"Britten: Billy Budd"
Simon Keenlyside, John Tomlinson, et al.; London Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus; Richard Hickox, conductor
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Hermann Melville's complex tale of innocence and "obliquity"
struck a resonant chord for Benjamin Britten, who was
inspired to produce one of his finest stage works (with a
libretto by E.M. Forster). This is the first recording of
the revised, two-act version of the opera since Britten's
own--and it's also one of the best accounts ever, hands
down.
"Handel: Opera Arias and Overtures (Vol. 2)"
Emma Kirkby; Roy Goodman, conductor
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When it comes to Handel and opera, Emma Kirkby owns this
territory. Just listen to her way with embellishing a da
capo aria, and you experience the full glory of her musical
imagination. This follow-up to her first volume of Handel
arias includes music from less-well-known operas, but you'll
want to seek out works such as "Deidamia" and "Lotario" when
you hear what Kirkby makes of these pieces. Girl knows how
to sing.
"Mozart: The Abduction from the Seraglio"
Hilliard Ensemble
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Mozart had his first real operatic success with this
fashionably "exotic" Singspiel from 1782. Charles
Mackerras's approach offers a blend of historically informed
sensibility and modern instruments, with a rather uneven
cast. Not a first choice, but Wolfie lovers will certainly
want to try it out.
"John Adams: Harmonium, Excerpts from Nixon in China"
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John Adams conducts his own breakthrough, three-movement
setting of John Donne and Emily Dickinson poems,
"Harmonium," with the San Francisco Symphony (for whom it
was originally composed in 1980). Also included are excerpts
from the controversial 1991 opera "The Death of
Klinghoffer"--one of the most interesting in a long line of
operas "torn from the headlines."
GO ORGANIC
**********
The unveiling of a new organ in Seattle highlights the
instrument's continuing fascination. Since antiquity, the
organ has exerted a powerful fascination, serving as muse,
liturgical inspiration, and even one-man orchestra in the
days before radio and recordings. This summer, Seattle's
Benaroya Hall has become an international magnet for lovers
of the "king of instruments." In early July, the Seattle
Symphony unveiled its new Watjen concert organ, the latest
masterpiece of the C.B. Fisk organ-building firm,
illustrating the tremendous versatility of the instrument--
and its continuing capacity to inspire composers. Check out
our list of great organ music, from the Everest of Bach to
avant-garde trends in usage of the instrument.
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AMAZON.COM zSHOPS: CLASSICAL CDS
********************************
For an assortment of bargains on used classical CDs, visit
Amazon.com zShops:
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NEW AND NOTABLE Early SUMMER 2000
***************
"Schubert: Schwanengesang"
Bryn Terfel, baritone; Malcolm Martineau, piano
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When star baritone Bryn Terfel is singing, you don't need to
worry about a lieder recital becoming staid. As with his
beautifully sensitive recent disc of Schumann songs, Terfel
focuses his arresting vocal power and striking dramatic
presence on Schubert's despair-drenched songs, and his
ongoing partnership with pianist Malcolm Martineau brings
out a rich variety of colors.
"Rameau: Dardanus"
Veronique Gens, John Mark Ainsley, et al.;
Les Musiciens du Louvre; Marc Minkowski, conductor
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Jean-Philippe Rameau was perceived as a revolutionary in his
time, and he's in complete command of his art in the
all-too-neglected "Dardanus" (based, as usual, on Greek
myth, though with lots of his librettist's fantasy mixed
in). This is territory that Marc Minkowski has proved he
owns, and he leads fellow specialists Veronique Gens and
John Mark Ainsley--and of course the quicksilver Musiciens
du Louvre--with inspired eloquence and fury. A must-have for
baroque-opera lovers.
"Victoria and Palestrina: In Paradisum"
Hilliard Ensemble
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The Hilliards bring together two settings of related texts
from the Requiem service by Palestrina and Victoria,
performing them in a context to suggest how they would have
been heard originally. Their use of the Monastery of
St. Gerold's rich sonic profile adds a wonderful dimension
as well to the tenor quartet's beautifully balanced strands
of melody.
"Verdi Heroines"
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano; Verdi Grand Symphonic Orchestra
Milan; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
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Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu won stardom virtually
overnight in 1994 with her still-discussed Violetta in "La
Traviata" at Covent Garden. And it is to Verdi she returns
in her first solo recital album in more than two years. As
in her previous work with conductor Riccardo Chailly,
Gheorghiu interprets familiar music--in this case, arias
from "Otello," "Rigoletto," "Aida," and many more--with a
remarkably fresh sensibility and emotional rapport.
"Serenade"
David Daniels, countertenor; Martin Katz, piano
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We all know that countertenors have made a notable comeback
in our time, but David Daniels isn't about to rest on his
laurels. As if his successes this past season weren't enough
to set him apart, in this latest recital album Daniels
forays beyond the countertenor's stereotypical domain of the
baroque to interpret lieder of Beethoven and Schubert as
well as French melodies and Vaughn Williams. A stunningly
beautiful disc.
"Andriessen: Rosa--The Death of a Composer"
Marie Angel et al.; ASKO Ensemble and Schoenberg Ensemble;
Reinbert De Leeuw, conductor
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Dutch avant-garde composer Louis Andriessen has never quite
gotten the attention he deserves in the U.S., though his own
brand of minimalism and transmogrified jazz can cast a
powerful spell. This collaboration with maverick film
director Peter Greenaway involves a most bizarre but
mesmerizing story of a fictional composer and the very
enchantments of art.
"Poulenc: La Voix Humaine"
Jane Rhodes; ORTF National Orchestra; Jean-Pierre Marty, conductor
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An opera about a woman speaking to her ex-lover on the
phone? When it's a matter of Francis Poulenc teaming up with
Jean Cocteau, the results are not only witty and elegant,
but subtly menacing as well. Jane Rhodes stars in another
from the superb Memoire Vive series.
JORDI SAVALL EDITION
********************
One of the leading forces in early music, Jordi Savall is
also an astonishing polymath. His influence as a teacher and
musicologist is widespread, while as conductor and gambist
Savall has built up an impressively prolific, high-quality
discography of both familiar and lost masterpieces. Auvidis
is reissuing key Savall recordings in a beautifully designed
series of remasterings. Check out our list of these and
other recordings by Savall.
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DG ORIGINALS SERIES
*******************
Karl Boehm leading Birgit Nilsson and Wolfgang Windgassen in
"Tristan und Isolde" from Bayreuth 1966 and the Carlos
Kleiber "Freischutz" are just two of the legendary
recordings in the Deutsche Grammophon Originals series,
which are now available at impossible-to-resist prices.
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GET STARTED IN RENAISSANCE MUSIC
********************************
The age of Michelangelo, El Greco, Shakespeare, and Lorenzo
the Magnificent also produced an extraordinary crop of
musical masterpieces, the greatest of which were written to
adorn the services in cathedrals and royal chapels. Take
Amazon.com's tour of the serene yet sophisticated choral
music of the Renaissance.
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ROBERT AUBRY DAVIS PRESENTS
***************************
Robert Aubry Davis, host of the long-running "Millennium of
Music" series on public radio, also plays guide to the rich
heritage of early music in three CD anthologies, including
the first volume, "Alleluia" (centered around Christmas
music), and the most recent release, "Behold, and See," a
collection of music inspired by the Passion and Easter
season.
Volume 1
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Volume 2
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Volume 3
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AMAZON.COM zSHOPS: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
**************************************
If you're interested in taking a look at available musical
instruments in our zSshops store, you can see what's
available, from keyboards and brass to woodwinds, guitars,
and much more:
CD on Sale
WORD FOR WORD
*************
"Many people have remarked that's a very odd subject matter
and questioned why anyone would write an opera about it. And
to those of us involved with it, it seems like the perfect
subject matter, because it's larger than life: it's about
love, life, death, murder, redemption. Name any opera from
the 19th century that isn't! It's about how a big love can
transform someone. And it's true."
--Susan Graham on her role in the forthcoming Jake Heggie
opera "Dead Man Walking"
Read the complete interview with Graham:
....here!
NEW AND NOTABLE
*******************
"Penderecki: The Seven Gates of Jerusalem"
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra; Kazimierz Kord,
conductor
Your price
Krzysztof Penderecki describes "The Seven Gates of
Jerusalem" as a symphony--in the choral tradition of
Beethoven and Mahler, that is. You might also think of the
work as an oratorio, but whatever you call it, this setting
of texts from the Psalms and other Old Testament sources is
one of the Polish composer's most monumental efforts--in
keeping with its goal of celebrating the third millennium of
the holy city.
"Songs of Ned Rorem"
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano; Malcolm Martineau, piano
Your price
Even amid the current explosion of superb mezzo-soprano
voices, Susan Graham stands out as one of today's freshest,
most endearing interpreters of Strauss as well as the French
art song. Her acute intelligence and exquisite musicality
are also just the ticket for the subtle charms of these
songs of Ned Rorem, Graham's newest release of gems by the
great American art songwriter.
"Janacek and Kodaly: Masses"
Westminster Cathedral Choir; James O'Donnell, conductor
Your price
Here you will find a fascinating pairing of church music by
two very different masters from the early 20th century.
Along with a solemnly turned performance of Kodaly's Missa
Brevis for organ and boys' choir is the dramatic Mass
setting by Janacek. For those who are belatedly discovering
his marvelous trove of operas--one of the great achievements
of the lyric stage on the last century--this will be
especially appealing.
"Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor"
Renata Scotto, Giuseppe di Stefano, et al.; Chorus and
Orchestra of La Scala; Nino Sanzogno, conductor
Your price
This recording from 1959 features a top-drawer cast
including Renata Scotto and Giuseppe di Stefano, with a
vintage, briskly paced performance by the forces of La
Scala. If you can't be satisfied living with just one
"Lucia" on disc, you'll be tempted to give this a try.
"Gesualdo: Tenebrae"
Taverner Consort; Andrew Parrott, conductor
Your price
The bizarre individualism of his music--not to mention the
sensational circumstances of his life--have bestowed on the
aristocrat Carlo Gesualdo an eerily prescient kinship with
modernity that few other Renaissance composers share. This
is a shatteringly beautiful performance of one of Gesualdo's
masterpieces, the music he composed for Good Friday.
"A Garland for Linda"
John Tavener, Paul McCartney, et al.
Joyful Company of Singers; Peter Broadbent, conductor
Your price
Linda McCartney, who died of cancer in 1998, was by all
accounts an extraordinary woman, and "A Garland for Linda"
is a moving musical tribute. This collection of choral
pieces contains several moments of haunting beauty. Among
the nine contemporary British composers featured are Roxanna
Panufnik, Giles Swayne, and Paul McCartney himself, who
contributes the deeply felt "Nova."
OPERA IN ENGLISH
****************
The issue of whether to perform operas in their original
language has long been hotly debated, with very strong
arguments to be made on both sides. But it's hard to
imagine a more compelling case for opera in English than the
one presented by the Chandos series of classics. Featuring a
formidable list of musicians, from Jane Eaglen and Dennis
O'Neill to conductor David Parry and the Philharmonia
Orchestra, the Opera in English series offers new
perspectives on some of the best-loved works in the
repertory.
Your price
OPERA ON A BUDGET
*****************
On a tight budget but looking to expand--or even start--your
opera collection? Check out Allegro's Opera d'Oro series of
live recordings from star performers. Mostly priced at under
$10 per set, the series offers a gold mine of bargains.
Your price