It's Just Us

It's Just Us

Track Listings

1. Here I Am Again

2. You've Got a Friend

3. For What It's Worth (w/ T. Stubbs)

4. Wedding in Danville

5. None of the Above

6. Fool For a Blonde (w/ Roger Bartlett and Veronica Mittenzwei)

7. You'll Be In My Heart/You Are My Home (w/ Veronica Mittezwei)

8. It's In Everyone of Us

9. Ever Again (w/ Shayna Steele)

10. Lost on Bleeker Street (w/ Joyce Stovall)

11. I Do, I Do

12. Never Seen the Likes of You (w/ Carol Lee and Joyce Stovall)

13. Love This Life I'm Livin

14. More Miles On The Heart (w/ Carol Lee Goodgold and Joyce Stovall)

15. City Song

16. Yuppies In the Sky

17. Joanne

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Since 1991, David Ippolito has been playing his guitar and singing in Central Park whenever the weather permits. Over the years he has been featured in newspapers from The New York Times to weekly community papers in Russia, on television local and national news, and on radio stations, both internet and traditional. David has been called New York City's best kept secret, and inspires countless people to think of New York City as a warm and fuzzy place. Now, that's quite a feat.

Product Description
In his fourth CD, David Ippolito is recorded live in concert at Merken Hall in NYC. This 70+ minute CD contains some of his older songs and a host of new ones that were written for this occasion. Along with his originals, David covers some of the best music of the 60s and 70s.

It's Just Us

Tracks:

Overture To 'Tannhauser'
Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
Hungarian Dance No.7
The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
Csardas Music
The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
Tzigane
Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
Caprice No.24
The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
The Violin Muted
Clair De Lune
The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
The Pizzicato Violin
Pizzicato Polka
In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
Hungarian Dance No.4
Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
Bolero
Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
Elfenreigen

Tracks:

Introduction To The Viola
Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
Cypresses (No.9)
The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
The 'Period' Viola In Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
Elfentanz, Op.39
Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
The Protecting Veil (Opening)
A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
Flamenco
Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
Symphony No.9 (Finale)
Introduction To The Double-Bass
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
Elegy No.1 In D Major
The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
Capriccio Di Bravura
Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
Sa'Dawi
Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
Chamber Music No.II
The Piccolo - Aptly Named
La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
A Variety Of Techniques
Chamber Music No.II
Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
Naelden, Naelden
The Bachian Oboe
Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
The Swan Of Tuonela
The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
Bolero
The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
...And Quite Low.
Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
Introduction To The Saxophone
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
Bolero
The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
Sax-O-Phun
The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
Bolero
The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
Symphony No.3 (Opening)
The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
The Ceremonial Trumpet
Fanfare For The Common Man
Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
Billy The Kid
The Trumpet As Character Actor
Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
The Birth Of The Trombone
Aenmerckt Nu Hier
The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
Canzon 12 In Double Echo
The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
Hosannah
The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
The Trombone As Caricaturist
Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
The Horn And The Hunt
Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
Walter Music (Minuet 1)
The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
Den Hoboecken Dans
Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
Gymnopedie No.2
The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
The Birth Of The Bongo
Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
Taking Advantage Of Tunability
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
Ravel And The Xylophone
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
Introducing The Vibraphone
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
Folk Dances
The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
Introducing The Tubular Bells
Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
Carmen Suite (Introduction)
But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Introducing The Celeste
The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
Petrushka (Russian Dance)
The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
Mahler's Sleighbells
Symphony No.4 (Opening)
A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Nocturnes
Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
The Oboe As Duck
Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
A Thunderstorm In A Million
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)

Tracks:

The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
Octet In F (Mvt 3)
The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
Canzon 28
Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
Images (Gigues)
A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')

Customer Reviews:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

Frank's view.......2006-08-19

This boxed set of CD's with booklet achieved all I had hoped that it would. There are good samples of individual instruments and well done commentary on each. The only drawback was that some of the samples were too brief and could have been longer, hoiwever I guess this fits in with time constraints of the medium. It has given me a lot of clues as to future purchases of CD's for listening to individual instruments. Altogeth a satisfactory purchase and a welcome addition to my collection.

Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

I've listened to classical music for years and am interested in composition. I bought this CD set to learn how an orchestra and its instruments work. I thought the CDs would be a nice but boring lecture. They aren't! Not only are they FUN but they are informative as well. I learned a huge amount from each CD and couldn't wait to listen to the next one.

The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!

I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.

The one complaint I have is the last CD. This deals with the orchestra. I wanted more of a tour of how the orchestra has been used through history up to the present. Instead, it was a tour of how different groups of instruments sound. I thought it could have been better. The other 6 CDs are excellent.

Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church
Average customer rating:

A Beautiful, Relaxing Project

It just cannot be the end for Charlotte's classical career! :(

Charlotte Church

Somewhat decent but still mediocre

R&B For Charlotte

Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Enchantment

Voice of an Angel

Charlotte Church

Tissues and Issues

Dream a Dream

ASIN: B00006LFGG
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Tracks:

Pie Jesu from Requiem
My Lagan Love
In Trutina (from Carmina Burana)
Panis Angelicus
Amazing Grace
Just Wave Hello
La Pastorella (The Little Shepherdess)
She Moved Through The Fair
Ave Maria
Dream A Dream (w/ Billy Gilman)
The Flower Duet
Haba
The Prayer (w/ Josh Groban)
All Love Can Be
It's The Heart That Matters Most
Tantum Ergo
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Sancta Maria

Amazon.com

Need more evidence of the record industry's obsession with youth? Consider that budding Welsh diva Charlotte Church was a ripe, old 16 when this, her first greatest-hits anthology was released. Spanning her first four releases, as well as some outside collaborations and unreleased material, this 18-track collection underscores the soprano's seemingly boundless potential--as well as some potential career obstacles ahead. Her crystalline, still-maturing voice is best showcased on classically oriented works like Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesu," Franck's "Panis Angelicus," and her now-ubiquitous rendering of Delibes' "Flower Duet." She also excels on folk traditionals such as "She Moved Through the Fair" and "My Langan Love." But overwrought productions like the already-dated "Dream a Dream" and "Habanera," a faux-flamenco take on Bizet, nearly get the best of her. Still, her promising duet with fellow young phenom Josh Groban on "The Prayer" and her mature, dreamy reading of A Beautiful Mind's "All Love Can Be," as well as strong performances on the previously unreleased "It's the Heart That Matters Most" and "Bridge over Troubled Waters," are ample evidence of her potential for rewarding pop crossover--if she doesn't retire by 21. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

A Beautiful, Relaxing Project.......2007-06-15

My only other experience with Charlotte Church was seeing part of a PBS special on her, where she sang songs like "Some Enchanted Evening". I actually enjoy her voice on this style of music.

I love her rendition of "Amazing Grace". She also did good on covering "Bridge Over Troubled Water", though I was disappointed she didn't try the high note on the verses as Garfunkel did. My favorite on the project was "It's the Heart That Matters Most".

If I want some beautiful sounding music to relax to while I'm working, this would be a very good project for that.

It just cannot be the end for Charlotte's classical career! :(.......2006-08-20

I'm just shocked that Charlotte has decided to end her classical career with this mediocre assortment of her most loved pieces from her other albums! I wish that she had re-sung all of the pieces to make them sound better than ever with her mature voice! To me, it seems disgusting that anyone would want to end their career with a last album that sounds the way this album does!

Her beginning pieces (Pie Jesu, My Lagan Love, In Trutina, Panis Angelicus, and Amazing Grace) were sung at the beginning of her classical career, and you can hear her flat vowels and shaky low notes. You can also hear it in "She Moved Thru the Fair". It's really annoying!

La Pastorella is a beautiful song to sing, and Church masters it beautifully! Just Wave Hello - the Ford Anthem, is also a beautiful piece, with amazing work from the orchestra.

Ave Maria is a complete annoyance! Church lays on the high notes too much, putting too much emphasis on them, and it's an annoyance! Her vowels are also flat on the high notes - I just hate it!

Dream a Dream is a very nice piece, leaning more towards the pop scene. Church still seems to make it work, and I would listen to it all day!

The Flower Duet is a beautiful song, but Church's vocals are strained, which makes it hard to listen to with a smile on your face! It's still beautiful!

The Prayer (w/ Josh Groban) is a very nice piece, originally sung by Celine Dion. She's still a little bit flat here!

All That Love can Be is sung beautifully, completely smooth and connected. The vocals are flawless and have a mezmerizing effect.

It's the Heart that Knows is a pop piece that Church sings with strong vocals. It's just showing us that she's ending her career as a classical superstar!

Tantum Ergo, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Sancta Maria, are all beautiful pieces!

I am a Charlotte Chruch fan, no doubt, but I really didn't like this album! I still wish that she would stay with opera, but I guess dreams don't come true! I wouldn't advise you to buy this CD - but as long as you have Voice of an Angel, Charlotte Church (the Self Titled Album) and Enchantment, there's no need for this CD!

Sorry Charlotte!

Charlotte Church.......2006-07-29

Love that voice!! This is a great CD and any one who had not heard this young lady sing should buy it and prepare for some musical enjoyment.

Somewhat decent but still mediocre.......2006-06-07

I am well aware of Charlotte's age. However, I am also aware of her amazing vocals and powerful range. But these things don't make you a good singer. Charlotte chose to stick to opera in most of her songs. And face it, not just anyone can do opera.

Charlotte's voice is very well trained - maybe too trained. From a very young age she's been hitting the same notes as Sarah Brightman. But I feel that Charlotte's over-worked and not to mention overdone voice has been declining tremendously.

But I guess none of this really matters now because I haven't heard her do anything classical for a while. If you want to listen to Charlotte now, go find the song 'Crazy Chick.'

If you want to listen to other angel voiced sopranos, I'd go with Sarah Brightman or Renee' Fleming.

R&B For Charlotte .......2006-05-07

If a bird can be annoying as in a Rooster Crowing in the morning, some people will like it. A dog can bark in the nights we sleep, some People will like it. A human voice so light, so vibrated within their own dimensions, people will like it, but not I. I never really saw the beauty of opera, agitating to the ears, just like a Rooster calling on it's hens. With that said, Charlotte needs to turn to Blues Rock or R&B. Yes, Boogie style Blues Rock, she has the voice for it. No matter how many here perceive Opera or know what should sound good, no opera singer could ever sing Blues without a voice and a heart for it. Not One! So why should a girl with soulful music embedded in her, do the same? I say, "it's time to really Rock Charlotte!"

The John Adams Earbox: A 10-CD Retrospective

Average customer rating:

Moved to tears
Nonesuch delivers.Again
harmonia in excelsis
Our greatest living composer
Wonderful CD

The John Adams Earbox: A 10-CD Retrospective

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Steve Reich 1965-1995
John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur/My Father Knew Charles Ives
Naive & Sentimental Music
25 Years: Retrospective
Century Rolls

ASIN: B00001SID1
Release Date: 1999-10-19

Tracks:

Lollapalooza
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Judah To Ocean
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Toot Nipple
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Dogjam
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Pavane: She's So Fine
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Rag The Bone
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Habanera
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Stubble Crotchet
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Hammer & Chisel
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Alligator Escalator
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Standchen: The Little Serenade
John's Book Of Alleged Dances: Judah To Ocean (Reprise)
Slonimsky's Earbox

Tracks:

Two Fanfares For Orchestra - Tromba Lontana
Two Fanfares For Orchestra - Short Ride In A Fast Machine
Common Tones In Simple Time
El Dorado - Part I. A Dream Of Gold
El Dorado - Part II. Soledades

Tracks:

Harmonielehre - Part I
Harmonielehre - Part II The Anfortas Wound
Harmonielehre - Part III Meister Eckhardt And Quackie
Violin Concerto - Part I
Violin Concerto - Part II Chaconne:
Violin Concerto - Part III Toccare

Tracks:

Chamber Sympony - Mongel Airs
Chamber Sympony - Aria With Walking Bass
Chamber Sympony
Hoodo Zephyr - Tundra
Hoodo Zephyr - Dissappointment Lake
Hoodo Zephyr - Hoodo Zephyr
Gnarly Buttons - The Perilous Shore
Gnarly Buttons - Hoe-Down (Mad Cow)
Gnarly Buttons - Put Your Loving Arms Around Me

Tracks:

Ensemble - I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky
A Sermon On Romance
Consuelo's Dream
Mike's Song About Arresting A Particular Individual
Tiffany's Solo
Song About The On-Site Altercation
Song About The Bad Boys And The News
Your Honor My Client He's A Young Black Man
Leila's Song; Alone (Again Or At Last)
Three Weeks And Still I'm Outta My Mind
Crushed By The Rock I Been Standing On
Dewain's Song Of Liberation And Surprise
!Este Pais! / This Country
One Last Look At The Angel In Your Eyes
Finale

Tracks:

Lollapalooza
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Judah To Ocean
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Toot Nipple
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Dogjam
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Pavane: She's So Fine
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Rag The Bone
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Habenera
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Stubble Crotchet
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Hammer & Chisel
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Alligator Escalator
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Standchen: The Little Serenade
John's Book Of Alleged Dances - Judah To Ocean (Reprise)
Slonimsky's Earbox

Tracks:

Harmonium - Negative Love
Harmonium - Becuase I Could Not Stop For Death
Harmonium - Wild Nights
Shaker Loops - Shaking and Trambling
Shaker Loops - Hymning Slews
Shaker Loops - Loops and Verses
Shaker Loops - A Final Shaking

Tracks:

The Chairman Dances - Foxtrot For Orchestra
Grand Pianola Music - First Movement
Grand Pianola Music - Second Movement
Grand Pianola Music - Third Movement: On The Dominant Divide
Fearful Symmetries

Tracks:

Nixon In China - Opening
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China - Landing Of The Spirit Of '76
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China - Cheers
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China - Opening
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -
Nixon In China -

Tracks:

The Wound-Dresser
Christian Zeal And Activity
Five Songs - Thoreau
Five Songs - Down East
Five Songs - Cradle Song
Five Songs - At The River
Five Songs - Serenity
Eros Piano

Amazon.com

Having earned his composing stripes after the 1960s, John Adams had the pioneering work of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley close at hand as he ventured into his trade. And, while minimalism's historical continuum helps place Adams, he used Reich, Glass, and Riley (among others) only as a starting point. And here's proof: a 10-CD retrospective of nearly all Adams's recorded compositions on Nonesuch Records, the label that also issued Steve Reich 1965-1995 and Kronos Quartet: 25 Years. Adams's Harmonium, a choral work of startling energy and effervescence, appears here in a new recording, as do distillations of both The Death of Klinghoffer and Nixon in China, two path-clearing operas. Over the span of a career covered by Earbox, Adams has returned minimalism to traditional instrumental ensembles as well as to projects that at once advanced a political commentary and took that commentary back to orchestral audiences. And so, in far less time than his predecessors, Adams created works that now play like standard repertoire pieces: The Wound Dresser and Shaker Loops and the Violin Concerto--all of them are here. What these works demonstrate is a fierce creativity on the one hand and perhaps a hunger for commercial advances on the other. Adams may at times be a bustling free thinker, but he sounds ever conscious of what audiences are listening to. As for the works themselves, they remain every bit as daunting as when written.

Some may object to particular selections. I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, for example, hardly ranks with Adams's best work. But this box isn't a mere best-of; it's an almost-all-of. At times terrifically American--especially in the news-aware operas and their narrative pragmatism--Adams well deserves a major box set, and its coverage is appropriate to his varied, stylistically diverse output. As with any large-scale retrospective, Earbox--which fairly bristles with Adams's new composition, Slonimsky's Earbox--has spots where fans might balk at the quality of the composer's writing. But it's got a fantastic accompanying booklet along with its many hours of inarguably modern and thoroughly listener-friendly music. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Moved to tears.......2004-03-18

Never before in my life was i moved so intensely and directly by classical music. I put the first cd in my player and a few minutes later tears are flowing. I find myself dancing and moving to a rythm i already seem to know. Wow, i just have to share that.

Nonesuch delivers.Again.......2002-11-27

John adams is one of the most popular living composers of"modern" classical music[I believe the cutoff point, though arbitrary is usually WWII}.I came to him late, through my husband. Modersn classical music , I said? What the hell is that?My husband kept playing bits and pieces of adams for me, and more and more i found myself amazed. and swayed. His operas have been groundbreaking{Nixon in China} controversial{Death Of klinghoffer},his compostions sublimely beautiful{shaker Loops or harmonium].HIS STATURE IS WORTHY THEN OF SUCH A MONUMENTAL CAREER SPANNING BOX SET.This 10 disc set[great value, again from NONESUCH}encompasses Adams' entire career,and though there are some misses here{I was looking at the ceiling and then i saw the sky doesnt quite fit},it is still magnificent. the Highlights are ,{for me} the Wound Dresser, Chamber symphony,Violin Concerto, of course, Shaker Loops and Harmonuim are wonderful. The true jewels here are Nixon in China,the Chairman dances and the Death of Klinghoffer,which is simply a masterpiece. The set comes with a wonderful book, which contains essay's by Robert Hurwitz {An Uncommon Man}renaud Machart[John adams as seen from europe} and Essays before an earbox by Adams himself.A Chronology and dicography are included. A wonderful study of an American original,worth the investment, Highly highly recommended

harmonia in excelsis.......2001-11-12

I must agree with Mr. Bartlett, particularly with regard to "Ceiling." It may well be because his Violin Concerto and Harmonielehre are so powerful. 4.5 stars.
Interesting, and likely intentional, is that two names in the extensive liner book fail to mention two great and glaringly obvious precursors: Carl Orff and Raymond Scott. Without "Carmina Burana," there would be no "Harmonium." Orff has his mark all over Adams's gifted and epic compositions. Similarly, though there are glib references to "cartoon music," the polymath engineer/musician Scott is a seminal figure in American music, and casts a large shadow over the witty juxtapositions and sense of play one loves in Adams's work. In all, an excellent career overview.

Our greatest living composer.......2001-07-22

As a composer, I'm staggered that anyone could fail to be gripped by this music.

That anyone can use the words "spoiled, overrated" amazes me. I emphatically disagree with "A music fan"'s review.

I don't think it's "mind-numbing"; I think it's spiritual and exciting. To me it's the most substantial music being created in our times.

I'm really sorry that anyone could fail to enjoy it, and really recommend others to listen for themselves.

Wonderful CD.......2000-04-02

This compilation should turn even the most curmudgeonly listerner into a fan. Beautifully recorded, great notes -- and it's a heck of a bargain!

Offenbach: La Belle Helene; Orpheus in the Underworld; La Vie Parisienne (Highlights)

Average customer rating:

Champagne Music!

Offenbach: La Belle Helene; Orpheus in the Underworld; La Vie Parisienne (Highlights)

Manufacturer: Class. for Pleas. Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus; The Gypsy Baron (Highlights)
Léhar: The Land of Smiles; The Merry Widow; The Count of Luxembourg (Highlights)
Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld / Burgess, Watson, etc (Highlights)

ASIN: B00009KHY3
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Tracks:

Overture
The Happy Bride Never Stumbles
You've Gone Too Far!
May I Make Myself Known?
My Death Appears Divinely Smiling
When Diana Leaves The Mountains
To Arms!
When Jupy Feels The Inclination
Here Comes Orpheus
When I Was King Of The Boeotians
I Thought That I Felt On My Shoulder
What Heavenly Joy Is Mine
Minuet And Galop
Overture
How Sad We've Made The Marchioness
Well Isn't That Just Life All Over?
I'm The Guide For Every Tourist
I Am A Native Of Brazil
In This Enchanting Queen Of Cities
I Am A Dab At Carving Pork
We Have Seen Sights Since Eleven... I'm A Colonel's Widow
Dinner Is Served

Tracks:

Oh, Little Cloud
When She Goes Out... Her Petticoats Go Frou, Frou, Frou
Does He Know He's Splitting Down The Back
Nobody Would Call Me A Rover
I'll Have So Much To Say
It's Most Important You Should Show
Here You See The Place
My Friends, I'm Most Delighted To See You
In Songs And Shouts... Paris Blooms Like A Flower
Introduction
To Bow To Jupiter We Gather At The Shrine
We've Had A Night Out
On Mount Ida Three Great Ladies (The Judgement Of Paris)
March And Entry Of The Kings
Entr'acte
We All Begin By Truly Trying
It Is Her That Has Sent This Sweet Love Dream
Come Here, You Kings Of Greece
When All Of Greece Has Been Ravaged
Do You See?

Customer Reviews:

Champagne Music!.......2006-07-09

Thank goodness that these well filled CDs of selections from three of Offenbach's most entertaining and tuneful operettas are available. Exactly the thing to provide some hearty nourishment for Winter nights. Ideal also for a Summer barbecue. In both cases, a glass of champagne, or at least some other bubbly beverage, would be good to have at hand - everything here no doubt will call for a toast or several.

It is so nice to be able to hear in these translations the witty words, sung with welcome clarity and meaning by these admirable artists. As I recall, there were no microphones in sight, and perhaps not even used, when this production of Orpheus In The Underworld was brought to Australia, with a few cast changes but the same sparkle as shown here. Crisp diction and lively, often lovely, singing - a great recipe for enjoyable listening indeed.

The recording sounds a bit shrill here and there, but what a churlish quibble; to Hades with such curmudgeonly qualifications! This is music to raise the spirits, and not just those from Hades.

Average customer rating:

Broadway: America's Music 1935-2005

Manufacturer: Decca Broadway
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series)
Grey Gardens - A New Musical (2006 Original Broadway Cast)
The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Original Broadway Cast)
Spring Awakening (2006 Original Broadway Cast)
Letters from Iwo Jima (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000B8I93Q
Release Date: 2005-10-18

Tracks:

Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'
Summertime
I Could Write a Book
It Never Entered My Mind
I Can Cook Too
Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please
If I Loved You
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
Thou Swell
I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen
There's No Business Like Show Business
South American Way

Tracks:

Shall We Dance
Ohio
Luck Be a Lady
Mack the Knife
There's a Small Hotel
Once in Love with Amy
Yodel Blues
Lazy Afternoon
There Must Be Somethin' Better Than Love
You're Just in Love
Now Is the Time

Tracks:

Impossible Dream
Love Makes the World Go 'Round
Try to Remember
Put on a Happy Face
I Say Hello
Happiness
She Loves Me
What Kind of Fool Am I?
Shy
Consider Yourself
Poor Little Person

Tracks:

Magic to Do
They're Playing My Song
I Don't Know How to Love Him
I Won't Send Roses
Good Morning Starshine
Don't Cry for Me, Argentina
Hard Candy Christmas
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
Won't You Charleston with Me?
Applause

Tracks:

Phantom of the Opera
Memory
On My Own
Muddy Water
How Could I Ever Know
American Dream
I Know Him So Well
Dr. Jazz
Me and My Girl
Suddenly Seymour

Tracks:

Mamma Mia!
Popular
Seasons of Love
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think
Whatever Lola Wants
Crazy
How Deep Is Your Love
Stars
People Like Us
I Go to Rio

Average customer rating:

English is an asset and a drawback
You Will Love Opera After Hearing Carmen In English
A wholly credible "Carmen" -- finally!
I love Carmen!

Carmen (Sung in English)
Bizet , Bardon , Gavin , Plazas , Magee , and Parry
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Mozart: The Magic Flute
The Barber of Seville / B. Ford, D. Jones, A. Opie; G. Bellini [in English]
Verdi: La Traviata
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
Mozart - Don Giovanni / Garry Magee · Cullagh · Banks · Plazas · Shore · Tierny · PO · David Parry

ASIN: B00007JGRN
Release Date: 2003-03-11

Tracks:

Prelude
In The Plaza
Just Look At That Delicious Morsel
Here Come Our New Soldier Boys
Jose! There Was A Girl Here Looking For You Just Now
Off With You Old Soldier Boys
Corporal! Sir!
We Have Heard The Bell Summon Us To Meet Here
Ah, Just Look!
But Why Hasn't She Come, Our Carmencita?
Love's A Bird Wild As Any Rebel
Carmen! We Will Follow You High And Low!
The Cheek Of It!
Give Me News Of My Mother!
Your Dear Mother And I Were Leaving Church This Morning
I See My Mother's Face!
Wait A Moment - I'm Going To Read The Letter
Come And Help
So, Corporal: Tell Me What Happened
Well, Carmencita: What Do You Have To Say For Yourself?
Where Are You Taking Me?
There's An Old Bar In The City
Careful - It's Lieutenant!
Entr'acte
From Far Away Mysterious Sounds
Bravo, Bravo! More! Keep Dancing!
Hurrah! Hurrah! The Torero!
Who's That? It's Escamillo, The Bullfighter From Granada
Hurrah! Hurrah! The Torero!
You're Most Kind
We'll Come With You, Senor Torero
Toreador, Be Ready!
At Last! We Got Rid Of Them As Quickly As We Could
There's A Little Job That We're Starting!
Being In Love Is Not A Reason

Tracks:

To Bid You Welcome To Our Bar
La La La La La La La La...
Back To Camp!... Go At Once!
That Flow'r You Threw To Me I Treasured
No, It's Not Love At All!
Hello! Carmen!
Lieutenant Fair, It's True
The Sky Above The Open Road
Entr'acte
Keep Going, Dear Old Friend, Kep Going!
Right! Let's Stop For A While
Shuffle! Cut Them!
In Vain You Would Avoid The Bitter Things They're Saying
You're Back!
As For That Man, It Should Be Easy!
Is This The Place?
I Say That There's Nothing To Fear
It's Him! I'm Sure It's Him Over There!
Escamillo Is My Name, And I Come From Granada
She Had A Lover Here
Hola! Hola! Jose!
You Should Take Care, Carmen
Alas! Jose, Your Mother Is Ill
Entr'acte
A Few Cuartos! A Few Cuartos!
Here They Come! Here They Come!
If You Love Me, Carmen
It's You! It's Me!
Viva! Viva! What A Corrida!

Customer Reviews:

English is an asset and a drawback.......2004-07-20

The best thing about this recording of Carmen is the libretto. Conductor David Parry penned this facile and dramatic English translation. He avoids the pitfalls of literal translation to achieve an idiomatic flow that matches the rhythm of the original lyrics. I use this as a reference libretto for any of the French Carmens.

Unfortunately, the performance suffers from being sung in English. The singers declaim their parts with such proper British diction that Carmen comes across as a school marm. The spoken dialog is delivered beat for deliberate beat and is dripping with reverb. It makes the plaza, tavern and mountain pass all sound like a sewer pipe.

This is a good first Carmen for someone trying to understand the work. The libretto itself is a good investment for further listening. For an enjoyable performance with an emphasis on character and action, I recommend Regina Resnik on the London Double Decker set.

You Will Love Opera After Hearing Carmen In English.......2004-02-09

What a perfect introduction to opera. This newly released recording will surely get you hooked into opera. Carmen, a French opera by Georges Bizet, is the most recognizable and most popular in the opera world. It's famous melodies- the overture, the Habanera, The Toreador Song have all been featured in everything from cellular phone ring tones to Superbowl Commercial (last year's Superbowl with The "Opera In English" label has been making Italian operas into English for a number of years now. Also on the market are Verdi's La Traviata in English (with soprano Valerie Masterson as Violetta) Handel's Julius Caesar with Janet Baker and even Wagner's epic Ring Of The Nibeling sung in English. This is a terrific recording and I highly recommend it if you want to get into opera. Listen to this version first and then try the real, original French version Bizet had written. Patricia Bardon is sensational, sexy and dramatic as Carmen.

The real strength of this version is the dynamic drama. With the advantage of being sung in English, we get better insight on characters' emotions and motives, and we understand the drama a lot better. Carmen is all about great drama. Bizet drew the plot from the French writer Prosper Merimee's dark short story. Carmen is the ultimate femme fatale- a devil-may-care, sexy Gypsy living in Spain, seduces the conservatively raised soldier Don Jose, stealing him away from his fiancee, the passive Micaela, living a life of underground smuggling and rowdy taverns. "Habanera" and "The Gypsy Song and Dance" are very expressive of Carmen's extraordinarily liberal lifestyle. Don Jose, however, has fallen deeply in love- as he shows us in his song/aria "The Flower Song". But Carmen soon becomes tired of his constancy. Don Jose wants a committed, monogamous relationship with Carmen. But Carmen will not submit to love, since she is first and foremost a carnal creature. Eventually, she falls for the handsome Toreador Escamillo. Don Jose, consumed by jealousy, stabs Carmen at a bullfight after Carmen declares her love for Escamillo and rejects Don Jose's love. Don Jose's crazed, obscessive personality shines through in the English version as well. This tragedy has been done in English before so don't think this is the first time. Back in the 50's, there was a film, starring black actors "Carmen Jones" which was treated the same way as this opera- more like an English Broadway musical and with the dubbed singing voice of Marilyn Horne as Carmen. All in all, this recording is excellent.

A wholly credible "Carmen" -- finally!.......2003-09-17

This recording really sells "Carmen" as a drama. Although I have two other recordings of this opera and have seen it performed several times, it never quite worked for me dramatically. But thanks to the fine performances, conducting, and translation here, I've become a "Carmen" convert. Producing a good English-language performance of a foreign opera, especially a warhorse like "Carmen," is much more difficult than it might appear. You need performers who not only can sing the parts (of course) but also can sing *English* and make it halfway intelligible and make it sound like English and make it dramatically convincing to English-speakers. The singers on this recording do an excellent job all around. Don't be put off if you don't recognize their names -- they are up to the task musically and (especially) in their acting. Admittedly, as with *all* English-language recordings, some passages are very hard to understand without reading along, but most of the time the words are clear and effective. I would recommend this recording to any opera beginner or opera lover, even those who normally turn up their noses at performances in translation.

I love Carmen!.......2003-08-15

I do. I can think of no other opera with more melodic inventiveness, and few others with so sure a dramatic pulse. Carmen is popular and it thrills me to say that it is also a very good opera - not always true of popular things.

And what of this recording? Carmen sits well in English, so it is good to hear in translation, although some of the detais in the text jar. Escamillo refers to Jose as "my dear", which sounds rather peculiar, and the guide's line to Micaela: "it's not exactly inviting, is it?" sounds distinctly Middle England rather than Rural Spain. Some of the performers, not least Carmen herself, make the words work, although there are long tracts, especially with the chorus, where the language is distinctly indistinct.

The soloists are, by and large, strong. Patricia Bardon's deep, Handel-friendly voice adapts well to Carmen and she colours the music with phenomenal detail, sounding sexy and provocative from the start with an edge of pride and anger that emerges as the show goes on. She is out of her depth above the stave, though, and some extra top notes in the second act don't show her off to her best advantage. I have previously said that Julian Gavin is poorly served by recordings, though here he sounds much more even and gives a thrilling and musical performance (but his wooden spoken lines let him down). Mary Plazas is a lovely Micaela, rich-voiced and sincere (and word-perfect), but Garry Magee sounds miscast as Escamillo, lacking the ballast at the bottom of the voice to do justice to this tricky role.

The supporting cast is good (Mary Hegarty seems to do nothing but Frasquita these days!) but the really treasurable thing is the conducting. Stepping out of Italian Ottocento, David Parry turns his hand to this French Comedie with an appropriate lightness of touch. His pacing and handling of the set pieces is exemplary and the enrtractes go with a real swing.

Customer Reviews:

It's wonderful to have Bernstein back, but the performances fall short.......2006-11-26

These 1953 mono recordings catch Bernstein a decade after his famous debut with the NY Phil. and five years before he became their youngest-ever condcutor. It's great to hear that warm, comforting voice again, although his analyses--especially the longest one devoted to the Brahms Fourth--aren't as polished as they would become. He gets pedagogical at times and runs us through a rote example-and-explanation formula. Even then, howeer, colorful Bernstein touches peek out, and we are reminded of the man who taught an entire generation to venerate classical music.

For me, the performances themselves fall short. They were often recorded in a rush, sometimes late at night after a summer concert. I know that the Stadium Sym. is actually the NY Phil., but they don't sound particularly fine, and Bernstein's interpreatations, though vigorous, often border on the slapdash. Plowing through Beethoven's 3rd, Dvorak's 9th, Schumann's 2nd, Brahms' 4th and Tchaikovsky's 6th, I found few sparks of originaity, much less genius. This is a tough admission from one of LB's geat admirers, but there you are. The original recorded sound is also a bit thin and harsh.

Come back Lennie, we need you.......2006-02-22

This box is worth its price just for the five talks. Bernstein at this stage had a teaching style rather more stilted than the chatty sage of later years, but the combination of authority, insight and infectious enthusiasm is unique. Entertainingly offhand about the New World, he's at his best on the music he reveres most, i.e. Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms, the first movement of whose Fourth Symphony gets a particularly in-depth analysis that left me yearning for more. Practically anyone could enjoy and learn from these talks - they're fascinating fun without a whiff of down-dumbing. When the classical and the popular cross over nowadays, the results are usually compromised and crass, but with Bernstein there doesn't even seem to be a gap to be crossed over - just a passion to share these wonders with as many people as possible. We need his all-embracing talent and vision today more than ever.

Then there are the performances. I'm not the biggest fan of mono symphonic recordings, but these positively leap down your ears, unmannered, committed and electric. It's hard to believe what was achieved under the hasty recording conditions described in the booklet. The sound is a little fierce, but good enough to make this set a wonderful gift for any open-minded but symphonically ignorant acquaintance. I can easily imagine it turning someone on to classical music.

For Bernstein enthusiasts, it's like owning a gold mine.......2005-06-19

This new album set is something that I had heard of, but never dared to hope would be released on CD. It consists of Leonard Bernstein's very first recordings of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (the "Eroica"), Dvorak's "New World Symphony", Schumann's Symphony No. 2, Brahms' Fourth Symphony, and Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" Symphony. They are all conducted by Bernstein and played beautifully by an orchestra which bills itself as the New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, but which is really the great New York Philharmonic, using the name that they gave themselves during summer concerts.

The performances are a revelation, because they demonstrate conclusively that Bernstein did not always "exaggerate" or "overinterpret" great music, as critics frequently claim. His performances here are very, very direct and straightforward, more like Fritz Reiner or Toscanini than like Bernstein.

If this album contained only Bernstein's early performances of these symphonies, it would be interesting, but it might not really attract that much attention, since he re-recorded all of these pieces in stereo in later years, and with the same orchestra.

What makes this set so valuable is that it contains his long out-of-print lectures on these symphonies, and far from what the previous reviewer claims, they never become boring and monotonous. No musician in our time, or maybe even in the history of music, was a better or more articulate and sensitive lecturer on music than Leonard Bernstein. His legendary appearances on the "Young People's Concerts" did more for the appreciation of classical music than all the "Beethoven's Wig" albums combined. (If you don't know what "Beethoven's Wig" is, check it out and shudder at how far music appreciation has fallen since Bernstein's death.)

Bernstein had a unique ability to make classical music accessible to everybody, without ever condescending to the listener or cheapening the music. His lectures on this album, previously only available to 1950's Book of the Month Subscribers (except for part of the Beethoven lecture, which is the only one that Bernstein did re-record in stereo), are invaluable both to music students and to those who are willing to listen. All of the lectures included cover all four movements of the symphonies discussed, except for the Brahms; that one is just as extensive as the others, but it covers only the first movement of the symphony.

However--be warned, the lectures do have a flaw that the symphonies themselves do not, and that is why I have subtracted one star.

The symphony recordings are obviously remastered from magnetic tape, but the lectures have been transferred from LP's. Thus, you will be able to hear an occasional click or pop from time to time, and there is a clearly audible "skip" on the Brahms lecture. It is NOT the CD being defective, or the laser beam on your player skipping; it is clearly the lecture recordings themselves. Deutsche Grammophon, which released this CD set, is very honest about the source of the transfers to compact disc, and is to be commended for this. (They mention it in the last page of the accompanying booklet.) But this shouldn't deter anybody from buying this enormously important Bernstein set.

Bernstein's Early American Recordings.......2005-04-02

The most recent batch of DG's "Original Masters" box sets boasts several titles that will leave classical collectors rejoicing, "Leonard Bernstein: The 1953 American Decca Recordings" foremost among them. This 5CD set features Lenny in his earliest recorded performances of some of his trademark works -- Beethoven's 3rd, Dvorak's 9th, Schumann's 2nd, Brahms' 4th and Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphonies. Bernstein would later re-record all of five these symphonies with the NYPO (btw, the Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York IS the NYPO) to greater acclaim for Columbia, but these early accounts capture a brilliant young conductor at the threshold of greatness. Also after each performance, Bernstein offers a musical analysis, simplifying what the listener just heard as only he could, which is again something the conductor would become famous for in years to come. Well then, if this is such a great set, why the four-star rating? First, while the performances sound very good, these are 1953 mono recordings and the casual fan needs to be aware that analog and digital stereo recordings of these works by the conductor do exist, and are generally preferable. Second, the musical analysis is a nice touch, but certainly does not warrant repeated listenings, as does the music. In fact, nearly half of the contents of these five discs is LB talking, and it could have been filled with music instead, or simply sold as a less expensive 3CD set. However, these shortcomings aside, "Leonard Bernstein: The 1953 American Decca Recordings" is another outstanding release in a fine series.

Average customer rating:

Symphony 9: Introduction to Dvorak
Dvorak
Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
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Classics Explained: Rite of Spring

ASIN: B000069HGK
Release Date: 2002-09-17

Average customer rating:

Undine - Complete Opera in Four Acts

Manufacturer: Capriccio
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Cowboy | Country | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00002604Q
Release Date: 1995-12-12

Tracks:

Rhinestone Cowboy
Gentle on My Mind
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Dreams of the Everyday Housewife
Heartache Number Three
Please Come to Boston
It's Only Make Believe
Crying
Blue Grass Medley
Milk Cow Blues

Average customer rating:

great, great!!!
ALL THE MUSIC YOU EVER NEED!!

Sacred Music Complete
Purcell , King , and Kings Consort
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00006RHQJ
Release Date: 2002-12-10

Customer Reviews:

great, great!!!.......2006-12-05

This is the way ,I think, Purcell should sound. No pomp and surcomstance but only great music.

ALL THE MUSIC YOU EVER NEED!!.......2003-05-23

This boxed set is by far one of the best purchases I have ever made. As a Purcell freak, this hits every button I have. The cast of characters include the inequitable Robert King, New College Choir, Bowman, and a host of other venerable persons. Likewise the attention to period performance of these works makes it an essential addition to the library of any serious anglophile/Musicologist etc. Now if only the Britten Realizations of all Purcell's songs could be recorded alongside the originals! You will Love this set!

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