trombone
- Aenmerckt Nu Hier
- The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
- Canzon 12 In Double Echo
- The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
- Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
- The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
- Hosannah
- The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
- Symphony No.5 (Finale)
- The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
- The Trombone As Caricaturist
- Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
- The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
- The Horn And The Hunt
- Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
- The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
- Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
- The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
- Walter Music (Minuet 1)
- The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
- Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
- Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
- The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
- Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
- The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
- Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
- The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
- Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
- The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
- Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)
Tracks:
- Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
- Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
- At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
- Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
- Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
- Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
- The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
- The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
- Den Hoboecken Dans
- Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
- Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
- No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
- Gymnopedie No.2
- The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
- Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
- More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
- Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
- Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
- Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
- A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
- Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
- The Birth Of The Bongo
- Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
- From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
- Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
- From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
- Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
- Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
- But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
- Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
- Taking Advantage Of Tunability
- Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
- The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
- Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
- Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
- The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
- Ravel And The Xylophone
- Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
- Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
- Introducing The Vibraphone
- The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
- The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
- Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
- Folk Dances
- The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
- Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
- Introducing The Tubular Bells
- Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
- A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
- Carmen Suite (Introduction)
- But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
- Introducing The Celeste
- The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
- Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
- Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
- Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
- A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
- The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
- Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
- The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
- Petrushka (Russian Dance)
- The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
- Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)
Tracks:
- Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
- Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
- But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
- Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
- The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
- An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
- Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
- Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
- Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
- Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
- Mahler's Sleighbells
- Symphony No.4 (Opening)
- A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
- Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
- Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
- Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
- National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
- And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
- And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
- The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
- The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
- The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
- The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
- The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
- The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
- The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
- The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
- There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
- The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
- Nocturnes
- Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
- The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
- The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
- The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
- The Oboe As Duck
- Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
- The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
- The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
- The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
- Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
- Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
- Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
- Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
- The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
- A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
- Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
- A Thunderstorm In A Million
- Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
- the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
- The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
- Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
- The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)
Tracks:
- The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
- Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
- A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
- Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
- Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
- String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
- The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
- String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
- The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
- String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
- The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
- String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
- The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
- String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
- The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
- Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
- Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
- String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
- The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
- Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
- Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
- In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
- In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
- In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
- Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
- And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
- The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
- Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
- Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
- A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
- Octet In F (Mvt 3)
- The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
- Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
- Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
- Canzon 28
- Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
- Symphony No.5 (Finale)
- From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
- Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
- Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
- The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
- Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
- When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
- Images (Gigues)
- A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
- Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
- The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
- Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
- Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
- Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
- A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')
Customer Reviews:
Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04
Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12
Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20
Frank's view.......2006-08-19
Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08
The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!
I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.
The one complaint I have is the last CD. This deals with the orchestra. I wanted more of a tour of how the orchestra has been used through history up to the present. Instead, it was a tour of how different groups of instruments sound. I thought it could have been better. The other 6 CDs are excellent.
Average customer rating:
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Greatest Songs from the Musicals
Various Artists Manufacturer: Soho ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000077JS0 Release Date: 2002-10-21 |
Tracks:
- Aquarius [From Hair] - Steve Brooker, NSO Ensemble, , Caroline O'Connor
- If I Can't Love Her [From Beauty and the Beast] - Ethan Freeman, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- I Could Have Danced All Night [From My Fair Lady] - Katrina Murphy, National Symphony Orchestra
- Can You Feel the Love Tonight? [From The Lion King] - John Barrowman, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- What I Did for Love [from a Chorus Line] - National Symphony Orchestra, Catherine Porter, Martin Yates
- This Is the Moment [From Jekyll and Hyde] - Gary Mauer, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- All That Jazz [From Chicago] - Paulette Ivory, Julian Kelly, Katrina Murphy, National Symphony Orchestra, Sally Ann Triplett
- Impossible Dream [From Man of La Mancha] - Ethan Freeman, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- America [From West Side Story] - National Symphony Orchestra
- Written in the Stars [From Aida] - Simon Bowman, NSO Ensemble, Sally Ann Triplett, Martin Yates
- Mame [From Mame] - Jerry Lanning, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Some Enchanted Evening [From South Pacific] - Thomas Allen, John Owen Edwards, Philharmonic Orchestra
- I Am What I Am [From LA Cage aux Follies] - Janet Glazener, Leslie Uggams
- One Song Glory [From Rent] - Sean McDermott, Martin Yates
Tracks:
- Phantom of the Opera [From The Phantom of the Opera] - Ethan Freeman, Claire Moore, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- I Dreamed a Dream [From Les Miserables] - National Symphony Orchestra, Jacqui Scott, Martin Yates
- Bui Doi [From Miss Saigon] - Ethan Freeman, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- As Long as He Needs Me [From Oliver!] - National Symphony Orchestra,
- Time Warp [From the Rocky Horror Picture Show] - Anita Dobson, NSO Ensemble, Martin Yates,
- Memory [From Cats] - Kim Criswell, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Why God Why [From Miss Saigon] - Graham Bickley, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- I Know Him So Well [From Chess] - Katrina Murphy, NSO Ensemble, Sally Ann Triplett, Martin Yates
- One Day More [From Les Miserables] - National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Peggy Sue [From Buddy Holly Story] - Dominic Curtis
- Empty Charis at Empty Tables [From Les Miserables] - Graham Bickley, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Dancing Queen [From Mamma Mia!] - Julian Kelly, NSO Ensemble, , Caroline O'Connor
- All I Ask of You [From The Phantom of the Opera] - Andrew Halliday, , National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- We Will Rock You [From We Will Rock You] - Martin Yates
Tracks:
- It's a Grand Night for Singing [From State Fair] - National Symphony Orchestra
- If I Were a Rich Man [From Fiddler on the Roof] - Jerry Lanning, National Symphony Orchestra
- I Talk to the Trees [From Paint Your Wagon] - Ethan Freeman, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Over the Rainbow [From The Wizard of Oz] - Gillian Bevan, , John Owen Edwards, , Royal Shakespeare Company
- Bless Yore Beautiful Hide [From Seven Brides for Seven Brothers] - Hal Fowler, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Grease [From Grease] - John Barrowman, NSO Ensemble, Martin Yates
- Woman in Love [From Guys and Dolls] - Gregg Edelman, , Emily Loesser, National Symphony Orchestra
- Secret Love [From Calamity Jane] - Debbie Gravitte, National Symphony Orchestra
- Quintet [From West Side Story] - National Symphony Orchestra
- I Will Always Love You [From the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas] - Salena Jones, John Pearce
- Money, Money [From "Caberet"] - Maria Friedman, National Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Pryce
- If My Friends Could See Me Now (Sweet Charity) - Jacqueline Dankworth, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Thank Heaven for Little Girls [From Gigi] - Ron Moody, National Symphony Orchestra, Martin Yates
- Singin' in the Rain [From Singin' in the Rain] - Craig Barna, National Symphony Orchestra, Paul Robinson
Customer Reviews:
You'll be disappointed.......2006-09-02
Pretty good musical mix.......2006-03-10
Average customer rating:
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So Long & Thanks for All the Shoes
NOFX Manufacturer: Epitaph / Ada ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000001IU1 Release Date: 1997-11-11 |
Tracks:
- It's My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite
- Kids Of The K-Hole
- Murder The Government
- Monosyllabic Girl
- 180 Degrees
- All His Suits Are Torn
- All Outta Angst
- I'm Telling Tim
- Champs Elysees
- Dad's Bad News
- Kill Rock Stars
- Eat The Meek
- The Desperation's Gone
- Flossing A Dead Horse
- Quart In Session
- Falling In Love
Amazon.com
As long as there are bands like NoFX, punk rock needn't worry about requiring life support. Ten years into a remarkable run of smart, snotty, cynical, hopeful, and always in-your-face-albums, Fat Mike and his crew still maintain a winning percentage to rival the Harlem Globetrotters'. Snippets of ska and outright pop enter the mix here and there on this eighth full-length release, but whatever the sound, the mood is as thoroughly smart-ass as ever. More often than not, NoFX's barbs are directed inward--as you might expect from a band with a concert disc entitled I Heard They Suck Live. That giddily defeatist mood is captured perfectly on lunatic sneerfests like "It's My Job to Keep Punk Rock Elite" and "All Outta Angst." --David SpragueCustomer Reviews:
This album NEVER gets old.......2006-11-16
One Of Their Best.......2006-06-23
their last good album before the huge nose dive........2006-06-22
get this cd 3rd or 4th in your NOFX quest.
NOFX IS AWESOME.......2006-05-13
I don't mean to be repetitive...BUT..........2006-01-15
Average customer rating:
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Rodgers & Hammerstein: Songbook for Orchestra (Orchestral Suites)
Manufacturer: Telarc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000003CXQ Release Date: 1992-01-28 |
Tracks:
- Oklahoma!
- Carousel
- State Fair
- South Pacific
- The King And I
- Cinderella Waltz
- Flower Drum Song
- The Sound Of Music
Customer Reviews:
Irresistible.......2005-07-29
Rodgers and Hammerstein's musicals dominated Broadway in the 1940s and 1950s, and American musical theater has produced no more consistently eloquent and durable voice than Richard Rodgers. From his fertile genius flowed a surprising number of memorable songs, many of which have passed into and become an accepted and beloved part of modern American culture.
This well-filled CD (77:36) features symphonic arrangements (all but two by Robert Russell Bennett) of the music from Oklahoma (1943), Carousel (1945), State Fair (1945), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), Flower Drum Song (1958), and The Sound of Music (1959). All the great tunes are here in suites from each musical that average 10-12 minutes in length. The arrangements are expert: rich, varied, and colorful. The performances are polished, idiomatic, and irresistible; Kunzel and this orchestra are thorough masters of this kind of material. And Telarc's sound (recorded 1991) is state-of-the-art (engineer Michael Bishop deserves to take a bow).
In short, there's nothing here to cloud your listening pleasure (the only quibble I can imagine is that some of your favorites may not last long enough), so it's hard for me to envision anyone with ears and a taste for music who wouldn't enjoy this CD. Warmly recommended. Finally, if you like this one as much as I do, you might want to know that the same team has produced a companion volume, the Lerner & Lowe Songbook for Orchestra.
"Some Enchanted Evening" with Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops.......2003-12-26
This CD has all the scores arranged chronologically. The OKLAHOMA! suite that opens this disc promises a feast for the senses, Kunzel ably evokes the territory's "bright, golden haze" in the way he conducts the various excerpts, until you feel the atmosphere of the country charm of the show, and the love-affair between Curly and Laurey. Then, in CAROUSEL, he ably evokes the pathos of this tragic R&H masterwork, especially in the truncated Waltz, but he leads a wonderfully melodic "June is Bustin' Out All Over" and a devotional "You'll Never Walk Alone." Although this suite does not include Billy's pivotal Soliloquy, it includes "If I Loved You" as an expression of his love for Julie, and within minutes you could be soaked in the ups and downs of the show's mood.
After a brief STATE FAIR suite, with sweeping renditions of "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing", we are brought into the disc's showstopping highlights. These highlights are the excerpts from SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. But yet Kunzel conducts the rest of the disc until the various suites amount to a series of showstoppers. These three suites present wonderfully-arranged versions of their many familiar classic songs, with well-played solos. The SOUTH PACIFIC suite presents the songs in chronological order, yet preserves the atmosphere of the show at the same time. Kunzel ably brings out the romance in "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Younger than Springtime," and contrasts it with the exotic and dreamlike "Bali Hai'i" and the comic "There is Nothing like a Dame" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair". Although the suite ends quietly with a reprise of "Dites-Moi" rather than the reprise of "Some Enchanted Evening," within minutes we are swept into the KING AND I suite. Kunzel ably brings out the Oriental pathos in this score, and he captures the warmth of Anna's rapport with the King's Siamese children in "Getting to Know You", and with the King himself in "Shall We Dance." There is also romance in the love ballads "I Have Dreamed" and "We Kiss in a Shadow." Similarly, in the selection from THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Kunzel conducts this until the orchestra soaks itself in the atmosphere of this Austrian R&H score. This SOUND OF MUSIC suite has more of a feel of the score compared to the bonus track on Sony's reissued version of the Broadway recording. You can almost feel as if you are following the progress of the Trapp family and how it lifts its spirits with the joy of music. Kunzel gives us a soaring version of the title song, and spirited versions of "Do-Re-Mi" and "My Favourite Things." He balances it with the open-air quality of "Edelweiss" and "The Lonely Goatherd." Although this suite could have included "Something Good," the love ballad written for the film, the three recollections of the songs that were cut from the movie only last for a while. And, the towering version of "Climb Every Mountain" crowns this portion of the disc, and this sumptuously-produced recording. But, I should also mention the infectuous FLOWER DRUM SONG medley, where Kunzel turns this underrated score into a work of art, until it convinces you to buy the cast recording. And, don't forget about the brief CINDERELLA WALTZ, too, when Kunzel conducts it magically, until you feel like you are in the company of Cinderella and the Prince. He is able to show how this R&H score marked a comeback for R&H after the failiures of Me and Juliet, and Pipe Dream.
Overall, this glorious Rodgers and Hammerstein recording is guarunteed to make you want to pucker your lips out for a whistle or sing along (to paraphrase another revew for Kunzel's Disney Spectacular disc) - even if this recording is music only, and as long as you know the words to the songs (and you might know a large handful of them already.) There is always a certain magic in this fine CD that makes you feel like you're sitting in the theatre watching these musicals, until it makes you feel like it is truly, to borrow two R&H song titles, "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Something Wonderful" to be in Kunzel's company for this R&H offering. It would certainly be one recording that could make you feel willing to buy the complete cast recordings of the shows. And I guaruntee that it will make you feel willing to pull out your existing copies of the cast recordings to listen to them again. I also guaruntee that it will be a cornerstone in any Rodgers and Hammerstein collection, just as it is in mine. Recommended heartily to any Rodgers and Hammerstein enthusiast and to fans of Erich Kunzel's work. And, you can play it while reading the Richard Rodgers biography, Musical Stages, until Rodgers himself would count this as his favourite disc in the afterlife.
By the way, most of the arrangements for the suites on this CD were done by the veteran R&H orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett, and it surely adds to the appeal of this recording. This itself is enough to amount to the icing on the cake, since Kunzel conducts them well on here, and since this recording still allows the suites to have the original theatrical atmosphere. And, although this recording is like the Mauceri collection of the Rodgers & Hammerstein overtures in compiling orchestral suites of Rodgers & Hammerstein, I think that I like the Kunzel recording even more because Kunzel has more magic in his conducting of these suites.
Excellent!.......2003-04-08
Great Arrangments.......2001-09-02
Average customer rating:
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Manufacturer: Hollywood Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0007Z9RDY Release Date: 2005-04-26 |
Tracks:
- The Dolphins
- So Long & Thanks For All The Fish
- Arthur Wakes Up
- Shoo-Rah! Shoo-Rah! - Betty Wright
- Here I Am (Come And Take Me) - Al Green
- Destruction Of Earth
- Journey Of The Sorcerer
- The Hitchhikers's Guide To The Galaxy: Original Soundtrack
- Inside The Vogon Ship
- Vogon Poetry
- Space
- Vogon Command Centre
- Trillian & Arthur Reunited
- Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
- Ten In Space
- Deep Thought
- Infinite Improbability Drive
- Viltvodle Street Music
- Huma's Hymn
- Capture Of Trillian
- Vogcity
- Love
- The Whale
- Planet Factory Floor
- Earth Mark II
- Magic Moments - Perry Como
- Shootout
- Finale
- Blast Off
- So Long & Thanks For All The Fish (Reprise)
- Careless Talk
- Vote Beeblebrox
- Reasons To Be Miserable (His Name Is Marvin)
Album Description
The popular "Hitchhiker" books by the late Douglas Adams inspired the engagingly quirky score by Joby Talbot. In addition to the score, the CD features: "Shoo-Rah Shoo-Rah" by Betty Wright; "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" by Al Green; "Magic Moments " from Perry Como; "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" by Neil Hannon; "Careless Talk" and "Vote Beeblebrox" by Neil Hannon, Douglas Payne and Andy Dunlop; and "Reasons to be Miserable (His Name is Marvin)" by Stephen Fry.Joby Talbot began writing and performing in the early '90s, working with artists such as Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, and producer Nigel Godrich. In 2000, his score to the primetime British comedy "The League of Gentlemen" won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Title Music. The British Film Institute commissioned Talbot to compose a new score for Alfred Hitchcock's silent classic "The Lodger." As a classical composer, he has worked with all the major U.K. orchestras and has been commissioned by the prestigious BBC Proms Festival.
Customer Reviews:
ah-HA ... Quite a pleasure, really. .......2006-03-05
If you enjoyed the movie [and we will assume that you did since you're here] you will love this soundtrack! It's got Everything!
Much of the work is orchestral. Some of it is techno. There are a couple of pop tune, and Perry Como [it works, trust me].
The Opening Theme "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" is a gloriously funny show tune. It was funny on screen, but here you can pick out the lyrics. It's even more fun when you can sing along.
It's got the theme from the original radio play "Journey of the Sorcerer", banjo and all. [so did the movie].
Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is mellow enough to blow your mind.
"Huma's Hymn" about the Coming of the Great White Handkerchief is nothing more then Holy.
The "Planet Factory Floor" is ...Well, it's just plain Huge!
And Stephen Fry rapping. Stephen Fry, Man!! Reginald Jeeves of "Jeeves and Wooster" fame! If you are familiar with Stephen Fry, then the absurdity of him rapping makes this even more fun to listen to. He does the last track called "Reasons to Be Miserable (His Name is Marvin)", and he pulls it off so well!
It's enough to make you want this album!
A Pleasant Surprise.......2005-11-12
The silly tracks are in there too, and they're just as entertaining as the more traditional stuff. I love the music that is emitted from the Guide; its digital tones sound like a cell phone (except way less annoying and way cooler). Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is really awesome; it's like chilled Guide techno.
The slower tracks are equally nice. Tea in Space, Love, The Whale, and Space are all so simple and very pretty.
Then there are a few scores that are really big and just plain awesome. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish (and the intro about dophins) is so hysterical...I love how it's all put together. The Journey of the Sorcerer is fantastic. The only thing that's different about this version from the film is the addition of drums, but it's not a bad change at all. Planet Factory Floor is filled with such wonder and hugeness that's perfect for Magrathea. It's followed by the equally awesome Earth Mark II.
The only thing I didn't like about this CD was the addition of
Reasons to Be Miserable (His Name is Marvin). It was just....annoying and incredibly bad. But it's at the end of the CD, so I just don't listen to it. Not a big problem.
If you've seen the movie and enjoyed the music, this CD is definitely worth it. Who knew a comedy could have such epic music in it?
That's It --- I'm Voting for Beeblebrox!.......2005-11-03
The two major standouts of this album in my opinion are "Journey of the Sorcerer" and "Vote Beeblebrox." Anyone who's more than a casual fan of "Hitchhiker's" will immediately recognize "Journey of the Sorcerer" as the classic "Hitchhiker's" theme by the Eagles played on both the radio and television versions and now the movie as well. This version is enhanced and sounds great. It was a treat hearing it at the theater and it's awesome on this CD as well. "Vote Beeblebrox" --- I about died laughing when I heard this one. This is a sort of campaign song for Zaphod Beeblebrox that unfortunately never made it into the movie. "Don't believe the rumors / don't believe the vicious lies" it says, talking about how Zaphod isn't stupid. It continues in this vain with a hilarious spoken part from Zaphod saying that he "y'know, just wants to say all the things that presidents say, y'know." Has to be heard to be believed.
Following close behind these are definitely both versions of the wondrous "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish." Personally, I prefer the second version, a sort of upbeat lounge number, but both are great. "So long and thanks for all the fish / So sad that it should come to this / We tried to warn you all, but oh dear."
This album also includes a couple of what I guess could called Golden Oldies --- "Shoo-Rah! Shoo-Rah!" and "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)." Of these two, I thought "Shoo-Rah! Shoo-Rah!" was definitely better and more fun.
The bulk of the CD is the instrumental tracks from the film. Composed by Joby Talbot, these tend to suit the scenes they come from well. Enjoy some memories from the movie, or just enjoy listening to the music.
Finally, one last thing to mention --- "Reasons to be Miserable (His Name is Marvin)." Performed by Stephen Fry, this is a redo of a song by "Marvin himself." Wanna know what it's like to be Marvin? "In everything he has to do, he finds the world condemning / If he had his time again, he'd rather be a lemming." Yep, that Marvin's sure depressed (and depressing), but the song is fairly fun to listen to.
So long, that's all.......2005-10-01
Zarquad! What A Hoopy Soundtrack!.......2005-06-02
Some notable points:
The introduction about Dolphins, read by Stephen Fry, who of course played the voice of the Book in the film. And of course, the brassy, Broadway-style show-stopping musical number "So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish" which serves as a wonderfully ridiculous setpiece for the opening credits. The melody appears several times throughout the score, usually whenever Arthur or Trillian are thinking of Earth. It is also reprised as a slow, jazzy, lounge singery song during the first part of the closing credits.
The cue from when the Vogons destroy the earth, which is appropriately tense and dramatic, and climaxes with a panicked-sounding string section playing imposibly high, abrubt notes, and ends abruptly as the earth is destroyed.
To fans of the original radio and TV series, I say to you Don't Panic, because Bernie Leadon's "Journey of the Sorcerer" (Which, for those of you that don't know, served as the theme to both the TV and radio series) is on the soundtrack with a faithful and reverent arrangement, complete with banjo. It is one of my favorite tracks on the album, and I listen to it along with the following track, which shares its name with the film's title, and the title of one of the most wholly remarkable books in the universe: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
Another great track is the music for the whale that is suddenly called into existance over the planet of Magrathea. It is filled with unwarranted optimism, and pathos, and gives the scene the necessary emotional edge, which I think is something Douglas Adams himself would have enjoyed immensely, since he created the whale in response to cop shows where innocent bystanders are meaninglessly killed as a result of conflicts or car chases that they had nothing to do with, and the audience doesn't care about them since they were only on the screen for two seconds. So Douglas wanted to create a character who would only exist as a character for a very short time, but make him extremely sympathetic so the audience would feel actual emotion when he is killed. And it works, and has worked in every version of the Hitchhiker's Guide I've been exposed to.
Another great track is "Huma's Hymn", which sounds so authentically like a church song that you could swear you'd be able to find it in your church's song book. (But you won't, so don't go looking for it.) As I understand it, most of the chorus singing the song consists not of professional singers, but of fans and other random people who happened to be walking by the church where the song was recorded, to give it that extra level of authenticity that other filmmakers probably wouldn't care about.
Overall, this is a very evocative and wonderfully fantastic score. Mr. Talbot displays much originality, but at points seems to channel other great composers of SciFi movie music. I hear traces of John Williams' scores for the Star Wars films and Superman the Movie, Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek: The Motion Picture, James Horner's Star Treks II and III, and even Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy soundtracks. Just listen to track 8 and you'll see what I mean.
Just so you know, there are three tracks that are not part of the score of the film. I suppose you could call them "Pop" tracks, but they're not tracks that have been popular in the past 10 years, at least. Only one of them: Perry Como's "Magic Moments" was in the film, at least that I could tell. It was used as source music twice, once in the pub near the beginning, and once near the end. That's all I can say about that without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it. (And if you don't recognise the name of the song, it's been used in several movies, so you've probably heard it before.) The other two songs are Betty Wright's "Shoo-Rah! Shoo-Rah!" and Al Green's "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)". While the inclusion of these songs on an otherwise orchestral soundtrack may seem odd, they definitely fit the film. Even if "Shoo-Rah! Shoo-Rah!" and "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)" don't appear in the film, you can imagine that they'd be the next songs to be cued on the jukebox in the pub near the beginning of the film, and so they help establish the mood for the scene. Some fans may be surprised or disappointed in the non-inclusion of Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", but if you see the film, you will see that the scene during which that song played in the radio and TV series is not in the film. But no biggie, if they make a sequel (and there's no reason they shouldn't) perhaps that scene will make it in.
Overall, I'd say that this is a soundtrack that no fan of the Hitchhiker's franchise should be without. So buy it now, before the earth is demolished to make a hyperspace bypass!
Average customer rating:
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Mario Lanza: My Romance
Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000056BUT Release Date: 2001-01-09 |
Tracks:
- All The Things You Are
- Kiss
- Song Is You
- Where Or When
- Love Is The Sweetest Thing
- I'll See You Again
- Night & Day
- Your Eyes Have Told Me So
- They Didn't Believe Me
- If I Loved You
- Only A Rose
- You & The Night & The Music
- Sylvia
- On The Street Where You Live
- Fools Rush In
- Beautiful Love
- I've Got You Under M
- Long Ago & Far Away
- You Are Love
- I'll Be Seeing You
- My Romance
Customer Reviews:
The best from The Best Singer and Tenor of all time........2007-04-24
Gorgeous.......2001-11-25
Another great CD by the greatest singer of all time!!!.......2001-07-17
Average customer rating:
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The Complete Gilbert & Sullivan (Box Set)
Manufacturer: Decca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00008LJEO Release Date: 2003-05-13 |
Customer Reviews:
Don't underestimate those "unknown" Operettas!!.......2005-07-07
In any case - most people getting this set will already have the Mikado, and very probably Pirates and Pinafore for that matter, so you're really getting it for the others.
So just for the record - someone has to say this!
The Mikado is (of course) a wonderful piece, but it enjoys its long running status as the most successful of all the G&S operettas very largely for "extra-musical" reasons. It is visually so wonderful, with all those great authentic costumes, and the whole idea of satirising English institutions by pretending they are Japanese is of course brilliantly funny.
Again, Pirates and Pinafore enjoy a lot of their acclaim simply because we have heard them so often. And at least part of the initial success of these (admittedly very funny and entertaining) pieces was the vogue for "nautical drama" on the popular Victorian stage.
Iolanthe, Ruddigore, and Yoemen are all MUCH stronger musically than any of what another reviewer here keeps calling the "trilogy". Patience, Princess Ida, and the Gondoliers all excel either "nautical" operetta, at least musically, although not, perhaps, the Mikado. And I have had a lot of fun listening to my recording of the Sorcerer - although I think most at least of the other G&S operettas are even more interesting.
As for "Trial by Jury" it is really another thing altogether - but in its kind the most perfect thing either Gilbert or Sullivan had anything to do with!
This leaves Utopia and the Grand Duke.
Both of these were produced after the long running friendship between G&S had soured, and they have been sadly neglected ever since. Utopia is none the less both musically beautiful and very funny, and well worth taking an effort to come to grips with. The main point of the satire (which many commentators and reviewers seem to miss) is the way that the English language and British (especially English) institutions were being adopted, often rather uncritically, by countries around the world (most, but not all, of them members of the British Empire, of course). India is perhaps the country Gilbert had most in mind, but you could set it in any of a dozen other countries. The residual problems this has left in the post-colonial world ensure that this work is still far from dated. In some ways this operetta is about globalisation! What could possibly be LESS dated than that!
The Grand Duke, on the other hand, is a bit of an odd man out - I suppose you still have to say it is the weakest of all the G&S efforts. It's the ONLY one that didn't score a very respectable run on its first outing. Surprisingly, however, if an attempt is made to duplicate the musical and (especially) dialogue cuts that G&S would have done themselves if they had not by this time been at each other's throats all the time, a very entertaining piece can be made of it. I was very agreeably surprised by the Ohio Light Opera recording, which does just that - and I am coming round to the idea that the only thing really wrong with the Duke is that it is too long.
ANYWAY:
For all people (especially callow youth) who remain convinced that G&S only wrote three operettas worth listening to - all I can say is, buy this set, and give the lesser known ones a chance. Make sure you have a libretto in your hands as you listen, of course. It may even just need a single hearing in some cases, but otherwise, be patient. In the meantime, you really cannot have any conception of what you are missing.
A few details.......2004-03-28
Wonderful set, if a little inconsistent at times........2003-07-07
Average customer rating:
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Dittersdorf: Arcifanfano, King of Fools
Manufacturer: Video Artists Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000003LIK Release Date: 1994-12-12 |
Tracks:
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Overture
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Chorus - We've Traveled Far (Semplicina, Gloriosa, Garbata, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Approach! What Is Your Name, Sir? (Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - With A Sword That Is Sterner Than Moses (Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Unhappy Oddling (Gloriosa)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - My Fair Skin, My Bare Chin (Gloriosa)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Was Ever There Insanity (Sordidone)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - Snugly Hidden Safe From Prying (Sordidone)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Madness Beyond All Measure (Malgoverno)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - When The Purse Is Clinking (Malgoverno)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - There, Like A Vapor (Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - O Look So Woeful (Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Such As She Seems To Be Frigid (Garbata)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - Let's Sing, Let's All Be Jolly (Garbata)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - For All Types Of Confusion
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - The Fierce One Lives Only For The Slaughter
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - I Beg You To Stop (Malgoverna, Gloriosa, Garbata)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - We Praise The Sun For Beauty (Malgoverna)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Bumpkin, Coarse-grained (Gloriosa, Garbata)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - If You Will Love Me, I Will Love You (Garbata)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - No, They Cannot Persuade Me! (Gloriosa)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - Lovely Ladies, You Enjoying (Gloriosa)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Where's My Lover, Sweetheart (Sordidone)
Tracks:
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - Sordidone, Be A Bunny
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Are You Hiding? (Sordidone, Garbata)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Duet - See Comely Phyllis Wander (Garbata, Sordidone)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Don't Come Near Me (Semplicina, Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - The High And Mighty Lion (Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Quiet At Last (Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Duet - Semplicina, Do You Hear Me? (Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Quartet - Ever More Bitter Shall Be My Raging (Gloriosa, Garbata, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - What Now? What New Forms Of Madness? (Gloriosa, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Chorus - Long Live King Arcifanfano (Semplicina, Gloriosa, Garbata, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - Earth, Our Dearest, Good And Nearest (Sordidone)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - That His Sowing Yield A Growing (Malgoverno)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - What Has The Fool Committed (Malgoverna, Gloriosa)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - Ask Of Beauty, She Will Answer (Gloriosa)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Hop And Stop It! (Furibondo, Gloriosa)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - All Of This Planet, I Cry To Each Man (Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - What's Unleashed These Dreadful Roars? (Garbata, Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - I'm Simple And I'm Candid (Garbata)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - What Mischief And Load This Purse Is!
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - Goddess Bright As Morning
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Mother Always Used To Tell Me (Sordidone, Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - What A Lot I Need What I Need Lot's Of! (Sordidone)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - May He Not Come To Harm (Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - There's A Devil In A Ducat (Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Gather, O Subjects, About Us (Gloriosa, Garbata, Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Duet - If You Marry Me (Semplicina)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Chorus - With Curiosity All Aflame (Semplicina, Gloriosa, Garbata, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Quiet, Please, We Implore You!
- Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Chorus - The Wise And The Mad Have Got One Word For Their Dwelling
Customer Reviews:
A Comic-Opera Treasure!.......2007-01-28
an obscure delight!.......2002-07-31
Music Album:
- From Lubbock to Laredo: Best Of [Import] [Live]
- Georgia Peach
- Golden Classics: 22 Classic Tracks
- Great Chet Atkins [Import]
- Greatest Party Album Ever
- Hank, Bob and Me: Songs of Hank Williams Sr. and Bob Wills [Original recording remastered]
- Helen Darling
- Hillbilly Shakespeare [Import]
- Homeland
- Honky Tonk Heart
