Browse by Catagory:
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Sing We Christmas
Release Date: 1995-09-19
Sales rank: 3614
Christmas is the season for whipping out those holiday-specific standard recordings. This splendid gift by Chanticleer should top the list, for one will never tire of this a cappella choir's interpretations. With selections spanning the last five centuries of Latin, German, English, Spanish, and French festive fare, this recording exemplifies the sacrifice of the ego to the higher form of choral sound. Jacob Handl's "Mirabile Mysterium" takes you on a trip into the chromatic wonderlands, where you temporarily lose tonal balance. Victoria's eerie and dissonant "O Magnum Mysterium" treats us to rich voices swelling out of one organic whole. The phenomenal blend and perfect intonation elevate this recording above others in its category. --Barbara Eisner Bayer |
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Sinners & Saints: The Ultimate Medieval and Renaissance Music Collection
Release Date: 1996-07-23
Sales rank: 6211
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A Robert Shaw Christmas - Angels on High
Release Date: 1997-09-23
Sales rank: 46689
In this beautifully chosen program of mostly a cappella arrangements, Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers deliver the Christmas story in tones of gentle and moving splendor. The carols and sacred settings recorded here are all of an intimate sort, and the rapturous, gently expressive realizations Shaw and his singers give them prove unfailingly appealing. Particularly moving is the newest work on the disc, a setting of "O magnum mysterium" by the American composer Morten Lauridsen. Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria" is another gem, as is the arrangement by Healy Willan of the French carol "What Is This Lovely Fragrance?" The offering includes a pair of chorales from Bach's Christmas Oratorio and two wonderful Christmas works by Benjamin Britten: "A Hymn to the Virgin" and A Ceremony of Carols, both well done, even if the sound of sopranos and altos (rather than boy trebles) in the latter takes some getting used to. --Ted Libbey |
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Panorama: Dances of the Renaissance
Release Date: 2001-02-27
Sales rank: 18479
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A Christmas Celebration: Kathleen Battle
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Sales rank: 50571
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King's Singers Christmas
Release Date: 2003-10-21
Sales rank: 75716
Five centuries, seven languages, and six singers with 35 years of remarkable experience inform this rare collection of choral music. In the world-renowned King's Singers resplendent voices, ancient and modern choral music comes to life with all the blazing immediacy and timeliness of the gospel of the nativity. With 25 pieces of music--ranging from familiar works such as "Coventry Carol" to the obscure Tchaikovsky piece "The Crown of Roses"--the King's Singers move through this hallowed and festive set with the vocal mastery that only three-and-a-half decades of accomplished work together is capable of creating. A number of contemporary carols written in the last century by composers such as John McCabe, Philip Lawson, John Rutter, and others are balanced by pieces by Bach and a host of traditional works. Lawson's "You Are the New Day," performed with a string quartet, stands out as one of the more notable performances. Like most of their music throughout Christmas, it reminds listeners that the art of music often interprets divine aspects gladly realized here on Earth. --Martin Keller |
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Best of L.A.G.Q.
Release Date: 1998-09-22
Sales rank: 52639
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Dream a Dream
Release Date: 2000-10-17
Sales rank: 8624
Everybody's favorite precocious sprite of a soprano comes out with her third album in Dream a Dream. It's only been two years since Charlotte Church's smash debut, Voice of an Angel, but that's a big chunk of the Welsh singer's life span so far. This latest is basically a Christmas album, so full of festive cheer you'd never guess it was recorded in the summer. Even the glummest of moods will disappear when you hear Charlotte's infectious take on chestnuts such as "Winter Wonderland" and "Little Drummer Boy" (and having the London Symphony Orchestra as your backup band doesn't hurt either). And on top of that is a really special treat: the title song (borrowing an unforgettable classical melody) which blends Church's soaring vocals with the tender voice of young country prodigy Billy Gilman. --Sarah Chin |
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La Rocque 'n' Roll - Popular Music of Renaissance France / The Baltimore Consort
Release Date: 1993-09-28
Sales rank: 91558
This title isn't just a joke. It makes the valid point that these Renaissance pieces occupied the same place in their culture as our pop music does in ours. People whistled these tunes in the street and danced to them at night, and you can easily accept the disc's title when hearing the Baltimore Consort's extremely lively performances, which have all the rhythmic drive and gusto of a good rock band. The ensemble's arrangements and the variety of its programming also contribute to the success of this disc, which would make an excellent introduction to music of the period. The booklet contains translations of all the vocal texts, and Dorian's sound leaps out of the loudspeakers with great clarity and presence. --Leslie Gerber |
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A Renaissance Christmas / Cohen, Boston Camerata
Release Date: 1991-09-13
Sales rank: 78728
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