16 Sixteen [Import]

Product Description
BONUS DVD (NTSC/RC-2)

16 Sixteen,Suiteisho-Jo,Sony,World Music

Average customer rating: This is what American music was supposed to sound like Very nice Hillbilly Acid !! Bandoneon? Unique in Every Way

Sackcloth 'n' Ashes Sixteen Horsepower Manufacturer: Fontana a&M ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Folklore Olden Low Estate Secret South Black River Falls ASIN: B000002G47 Release Date: 1996-02-06

Tracks:

1. I Seen What I Saw
2. Black Soul Chair
3. Scrawled In Sap
4. Horse Head
5. Ruthie Lingle
6. Harm's Way
7. Black Bush
8. Heel On The Shovel
9. American Wheeze
10. Red Neck Reel
11. Prison Shoe Romp
12. Neck On The New Blade
13. Strong Man

Amazon.com

With its use of banjo, accordion, lap steel, and stand-up bass and its songs about creaking pine porches, shallow graves, prison shoes, and big horses, Sixteen Horsepower would seem to be drawing from the same ancient wells of Americana as the Band. The Band, however, handled this tradition from a working-class perspective of Monday morning blues and Saturday night release. By contrast, Sixteen Horsepower takes the leisure-class approach of existentialist angst, bad college poetry, and no release whatsoever. Edwards simply throws evocative phrases together without bothering to make one fit with the other. Such a technique could be called "experimental," but it could also be called "lazy." Drummer Jean-Yves Tola and bassist Keven Soll help Edwards create a spare, agitated, rock & roll string-band sound behind his doom-and-gloom howlings. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

This is what American music was supposed to sound like.......2007-04-25

The best way I can describe this album is that it conjures images from John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin Classics) and like that great American classic, this album puts you under a spell and does not let you go until its over, leaving you exhausted but utterly satisfied. The band takes traditional American roots music and fuses it into a dark and intense blend of folk rock, the perfect backdrop for lyrics dealing with spirituality and human suffering. David Eugene Edwards delivers the vocals with the same ferocity with which I imagine his grandfather, a traveling Nazarene preacher, must have addressed his flock. I recommend their entire catalog.

Very nice.......2007-01-09

Each song on this album is at least solid, folk fun a la 16 Horsepower.
Tracks 8 through 12 seemed especially strong, being rather catchy and enjoyable.

Hillbilly Acid !!.......2005-09-08

Wow, these guys are putting back things they didn't take! Listen to the tracks I Seen What I Saw and American Wheeze and you will think the Doors have been resurrected from Appalachia. These guys are one of the most unique bands of the nineties. Brooding, dark tunes of violence, self righteousness and redemption. Jim Morrison would have loved this band!

Bandoneon?.......2005-01-17

I think I'd have to look up the spelling which I wont since this is a music review and not a written' review. Anyway a Band0neon is like an accordian but different in ways I dont understand, they feature this instument on a number of cuts with very haunting results.The lyrics are haunting as well, its a Flannery O'Connor mood crossed with all the greats of bluegrass ghosts, it creates a unique sound you would be a fool not to enjoy. It reminds me of the times as a child we visited old man Ritz's house deep in the woods behind our house, Mr. Ritz worked for Nasa and seldom visited his family farm getaway, so we ran amok on his property,never at ease mind you, but amok we ran. He was a scary figure who we never met and never expected to meet until one day I landed a job picking up rocks in a freshly plowed field, we would ride on a trailer behind a tractor and every so often the tractor would stop and we would hop off and pick up the rocks and throw them on the trailer. I suggested to Uncle Leon (the farmer who farmed Mr Ritz's property for him) that we just paint all the rocks red and have the migrant workers pick them up thinking they were tomatoes, he didnt think to much of this suggestion so we continued with our work. The next day we were picken' up rocks when a man walks up to Leon and told him we should paint the rocks red and tell the migrant workers they was tomatoes...This album reminds me of my first and only meeting with old man Ritz.Buy the album.

Unique in Every Way.......2004-11-02

This is perhaps the most unique CD I have in my collection. If I had to describe the music I would have to say it is a mix of bluegrass, Johnny Cash, and the Old Testament. The only thing that even comes close is the O Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack. Great for anyone seeking a break from the commercial crapola that is put out nowadays. I really enjoy putting it on the CD player going down the dirt roads of West Virginia. Its a great CD and I reccomend it to anyone who is a fan of great music

Average customer rating: The Emerging Voice of Woven Hand... UNLIKE ANYTHING WEV'VE EVER KNOWN! mediocre Grim, atmospheric, deep Gothic Americana Music - Haunting and Spiritual

Folklore 16 Horsepower Manufacturer: Jet Set Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Goth | Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Oldies & Retro | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Sackcloth 'n' Ashes Olden Secret South Low Estate Black River Falls ASIN: B00006BTDW Release Date: 2002-08-06

Tracks:

1. Hutterite Mile
2. Outlaw Song
3. Blessed Persistence
4. Alone and Forsaken
5. Single Girl
6. Beyond the Pal
7. Horse Head Fiddle
8. Sinnerman
9. Flutter
10. La Robe a Parasol

Amazon.com

Whistling in the wind like a ghost in the desert, 16 Horsepower's Folklore is a grave, brooding piece of dark theater. Outside of occasional relief in the form of a loose French waltz finale and the natural rockabilly songwriting touch of David Eugene Edwards, the music here is akin to a bleak ride to a dusty crossroads where the devil awaits. Reminiscent of the rustic cacophony that Grant Lee Buffalo brought to Mighty Joe Moon, or Nick Cave's desolate wasteland elegies, Folklore leaves behind the last of the band's alt-country tics. The flat, yearning tones of Edwards's singing combines with a spare banjo on tracks like "Alone and Forsaken" before "Single Girl" picks up the tempo with a bouncy bass line and a folksy chorus. But the mood is short-lived, as "Sinnerman" and the bleak, brilliant "Horse Head Fiddle" reestablish the album's desolate, hypnotic trance. Folklore's haunted melodies and mythic inspirations have a frightening intensity that turns this short set (just over 37 minutes) into an unforgettable experience. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews:

The Emerging Voice of Woven Hand..........2007-06-22

Pure tribute to a culture and a sound that has more character than modern tastes appreciate.

This album is somewhere between classic 16 Horsepower and the Woven Hand Mosaic album in terms of intensity and wooden sobriety (both are good traits - just different in pace and tone).

This is one of a very few albums I let repeat for the year that I wrote my book. It makes me miss the Fox Theater in Boulder and the Blue Bird in Denver.

UNLIKE ANYTHING WEV'VE EVER KNOWN!.......2007-06-21

Hello World, BUYIT BUYIT BUYITBUYIT BUYIT BUYIT BUYIT BUYIT BUYIT BUYIT BUYIT BUYIT BUYIT. nO REGRETS tRUE AMERICaNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mediocre.......2007-01-12

Although I'm a big fan of 16 horsepower, I was really disappointed by this release. I did not find a single song on this cd to be very strong or memorable, though the other positive reviews led me the believe that this was one of their best, and darkest cds. By "darkest" I was hoping the reviewers also meant the hard hitting, nail bitingly powerful songs like some of the "dark" songs on his other cds. Not so. It wasn't exactly a horrible cd, just not something I'll waste my time listening to very much. If you're new to 16 HP start out with Low Estate or Sackcloth n' ashes, and don't judge this great band by one bad cd.

Grim, atmospheric, deep.......2006-12-29

I just got this and I dig the hell out of it. A few of the songs are sort of up tempo and contrast to the rest of the album, which is very much American Southern Dark Folk/Gothic. Like Lucero with all the lights off, or a lamenting ILCK's. I gave it 4 of 5 because I don't like the few Irish-ish drinking jigs. Where I live you hear way to much of that.

Gothic Americana Music - Haunting and Spiritual .......2006-10-09

Sixteen Horsepower is an amazing blend of Alternative Rock, Americana, Goth, and Punk. This band from Denver combines vocals that are part goth, part punk, and part Cold Mountain-like Americana with tripy strings, anthem-like drums, a haunting piano, and a whole host of traditional instrumentations. The entire mix is a riveting experience is in the category I call Gothic Americana.

Folklore is one of their most recent albums; it is a mesmerizing and haunting album that brings forth the image of a haunted house from Appalachia in the late 1800s. These ten songs set you down unexpectingly into empty country fields where a couple of dead bodies litter the ground around a burning wagon; into a rustic cabin with the creepy feeling that something bad has happened here.

These songs are at the same time haunting and spiritual. Sixteen Horsepower are the darker side of belief revealed.

Average customer rating: Harnoncourt's Bruckner, a viable alternative to Karajan? Depends what you consider good Terrific performance! Unconvincing performance; interesting commentary Harnoncourt roars, but Wildner rages

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (with the Documentation of the Finale Fragment) [Hybrid SACD] Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Romantic | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Harnoncourt, Nikolaus | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra | ( V ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Bruckner | Bruckner, Anton | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 (with Excerpts from the Rehearsals) [Hybrid SACD] Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 Sibelius: The Symphonies [Hybrid SACD] Bruckner: Symphony 8 Great Orchestral Highlights from The Ring of the Nibelungs / Szell, Cleveland Orchestra (SACD) ASIN: B0000AF1IG Release Date: 2003-10-21

Tracks:

1. Warum Hat Man Eigentlich 100 Jahre Lang Gedacht, E - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
2. Finale. T. 1-278 - Wiener Philharmoniker
3. Gegen Ende Eine Extreme Dissonanz In Den Trompeten - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
4. Nach Dem Ende Der Durchfuhrung Folgt Eine Wilde Fu - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
5. Finale. T. 279-342 - Wiener Philharmoniker
6. Quasi En Schreckensbild Des Todes - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
7. Finale. T. 343-478 - Wiener Philharmoniker
8. Danach Fehlen 16 Takte; Dazu Ist Nichts Zu Erklare - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
9. Finale. T. 479-510 - Lucke/Fehlender Partiturbog - Wiener Philharmoniker
10. Why Did We Think For Over Hundred Years That Nothing... - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
11. WAB 109: Finale. MM. 1-278 - Wiener Philharmoniker
12. Extreme Dissonances In The Trumpets Towards The End - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
13. At The End Of The Development A Wild Fugue Begins - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
14. Finale. MM. 279-342 - Wiener Philharmoniker
15. A Sudden Vision Of Death - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
16. Finale. MM. 343-478 - Wiener Philharmoniker
17. Then There Are Sixteen Bars Missing. We Will Just... - Nikolaus Harnoncourt
18. Finale. MM. 479-510 - Gap/Missing Score Bifolio - Wiener Philharmoniker

Tracks:

1. I. Satz. Feierlich; Misterioso - Wiener Philharmoniker
2. Scherzo. Bewegt; Lebhaft - Trio. Schnell - Scherzo - Wiener Philharmoniker
3. Adagio. Langsam; Feierlich - Wiener Philharmoniker

Customer Reviews:

Harnoncourt's Bruckner, a viable alternative to Karajan?.......2006-03-19

Even Karajan's detractors, except for the most severe, generally concede that he was supreme in Bruckner. His various performances of the Ninth Sym. with the Berlin Phil. are commanding in their huge scope, yet Karajan was also capable of delicate phrasing and had an intuitive grasp of how to organize these gigantic, sprawling movements. No one has quite reached that magistreial level since. To his credit, Harnoncourt doesn't try to. This is, for him, a straightforward performance that relies on some qualities Karajan's Bruckner doesn't possess.

First of all, Harnoncourt has his own instincts about phrasing and organizing the music. Contrary to a reviewer below, he doesn't exploit extreme rubato or sudden tempo changes. There are some quirky moments where the tempo speeds up unexpectedly, but overall, Harnoncourt's timing of 58 min. is dead center among various recordings (as much as I admire Giulini, his 68 min. traversal drags). Harnoncourt favors brash outbursts from the brass, particularly in the Scherzo, my least favorite movement here. But his main intent is to keep Bruckner simple, to impose himself far less than Karajan did with his ultra-control. This Bruckner Ninth is a bit plain at times, but it always breathes.

As to the recorded sound, I have only heard the regular two-channel CD, which is quite clear; the Vienna Pphil. is placed a bit far back on a wide soundstage. I would have liked to hear the solo winds up closer, but that's a quibble. This Bruckner Ninth satisfied me as much as the great accounts by Walter, Klemperer, Giulini, and Boulez. I sitll feel more thrills from Karajan's analog reading from the Sixties, yet Harnoncourt provides a viable alternative in itnerpretation.

In theory it was an exciting notion to provide a free bonus CD containing Harnoncourt's defense of Bruckner's surviving sketches for a fourth movement, never completed. Could it really be that his ocntemporaries were wrong and that Bruckner left us pages of great music begging to be revived? Harnoncourt's talk is highly persuasive, but when the Vienna Phil. actually plays what survives of the finale, it proves as sorely disappointing as its reputation would lead one to believe.

Depends what you consider good.......2004-06-14

Harnoncourt has done some great things for music in his career, but I would not consider this one of them. He achieves an "authentic" performing style from the Vienna Philharmonic with a thin string sound and little or no vibrato. So anyone expecting that sweet Vienna sound will be disappointed. But his conducting does not meet that goal of authenticity, because he varies tempos too much. It draws attention to itself and weakens the cohesiveness of the work as a whole.
There are other versions, many of which are mentioned by the other reviewers below (Giulini, Karajan, et al.), which communicate this great work more simply and effectively. They are also unique and full of interesting details (some attention to detail is good). In light of them, Harnoncourt's view is radically different. Experience has taught me that subtle differences in interpretation give pleasure with repeated listening. Radical differences are OK in a live performance (which this is), but do not stand the test of time. So I do not recommend this as a first recording to have of Bruckner's 9th.

Terrific performance!.......2004-02-25

The symphony recording is damn good, and the extras are very interesting (to hear Harnoncourt speaking German and English, to hear the sketches of the last movement). In my mind, this ranks among the very best -- with Celibidache on EMI, Giulini on DG, Bernstein on DG, and don't forget the second movement of the Jochum on EMI.

Unconvincing performance; interesting commentary.......2004-01-15

First off, I do not like the performance. Harnoncourt's tempi are erratic, particularly in the adagio (where he speeds up the second theme-group to the point he cheapens it).

Secondly, I found his commentary on the 4th movement "chunks" informative. They could easily have been printed in liner notes; instead, we have each of the chunks played twice, followed first by commentary German, then in English.

Thirdly, I see no reason why he should not have recorded the full movement as completed by someone -- by William Carragan (Chandos: Yoav Talmi, Oslo Philharmonic); by Nicola Samale & Giuseppe Mazzuca (Teldec: Inbal, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orch [with the 5th Symphony]); or by Samale, Mazzuca, and John A Phillips (Camerata: Eichhorn, Linz Bruckner Orch). My first choice is the Carragan: though the Oslo band takes third place among those in these recordings, it is good enough and I find Carragan's completion the most convincing.*

(In January 1984 I went to New York and Carnegie Hall to hear the American Symphony Orchestra perform the premier of the 9th with Carragan's finale. The performance was reviewed the next day in the Times. I immediately wrote Joel Flegel, editor of Fanfare, asking if he knew whether a recording was planned. Joel was dubious and dismissive: "If that college professor really....")

As Carragan noted in his program notes for the ASO "premier," the finale includes the greatest of Bruckner's chorales. That magnificent theme cannot be understood or appreciated by hearing it only in Harnoncourt's chunks. It needs to be heard in context -- and that context can only be provided in a "performing version."

In my opinion, Harnoncourt does a disservice to Bruckner and to listeners by not offering a completed finale. There is certainly room for one in this two-disk set.

* But Carragan will either produce a new version or be superseded as pages not available to him have since been found -- and as still more come to light.

Harnoncourt roars, but Wildner rages.......2004-01-05

As the other reviewers note, this release is essential for anyone interested in this work, for the workshop and documentation of the currently surviving material from the final movement of the symphony. Another important aspect of the release is the use of a new "critical edition" of the initial three movements of Bruckner's 9th, which contains a number of very evident modifications, particularly in orchestration. All the same, it is a concert recording, and, at least in the usual CD format, balances aren't always optimal, trumpets and trombones often too forward, at the expense of the Vienna Phil's strings and (especially) glorious horn section, and timpani are somewhat reticent, especially in the first movement. Harnoncourt also tends to push a bit hard, lacking the natural plasticity in tempo that marks the greatest performances of the first three movements of this work. The impression is one of roaring power, building and receding throughout. Of the 4th movement sketches, Harnoncourt plays exactly what survives, except he omits the 50-odd bars of three coda fragments that have turned up.

Just a few months ago, a recording of the 9th including a reconstruction/completion of the 4th movement, based on the same body of fragments and sketches (including the coda) and prepared by the same editors, was released on Naxos(8.555933-34). The orchestra is the New Philharmonia of Westphalia (Germany) and the conductor is Johannes Wildner. Now, finally, we can hear this work in a form tantalizingly close to the way Bruckner intended. Furthermore, unlike Harnoncourt's Vienna Phil performance, Wildner and his astonishiingly capable Westphalians present what I can only describe as a ferocious performance, with horns and timpani cutting through the fabric of the orchestra at key points, and effectively flexible tempos. It's a performance unlike any I've heard since Furtwangler's furious and terrifying recording made in Berlin during the darkest days of World War II. If you've gotten the Harnoncourt (or even if you haven't), you have to get the Wildner, too.

As an aside, these recordings render superfluous the 1986 Chandos recording by Yoav Talmi and the Oslo Phil of a 4-movement version of Bruckner's 9th. That documented a brave effort by William Carragan to reconstruct a finale. Unfortunately he had barely 3/4 of the body of sketches to work with that we have now, and nothing of the coda at all.

Average customer rating: Buy One if You Can Find One Altered Sound - Menacing As Ever doesnt get any better than this Streamlined Seen the Burning Bush

Secret South 16 Horsepower Manufacturer: Razor & Tie ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Low Estate Folklore 16 Horsepower Olden Sackcloth 'n' Ashes ASIN: B00004WJCL Release Date: 2000-09-12

Tracks:

1. Clogger
2. Wayfaring Stranger
3. Cinder Alley
4. Burning Bush
5. Poor Mouth
6. Silver Saddie
7. Praying Arm Lane
8. Splinters
9. Just Like Birds
10. Nobody 'Cept You
11. Straw Foot

Amazon.com

The label has changed (Sixteen Horsepower's first two albums, Sackcloth 'n' Ashes and Low Estate appeared on A&M), but, thankfully, little else has. Sixteen Horsepower's palette is still exclusively composed of banjos and accordions, gothic portent and religious foreboding. They still sound like William Faulkner's prose rendered as music, like they belong less in modern music venues and more on a Civil War battlefield, perhaps struggling to be heard through the lifting smoke and screams of the wounded at Antietam. Singer and lyricist David Eugene Edwards continues to straddle the divide between country singer and medicine-show evangelist. In an age when country music has been hijacked by the gormless drones of corporate Nashville and the irony-straitjacketed art students who populate too many alt-country groups, he is a rare and precious reminder of a prior time when country was defined by the holy furies of the Louvin Brothers and Hank Williams. "Burning Bush" and "Praying Arm Lane" might even be the two best things he's written, and the exuberant cover of Bob Dylan's "'Cept You" is surely definitive. Secret South is Sixteen Horsepower's finest hour. --Andrew Mueller

Customer Reviews:

Buy One if You Can Find One.......2007-05-02

This is the best of the 16 Horsepower CDs, and appears, sadly, to be out of print. Grab a copy of this while you still can. This is "Christian" music the way it should be; perhaps the way it used to be in the old-time hymns when life wasn't always so comfortable and death was an everyday reality. Mortality, the human struggle with sin, and hope for a future with God are the themes here. Although 16 Horsepower has broken up, if you enjoy this sound (Country-Goth?), make sure to check out Woven Hand, David Eugene Edwards' current project.

Altered Sound - Menacing As Ever.......2006-10-15

"Secret South" marks 16 HP's third release, and with improved instrumentation and a richer texture it is superior to the previous works, although their most recent work "Folklore" is their best release to date.

For those new to the band, 16 HP play a dark and brooding style of country music lead by David Eugene Edwards, not in the hillbilly banjo style, but incorporating a sophisticated rock angle into `darkened' country atmospheres. For those fans who have not heard "Secret South" it is similar in style to "Low Estate" but has a more confrontational style with more emphasis on guitars, but retaining the gloomy lyrics touching on religion and man's downfall.

The inclusion of an extra guitarist is evident straight away with the booming opener Clogger, one of 16 HP's most overtly aggressive numbers, really gets the album into motion quickly. The rest of the album is decidedly less aggressive, and more akin to the 16 HP sound with dark soundscapes and menacing vocals from Edwards. Examples of this includes the powerful Cinder Alley with its choral climaxes, the guitar explosions amongst the reserved Poor Mouth and the lovely Dylan cover Nobody Cept You which makes for a rare glimpse of sunshine.

This is an excellent 16 HP release which introduces a slightly altered sound, but retains those moments of melancholy and atmosphere that will keep fans pleased.

doesnt get any better than this.......2006-04-21

written with strong spirituallity! A masterpiece of masterpiece's. 16 hp will be one of those bands that will be discovered by the mainstream (fine) artworld years from now. they bring to us a fossil of the past that sheds light on where we have been and where we are going now and forever more.

Streamlined.......2004-10-28

I stumbled upon the band quite by accident about four years ago. it was late one night and I was coming back from I someplace I can't remember when "Clogger" came on the radio of a local college station. I liked the song a great deal and heard "Heel on the Shovel" I think a few days later, but couldn't remember the band's name. Several years later I did, and I have been enthralled with the music ever since. I'm not a country fan and I certainly don't consider myself a christian music fan, but it's not about that. It's about the internal struggle, and Edwards draws you into the thick of it. The music takes you into strange land, and if you're comfortable then you're not listening hard enough. This is a more streamlined album than the previous two, but at the same time it's definitely a worthy successor. It's the same aural landscape, it's just a slightly different approach. This album is more accessible due to tracks like "Clogger", "Cinder Alley", and "Praying Arm Lane". "Strawfoot" and "Wayfaring Stranger" are undeniable foot tappers. None of the songs are poor in my reckoning, but to each his own. I consider this work, like all their material to be very important musically- definitely one of the best buys I've made in a long time.

Seen the Burning Bush.......2004-08-13

From the ominous bass notes of 'Clagger' which open their'Secret South'CD to its finale, this no frills approach to a mythic western past informing a tense present, is unforgettable and disturbing. Edward's voice compliments the music with appropriate desperation, yearning, fear, or anger. It's a tough brew and utterly compelling; early Cormac McCarthy set to rapid foot stomping. The core of the work from,the revamped 'Wayfaring Stranger' to the heart renting,'Poor Mouth' is an enthralling treat. Dylan's,'Nobody 'Cept You' slots comfortably in the mix, totally absorbed into the sackcloth fabric of Edward's vision.

Average customer rating: Gothic Americana Music - Haunting and Darkly Spiritual Dance With The Snakes Unbeliever! amazing, as usual The title is apt

Olden 16 Horsepower Manufacturer: Jet Set Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Similar Items: Folklore Sackcloth 'n' Ashes Low Estate Secret South 16 Horsepower ASIN: B00009UW2G Release Date: 2003-07-08

Tracks:

1. American Wheeze
2. Coal Black Horses
3. Scrawled In Sap
4. Prison Shoe Romp
5. I See What I Saw
6. Neck On The New Blade
7. Interview - David
8. South Pennsylvania Waltz
9. My Narrow Mind
10. American Wheeze
11. Shametown
12. Train Serenade
13. Strong Man
14. Interview - Westword
15. Slow Guilt Trot
16. Low Estate
17. Pure Clob Road
18. Heel On The Shovel
19. Sac Of Religion
20. Dead Run

Amazon.com

Since their start in the early '90s, 16 Horsepower have created and perfected a sound that's build around a fascinating, elegiac pulse. Albums such as 2002's Folklore are inundated in jet-black rivers of dread. That sense of foreboding is found in this collection of 12 previously unreleased demons and early live tracks earlier, expressed in lead songwriter David Eugene Edwards's cracked, terrified screeches and the muscular, edgy acoustic music. The demo recording of "Coal Black Horses" (a finished version appears on their self-titled debut) throws a messy slide guitar and throbbing brush beat behind Edwards's fire-and-brimstone rant. Meanwhile, the live tracks from 1994 demonstrate the band's developing chops and emerging theatrical flourishes that characterize their more recent work. --Matthew Cooke

Album Description

16 Horsepower have forged a legacy of classic albums. Vocalist/lyricist David Eugene Edwards, the grandson of a traveling Nazarene preacher, spins tales of sin and redemption against an evocative, stripped-down backdrop. Olden is a collection of never-before-released versions of classic tracks, six along with an exclusive interview from the Night Owl Session 1993, six along with another exclusive interview from the Kerr Macy Session 1994, & six cuts spotlighting their legendary live show, Denver 1994. 20 tracks in all. Jetset. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Gothic Americana Music - Haunting and Darkly Spiritual.......2006-10-09

Sixteen Horsepower is an amazing blend of Alternative Rock, Americana, Goth, and Punk. This band from Denver combines vocals that are part goth, part punk, and part Cold Mountain-like Americana with tripy strings, anthem-like drums, a haunting piano, and a whole host of traditional instrumentations. The entire mix is a riveting experience is in the category I call Gothic Americana.

Olden left me shivering! Imagine yourself dropped down into a funeral or revival in some deep, dark part of Appalachia; there are odd people dancing around the dead body of their grandfather...or sister...or cousin. There is a band playing in the corner; this is Sixteen Horsepower's Olden.

The amazing thing is that this is not a coherent studio album, but a collection from their first ten years of existence. You might never know it from listening as it is one long trip into the heart of darkness that is southern gothic.

These songs are at the same time haunting and darkly spiritual. Sixteen Horsepower are the darker side of belief revealed.

Dance With The Snakes Unbeliever!.......2006-03-03

This album can be downright terrifying. Some of the music sends chills up my spine. I describe the first song as thus: A hillbilly funeral shambles down the main street of a one horse town in Appalachia carrying a pine coffin and playing a squeezebox, while an old blues man picks away on a porch on the side. It points to the dark heart of old time Southern religion and mountain culture and to the feuds and moonshine that went along with it. I once watched a documentary on the rural Holy Ghost church where people dance around with venemous snakes with the belief that if they have not sinned then the snakes will not harm them. This is the soundtrack to that dance.

amazing, as usual.......2003-08-01

A peculiar release for a band with only four full length albums, one E.P. and a live album. "Olden" marks the 10th anniversary of the band's first recording sessions.

12 tracks recorded over a two year period, 6 live tracks and two interview snippets. Despite being a hodgepodge assembly, "Olden" is remarkably coherent. 16 of the tracks made it to later albums and only two songs "Train Serenade" and "Slow Guilt Trot" make their debut here.

While many would consider this an unnecessary, redundant release, it is actually superior in many ways to the major label versions that would appear later. These versions are much more gritty, earthy and unpolished, a sound that suits 16HP creaky bandoneon, jangly guitars, plunking banjo and haunting vocals quite well.

Standout tracks include the apocalyptic "Coal Black Horses", the hypnotic "My Narrow Mind" and the driving "Slow Guilt Trot."

The title is apt.......2003-07-09

This is a collection of live material from three seperate dates in 1993 and 94. It showcases everything I love about old sixteen horsepower. They have changed a lot in the last ten years and are even better now but this old stuff is amazing. Sixteen Horsepower are an amazing band because they play a type of music unlike any other band. Rooted in old time roots music and church music, they have a sound that is timeless. Their music is beautiful, creepy, exciting, and perfect. I love it. The only thing I don't like about this album is the brief snippits of interviews that are used to break up the recordings. They are too short to provide any insight at all. If they didn't want to put any meaningful discussion on the cd, they shouldn't have bothered at all. Otherwise, I recommend this CD wholeheartedly.

Average customer rating: Classic 16 Horsepower's EP is filled with energy, fervor, & passion.

16 Horsepower Sixteen Horsepower Manufacturer: A&M ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Secret South Low Estate Sackcloth 'n' Ashes Olden Folklore ASIN: B000002G4B Release Date: 1995-11-07

Tracks:

1. Haw
2. South Pennsylvania Waltz
3. Shametown
4. Straight-Mouth Stomp
5. Coal Black Horses
6. I Gotta Gal

Customer Reviews:

Classic.......2002-01-21

This EP is definitely the most foot-stompin', hard driving of all the 16HP records, though Sackcloth 'n' Ashes comes close. For some reason, 16HP has never had the kind of success in the US that they've had abroad (they are THE most popular band in the Netherlands), probably because their music is hard to pigeonhole (goth psychobilly? thrashgrass?) and to market. They deserve to have a bigger audience, especially within the growing alt-country/americana scene. Buy two of this EP and give one to a friend, it's [inexpensive] and you'll both thank me.

A note on the lyrics: there has been a lot of emphasis in American reviews on the religious content of their lyrics, which surprises me because they're no more religious than Johnny Cash or Nick Cave, and no one calls either of them a Christian rocker. If you are not a religious person (I'm not), don't worry that this album will sound "preachy". Their songs are rarely about God, they're about imperfect people wrestling with their demons, and sometimes losing. David Eugene Edwards was raised by a fire-and-brimstone preaching grandpa in Texas, ran away from home at 16, moved to the city and joined a punk band. I think that pretty much says it all.

16 Horsepower's EP is filled with energy, fervor, & passion........1998-09-09

16 HP's EP debut is an earful of doomy, energetic music with religious wording on top. This threesome pulls off music that is worth most of its value in any alloy.

The leader, David Eugene Edwards, plays a wide assortment of instruments: banjo, bandoneon, and plenty of slide guitar. It is his instrumentation backed by the awesome bass playing of Kevin Soll that gives this album its edge. The album moves through countrified slow grooves and ballads to hard-rocking hillbilly-esque goth. On the first song "Haw", Edwards plays a doomy slide guitar between seven minor chords. There is also the traditional bandoneon he plays for the waltzy "Straight-Mouth Stomp" which gives the song a Southern-Springtime feel. Basically, the songwriting mixed with the different instruments make the music side of this album very accessible and original.

Edwards' lyrics encapsulates the rest of the 16HP experience. His lyrics stem from a Biblical point of view. And when Edwards is not damning man he is persuading man to repent and accept the Lord. On "Coal Black Horses" he sings "Hey hey hey it's always forever/ Hey hey hey it's never or now". It is the religious fervor and the grinding persuasion in Edwards' voice that brings the 16HP experience to full circle.

16HP's six song debut is a must-have for those who are craving for original, passionate music. Filled with different instrumentation, strong music, and Biblical lyrics, "16 Horsepower" is a refreshing taste in an industry now filled with mundane and uninteresting music.

Average customer rating: What's not to like?

The Best of Sixteen Volt: 1993-2003 16 Volt Manufacturer: Cleopatra ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt Industrial | Industrial | Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Wisdom SuperCoolNothing V2.0 Demography Skin Influence ASIN: B00092ZLZ8 Release Date: 2005-05-31

Tracks:

1. Motorskill
2. Wisdom
3. Head Of Stone
4. Uplift
5. Slow Wreck
6. Stitched
7. Perfectly Fake
8. Swarm
9. A Cloth Like Gauze
10. Two Wires Thin
11. Crush
12. I Fail Truth
13. Don't Pray
14. Keep Sleeping
15. And I Go

Tracks:

1. Intro
2. Swarm
3. Everyday Everything
4. Machine Kit
5. American Porn Song
6. Skin
7. Keep Sleeping
8. Perfectly Fake
9. Happy Pill
10. Suffering You
11. The Cut Collector

Product Description

Disc 1
1. Motorskill
2. Wisdom
3. Head Of Stone
4. Uplift
5. Slow Wreck
6. Stiched
7. Perfectly Fake
8. Swarm
9. A Cloth Like Gauze
10. Two Wires Thin
11. Crush
12. I Fail Truth
13. Don't Pray
14. Keep Sleeping
15. And I Go

Disc 2: Live From The Cabaret Metro (Chicago 2003)
1. Intro
2. Swarm
3. Everyday Everything
4. Machine Kit
5. American Porn Song
6. Skin
7. Keep Sleeping
8. Perfectly Fake
9. Happy Pill
10. Suffering You
11. The Cut Collector

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

What's not to like?.......2007-06-21

It's the best of 16 Volt. Coldwave industrial metal. Good as a place to start as any I suppose. But just for the record, the verry best 16 Volt album ever isn't featured on this disc....because it didn't come out till 2007. The album I'm referring to is called "Full Black Habit", and it's incredible.

Average customer rating: Infectious, passionate The most passionate and intense music you'll ever hear. Mr. Bob Log approves!!!!!!! If you like 16HP....... The next best thing to "being there"

Hoarse 16 Horsepower Manufacturer: Checkered Past ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music General | Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Oldies & Retro | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Folklore Sackcloth 'n' Ashes Olden Secret South Low Estate ASIN: B00005JDC9 Release Date: 2001-06-12

Tracks:

1. American Wheeze
2. Black Soul Chair
3. Bad Moon Risin'
4. Low Estate
5. For Heaven's Sake
6. Black Lung
7. Horse Head
8. South Pennsylvania Waltz
9. Brimstone Rock
10. Fire Spirit
11. Day Of The Lords

Amazon.com

Boarding the same hay wagon to hell that's transported murder balladeers from Grayson & Whitter to Nick Cave, Nazarene preacher's grandson David Eugene Edwards has been channeling his religious upbringing into the "gothabilly" glory that is 16 Horsepower since 1993. This live collection--culled from three 1998 performances--cherry picks from the Denver band's first two albums for such fire-and-brimstone favorites as "Black Soul Choir," "For Heaven's Sake," and "Brimstone Rock." Edwards's haunted tenor may sound more polished in the studio, but the intensity of his live performance--coupled with suitably swampy covers of Creedence, Gun Club, and Joy Division songs--makes this a must for established fans and any newcomers who need convincing that concertinas and banjos can be just as creepy as their electrified cousins. --Bill Forman

Customer Reviews:

Infectious, passionate.......2006-07-13

It is no surprise to you I'm sure to see yet another five-star review of this disc; it is an amazing live document showing all the intensity of this band in concert. The surprising thing is that I like this band at all. I am not a religious person. I am not even a believer, at least in the traditional Christian sense of the word. Usually I avoid preachy religious bands like the plague, but 16HP is different somehow. Yes the religious imagery is there, with all the subtlety of--to use their own words--"a hammer on a church bell", but still I love this music.

The most passionate and intense music you'll ever hear........2005-03-30

I first heard of 16HP a couple of years ago on a message board, but didn't check them out until one of my favorite bands, Rasputina, said they gave an awesome live show. I went and downloaded Folklore and Hoarse. Hoarse absolutely blew me away. This music goes down to the bone. Takes your breath away. Gives you chills. Creeps you out in the best possible way. How can you not be moved by "Low Estate"? It is one of the most haunting songs you will ever hear (along with Nick Cave's "Where the wild roses grow". Cave and 16HP's lead singer actually have similar backgrounds, which is interesting.)"Brimstone Rock" is a song that seems as if it is about to bust through your speakers and attack you. The fact that they cover Joy Division is reason enough to check this album out. Their covers of CCR's "Bad Moon Rising" and the Gun Club's "Fire Spirit" become 16HP songs. They cease to be covers. Every song is amazing. A play-through record. You don't want to skip a track.

Mr. Bob Log approves!!!!!!!.......2002-05-29

This is a superb example of alt-country fuzz guitar, down home, slow dying, still breathin (but barely) bible thumpn, toe tappin goodness. My socks get wet jut thikning about it. Songs like Blacklung, and Brimstone Rock will chill your soul, man. This band is incredible live, and this recording does them justice. It's haunting, and endearing...it grows on you, believe me. A fan could never be disappointed by David's clarity and by the brisk jolt of energy that this c.d. offers. Fuzz guitar at it's best, folks. Righty-o and good day.

If you like 16HP..............2002-01-25

You definitely must have this CD. There is a good assortment of tracks here, and the way they have reworked "Bad Moon Risin'" and "Horsehead", along with the inclusion of "South Penn. Waltz", from the EP really makes it special. The sound quality and performance is superb, and David's voice sounds as pure and powerful as on the studio albums. This album rocks!

The next best thing to "being there".......2001-09-05

16 Horsepower may very well be the best live show around today. Onstage, they deliver an intensity that has nothing to do with pyrotechnics or flash of any kind and everything to do with the band's (especially singer/songwriter David Eugene Edwards') vision. The music is at once visceral and diaphanous, smacking you in the gut, then retreating like fog when you turn your head. The ghosts of Appalachia are here, as is the spirit of Leadbelly and any Chatauqua tent preacher. Demons (worldly and otherwise) babble and shriek and tempt, the voice of God is hard to hear and harder to follow, but always just in front and just behind you as you listen. And these polar extremes are always contained within all of us - that is the genius of the message brought home by seeing 16HP live. It's not a unique idea that all people consist of good and evil impulses, but watching Edwards bent over the microphone and banjo or accordion, you FEEL it in the same way that looking at film footage of an earthquake is different from watching the plaster crack in your apartment while you listen to that unbelievable low tearing noise that no truck or train or man-made sound could match.

"Hoarse" is the next best thing to seeing the band live. Though 16 Horsepower have no "hits" in the money-driven, radio sense of the word, this disc is loaded with much of their best material: Brimstone Rock, Black Soul Choir, Low Estate, American Wheeze and others are given full-throttle treatment.

I've also always maintained that you can tell a great deal about a band by whom they choose to cover, and how well they make the songs they cover their own. On "Hoarse", 16 Horsepower prove no less formidable in this respect: versions of songs by Joy Division, The Gun Club, and Creedence Clearwater Revival are indications of the band's diverse influences. And what versions they are! "Bad Moon Rising" is transformed from a major-key uptempo folk-rocker in the hands of Fogerty into a creepy, minor key backwoods warning. Lines like "hope you are quite prepared to die" and "one eye is taken for an eye" have a menacing, this-is-just-around-the-corner feel that sounds like it should have always been there in the song. Frankly, if you look just at the words of the tune, it's easy to imagine 16 Horsepower's terrifying rendition being the music that should have accompanied them in the first place.

The best bands have always presented a unique view of the world which draws you in and leaves you no other way to relate to the world for the duration of the music. Afterwards, some of that vision becomes part of your own, and you are changed forever. Sixteen Horsepower are the sound of the crossroads, and this disc is a perfect introduction.

Average customer rating:

Sacred Music from Venice & Rome Manufacturer: Collins Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Caldara, Antonio | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gabrieli | Gabrieli, Andrea | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Gabrieli, Giovanni | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Lassus | Lassus, Orlando di(Lasso) | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Monteverdi | Monteverdi, Claudio | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Psalms | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B000003VXG Release Date: 1993-08-24

Tracks:

1. Crucifixus A 16
2. De Profundis
3. Toccata Chromaticha 'Per L'Elevatione'
4. Salve Regina
5. Domine Ne In Furore Tuo
6. Toccata 'Per L'Elevatione'
7. Hodie Completi Sunt
8. Tui Sunt Coeli
9. Missa Bell' Amfitrit' Altera: Kyrie
10. Missa Bell' Amfitrit' Altera: Gloria
11. Missa Bell' Amfitrit' Altera: Credo
12. Missa Bell' Amfitrit' Altera: Sanctus
13. Missa Bell' Amfitrit' Altera: Benedictus
14. Missa Bell' Amfitrit' Altera: Agnus Dei

Average customer rating: very enjoyable The showcase for the Spinto soprano Flawed but beautiful

Memories of Love: Russian Romances Manufacturer: Philips ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Glinka | Glinka, Mikhail | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rachmaninov | Rachmaninov, Sergei | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000041KT Release Date: 1997-11-11

Tracks:

1. Vzoshel na nebo mesyats yasy
2. Ispanskaya pesnya
3. Zhavoronok
4. Ya pomnyu chudnoye mgnovene
5. Bolero
6. Ty skoro menya pozabudesh
7. Kolybelnaya, Op. 16 No. 1
8. To bylo ranneyu vesnoy, Op 38 No. 2
9. Zabyt tak skoro
10. On tak menya lyubil
11. Ya vso eshcho evo lyublyu
12. Yunosha i deva
13. Mne grustno
14. Chesnadtsat let
15. Chto mne do pesen
16. Plenivshis rozoy solovey, Op. 2 No. 2
17. Ployubila ya na pechal svoyu
18. Son, Op. 8 No. 5
19. Siren, Op. 21 No. 5
20. Molitva, Op.8 No. 6
21. Ne ver mne, drug !, Op. 14 No. 7

Customer Reviews:

very enjoyable.......2001-07-19

At first, I'd like to correct error. The pianist, Larisa Gergieva is NOT Varely Gergiev's WIFE! She is his sister. (Elder one, I think.)

About this disc, I enjoyed this recital. Gorchakova is one of my favorite soprano. Her voice is suited well to these Russian songs. It's interesting for me to her Russian songs. If you want to hear more Russian songs, try "Songs of Desire" by Olga Bolodina from Philips.

The showcase for the Spinto soprano.......2000-04-25

Galina Gorchakova, Kirov's leading lady, is a true spinto soprano, not the more common forced lyric one. Her sound is unique and quite unusual, almost "mezzo-ish" at certain times, but with surprisingly easy resonant top. I could not help being reminded of another great Russian Galina - Vishnevskaya, the Bolshoi prima donna of 60s and 70s up to her departure from Communist regime with her husband Mstislav Rostropovich. Since then, there was an unsettling vacuum in the realm of sopranos capable of singing Russian and Italian repertoire. Luckily, Gorchakova seems ready and able to take on most of Vishnevskaya's signature roles, including Katerina of Shostakovich's "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk." Her clarity of diction and musical intelligence are a pleasure to hear particularly on the Programme presented here because the romances (a leader-like Russian art songs) are written to some of the most beautiful Russian poetic texts.

I feel it is important to note that neither the singing nor accompaniment here is flawed at all, as the reviewer below found. Furthermore, there is no tendency to "go flat". The only thing that came as a surprise to me was inclusion of several numbers written originally for a baritone or even a bass, such as "It Was in Early Spring" or "I Remember the Wonderful Moment." However, they were executed so brilliantly, it made me forget about the specifics and just enjoy Gorchakova's beautiful voice and expressiveness.

Most of you probably got a chance to see the MET's magnificent production of Tchaikovsky's "Pique Dame" with Gorchakova, Domingo, Borodina and Hvorostovsky in leading roles. Aside from Lisa, Gorchakova is also an incredible interpreter of highly demanding role of Elisabetta from Verdi's "Don Carlo" and Leonora from his "La Forza del Destino." I can't wait to hear her "Aida." Amazingly she does not struggle with dramatic Verdian repertoire, even though it lays relatively high for such a voice. And its power allows her to cut through heavy orchestration with ease, preserving flowing, and seemingly endless vocal line with no audible breathing. Philips generously provided us with several phenomenal Russian complete opera recordings featuring Gorchakova's talents: check out "Prince Igor," "The Maid of Pskov," "Iolanta," and "The Fiery Angel," the latter one being a rare jewel and destined to become one of the greatest recorded achievements of all time. Ms. Gorchakova is also a very good actress with a beautiful stage presence and somewhat reserved but passionate delivery. Hearing this CD is essential for Russian romance fans as well as for those who want to hear a true spinto soprano at its full glory, accompanied only by a subtle gentle piano of Larissa Gergieva. I was particularly impressed with a booklet that finally has Cyrillic texts instead of despicable way of spelling Russian words with English letters. There are also good English translations by Philip Taylor that stay true to the texts but also convey their romantic feel. If I could, I would have given this disc ten stars!

Flawed but beautiful.......2000-03-16

This album of wonderful Russian romances and art songs is marred only slightly by Galina Gorchakova's tendency to go flat. Still, her unbelievably beautiful soprano voice and emotional connection with these pieces more than makes up for this. Gorchakova has never become quite as well known as her compatriots Olga Borodina and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and hasn't recorded as much as they have either. This is a shame; I would love to hear her in some of the Italian verismo repertoire. Her rich spinto sound would serve her well, and I believe that she is known for such interpretations as Butterfly, Liu, and Tosca. I would also like to her her Lisa on recording (from Pique Dame).

Anyway, this album is truly beautiful. Larissa Gergieva, the pianist, is the sister of Valery Gergiev, the director of the Kirov Opera in St. Petersburg. I think possibly some nepotism is happening here, as she is not an ideal accompanist. Still, she supports Gorchakova well, and doesn't detract from the beauty of these pieces.

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