"Club fare, with all that implies. Basic dance anthems, with more than a little Indian influence creeping in."
Product Description
All tracks written and performed by Gaz Reynolds. Guest vocals by disco diva legend Viola Wills.
In This House
In This House,Gaz Reynolds,The Orchard,Pop,Pop Vocals,Rock/Pop
Average customer rating:
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Jane Eyre, the Musical (Original 2000 Broadway Cast)
John Caird Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000051Y31 Release Date: 2000-11-21 |
Tracks:
- The Orphan
- Children of God
- Forgiveness
- The Graveyard
- Sweet Liberty
- Secrets of the House
- Act One: Perfectly Nice
- Act One: As Good As You
- Secret Soul
- Finer Things
- The Pledge
- Sirens
- Things Beyond This Earth
- Painting Her Portrait
- In the Light of the Virgin Morning
- The Gypsy
- The Proposal
- Slip of a Girl
- Sirens (Reprise)
- Farewell, Good Angel
- My Maker
- Rain
- The Voice Across the Moors
- Poor Sister
- Brave Enough for Love
Amazon.com
Here's another to join the parade of page-to-stage musicals inspired by 19th-century fiction. This ambitious adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's haunting classic Jane Eyre for the musical theater seems to be part of a trend represented most famously by Les Misérables. It also reflects the increasing pressure to schedule an original cast recording release as close as possible to a new show's Broadway opening: in this case, in fact, the CD was both recorded and released prior to the show's opening in December 2000 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. But what's most significant for the artistic character of Jane Eyre: The Musical is found in yet another pattern: like a number of his colleagues, composer-lyricist Paul Gordon comes to the project from a pop music industry background (best known for his hit "Friends and Lovers"). And quite a few of the show's numbers benefit from Gordon's catchy craftwork, weaving melodies that are clearly destined to be whistled long past curtain. Yet the effect is sometimes too facile, not diving as deep as we would like into the emotional predicaments of Brontë's characters. You begin to crave a more deftly defined and imagined variety of sound worlds (especially for the darker aspects of Thornfield Hall) than what is hinted at. Gordon doesn't forge any new paths, but his melodic fluency does have its moments of payoff--especially in the moving final duet "Brave Enough for Love," which is also strong enough to stand on its own.Gordon's predilections as a would-be son of Sondheim are nevertheless clear, and he's telescoped the story into mostly effective lyrics, with some thoughtful juxtapositions of material. Most importantly, he understands that this is more than a Gothic romance, foregrounding the central message of forgiveness that Jane learns as a girl. He attempts to explore the injured sense of self shared by both Jane and Rochester and sets them on a painful, mutual voyage of discovery.
The creative team also includes the veteran duo John Caird (book and direction) and John Napier (scenic design), who have collaborated on such epics as Les Mis and Nicholas Nickleby (not to mention the Las Vegas Siegfried and Roy extravaganza). And the show's creators seem to share a vision geared toward the more operatic end of the spectrum (it was opera composers, after all, who early on claimed 19th-century Gothic fiction for the stage, as in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor), with an actual parody of coloratura in one showstopper ("The Finer Things") given to Blanche Ingram. Fortunately, the two principals have large, richly expressive voices to encompass the large, complicated emotions of these characters. Marla Schaffel singswith unusual beauty and brings dimension to her Jane, while James Barbour (whose resumé includes Beauty and the Beast) is never really threatening as Rochester, but rather a tortured soul who is sweet-voiced even at his most cynical. Mary Stout is a stitch as the blustery Mrs. Fairfax. While the show has already undergone a lengthy evolution from its very first workshops, the viability of its final, fully staged realization has yet to be determined. But this cast recording conveys an authentic sense of the musical's atmosphere and emotional scope. --Thomas May
Customer Reviews:
Great Buy!.......2007-06-08
Perfect Match.......2007-03-16
Probably the most beautiful musical of all time.......2007-02-16
I bought this several years ago and have listened to it repeatedly since I got it. Why do I love it so much? First of all, the lyrics are full of heart and emotion and tell the story ably. But it is the music and the performances that are truly remarkable here. The melodies are memorable and absolutely exquisite. The orchestration is lush but not sappy. The performances by the two leads are nothing less than stunning.
I never get bored with this wonderful cast album and it is very, very highly recommended.
Beautiful!.......2007-01-28
A good musical.......2006-07-20
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Bryn Terfel - Simple Gifts
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000B8ISN2 Release Date: 2005-10-11 |
Tracks:
- Ave Verum Corpus, K.618 - Adapted by Chris Hazell
- Deep River - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- The Lord Bless You and Keep You
- I'll Walk Beside You - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- Stabat Mater
- Still, Still, Still Weils Kindlein Schlafen Will
- Simple Gifts - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- How Great Thou Art
- Panis Angelicus - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- Bless This House - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- Ave Verum Corpus
- Cavatina - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- The Rose
- Amazing Grace - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- God's Mercy
- Morning Has Broken - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- Nearer My God To Thee - Arranged by Chris Hazell
- Ave Maria
- Send In The Clowns - Arranged by Jonathan Tunick
- God Will Be With You
Amazon.com
Everything about Bryn Terfel is over-life-size: his physique, his personality, his breath-control, and of course his extraordinarily beautiful voice. This recording displays his stunning vocalism and versatility to full advantage, but its title belies its content. Alhough it does include some simple pieces, the execution is fussy, overdone, and calculated for maximum external effect. The program ranges from Mozart, Pergolesi and pseudo-Bach to Sondheim in arrangements that are pure Hollywood, complete with throbbing strings and rolling drums, often destroying the spirit as well as the letter of the original compositions. It begins with Mozart's heavenly "Ave verum" arranged for baritone solo and chorus, frustratingly cut off after a few phrases (another setting of the same text by Karl Jenkins, written for Terfel, is more satisfying, being complete and original). The splendid baritone Simon Keenlyside joins him here as well as in the opening number of Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater;" originally for soprano and alto, this must be the baritones' revenge on female singers who usurp songs written for men, like Schubert's and Schumann's cycles. Franck's "Panis angelicus" also inexplicably becomes a duet; unfortunately, Terfel's and tenor Aled Jones' voices do not match. Bach-Gounod's popular "Ave Maria" is all swells and exaggerations. The rest of the program consists of folksongs, hymns, show and film tunes, inflated to operatic proportions and generally ending in a fade-out or a flourish. Even the title song is anything but simple. This record is not for purists who like their music performed the way the composer wrote it, but aficionados of great singing will love it. --Edith EislerCustomer Reviews:
Bryn Terfel's beautiful voice........2007-05-13
Why do people think this guy can sing??.......2007-04-27
If you want to listen to an incredibly beautiful voice, buy one of Josh Groban's CD's--you won't regret it! He has the voice of the century!
Relaxing.......2007-02-03
Bryn Terfel's Simple Gifts.......2006-02-25
A Heartfelt Offering Reminiscent of An Earlier Era.......2006-02-15
This recording is wonderful on many levels. The selections are an unusual mixture of classical sacred music, spirituals, hymns, Lieder, Austrian Christmas and Gaelic songs, musical numbers and movie theme songs harmoniously combined to touch the soul of the listener in a gentle ebb and flow of devotion, intensity and tenderness. All of these songs are beautiful in and of themselves and in his hands, we experience them anew.
Bryn Terfel sings with the commitment necessary to make the awesome challenge of simplicity look easy. To my way of thinking, he is the most communicative and articulate singer today, bar none. He is a poet who savors the sound, feeling and meaning of each and every word and marries it uniquely and faithfully to the music. He transports the listener into the life of a song and transfixes us each and every moment. His enormous talent is not overwhelming or distractive and is inextricably and wholly intertwined with the music. This is greatness and it is very, very rare today.
I like the inclusion of the choir in several of the numbers as it reflects on the nature and context of the songs. I am less fond of the selections with the guest soloists as I feel they do not match his ability to "get inside" a song. The orchestra and orchestations are sensitive and enhancing.
This recording is simply wonderful and should have a broad appeal. It will move and inspire the believer, satisfy and fulfill the otherwise spiritual, calm the troubled and renew a flagging soul.
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The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs
Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000003FWE Release Date: 1997-01-14 |
Tracks:
- Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit - Various Artists
- Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees - Various Artists
- His Name So Sweet - Various Artists
- 'Roun' About The Mountain - Various Artists
- Swing Low , Sweet Chariot - Various Artists
- Sit Down, Servant - Various Artists
- Were You There - Various Artists
- He's Got The Whole World In His Hands - Various Artists
- Deep River - Various Artists
- Honor! Honor! - Various Artists
- My Soul's Been Anchored In De Lord - Various Artists
- On Ma Journey - Various Artists
- A City Called Heaven - Various Artists
- Ride On, King Jesus - Various Artists
- I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free - Various Artists
- Sinner, Please Don't Let This Harvest Pass - Various Artists
- Sweet Little Jesus Boy - Various Artists
- There Is A Balm In Gilead - Various Artists
- Let Us Cheer The Weary Traveler - Various Artists
- Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit - Various Artists
- My Way Is Cloudy - Various Artists
- Nobody Knows The Touble I've Seen - Various Artists
- I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray - Various Artists
Tracks:
- Holy, Holy, Holy - Leontyne Price
- Lead, Kindly Light - Leontyne Price
- Blessed Assurance - Leontyne Price
- Ave Maria - Leontyne Price
- What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Leontyne Price
- Amazing Grace - Leontyne Price
- The Lord's Prayer - Leontyne Price
- Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior - Leontyne Price
- The Church's One Foundation - Leontyne Price
- Bless This House - Leontyne Price
- I Need Thee Every Hour - Leontyne Price
- Schlesische Volkslieder: Fairest Lord Jesus - Leontyne Price
- I Wonder As I Wander - Leontyne Price
- Ave Maria - Leontyne Price
- Porgy And Bess: Summertime - Leontyne Price
- America The Beautiful - Leontyne Price
- Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing - Leontyne Price
- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God - Leontyne Price
- Battle Hymn Of The Republic - Leontyne Price
Customer Reviews:
The Price Club.......2005-04-28
"Ave Maria" sounds heavenly no matter which way you slice it, and as for "I Wonder As I Wander," it brings tears to your eyes. If you have a heart that's beating you will be moved by this rendition. "Ein feste Burg" is pretty strong, but Price seems more comfortable with the traditional spirituals, though perhaps it is the slightly off-kilter sounds of the Ambrosian Singers (what a name) who back her up on many of these tracks, that detract slightly from the experience. Compare "Lead Kindly Light" for a clear sense of what constitutes authority vs. what is a wee bit overproduced. If you had this compilation, and perhaps one of Leontyne Price's Christmas albums, you could attain nirvana any time you wanted to, just flip a switch and close your eyes, let her lift you up on wings of song.
A living legend.......2005-03-10
not your daddy's old timey spiritual.......2004-06-23
Immaculate Vocals of Leontyne Price.......2003-12-31
Great Gospel Stuff.......2001-04-12
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The Spirit of America
Daniel Rodriguez Manufacturer: Manhattan Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00005Y1YC Release Date: 2002-02-12 |
Tracks:
- God Bless America
- We Will Go On
- Ave Maria
- This Is The Moment
- Danny Boy
- Bring Him Home
- Shenandoah
- America The Beautiful
- The Lord's Prayer
- Into The Fire
- You'll Never Walk Alone
- The House I Live In
Amazon.com
It's said politics makes strange bedfellows. But it's got nothing on the peculiar marriage of art and history inspired by the tragic events of 9/11/01. Before that day, Daniel Rodriguez was a member of New York's finest, working as an NYPD security officer at the Manhattan South precinct. If it seemed an odd calling for a gifted, operatically trained tenor, it was employment many a journeyman artist could relate to: the proverbial "day job." As it turns out, no police academy in the world could have trained Rodriguez for the crucial role his city's darkest hour thrust upon him. While his colleagues mourned their staggering losses and toiled around the clock in rescue efforts, Rodriguez delivered renditions of "God Bless America" that rallied both his city and his country, much as Kate Smith's version of the Irving Berlin patriotic standard had done at the dawn of WWII.Contemporary jazz great-producer Tom Scott took it from there, showcasing Rodriguez's powerful voice in this deftly arranged album focused sharply on personal and national inspiration. Taking his cue from his own hero, Mario Lanza, Rodriguez instills no small amount of drama in his performances, and it serves him well on tracks like the American folk classic "Shenandoah," a rousing take on Scarlet Pimpernel's "Into the Fire," and the relative Sinatra rarity "The House I Live In." The "God Bless America" here varies from the original single release, with Rodriguez reading the spoken intro once delivered by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Is Rodriguez the greatest tenor of modern times? No. But it's hard to imagine a talent better suited to the challenge history has thrust upon him; we're lucky--make that blessed--to have him. --Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews:
God Bless Daniel Rodriquez.......2007-07-16
Music From and For the Heart.......2006-11-25
Daniel Rodriguez.......2006-11-11
Some definite winners on this album.......2005-12-14
The ending that he has for the "The Lord's Prayer" almost brings a tear to my eye each time I hear it. Well done Daniel.
The Spirit of America.......2005-10-10
As much as I enjoyed it, I do think "In the Presence", also by the same vocalist, is the ultimate. That could be because "In the Presence" was the first CD I had of this tenor vocalist, who is outstanding!
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Varese Sarabande 25th Anniversary Celebration
Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00008WI90 Release Date: 2003-04-22 |
Tracks:
- The Man from Snowy River (Bruce Rowland)
- The Winds of War (Bob Cobert)
- Blue Velvet (Angelo Badalamenti)
- Witness (Maurice Jarre)
- Raising Arizona (Carter Burwell)
- Pee Wees Big Adventure (Danny Elfman)
- Halloween (John Carpenter)
- A Nightmare On Elm Street (Charles Bernstein)
- The Fly (Howard Shore)
- RoboCop (Basil Poledouris)
- The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)
- The Right Stuff (Bill Conti)
- The Final Conflict (Jerry Goldsmith)
- The Abyss (Alan Silvestri)
- Brainstorm (James Horner)
- Peggy Sue Got Married (John Barry)
- My Left Foot (Elmer Bernstein)
- The Dead (Alex North)
- Stanley & Iris (John Williams)
- The Milagro Beanfield War (Dave Grusin)
- Driving Miss Daisy (Hans Zimmer)
Tracks:
- Steel Magnolias (Georges Delerue)
- Unforgiven (Lennie Niehaus and Clint Eastwood)
- Raggedy Man (Jerry Goldsmith)
- The Grifters (Elmer Bernstein)
- Green Card (Hans Zimmer)
- City Slickers (Marc Shaiman)
- Father Of The Bride (Alan Silvestri)
- While You Were Sleeping (Randy Edelman)
- Babe (Nigel Westlake)
- The Adventures Of The Great Mouse Detective (Henry Mancini)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (Laurence Rosenthal)
- The Secret Garden (Zbigniew Preisner)
- A Little Princess (Patrick Doyle)
- Rudy (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Iron Will (Joel McNeely)
- Memphis Belle (George Fenton)
- Eye Of The Needle (Mikl)
- Total Recall (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Back To The Future Part III (Alan Silvestri)
Tracks:
- To Die For (Danny Elfman)
- The Player (Thomas Newman)
- Black Robe (Georges Delerue)
- Medicine Man (Jerry Goldsmith)
- 2001 (Alex North)
- Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire (Joel McNeely)
- The Crow (Graeme Revell)
- Blade (Mark Isham)
- The Omen (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Vertigo (Bernard Herrmann)
- Scream (Marco Beltrami)
- The Sixth Sense (James Newton Howard)
- Xena: Warrior Princess (Joseph LoDuca)
- Air Force One (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Starship Troopers (Basil Poledouris)
- The Matrix (Don Davis)
- The Iron Giant (Michael Kamen)
- Youve Got Mail (George Fenton)
- A Little Romance (Georges Delerue)
- Pleasantville (Randy Newman)
Tracks:
- Sunset Boulevard (Franz Waxman)
- L.A. Confidential (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Rounders (Christopher Young)
- The Score (Howard Shore)
- The Replacements (John Debney)
- Gone In 60 Seconds (Trevor Rabin)
- The Bourne Identity (John Powell)
- Rush Hour 2 (Lalo Schifrin)
- XXX (Randy Edelman)
- Die Hard (Michael Kamen)
- The Last of the Mohicans (Trevor Jones)
- Moby Dick (Christopher Gordon)
- The Mists Of Avalon (Lee Holdridge)
- Cleopatra (Alex North)
- Life As A House (Mark Isham)
- Emma (Rachel Portman)
- In The Bedroom (Thomas Newman)
- Cast Away (Alan Silvestri)
- One True Thing (Cliff Eidelman)
- Unfaithful (Jan A.P. Kaczmarek)
- Far From Heaven (Elmer Bernstein)
- Ice Age (David Newman)
- Shrek (Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell)
Customer Reviews:
A good value.......2007-05-17
The Sound Track Since Bernard Hermann.......2006-07-25
Very good value.
Good mix of film music.......2006-07-02
I'm a big fan of this soundtrack music and will be looking for more CD's like this.
A mixed collection of movie music.......2006-02-23
Uplifts your soul, takes your mind into the heavens.......2006-01-06
Average customer rating: |
Handel: The Masterworks (Box Set)
Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00062FLI8 Release Date: 2004-11-30 |
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Come on in This House
Junior Wells Manufacturer: Telarc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000003D5H Release Date: 1996-09-24 |
Tracks:
- What My Momma Told Me / That's All Right
- Why Are People Like That?
- Trust My Baby
- Million Years Blues
- Give Me One Reason
- Ships On The Ocean
- She Wants To Sell My Monkey
- So Glad You're Mine
- Mystery Train
- I'm Gonna Move To Kansas City
- King Fish Blues
- You Better Watch Yourself
- Come On In This House
- The Goat
Customer Reviews:
Everything Junior........2007-03-12
Superb sound!.......2004-07-06
A stellar collaboration........2003-03-25
Sitting Out On the Porch Steps.......2002-07-19
But please don't think this is music only for the serious blues listener, this is music that is wonderful and accessible to anyone. It is honest understated music, with depth and soul. There's no flash here, nothing strained or pretentious - no this is music of integrity that is fun to listen to.
Junior Wells, born Amos Blackmore in 1934 in Memphis Tennessee, teamed up with some of the best blues guitarist to record Come on In This House for Telarc. On this cd are Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Sonny Landreth, Bob Margolin, John Mooney and Derek Trucks. Each of these gentleman have a career of some repute in the blues genre, but if you haven't heard of them this cd is a perfect opportunity to get to know them.
Standards recorded for this cd include songs by Tampa Red, Sonny Boy Williamson, Arthur Crudup, Robert Nighthawk, Junior Parker and Little Walter as well as Junior Wells originals. The one new song Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman is worth the price of the cd. The interplay between Well's vocals and Landreth's National Steel Guitar are perfect.
It is little wonder that Come On In This House won the W.C. Handy award for best Traditional Blues Album in 1997, because every song is marvelous. It starts swinging it with That's All Right with young Derek Trucks, 16 on guitar and John Cleary on piano backing up Junior. It's all right now momma, yes indeed!- tasty guitar licks and the smoothest most mellow vocals by Junior Wells.
From the upbeat to the skeptical, melancholy blues of Why People Like that. Sonny Landreth and Derek Trucks exchange fire power on guitar while Junior continues his wonderful harmonica playing and sings:
They take your house and your home
They take the flesh from your bone
They take the shirt off your back
Why people like that.
Other songs of note include Tampa Red's She Wants to Sell My Monkey, Mystery Train, I'm Gonna Move to Kansas City and the title song an original by Junior Wells and brought out of retirement for this cd. It is a worthy addition, with Wells singing:
If I had a million dollars
I'd give you every dime
To hear you call me daddy
One more time.
I was lucky enough to see Junior Wells in person a few years before his death and remember his dynamism, swaggering confidence and extraordinary understated way of delivering a song. He made it seem so easy. This cd is a great reminder of what a wonderful performer he was. I think it is also a good introduction to traditional acoustic blues and will provide the listener with the opportunity to get to know some great blues players and some outstanding traditional blues songs.
Silky smooth and tasty on CD........2002-06-10
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For the Stars
Anne Sofie von Otter , and Elvis Costello Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00005A46I Release Date: 2001-04-10 |
Tracks:
- No Wonder
- Baby Plays Around
- Go Leave
- Rope
- Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
- Broken Bicycles / Junk
- The Other Woman
- Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
- Green Song
- April After All
- You Still Believe In Me
- I Want To Vanish
- For No One
- Shamed Into Love
- Just A Curio
- This House Is Empty Now
- Take It With Me
- For The Stars
Amazon.com
At a time when popular music has been micro-marketed to the far side of ad nauseam, Declan MacManus, a.k.a. Elvis Costello, has traded on his reputation as the brightest songwriter to emerge from the new wave era to foster any number of delightful, cross-genre/generation musical surprises, including soundtracks and collaborations with the Brodsky Quartet, Paul McCartney, jazz artist Roy Nathanson, and songwriting legend Burt Bacharach. The latest fruit of that generous, insatiably curious artistic spirit is this elegant partnership with Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter. Though an admitted pop novice, Otter couldn't have picked a better confederate than Costello, an artist whose taste in songs has seldom been tainted by trend.Together, they weave material from disparate sources--including a slate of compelling Costello material, a pair of Brian Wilson's evocative "Pet Sounds" confessionals, a Tom Waits song from Francis Ford Coppola's One from the Heart (oddly, though effectively, coupled in medley with McCartney's "Junk"), an Abba song, and the Beatles' "For No One"--into a musical tapestry of stately power and grace. Costello sparingly uses his voice as seasoning throughout, though his masterful touch is everywhere. Otter's novice pop singing reveals an easy knack for jazz phrasing that should tempt further explorations and a warmth that belies the rigidity that's so often a byproduct of classical training. Most gratifying of all, this album ultimately achieves what's become one of the loftiest plateaus in Pop music: common ground. --Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews:
Loved this CD .......2006-06-13
I LOVE this CD!.......2005-09-01
Costello Partners with Hubris and Yields Variable Results.......2005-05-08
Take, for example, her rendition of Brian Wilson's "Don't Ask (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" from the legendary "Pet Sounds" album. It moves so glacially that it actually extricates the romantic subtext almost surgically. The same can be said for Jessie Mae Robinson's "The Other Woman", which has at least Magnus Persson's vibraphone to provide relief from the tedium. She's better on the other "Pet Sounds" classic, "You Still Believe in Me", where she cannily soars with the chorus, though Costello damages it by adding some odd, muffled rapping in the background. Ironically, it is on the Costello compositions where the recording most noticeably flails. The opener "No Wonder" starts as a "Greensleeves"-like madrigal and then turns into Beatlesque pop; "Baby Plays Around" seems to suffer from exhaustion by all parties; the two Fleshquartet collaborations, "Rope" and "Just a Curio", sound somewhat like extraterrestrial hymns done in a series of minor keys; and the closing title track, "For the Stars" includes peppy, Beach Boys-sounding harmonies which escape her grasp. In fact, "Just a Curio" would have been a more appropriate title for this entire recording.
On the other hand, the Gallic flavor of Benny Andersson's accordion effectively informs her rendition of Tom Waits' "Broken Bicycles", which melds perfectly with Costello's vocal on Paul McCartney's "Junk". Speaking of Andersson, a fellow Scandinavian, von Otter admirably covers a piano-led ABBA ballad, "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room". She also displays a meticulously casual bounce on Lennon-McCartney's "For No One", though it stops rather abruptly. Von Otter acquits herself surprisingly well on the jazzy "Shamed into Love", written by another unlikely duo, Costello and Rubén Blades, and performed as almost a smokier variation of Bacharach's "Alfie". And speaking of Bacharach, she does a nice turn on the lovely "This House Is Empty Now" from the 1998 Bacharach-Costello disc. Costello and von Otter are masters of their craft, but I think some of the collaborations reflect simply irreconcilable differences. While Costello seems to have an insatiable desire to expand musically, his hubris here appears to constrain the often preternatural vocal skill von Otter displays on the opera and recital stage. Consequently, what we have here is a nice album, a generous one with eighteen tracks, that doesn't seem to capitalize on either contributor's talent fully.
what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?.......2004-04-22
No life in her (pop) art.......2004-03-15
The big problem is that von Otter has not found a way to communicate any emotion in this scaled-down form of singing. All her classical techniques are stripped away, and there's nothing to replace them. Sure, her voice is gorgeous, but it sounds exactly the same no matter what the lyrical content. The songs could have been made up of nonsense syllables for all the emotional life she communicates.
Deeply disappointing - but someone, somewhere, will figure out how to bring classically trained singers to the wonderful pop song repertoire that has been composed over the past 50 years. Elvis may very well be the person to do it, but not on this album.
Average customer rating:
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Sumi Jo - Prayers / James Conlon
Gioachino Rossini , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Richard Strauss , Giulio Caccini , Maurice Ravel , Gabriel Fauré , Anonymous , Franz Schubert , Charles Gounod , Gaetano Donizetti , Zbigniew Preisner , Leonard Bernstein , Johann Strauss II , Frederick Loewe , James Conlon , Sumi Jo , and Susan Graham Manufacturer: Erato ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0000560N6 Release Date: 2001-03-20 |
Tracks:
- Kaddisch
- Laudate Dominum
- Ave Maria
- Amazing Grace
- Breit' Uber Mein Haupt
- L'assedio Di Corinto: L' Ora Fatal S'appressa... Guisto Ciel !
- Pie Jesu
- Der Vierjahrige Posten: Gott! hore Meine Stimme!
- Sanctus
- Maria Stuarda: Preghiera Di Maria
- Lacrimosa
- 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: Take Care Of This House - Sumi Jo/Phil Chor Koln/Susan Graham
- Nun's Chor/Casanova: Laura's Song
- Gigi: Say A Prayer For me Tonight
- Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
Amazon.com
This program seems designed primarily to display soprano Sumi Jo's fabulous singing and famous stylistic eclecticism. However, it also exhibits an admirable religious inclusiveness, encompassing expressions of faith from the Latin liturgy to Negro spirituals; there is even a Richard Strauss song that is essentially a paean to love. An incongruous note is struck by a nun's song from an operetta by Benatzky that is a corny Viennese waltz and by a soundtracklike arrangement of a 16th-century Ave Maria. Ranging from Mozart to Broadway, this musical mix is held together by Sumi Jo's ravishingly beautiful, pure, warm voice and the way she can color and inflect it, and by her mastery of every style (though not every language; her German in particular is unintelligible). Her intonation is impeccable, her breath control incredible. Jo's top notes soar triumphantly, and she can sustain them indefinitely, with enough power left to make a crescendo at the end. Highlights include Ravel's "Kaddisch," which sends shivers down the spine; arias from operas by Rossini and Donizetti; and arias from sacred works by Gounod and Fauré. Of two spirituals, the second one is simpler and more convincing. The accompanying forces are excellent; James Conlon doubles as pianist when not conducting. Susan Graham also makes an appearance in the moving invocation "Take Care of This House" from Bernstein's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. --Edith EislerCustomer Reviews:
Nice Voice.......2007-05-06
a voice teacher and early music fan.......2007-02-17
Sumi Jo, born in Korea,is a much sought after coloratura soprano, having triumphed on stage, and in recitals all over the world. Not being fond of coloraturas, I make an exception for her voice, because of its depth along with the very high register. She shows a great deal of sensitivity to all of her varied selections on this disc, and each delivery is a 'gem' unto itself.
I must personally comment on those works that I particularly enjoy. Hearing her sing Mozart's 'Laudate Dominum' was a real treat; it doesn't matter how often one hears that lovely piece, just like all of his music, it 'wears' well. The 'Pie Jesu' was absolutely stunning as Sumi Jo sang it, and it is a pleasure for me to hear the selection from "GIGI" by Lerner & Loewe; not being a great broadway fan, I have always liked that specific musical. I think because it was well-done when I saw it years and years ago.
This disc is abolutely totally enjoyable. There is something for all musical tastes, and the conductor/pianist James Conlon does a great job pulling it together!!!!!
Sumi Jo- coloratura supreme.......2006-04-09
The rest of the album is enchanting as well as breath taking. I am a harsh critic when it comes to singers so I do not give those compliments very often, nor am I easily moved by singers but Sumi Jo has certainly done that with this album.
My only complaint is that I would have liked to hear her take of "Ave Maria" by Schubert which, while recorded many times over, would complimented her voice perfectly due to it's simplicity. "Sing low sweet chariot" would have been another great one to hear but as far as spirtuals are concerned I was very happy with her acepella version of "Amazing Grace." I was never a huge fan of "Amazing Grace" since it's been done a thousand times over but she brought such seetness and emotion to it. Of course I am kind of biased becuase I offically hate the "belting" version of this song and that's how it's usually done. It's nice to hear a simple, straight forward version.
My last comment is that it's nice to hear Sumi Jo sing less operatic pieces considering most opera singers are rarely bold enough to sing anything other than classical pieces, excluding Renee Fleming of recent.
Prayerful and beautiful.......2005-11-14
Another nice change is that the orchestral accompaniment enhances the singing rather than just tagging along as an afterthought, which often seems to be the case. It is fitting that James Conlon gets equal billing here. This is splendid singing to splendid music.
Sumi Jo is comfortable in any language and in a broad range of styles. I was uncertain how she would tackle songs like Amazing Grace and Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child. I need not have worried. In the latter she reveals a soulfulness that fits the lyrics perfectly.
The only track not worthy of this collection is Bernstein's Take Care of This House. I suppose, as it is a prayer, it was an obvious song to include, and Jo sings it very well, but it is just a very poor song. That still leaves 14 excellent tracks that, if you are a lover of good singing, you will want in your collection.
A spectalce of voice and vocalization.......2004-12-29
Never is there a weak moment in this incredibly beautiful collection of classical bleeding chunks and spirituals. I don't think you'll confuse Sumi for your favorite spiritual singer in "Amazing Grace" and "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child" but she is magnificent singing the complete and incomplete tunes elsewhere on the CD by famous classical composers including Mozart, Richard Strauss, Rossini, Schubert and Donizetti, to name some of them.
She is in wonderful voice and fresh-faced for the Loewe-Lerner "Say a prayer for me tonight" and does an equally nice job with Susan Graham accompanying Leonard Bernstein's "Take care of this house" from "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue". I'm not much for this kind of music -- I bought this exclusively for her rendition of Mozart's "Laudate Dominum" -- but it adds a dimension to the concert that brings it into the realm of popular Broadway tunes.
This is a wonderful concert of familiar and not so familiar songs from a singer whose voice is eloquent, beautiful and rich, with significant range and span from PPP to FFF. Sumi Jo controls her voice well throughout the concert, giving everyone something to think about regardelss of musical preference. This might have been improved if she'd included a Beatles tune -- maybe "Elenor Rigby" or "Yesterday" -- accompanied by the orchestra and James Conlon's direction. But it stands with any similar collection by any singer as it is.
Average customer rating:
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Spirit of America
Manufacturer: Mormon Tabernacle ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0000A4G6H Release Date: 2003-06-24 |
Tracks:
- America the Beautiful
- Bound for the Promised Land
- This Land Is Your Land
- Shenandoah
- Battle Hymn of the Republic
- Distant Land
- They, The Builders of the Nation
- House I Live In
- America, The Dream Goes On
- Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor
- God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand
- Hymn for America
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Cohan's Big Three: Yankee Doodle Dandy/Give My Regards to Broadway
- Goin' Home
- God Bless America - Craig Jessop, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Orchestra
- Star-Spangled Banner
- Call of the Champions
Customer Reviews:
beautiful patriotic music.......2003-08-28
All new recordings, with a strong patriotric theme.......2003-07-16
1 America the Beautiful
Music: Samuel A. Ward
Text: Katherine Lee Bates
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg (Oxford University Press) 4:30
2 Bound for the Promised Land
Music: American folk hymn.
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg (Oxford University Press) 2:35
3 This Land is Your Land
Music: Woody Guthrie
Text: Woody Guthrie
Arrangement: Percy Faith & Michael Davis 2:40
4 Shenandoah
Music: American folk song.
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg (Oxford University Press) 4:48
5 Battle Hymn of the Republic
Music: William Steffe
Text: Julia Ward Howe
Arrangement: Peter J. Wilhousky (Carl Fischer, Inc.) 5:19
6 Distant Land
Music: John Rutter
Text: John Rutter
Arrangement: John Rutter (Hinshaw Music, Inc - ASCAP) 4:41
7 They, the Builders of the Nation
Music: Alfred M. Durham
Text: Ida R. Alldredge
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg (Deseret Book Co.) 3:28
8 The House I Live In
Music: Earl Robinson
Text: Lewis Allen
Arrangement: Michael Davis 3:26
9 America, the Dream Goes On
Music: John Williams
Text: Alan and Marilyn Bergman 3:18
10 Give My Your Tired, Your Poor
Music: Irving Berlin
Text: Emma Lazarus
Arrangement: Roy Ringwald (Shawnee Press, Inc. - ASCAP)
Orchestration: Michael Davis 3:01
11 God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand
Music: George W. Warren
Text: Daniel C. Roberts
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg (Oxford University Press) 4:12
12 Hymn for America
Music: Stephen Paulus (Paulus Publications)
Text: Michael Dennis Browne 3:08
13 The Pledge of Allegiance
Music: Charles Osgood
Text: Francis Bellamy
Arrangement: Michael Davis 2:39
14 Cohan's Big Three (Yankee Doodle Dandy, +below)
Music: George M. Cohan
Text: George M. Cohan
Arrangement: Floyd E. Werle
+Give My Regards/Brdway, You're a Grand Old Flag 3:53
15 Goin' Home
Music: Antonin Dvorak
Text: William Arms Fischer
Arrangement: Jay Welch 4:36
16 God Bless America
Music: Irving Berlin
Text: Irving Berlin
Arrangement: Roy Ringwald (Shawnee Press, Inc. - ASCAP)
Orchestration: Michael Davis 3:44
17 The Star-Spangled Banner
Music: John Stafford Smith
Text: Francis Scott Key
Arrangement: Robert Russell Bennett 2:21
18 Call of the Champions
Music: John Williams
Text: Olympic Motto 4:47
The sound on this release is, if anything, even cleaner than the previous release, with the Choir and orchestra very evenly balanced. The programming includes a mix of both traditional and brand new songs, a couple of which (Stephen Paulus's "Hymn For America," and Charles Osgood's "The Pledge of Allegiance") were commissioned especially for this recording. Additional note: several of these songs were included on the Choir's 2003 Northeastern States tour, which was a huge success. I highly recommend this recording!
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