Cool Yule Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Cool Yule? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Cool Yule. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Cool Yule ReviewThis is one incredible Christmas CD from Bette Midler. Bette's first Christmas album is full of great renditions of the standards of this time of year including "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas;" "Ill Be Home For Christmas;" "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?;" "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and "White Christmas." Bette throws in a lot of her own pizzazz and wonderful eggnog with a new song "Cool Yule" and she does a wonderful duet with Johnny Mathis as they perform "Winter Wonderland/Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" Terrific!
The CD opens strong with "Merry Christmas." This song boasts a great musical arrangement and Bette's voice is in excellent form--as it is throughout this album! Then the CD shifts gears and revs up the motors a little bit with "Cool Yule." This song, written by Steve Allen with additional lyrics by Eric Kornfeld, is a lot of fun and you'll be eager to listen to it again and again!
Another fun song on this CD is "Mele Kalikimaka." This is how to say "Merry Christmas" in Hawaiian; this adds a very personal touch to the CD because Bette was born in the state of Hawaii. It offers a great musical composition that starts off with a brief romantic flavor and then twists into a very catchy tune! Could this be a new classic in the making? I think this song will become increasingly popular with time as it is very well written and Bette does a great job with it. The numerous background vocalists are wonderful as well.
Bette Midler fans will recognize the special Christmas version of "From A Distance." It is touching as it was when it was first released and it remains just as relevant today as it was when it was first released in 1990. Newcomers will enjoy this special song as well.
I especially like how Bette masterfully handles the romantic, sentimental lyrics of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" as well as "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Bette breathes new life into these standards with her beautiful voice, energy and passion.
The quality of the sound is excellent even on a portable CD player. The liner notes are wonderful, too. There are nice photos of Bette both in the liner notes and on the back of the CD artwork, too. You get the song credits and there's a well written essay by Jay Landers. Nice!
Overall, I would recommend this CD for Bette Midler fans and anyone who appreciates beautifully arranged Christmas music. Bette's voice has never sounded better and I applaud her fine efforts to make her first Christmas CD a splendid reality. "Mele Kalikimaka" to you!SMILES
Cool Yule OverviewThis is Bette's first ever Holiday album! Bette delivers the ultimate present - Cool Yule!Experience the excellence of Bette's vocals with delightfully lush arrangements that will help you get into that Holiday spirit! If you are a fan of Bette's, this is a CD you MUST have! It is includes the new holiday version of "From A Distance" with orchestration by Robbie Buchanan and Noel-inspired lyrics. This album is sure to become a new holiday favorite!

Want to learn more information about Cool Yule?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Classical Kids: Collection Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Classical Kids: Collection? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Classical Kids: Collection. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Classical Kids: Collection ReviewWe've had the CDs in this boxed set for over a year now. The Classical Kids series has been wonderful. We have two boys (now 6 and 8) and this has been a great introduction to classical music. At first, the kids loved the stories which provide a sense of history and place and, ultimately, keep the kids interested in the entire CD. As they listened (time and time again), they started to pay more attention to the musical portions. Recently, we've been able to tell that they've picked up a sense of the music as we've listed to classical music on the car radio. Time and again, they perk up when listening to a piece of music and surprise us by saying "That's Beethoven". Sure enough - they've picked up something about the style of music that's characteristic of Beethoven. Sometimes it's the snippet of music from the CD and other times it's just the rhythms that are characteristic of that piece. As a family, we all recommend this.Classical Kids: Collection Overview

Want to learn more information about Classical Kids: Collection?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

A Quiet Thing; David Daniels & Craig Ogden Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy A Quiet Thing; David Daniels & Craig Ogden? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on A Quiet Thing; David Daniels & Craig Ogden. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

A Quiet Thing; David Daniels & Craig Ogden ReviewI know, I know--you can't stand the countertenor voice, it's "weird," "creepy," "unnerving." I can't promise to change anyone's mind; this voice is an acquired taste. But oh, the glories if you acquire it!
Daniels's tone, shadings, and breath control are pure beauty. The Renaissance songs, such as Dowland's "Come Again Sweet Love," we expect to be great, because Dowland wrote with this voice in mind. But even in the contemporary songs such as "A Quiet Thing," Daniels is a revelation. And in what has become his signature song, "Blackberry Winter," he is heartbreaking; the colors of his voice, the emotion, especially in the repeat of the line, "And I get so lonely," make one cry.
Listen to this CD to understand why the countertenor voice has been so revered and exalted for hundreds of years. Not since the days of Russell Oberlin have I encountered such a moving, almost unbearably beautiful recording.A Quiet Thing; David Daniels & Craig Ogden OverviewSolid Disk guaranteed with no scratches

Want to learn more information about A Quiet Thing; David Daniels & Craig Ogden?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Frederica von Stade sings Dorumsgaard, Mahler, Ives, Poulenc and others Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Frederica von Stade sings Dorumsgaard, Mahler, Ives, Poulenc and others? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Frederica von Stade sings Dorumsgaard, Mahler, Ives, Poulenc and others. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Frederica von Stade sings Dorumsgaard, Mahler, Ives, Poulenc and others ReviewWhat a wonderful concert! The material is varied and well-executed. Only three years into her international career, Miss Von Stade shows here exactly why she became an ovenight sensation in Europe. Most of the material in this concert has not previously been available on record. For Von Stade fans, this is an absolute MUST. For others, who obviously have never heard her, this is a glorious introduction to one of the world's finest singers.Frederica von Stade sings Dorumsgaard, Mahler, Ives, Poulenc and others Overview

Want to learn more information about Frederica von Stade sings Dorumsgaard, Mahler, Ives, Poulenc and others?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Marian Anderson: Brahms Alto Rhapsody & Lieder Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Marian Anderson: Brahms Alto Rhapsody & Lieder? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Marian Anderson: Brahms Alto Rhapsody & Lieder. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Marian Anderson: Brahms Alto Rhapsody & Lieder ReviewHere's a sometimes scratchy and wiry reminder of the artistry of American Marian Anderson (1897-1993), an American contralto about whom Arturo Toscanini said she had a voice heard once in a hundred years.
Anderson, a native Philadelphian, debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 1925 and scored an immediate success. She first sang at Carnegie Hall in 1928 and her reputation, like Paul Robeson's in the same period,was furthered by European tours where she did not encounter the racial prejudices she endured at home.
Andreson became such a fixture in American society a commemorative postage stamp was created to honor her memory in 2005 as part of the Black Heritage series. She is also pictured on the $5,000 Savings Bond.
Anderson works here from sometimes clear, sometimes scratchy 78 productions of Brahms' Alto Rhapsody, songs & opera excerpts by Brahms, St. Saens and Sibelius, and some American classics, sometimes abetted by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Elsewhere, Kosti Vehanen accomapnies the contralto in this memento, among other things repeating their famous duet at Washington's Lincoln Memorial in 1939. Vehanen worked with her in Europe to master some of the Scandanavian repertory included in this recording.
The gem of this collection is the Anderson-Ormandy collaboration in Brahms' Alto Rhapsody. The pair perfectly reflect the composer's heartbreak when he composed it as a wedding gift for Robert Schumann's daughter. Brahms silently longed for the girl and portrayed his unstated love through the music, which first reflects his melancholy and later seems to suggest a certain emotional accommodation against the forces at work.
Anderson and Ormandy are flawless in a good transfer from 1937. The singer perfectly captures the moment in each stanza and the male chorus comments on the composer's state of mind with equal potence. This is musicmaking on the highest plane of technical and emotional achievement. After this, the remaining songs & excerpts, a varied group, never display the same intensity of emotion. The concert is polished off with a couple American spirituals, repertory where the singer is most at home.
This memento will suit anyone that wants to better understand what made Marian Anderson an American icon in classical music and song during the Depression, before the war, and in the years afterward. Younger listeners used to being accommodated by DDD and SACD should make mental allowance for the sound, which is sometimes below any standard you may be used to.

Marian Anderson: Brahms Alto Rhapsody & Lieder Overview

Want to learn more information about Marian Anderson: Brahms Alto Rhapsody & Lieder?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Next Big Thing Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Next Big Thing? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Next Big Thing. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Next Big Thing ReviewVince has offered up a 17 song set (practically two CDs worth of music for the price of one) without a single weak song on the
CD. As always, he is a triple threat as a great singer,songwriter and musician. Vince shows us again all that is good about contemporary country music today (This CD is on par with his classic "The Key" from 1998).
Songs range from hard core country ("Two Hearts", "Without You", "Old Time Fiddle") to strong ballads ("Someday" & "In These Last Few Days), to mid tempo country/pop ("She Never Makes Me Cry" & "We Had It ALL") to rockin country ("Next Big Thing").
Especially moving is his nod to getting older and being comfortable with it in "Young Man's Town" (destined to be a classic song!), the Merle haggard tribute in "Real Mean Bottle" and the sentimental life's journey song "This Old Guitar and Me".
The songwriting is exceptionally strong and Vince proves he can produce his own music without Tony Brown.
I have no doubt this will be the next big hit for Vince Gill!
I highly recommend this CD.Next Big Thing Overview

Want to learn more information about Next Big Thing?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Csárdás: Hungarian Gypsy Music Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Csárdás: Hungarian Gypsy Music? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Csárdás: Hungarian Gypsy Music. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Csárdás: Hungarian Gypsy Music ReviewSanta Ferenc is a well respected virtuoso gypsy violinist & composer, who was born in Kaposvar, Hungary. The music on this CD is beautiful and is known to most Hungarians. It is played by a master violinist and his gypsy band with perfection ... This is the music one would hear played by a strolling "primas" (first violinist) and his band as they wander from table to table, serenading the patrons at a fancy restaurant. Whoever wrote anonymous, is perhaps refering to the fact the music is traditional and therefore no one knows the composers or origin of the music. (Please be aware that "Santa" is pronounced, "Shanta" with the first 'a' sounding like the American 'aah' and the second 'a' sounding like the vowel in 'up'.) Rest assured, this is among the finest violin music available anywhere & at an unbelievable price ...
This CD is a worthy addition to anyone's collection of traditional Hungarian music. It is filled with fancy violin embellishments which takes years & years to master, cimbalom improvisations (similar to hammered dulcimer), and the tarogato, a Hungarian wind instrument, which resembles a clarinet in appearance but has the mellow tones like a shawm oboe. The word, "csardas" refers to the Hungarian dance composed of fast and slow rhythms, that is often played at break-neck speed, creating exhilaration and excitement in dancers and listeners alike. ('cs' is pronounced like the American 'ch', the first 'a' is pronounced more like 'aah' and the second 'a', is pronounced like 'on', the accent is always the first syllable, & clipped, which gives the Hungarian language its musical quality in speech). The music is exciting, energetic, exhilarating and covers a wide range of styles and regions. Anyone interested in traditional music from Eastern Europe would love it. Erika Borsos (erikab93)Csárdás: Hungarian Gypsy Music Overview

Want to learn more information about Csárdás: Hungarian Gypsy Music?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...