Sera

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Sera's music could no more ignore her life than a heart could ignore its beat. One enflames the other. And throughout her music, unmistakable in its passion, the Mississippi-born singer-songwriter leans heavily on her life growing up roaming the South with her Evangelist father and his family singing group, comprised of her brothers and sisters.

Sera's desire to "reach all people, not just church members," eventually inspired her to accept an invitation to sing and play keyboard in Mississippi's Gulf Coast casinos. While performing with a Top 40 show-band, she attracted the attention of record producer, Allan "Grip" Smith, who worked with Keith Sweat and TLC. He urged Sera to move to Atlanta to write and record her original material.

Ultimately, a demo tape of her songs reached legendary Steely Dan producer, Gary Katz. "When I met Sera… she sat in the room and sang for me, and just blew me away. She can sit at a keyboard and do any and everything. She never wrote or sang a secular song until she was 18 or 19. So she comes to this without being soiled, so to speak. It's part of the brilliance of who she is."

With the finely tuned guidance of producers Katz and Smith, Sera launches her debut CD, Sera (Aezra/BMG), a 12 song, sparkling first impression featuring some of the most intense, stylish singing in all of contemporary music. "I consider myself a storyteller. I put these stories together, whether they are experiences that I lived, or friends, or people I've talked to along the way. I've tried to structure them in a way that everybody can relate to." The essence of any artists' talent is innovation, and in a complete and dazzling display, Sera throws down the gauntlet in this extraordinary new album. Using inspired percussion arrangements, and subdued harmonies, this production plays to Sera's strengths - artistic vision, piercing lyrics, and confident, urgent vocals.

"This is who I am. This is what I've been doing since I was a little kid, so this is ME… That's what my songs are about. They are supposed to jump out at you, reach you, and capture you. I just want to touch people with my music."

Product Description
With the finely tuned guidance of producers Gary Katz and Alan Smith, Sera launches her self-titled debut CD (Aezra/BMG), a 12 song sparkling first impression featuring some of the most intense, stylish singing in all of contemporary music.

Sera,Sera,Liquid 8,Pop,Popular Music,R&B,Rock/Pop,Teen Pop

Sera

Tracks:

Con Te Partiro
Vivere
Per Amore
Il Mare Calmo Della Sera
Caruso
Macchine Da Guerra
Le Tue Parole
Vivo Per Lei
Romanza
La Luna Che Non C'e
Rapsodia
Voglio Restare Cosi
E Chiove
Miserere-Live
Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) - A Tribute To Henri Maske

Amazon.com essential recording

From his childhood on the family farm in rural Tuscany to the worldwide stage, Andrea Bocelli has achieved phenomenal success. His singing is only partially the point, and his fame owes much more to the aura of romance and the romantic archetype that's attached to him. Romanza is by far Bocelli's largest success, winning adoration thanks to the swooning vocals and the easy, sometimes lush, always pop-safe instrumental textures and melodies. As far as his opera chops go, Bocelli has won the approval of Pavarotti but likely will not wow enthusiasts. The upside is that Bocelli will likely grow the opera pie, convincing labels to take on more operatic projects. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Bias I Confess.......2007-07-06

I confess to loving Italian music and opera in addition to Rock & Roll, Country and music in general.

This music is good when you want to relax or have a lady over 40 you want to entertain.

An Italianized Englishman..........2007-06-01

Is the Devil incarnate." (Inglese italianato e un diavolo incarnate) Or so I've heard. I suppose the author (I read it in a copy of Machiavelli's The Prince) could be forgiven for not having heard Don Bocelli and Donna Brightman sing "Con Te Partiro" - can we now say Inglese italianata e un angelo incarnate?

The rest of the album is a collection of ballads, most of which suffer from weak or clashing instrumentals. An exception is "Macchine Da Guerra" which has a pleasant and comparatively strong piano accompaniment.

I'd like to thank Kenny McCormick of South Park, CO for turning me on to Don Bocelli.

Romancing the listeners.......2007-05-30

What a voice, it soars with the arias and bops with the more contemporary. Especially love the song about Caruso. Andrea is un cantante bello, un uomo bello! Turn this one up with the top down and let it sing you home.

Amazing!!!.......2007-05-18

I bought this cd again after losing my original copy that I bought the year it was released. Out of all my Bocelli cds this is my favorite. It has a good mix of classic opera with popera and really shows his abilities. I have used this cd to turn people on to opera and popera, and the results have been incredible! Once you hear him, you cannot deny his talent and passion. Simply AMAZING!!!

Andrea in the 90's.......2007-04-20

Andrea is incredible.His romantic poetry with music is unparalleled.The only downside to this album is the inescapable 90's feel.If you don't mind it,then buy this album.If you do,then buy 'Time To Say Goodbye'off iTunes and get Sogno,Andrea,or Cieli di Toscana.

Average customer rating:

Medio-core
The best album yet.
Decent - Some songs superior and strong, others forgettable
Nothing short of awesome!
"Take a ride in the new Chevelle!" (possibly the dumbest review title possible)

Vena Sera
Chevelle
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Minutes to Midnight
Cannibal
Year Zero
Alpha
Them VS. You VS. Me

ASIN: B000NJLM3C
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Tracks:

Antisaint
Brainiac
Saferwaters
Well Enough Alone
Straight Jacket Fashion
The Fad
Humanoid
Paint The Seconds
Midnight to Midnight
I Get It
Saturdays

Customer Reviews:

Medio-core.......2007-08-04

I have been a fan since their first album. I love the first album, wasn't a big fan of Wonder Whats Next and, again, loved This Type of Thinking...

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I like every other Chevelle album that comes out. This one seems comletely uninspired. I can't wait until the next one. Based on history, it should be good.

The best album yet........2007-07-28

I have all the Chevelle ablums and I am confident that this ablum is the best they have released. I have all the songs repeating since the day I bought it.

Decent - Some songs superior and strong, others forgettable.......2007-07-18

I guess I'm not as enamored with the new release as others, in saying that I'm glad that so many fans have embraced the new album with such acceptance. When I first heard the final song "Saturdays" I was very impressed, I simply loved this song! The lyrics were especially meaningful to me, particularly the verse "Now we all belong...In the Saturdays of our youth" and that coupled with the sonic soundscape and simple yet prophetic songwriting made this a song I really, really enjoyed.

Perhaps I'm being too critical, and that song to me is a 15 on a 10 scale and should not hold a bias for me when judging the rest of the songs on this album. The problem is that some of the songs don't have much of a connection with me, instrumentally or lyrically. At times I enjoy the edgy guitar riffs but for the most part I felt like a lot of these songs just float by instead of reaching out and grabbing me like "Saturdays" did. The song "Well enough Alone" is memorable as its razor sharp opening leads into some emotional singing, and again I am excited in hoping there are more on the album like it.

Then I started giving it time to grow on me, and it did. The song "Humanoid" has some great changeups with regards to varying riffs and also a song that seemed to stick with me at its very first listen. The song "Paint the Seconds" is stoic at times and although the riffs on this particular song seem to be too familiar in connection with other songs on the album, the chorus has a great crescendo to it that makes it different enough to add to the overall driving power it has. The song "I get it" is also very likable and puts the songwriting and vocals a bit more in the forefront, including an infectious beat found throughout.

Chevelle has managed to stay visible on the front lines of new rock bands that have emerged in this decade among the remnants of a "rock" industry that is always trying to find a new identity, but all too often having its poster child fall off a cliff as the assembly line pushes forward, not heeding that the bridge is out ahead. There is still enough talent within these guys to blaze new trails and I look forward to their next release, while continuing to enjoy albums in their past discography.

Nothing short of awesome!.......2007-07-16

This is going to be short.
As anyone should have expected the new Chevelle cd is perfect. Yeah, they lost a member (brother). But the member (brother-in-law) is such a perfect fit that I doubt anybody even notices. As long as Chevelle keeps pumping out the great cd's that they have been, I foresee another great band. Go ahead & purchase this cd, you will not be let down.

"Take a ride in the new Chevelle!" (possibly the dumbest review title possible).......2007-07-13

Is this the album that Linkin Park (or at least their fanbase) wishes they had released?

Confident yet not lazy in their niche in today's rock scene, Chevelle has a satisfying 3rd major label LP with Vena Sera. You think Pete Loeffler has run out of fingers to point? You think wrong. He, brother Sam, and brother-in-law Dean have yet to run out of ways to manipulate their signature booming, detuned sound to condemn the masses and sell rock records that stand head and shoulders above their contemporaries in their intensity and quality songwriting.

Unlike parts of TTOT, this record proves easily listenable from beginning to end. The middle offers the most intense and creative songs. "Straight Jacket Fashion" manages to switch with fluidity between a punk beat and their oft-reliable and smooth ¾ groove, the place the song comes in for its landing. "The Fad" and "Humanoid" are the darkest cuts on the album, the latter employing an old-school rhythm and turning it into a blistering hook reminiscent of a quicker "Family System". Second single "I Get It" deserves a mention as well for its prominent acoustic guitar (believe it or not) in the verses and its seething, sarcastic tone throughout.

Don't think you're going to gain any new insights into the meaning of the songs nor who the arrows are aimed at - just like the past records, Pete's lyrics are inscrutable. Even so, you have to admit that he manages to create some of the catchiest choruses in radio rock, even if you have little idea who he's pissed at. It's actually rather nice, especially in Chevelle's genre, to have some mystery in the meanings of the songs. (And isn't that the point of art anyway, to interpret it for yourself?)

Critics have always come down on Chevelle either for Tool/Helmet imitation or just for lack of deviation from the nu-metal masses. While Vena Sera is not likely to silence the critics, those who do "get it" should be very pleased...Chevelle at least is not trying to break into the Top 40 like other rock bands going through identity crises.

Average customer rating:

Brow Italiano
Who else, but Buti

Bella Ragazza
Carlo Buti
Manufacturer: Asv Living Era
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00006L82Q
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Customer Reviews:

Brow Italiano.......2007-01-10

It is great to have this material to play in any motor vehicle. Most newer vehicles do not have cassette any more. My new Kia Amanti has both a cassette and a CD making all my old favorites possible to play.

Who else, but Buti.......2003-01-18

Among opera singers there is often a role associasted with a singer (for example, Callas/Tosca, Bastianini/Carlo Gerard, Gobi/Scarpia)..But in time others attempt the same role with various degrees of success, and sometimes even unseat the front runner!...Not so with Carlo Buti...there will never be another popular song interpreter like him, who has been imitated but never equaled. Every song in this collection - some of which are very hard to find - is recommended 100% by one who has heard him in person as well as in recordings. Bravo Buti, Bravissimo!

Average customer rating:

Crrrrazeh!

Buona Sera
Louis Prima
Manufacturer: Trad Line
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

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Louis Prima - His Greatest Hits
Capitol Collectors Series: Louis Prima
Breaking It Up!
Wildest
Louis and Keely!

ASIN: B00001OGZ4
Release Date: 2000-11-20

Tracks:

Buona Sera
Just A Gigolo-Iain't Got Nobody
Oh Marie
Angelina-Zooma Zooma
That Old Black Magic
I've Got You Under My Skin
5 Months 2 Weeks 2 Days
You Rascal You
Embraceable You-I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
I've Got The World On A String
Pennies From Heaven
A Foggy Day
Come Back To Sorrento
Robin Hood-Oh Babe
Jump Jive An' Wail
Gotta See Baby Tonight
Don't Worry 'Bout Me-I'm In The Mood For Love
When You're Smiling-The Sheik Of Araby
Hey Boy! Hey Girl!
Them There Eyes-Honeysuckle Rose
Basin Street Blues-When It's Sleepy Time Down

Album Description

Budget-priced collection with 21 of the legendary swing vocalist's absolute best, including his original version of 'Jump, Jive, An' Wail' that the Brian Setzer Orchestra re-popularized in 1998. Over 71 minutes of music. 1994 release.

Customer Reviews:

Crrrrazeh!.......2001-02-13

This album is definitely a must have for Prima fans or just plain old swing fans. A great collection of wild, wacky songs that causes your heart to do the jitterbug occupy the otherwise barren space on this spectacular CD. If you like to party and require some accompaniment (even if you don't) this is the music for you, and that's a fact Jack!

Average customer rating:

Understated Beauty
Like smart wool socks for the soul
Must Own
Classic

Sera Cahoone
Sera Cahoone
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
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Palo Santo
The Crane Wife
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Begin to Hope
Knives Don't Have Your Back

ASIN: B000FTL3AM
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Tracks:

Nowhere to Be Found
Last Time
Couch Song
Take Me Home
You're Lookin' Tired
I've Been Wrong
I'm on Your Side
Long Highway
What a Shame
So Long

Customer Reviews:

Understated Beauty.......2007-01-29

Listening to Sera Cahoone's debut is like watching an unknown independent movie that makes up for what it lacks in star power and special effects with a touching story and wonderful characters. Cahoone wanders a similar musical landscape as Kathleen Edwards and Allison Moorer. Though her songs depict a less graphic world, it's still a painful and lonely one. However, despite all this, there a thread of hope woven throughtout the tapestry of her songs. "Couch Song", the album's best track, is an absolute gem. Consider it a primer for an impressive album with nary a weak song. Though this one may have slid under your radar, it's one of the better surprises from 2006.

Like smart wool socks for the soul.......2006-10-09

Cahoone's soothing voice is a comforting tonic in today's hectic world.

Must Own.......2006-09-08

A simply wonderful album. Great music, great vocals, great feeling. If you're a fan of folk, you MUST add this album to your collection!

Classic.......2006-06-18

If you like Cat Power, Beth Orton or Neko Case you'll love this album. Its honest country flavored indie folk. Here's the official description:

Sera Cahoone is a twenty-nine year-old singer songwriter based in Seattle, by way of Colorado. Armed with her favorite Martin guitar, Seras music reflects her love of both old country-western and modern lo-fi. Her unique sound bridges the gap between the two genres, like a musical love child of Buck Owens and Cat Power. The Strangers music editor, Jennifer Maerz, states Cahoone has a truly gorgeous voice, a dusty country style delivery...(her) music gives me the chills...slow, warm, simply beautiful.
Sera has spent the past year working on her first full-length album. It was recently completed with help from musician friends: Jay Kardong, Jeff Fielder, Eric Himes, and Sarah Standard and Mat Brooke from Carissas Weird. The ten songs on her album feature a wide array of sounds including pedal steel, banjo, dobro, violin, and harmonica. Her album tells the quiet story of simple truthsheartbreak, longing, and self-discovery.
Sera began writing songs on the guitar in high school, but actually got her musical start at the age of eleven, when her mother finally gave in to her daughters prodding and bought Sera her first drum set. To the tune of her familys exasperation, she taught herself the drums by playing along to the radio in her bedroom. By thirteen, Seras mother was driving her to Rocky Mountain-town bars to play open blues jams with musicians thirty years her senior.
In recent years, Sera was the drummer for indie favorites Carissas Wierd, touring with Iron and Wine and The Long Winters. She has also played with Panda and Angel, Lisa Orth, and L.A. musician Patrick Park, completing two U.S. tours with Patrick in support of Liz Phair, Rachel Yamagata, and The Thrills. Sera also played drums on the upcoming release from Sub Pops Band Of Horses.
Seras experience as a drummer has heavily-influenced her song-writing. She has a sharp sense of rhythm and tempo, and has been described as a particularly percussive guitar-player, producing songs that are rich and memorable. Named by The Seattle Times as one of the Northwests top ten new artists of 2005, Tom Scanlon writes Upon hearing her sing, its clear she belongs in front of a microphone, no matter how good a drummer she is.
For now, Sera has set her drum sticks aside as she is quite busy, playing top venues with her band in the Seattle area. She was also a recently-featured guest on KEXPs John Richards popular morning show and she has some great shows scheduled for the near future. Her self-titled album is now in stores.

Giuseppe Di Stefano Sings Neapolitan Songs

Average customer rating:

Guiseppe di Strfano sings Neapolitan Songs
Di Stefano e magnifico!
Distefano has spoken!
Come back to Sorrento with Giuseppe Di Stefano.
Without peer

Giuseppe Di Stefano Sings Neapolitan Songs

Manufacturer: Testament UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Italy
Carlo Bergonzi - Italian Songs ~ Bellini · Verdi · Danza · Tosti · Donizetti · Rossini · Mascagni · Puccini

ASIN: B000003XK0
Release Date: 1997-04-10

Tracks:

'O Sole Mio
Marechiare
Dicitencello Vuje
Tu, Ca Nun Chiagne!
L'te Vurria Vasa!
Core Ngrato
Torna A Surriento
Silenzio Cantatore
Chiove
'O Paese D' 'O Sole
Santa Lucia Luntana
Maria, Mari'!
E Pallume
Fenesta Che Lucive
Na Sera E Maggio
Voce E Note!
Autunno
Santa Lucia
Senza Nisciuno
Piscatore
O Maranariello

Amazon.com

Here's a yummy CD platter, filled to the brim with prime examples of the irrepressible Giuseppe Di Stefano, singing what he was born to sing. The tenor is in close to pristine voice throughout these 1953-7 sessions, with none of the frayed edges and crooning that seeped into his work in the 1960s. More to the point, Di Stefano approaches familiar favorites like "O Solo Mio" and "Santa Lucia" with a kind of seriousness of purpose and elegant restraint that will be revelations to listeners weaned on showboating by the Three Tenors. You may, however, wish to investigate Testament's companion stereo volume, which has better sound and a wider variety of material. But Di Stefano fans will gladly dig in. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Guiseppe di Strfano sings Neapolitan Songs.......2007-01-09

Neapolitan songs sung by Guiseppe Di Stefano was one of my favourite vynil long play records. I no longer have the facility to play vynil records so I was delighted to be able to acquire this CD version from Amazon. I believe that the original recordings were made in 1953 - certainly my vynil was from that era. The digital remastering is very successful and we aficionados have cause to be grateful. A huge part of the enjoyment is the characteristic Italian accompaniment,flowing,soaring, romantic and full bodied,but never over-intrusive, by the orchestra conducted by Dino Olivieri. I mark the CD 4 and not 5 purely because of the advances, since 1953, in recording techniques.

Di Stefano e magnifico!.......2006-12-25

Giuseppe Di Stefano's magnificent tenor voice was never put to better use than singing these Neapolitan songs. They were written for his type of voice and he was born to sing them. His voice is liquid gold; it combines sustained lyricism with tremendous emotional urgency and power. Sweetness and plaitiveness are all there when they are needed to express the text. Diction is perfect. The orchestral arrangements recorded here are very operatic and Di Stefano's voice fills every corner of them. These songs are treasures and through Di Stefano they are brought to the the heights of musical expression.

Distefano has spoken!.......2006-11-28

I get furious when people like the gentleman from Australia waste their alloted space delving in minutiae when it comes to reviewing this album of Neapolitan Songs sung by the greatest exponent of this genre (according to people like Pavarotti, Delmonaco and Corelli). No doubt these gems call for a beautiful - yes, beautiful - voice that can also sustain diminuendo, stress - where needed, passion, pathos, etc. it's no secret that every singer since Caruso - tenor, baritone or classification-less has attempted this repertoire; but none has ALL these qualities..this is Pippo's domain and he has spoken! Buy this and thank the Lord it's available now!

Come back to Sorrento with Giuseppe Di Stefano........2003-07-07

These little Neapolitan songs, many dating from the C19th, travel well across international boundaries, language barriers, and time divisions. Giuseppe di Stefano recorded dozens of them during his prime, and Testament has gathered together 21 of them, recorded in the 1950s, on this CD. The producer and conductor was Dino Olivieri who, twenty years earlier, had added to the repertoire himself and conducted countless records of Neapolitan songs sung by Tito Schipa and Beniamino Gigli.

Di Stefano sings here with more musicianship than the latter and a more robust voice than the former. Dino Olivieri, who likes swirling strings and problematic counterpoints, contrives occasionally with Di Stefano to enact musically something in total contradiction to the words. My favorite songs here - I' tu vurria vasà - depicts the singer lying beside his beloved at dawn and hesitating even to kiss her lest it wake her. What we hear is a performance that is so loud as to suggest something that might lift the roof off the Festspielhaus at Bayreuth. Perhaps the blame lies with the balance engineers. The sound engineering is of the "zoom lens" type, evening out all the dynamic changes in Di Stefano's singing so that everything is heard at a steady forte volume throughout.

If this is one of your favorite singers, you'll want to have this CD, but if you love listening to these perennial favorite songs, which always start in a minor key and then switch to the tonic major key half way through each verse, then try versions by other singers.

Without peer.......2003-03-26

di Stefano is the standard for singing Neapolitan Songs. There is exuberance, warmth, pathos - everything. He puts it all into these gems. I am extremely glad Testament made these discs available. You can't go wrong with these, they are utterly fabulous!!

Average customer rating:

Few Could Sing Neapolitan Songs like Lanza
Canto Neapolitane
GREAT!!!!!
world's greatest tenor
I've fallen in love again

Mario Lanza: At His Best!

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000003FVR
Release Date: 1995-05-15

Tracks:

Funiculi Funicula
Dicitencello Vuie
Maria Mari
Voce 'E Notte
Canta Pe' Me
O Surdato 'Namurato
Comme Facette Mammeta?
Santa Lucia Luntana
Fenesta Che Lucive
Tu Ca Nun Chiagne
'Na sera 'e maggio
Passione
Drinking Song
Some Day
Love Me Tonight
Only A Rose
Tomorrow
Nocturne
Song Of The Vagabonds
Finale

Customer Reviews:

Few Could Sing Neapolitan Songs like Lanza.......2007-03-13

Neapolitan music is very special and unique. It requires singing from the soul and heart and a voice that articulates the language and its many nuances

Mario Lanza was not Neapolitan but he mastered the dialect and the music and the lyrics in a way that few have been able to articulate. As always, Lanza gives a wonderful performance on this album which does not need or deserve the pieces from the Vagabond King.

The greatest voice of this century and the twentieth century comes out in this splendid work. Just having the Neapolitan songs sung by Mario is worth the cost. I recommend it highly for lovers of the best and brightest, like Lanza was.

Canto Neapolitane.......2006-02-08

This was the last album Lanza recorded in which he was able to muster all his vocal splendor and create what remains perhaps the most passionately interpreted set of Neapolitan songs ever recorded by any tenor in history ( a close second being recordings by di Stefano, Corelli and Sergio Franchi).

Lanzas diction is uncannily Neapolitan, which is no mean feat considering that the Neapolitan dialect is all but impossile to duplicate by anyone not born and raised in the region. Even such greats as Corelli and del Monaco had problems with it and the much over-rated Pavarotti never even came close.
Lanza nailed it!

The song selection is great with the exception of Funicula...that song doesn't work no matter who sings it.
My personal favs are Dichitenchello Vuie, Voce la Notte, and Passione...Canta'p'me being a close second.
Lanzas gift for pouring his every emotion into his singing really comes forth on these songs. Moreso even than on any of his operatic selections which are peerless in their own right.
However; in my mind, Lanza always did his best work on the Neapolitan songs.

The songs from the soundtrack of the film "The Vagabond King" are about as lame as can be. They are right along the usual line of Hollywood junk which Lanza recorded too much of in his short career.
Thus the 4 star rating. I turn the CD off once the Neapolitan stuff is over with.

The only other major distraction here is not due to anything Mario could have controlled or done differently. It's in that that RCA decided to release this album in this then newly discovered "stereo surround" format, which was nothing more than overblown reverb effects. This worked well for a thin voiced Elvis, but it didn't fare to well with this type of material or Marios larger than life voice.

In the end, this is, and always will be a collection of the finest sung Neapolitan songs ever recorded.

Bravo Commendatore Lanza! Bravo!

GREAT!!!!!.......2005-11-26

If your gong to get one Mario Lanza CD or CD Set get the Mario Lanza Collection, But if you want to get one more, get this one, Mario Lanza At His Best. This is one CD (not a set like the collection) which contain many beautiful Italian folk songs and then competes with the songs from Lanza's Movie, The vagabond king. Lanza sings wonderful renditions of Funiculi Funicula, Dicitencello Vuie (just beautiful), Maria Mari (my Grandmothers favorite song), Voce e' Notte, Canta pe' Me, O Surdato Namurato, Comme Facette Mammeta?, Santa Lucia Luntana, Fenesta Che Lucive, Ta Ca Nun Chiagne, 'Na Sera 'e Maggio, and Passione (Which is just beautiful. Then the CD moves to the songs form the vagabond King; Drinking Song, Some day, Love Me Tonight, only A Rose, Tomorrow, Nocturne, Song of the vagabonds and Finale all well done. Judy Rasking sings with Mario on Some day, Only A Rose, Tomorrow, and Finale.

world's greatest tenor.......2005-10-29

Mario Lanza was a singer who possessed an absolutely glorious voice. soaring and beautiful, with a deep rich tone. He sings exclusively in his native Italian language on these recordings and the record is in two parts. the first 12 songs are more operatic in structure, containing moody, solemn passages in which Lanza's voice excels in the passion and romantic solitude that this kind of music is so well at expressing. the remaining eight tracks are a series called The Vagabond King and it's song structures are a little bit more of the old Hollywood variety, beginning with the cheery "Drinking Song" (which was a high rated hit in the u.s.). Mario is joined by soprano Judith Raskin on 4 of the songs and his singing is in English for these songs. this is a great introduction to the world of this fabulous singer.

I've fallen in love again.......2003-01-12

I had this as a LP record many years ago, and was absolutely thrilled to find the CD. I had always loved Lanza's voice, but I now realize that he was without a doubt one of the best tenor voices of the century. His ability to sing so many different types of songs is astounding. His voice is strong, filled with emotion and in some of the songs you can hear that he is hugely enjoying himself. What an incredible pity that he died at such a young age and was never able to fulfill all that he could have been.

Average customer rating:

What's Essential About This?
Pros and Cons..
Love Morricone, hate this collection
Essential Morricone
Another Morriconne Collection

Crime and Dissonance

Manufacturer: Ipecac Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000AA4LLO
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Tracks:

Girono Di Notte
Astratto 3
Corsa Sui Tetti
Ric Happenning
Memento Riereazione Diverdita
Studio Di Colore
Forza G
Placcaggio
Seuita
Postludio Alla Terza Moglia
L'uccello Dalle Piume
II Buio
Raprimento In Campo Aperto
De Fotografie
Bambola
Minna Nanna Per adulteri
Astrazione

Tracks:

Trafelato
Sensi
Gil Intoccabili
Fondante Paure
L'Attento - Version 1
Fumerie' d'Opium
1970
Esplicitamente Sospeso
Squenz 10
Paura e Aggrellione
Folle Folle
Un Uomo Da Rispettare

Amazon.com

Finally, the listening public is treated to a Morricone compilation that focuses on his more daring, outre, and lesser known score music. Nothing against his better-known spaghetti western soundtrack work; there is a reason after all that stuff is so well known, because it's fantastic and wholly original. But did you know the dude scored more films than any other composer (over 500), that his discography is twice that of Sun Ra, that he made amazing psychedelia and crazy funk and subtle experimental music? Assembled by the brilliant musician/ musical curator Alan Bishop for Mike Patton's Ipecac label with liner notes by John Zorn, the aptly titled Crime and Dissonance is culled from extremely rare releases from the early `70s. It's strange stuff, but very enjoyable and easily among the finest and most necessary reissues of the entire year. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews:

What's Essential About This?.......2007-04-21

A sticker on the jewel case proclaims Crime and Dissonance "an absolutely essential Morriconography". A couple of listens had me wondering what is so essential about this? Unfortunately, essential is an abused term when it comes to describing music. This might be said to be essential if you are a Morricone completeist, but when you compare the quality of the music here with that of some of his other compositions, you'll find that Crime and Dissonance is rather easily dispensible.
Is the music here unusual? Quite. But the question must be asked why anyone would sit around and just listen to it. This stuff belongs in a movie. Unlike many other Morricone compositions, the pieces here do not fit with any kind of mood you might have except that generated while you are watching a film.
I know a lot of folks with broad musical tastes, but I don't know of anyone who would listen to this CD just for pleasure or even for background music unless one was operating a commercial haunted house or having some kind of themed party. There's too much other better Morricone music out there!
I like Ennio Morricone and I am sure these pieces fit in the contexts for which they were intended, but I could have gone on quite happily without ever having heard Crime and Dissonance.

Pros and Cons.........2006-03-10

Pros:
Ennio Morricone was a terrific experimental composer. This music is Wierd.

Cons:
Kind of wierd combination of songs.. a lot of them don't feel like they should be on the same album.

Love Morricone, hate this collection.......2006-01-08

It's as if they took the most obnoxious parts they could find, and memorialized them.

Morricone is the master. But this collection misrepresents his genius.

I guess the Dissonance part in the title excuses all.

Essential Morricone.......2005-12-20

Crime and Dissonance is by far the best collection of Ennio Morricone's film music on the market. Primarily, because it focuses exclusively on a phase of Morricone's career that's largely been ignored (until now). This 2 disc collection contains some of Morricone's most startling, dark, spooky and adventurous music. Composed largely for obscure Italian horror movies and crime dramas, the music contained here is quite innovative for its time. Filled with almost avant jazz and psychedelic sounds, this is a great listen. The excellent tracklisting ignores chronology in favor of a thematic flow, and it works. This two disc set along with one of the many fine Morricone Western score collections is essential for any good music library. The man was far more than just a film composer, as this disc proves. Excellent.

Another Morriconne Collection.......2005-12-14

This compilation is gifted with lush photographs that depict the films they represent. However, not only are there far more vibrant Morriconne compilations available but the majority of these "rare" tracks already exist on other compilations. I love and treasure anything by Morriconne but, this compilation seems inappropriate especially with the Thriller Collection available (which mirrors this compilation in selections and tone). Out of the Argento/Morriconne collection, main titles compilations, and miscellaneous other soundtracks this one ranks among Wolf at a groveling beautiful suspensful mediocrity. But, when mediocore is written in the same sentence as Morriconne; one can only expect it to be the most heavenly kind of medicore.

Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works 1975-1999

Average customer rating:

Excellent
Rzewski's 7 CD Compilation
incredible playing of works with mixed content/concept

Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works 1975-1999
Frederic Rzewski
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00006JI9X
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Amazon.com

From his 1975 mega-variation set, The People United Will Never Be Defeated, to his eight-hour "novel for piano," The Road, Frederic Rzewski breathed new life, passion, and vitality into the long dormant composer-pianist tradition. Political and social issues provide a subtext from which Rzewski's musical imagination explodes with purposeful virtuosity, stylistic freedom, and high drama. He can conjure slow droplets of notes on a dark, still background ("A Life"), only to cram and compress a multitude of disparate popular themes within a larger, traditional framework (Sonata for Piano), or integrate music and spoken words to a level where they cannot exist without the other ("De Profundis"). Rzewski the composer provides Rzewski the pianist plenty of opportunity to display his ingenious improvisatory mettle: his cadenzas for "Mein Yingele, Which Side Are You On" particularly dazzle. There are, to be sure, other ways to play this music, such as Marc-André Hamelin's suavely proficient People United and Paul Jacobs's authoritative premiere recording of the North American Ballads. But the elemental force and personality defining Rzewski's pianism leave as indelible an imprint as his music. No lover of contemporary piano music should miss this important, superbly annotated release. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2005-10-07

Rzewski is one of the greatest composers of our time.
Definately a must have!

Rzewski's 7 CD Compilation.......2004-01-30

7 Discs of amazing piano performances from Rzewski, and this time around he's playing his own music. Highlights: First track off 1st CD: "North American Ballads (4) for piano, Nos 1-04", an excellent introduction to this compilation. Worth the money? ...Ahh, I dunno.. I hate giving my money away to loony liberals, but in this case, his music is brilliant so I found my purchase well worth it.

incredible playing of works with mixed content/concept.......2002-11-18

Rzewski said he never developed a style or musical language,but if you work your way through all seven disks here there is actually a musical language which emerges and a static dimension as well to Rzewski's creativity.
His music demands a strong subject, an inflammatory one if possible to get his improvisatory creative imagination in gear, as his celebrated solidarity exhibited in the "36 Variations" on the "The People United Will Never Be Defeated" which to my ears still remains the high point of all these disks. His musical language is magnetized around simple contrasts,timbral virtuosity and variations on the music materials he selects, as even the "North American Ballads" suggest,which also maintains a fascination over the years.Equally if not more timbrally fascinating are his "Four Pieces" which are not here.Rzewski I beleive is a composer like Stravinsky, he needs something to manipulate that is already formed in the real world,very postmodern in orientation and his music then never claims a magical dimension where moments can synergize amongst/between itself,themselves, as exhibited by his political brethren as Christian Wolff or Luigi Nono. He does however utilize the entire 20th Century piano vocabulary, but is always drawn toward a what we can refer to as Rzewski-esque chromaticism, a dovetailing of the fifth semitone interval, as: c-e-f#-b-Bb-f,something you may find in the piano music of Karol Syzmanowski. The "Fantasia" opening here is a good example of this,played with great passion and might also suggest the harmonic meaderings of Busoni.Also the 26 miniature variations on "Mayn Yingele" had an interesting subject dedicated to the memory of Kristallnacht, the desecration of synagoges in Germany,the story of a Jewish man working 18 hour days who never sees his son, only sleeping.The musical form of "miniature" is quite interesting,and one Rzewski knows quite well.
He has impressive TV miniature Operas entitled "Chains".
These miniature variations are followed with a Cadenza prior to Variation # 23, a procedure he is fond of, a summing up with a virtuoso recapitulative display.He does similar handlings in his Cardew disk on "We Sing For the Future".

There are some very low points I found in this piano music as the "Sonata" written in 1991, which has smatterings of glissandi Liberace like, and a stupid playfulness, that grows musically thin very quickly but is indeed disarming. The Agitato, the last movement begins with a low register uttering of "Taps".
Also the various four parts of "The Road", a work when complete will span some eight hours,all seemed arbitrary to me with the use of the voice to accentuate violent phrasings, and scouring the insides of the piano, with Cage-like tappings of the piano body.This wasn't exciting to say the least, and incredibly self-conscious.And I don't see what agenda is in place to transport the listener here to sustain such length.

Of course as I've mentioned Rzewski's creativity emanates from many places particulary the imagery of the Left, but was formed in his years with MEV the improvisatory ensemble in Rome,in the late Sixties, playing also with self-imposed American exiles, living on Fulbrights and Guggenheims. Rzewski for instance has been known to improvise cadenzas in his performances of Beethoven's "Hammerklavier Sonata", as well as in the early Sixties was the first to include the repertoire of the avant-garde of Stockhausen, Cage,Wolff and Boulez. Rzewski remains a unique example of radicalism in music with an affinity for the causes of the Left,but not so much as Cardew who was more an activist,founding a Marxist Party,nor not so academic bound as Christian Wolff,nor as deeply committed to European intellectual thought and high modernity,technology as Luigi Nono. But his music maintains an accessible directedness,with a high committment to lyricism.
His music also succeeds at times quite well in a dramatic situation as his 50 minute "Antigone-Legend", for Soprano Voice and Piano, or his chamber opera "The Invincible Persian Army"(1984).

Focus
Average customer rating:

A perfect merge between Pontes and Morricone

Pontes fan disappointed

Beyond earthly realms

Too much talent!

Beautiful

Focus
Ennio Morricone , and Dulce Pontes
Manufacturer: Umvd Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Best of Dulce Pontes

ASIN: B0000E5PEE
Release Date: 2003-10-27

Tracks:

Cinema Paradiso (Tema de Amor de Cinema Paradiso)
A Rose Among Thorns (The Mission)
Renascer (Moses)
No Ano Que Vem (Come Maddalena)
Your Love (Once Upon A Time In The West)
Ama Por Amor
Nosso Mar (Metti una sera a cena)
Antiga Palavra
Luz Prodigiosa (La Luz Prodigiosa)
The Ballad Of Sacco And Vanzetti (Sacco E Vanzetti)
Someone You Once Knew (Per Le Antiche Scale)
Voo
I Girasoli
House Of No Regrets (Chi Mai)
Barco Abandonado (Per Le Antiche Scale)

Album Description

2003 album features the work of the world-renowned film composer as interpreted by the Portuguese singing star. 15 tracks. Universal.

Customer Reviews:

A perfect merge between Pontes and Morricone.......2005-06-11

This is one of the best albums I've ever heard.
Ennio Morricone had known Dulce Pontes for many years, but he refused to work with her saying that her voice wasn't ripe.
Now we can see why... Morricone is a genious and managed to get the best out of Dulce.
It is an album full of emotions, either by the greatness of Morricone's music, either by the feeling that Pontes managed to transmit with her voice.
My favorite song is called "Amor a Portugal". It's a portuguese version of the "Your love", included in the portuguese edition as an extra track (number 16). It could become the Portuguese National Anthem.
As for the comment of one other review comparing Dulce Pontes with Celine Dion, I tottaly can't agree with that. At all.
Dulce Pontes is only showing the maturity in her voice.
And she's great doing that...

Pontes fan disappointed.......2004-06-16

I have listened in amazement to Pontes pushing the boundaries of fado and folk genres on her prior CDs with her unique delivery and fantastic voice. Here she leaves those boundaries behind and goes off into Celine Dion territory--show off all your technical ability and the entire extent of your range in every single song. Kind of exhausting. On the other hand, if you like fireworks in every song, this one's for you.

Beyond earthly realms.......2004-03-05

As cliched as it might sound, there are no words to describe either the talent of Dulce Pontes or the quality of this recording. This is one breathtaking singer, approximating the status of divinity on "FOCUS". For those lucky enough to understand the Portuguese lyrics, what a blessing; you may as well have discovered a new planet, a new world, particularly with regards to "Renascer" and "Voo". The inclusion of songs in English and Italian is a bonus.Dulce is so much more than a singer on this disc - she is life itself, in all its magical strains, in all its tortuous twists. Listen to "No Ano Que Vem" and you'll know what I'm talking about. No wonder that the album has done so brilliantly in Portugal and is now infiltrating countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy and Japan. Focus is a universal event, a celebration of that exquisite beauty which for so many of us remains a mere longing. Along Dulce's short career, this is the moment we've all waited for - now the world needs to discover it also. When I first heard this masterpiece, I felt that I was transcending, re-emerging, beginning to live all over again. Inevitably, Ennio Morricone must be mentioned - a great genius! The passion of his compositions remains unequalled - "A Rose Among Thorns" is testimony to the brilliance of both composer and singer. Through Dulce's miraculous imterpretation, Ennio Morricone's music must perforce become the new standard. I have been listening to the album for three days... and I feel like buying it again! Bravo, to two magical human beings perfectly poised on the wings of a wonder!

Too much talent!.......2004-02-29

This is an impressive album where Dulce Pontes turned cinematic themes from the Morricone repertoire into songs in English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, and she is breathtaking in most of them. Dulce Pontes embellishes Morricone's compositions with an epic grandeur that few other singers could have achieved. Her voice is very potent and playful, subtle when necessary, blends gracefully with the music, and succeeds in recreating the absurdity, the nuances, and the overwhelming beauty of Morricone's eccentric musical temperament. My favorite songs are those in English, particularly "Your Love" (with music from Once Upon a Time in the West). Dulce's elegant venture into a Brazilian arrangement makes "Nosso Mar" another favorite of mine. Her best achievement, however, is probably "No Ano Que Vem", a song inspired by Jerusalem and set to the strangely upbeat music from the film Maddalena. Focus is a superb accomplishment in Dulce's career. In the end, one could not possibly deny her the classical stature of Ennio Morricone.

Beautiful.......2004-01-21

I listened this album over and over. I really loved all the songs, one of my favorites is "Cinema Paradiso", is absolutly beautiful. The voice of Dulce Pontes I think is one of the bigest voices. I really enjoyed this album, i hope you will enjoy this like me.

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