Garden of Ecstasy

1. Traveling

2. Tropical Flowers

3. Sun Dancer

4. Viriditas: L

5. Viriditas: LL

6. Viriditas: LLL

Garden of Ecstasy,Kay Gardner & Sunwomyn Ensemble,Ladyslipper,Experimental,New Age / Meditation,Pop,Singer/Songwriter

Average customer rating:

Great performances of not-so-great music

Alma Mahler: Complete Songs

Manufacturer: Ondine
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Bride of the Wind / Fleming, Thibaudet, Endelman (2001 Film)

ASIN: B0000AM6ON
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Tracks:

The Quiet Town
In My Father's Garden
Mild Summer's Night
With You It Is Pleasant
I Stroll Among Flowers
Light In The Night
Woodland Bliss
Storm
Harvest Song
Hymn
Ecstasy
The Recogniser
Song Of Praise
Hymn To The Night
Softly Drifts A First Blossom
Do You Know My Nights?

Customer Reviews:

Great performances of not-so-great music.......2005-07-01

That so many female composers have not been enabled to reach their potential is a great loss to all of us. No doubt we should be reaching into history to discover where female geniuses lay and give them their due, and endeavour not to repeat the mistake. But there is nothing in this collection to convince me that Alma Mahler was one of them.

The prime interest in Alma Mahler is her fascinating life, entwined as it was with Gustav Mahler; Zemlinsky; Kokoschka; Walter Gropius et al. Some mystery is created by the story of Gustav's conditioning their marriage on her ceasing to compose. But was it really any great loss?

These sixteen songs (all that survive of her compositions) are full of stock late-romantic gestures showing Zemlinksy's influence but none of his insight. Her understanding of many of the poems is questionable, as she sails past key moments with little inspiration and lingers in unimportant byways.

Full credit to Panula, who provided the orchestral arrangements and sensitively conducted the Tampere Philharmonic; and Paasikivi, a delightful mezzo; who present these curiosities in the best possible light. Such ideal performances are better than the music deserves. Three stars: an average of five for the performance and one for the music.

Average customer rating:

Music to get you through a bad moment or two

Love

Manufacturer: Explore the Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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Songs Of Praise

ASIN: B000006DJ2
Release Date: 1998-03-31

Tracks:

Fanfare For The Common Man
The Planets, Suite For Orchestra, Op. 32 Mars, Bringer Of War
Fantasie In G Minor, BWV 542
The Fountains Of Rome: The Fountain Of Trevi At Mid-Day
Toccata & Fugue In D Minor, BWV 565
Symphony No. 10 In E Minor, BWV 565: Allegro
String Quartet In F Major, Op. 96: Finale
Apres une lecture du Dante
Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 In A Major
Te Duem: Tibi omnes Angeli
Estancia: Danza final
Symphony No. 2 In D, Op. 43: Finale
Symphony No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 78: Maestoso
Carmina Burana: Ave formosissima, O fortuna

Amazon.com

Like Allegro's "Power" album, this is apparently intended as a vehicle to sell other discs, on the Nimbus, Vanguard Classics, Carlton Classics, Dorian Recordings, and Collins Classics labels. Sure wish we could find out who the performers are, but they are not listed anywhere. All we see are teeny reductions of the album covers from which these cuts are recycled. We get Vaughan Williams's "Lark Ascending," of course, and the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony, of course. The high point of the album is the Larghetto from Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A Minor, featuring the legendary Karl Leister of the Berlin Philharmonic. This we know not because we can find any credits, but because Leister's distinctive sound is unmistakable. --Gwendolyn Freed

Customer Reviews:

Music to get you through a bad moment or two.......2001-02-07

I first heard the Finzi cut (Eclogue) from this CD while suffering through a miserable plane flight. I clamped on the headphones and listened to the Finzi time and again and was able to drift off into a semi-state of relaxation to make the time sandwiched in that sardine can pass more or less bearably.

Finzi, a 20th Century British composer who is sadly neglected in the US, wrote this Eclogue for a never-to-be-finished piano concerto. He realized it stood well on its own and it was published as a complete composition. One only regrets that Finzi did not write the entire concerto as this fragment is incredibly beautiful. Close your eyes and you will see rolling, green pastures, bubbling streams, birds floating on warm breezes, fleecy clouds. Anyway, that's what I see whenever I play it. It's heavenly.