5 comments about Handel - Messiah / Clift · Robbin · Fowler · Ledbetter · Boston Baroque, Pearlman.

1. This recording of Handels Oratorio Messiah by Martin Pearlman
   
   and the Boston Baroque with Clift, Robbin, Fowler, and Ledbetter
   
   is one of the best of the HIP recordings and one of the best
   
   recordings of this work period. Is it the "definitive" Messiah
   
   recording? No since there is no "definitive" performing version
   
   of Messiah, there is no such thing as a "definitive" recording.
   
   What makes this one of the best recordings is the fact that the
   
   soloists, the chorus, and the orchestra are all very well
   
   rehearsed in the work and also the fact that all the parties
   
   performing it are very good at what they do. I cannot find any
   
   faults with any of the soloists, or with Martin Pearlman's choices
   
   in how he put his performance together. The whole things works
   
   and works well. Telarc brings their ususal great recording and
   
   engineering skills to bear on this set and it pays off in great
   
   sound. If I could only have one recording of Handel's Messiah
   
   I could easily live with this one.



2. One of the other reviews stated that this version "pops", and I have to agree. Messiah is a widely performed, as it should be. Even a frequently performed great piece of music has aspects that can be profitably explored in new and different ways, and that is what Perlman and crew do.
   
   There is still grandeur, although perhaps the "pomp" is a bit less than some romantically influenced performances would have, and the singing is glorious. What this version did for me was to allow me to hear aspects of the composition that are frequently muted in peformances that don't "pop", but rather overwhelm in a grandiose fashion.
   
   After listening to this recording, I must say that my respect for Handel as a compositional genius was cemented. The crisp and clean, yet still traditionally glorious, Messiah recorded here allows one to marvel at the at the "innards" of the work, not just bask in the overhwelming emotion that many associate with it.
   
   If you enjoy really listening to and comparing performances of great works of music, this should be in your collection.



3. So every year you pop in the same Messiah CD with a 400 Voice Choir that is so garbled, that one cannot begin to understand what is being sung. These albums usually sound like a bunch of pre-madonnas trying to outdo one another (which is typically the case). Yes I'll say it, many people in the older generation tend to sing as if they think making huge vibrato and big noise is the right way to sing. "I'll show those young singers the way it's supposed to be" NO NO NO!
   
   This album is for those of you who've been searching for an actual Choir that stays together throughout the Messiah, you can understand them, they impress you with their speed, accuracy, and they trick you by making it sound like it's easy to them. Try listening to "His Yoke is Easy" and I dare you to try and keep up. Well friends here it is, a beautiful album or rich sounds and even the soloists are impressive. Guess what? It was done in 1991 of all things and it sounds like it was recorded this year.
   Is it worth getting this album? YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES! Also recommended are their "Bach Magnificat and Vivaldi Gloria" Enjoy!



4. This is one of the finest recordings of Messiah on the market. It's tempos are brisk, the period instruments a delight to the ear and the solosists outstanding. I return to this performance, over the several other outstanding ones that I own, time and again. As a patron of the ensemble I might be biased in its favor, but in Boston, where they perform, there are many options when looking for a truly uplifting presentation of Handel's most famous work and it is to Boston Baroque that I often look for the spiritual uplift an outstanding Messiah can provide.



5. I recommend this for you or for a present for someone or for presents for many people. It is beautiful. Wonderful to play now, especially during Christmas season, but can listen to whenever. The booklet containing all the words is also wonderful- it contains the words in many languages. Uplifting- brings joy to me on my way to work.

5 comments about Merry Christmas (Joyeux Noël).

1. A wonderful soundtrack to an awesome movie.
   
   I can't listen to it enough, Thank you Philippe Rombi



2. Anyone know if this spectacular film will ever be released on DVD?



3. Philippe Rombi is a composer new to this listener and being so impressed with the film 'Joyeux Noël' encouraged purchasing the Soundtrack. Not a mistake at all. For once the entire music excerpts of significance are intact, even the artists who were guests, providing professional opera singers for the voices of the two cinematic actor/singers.
   
   Rombi opens the film about WW I with very eloquent, quiet, lovely solo piano music, and very often he is so sensitive to the message of the film that just when the action looks as though the music should be of the Carmina Burana ilk, Rombi settles for orchestral Adagios. He has elected to use the carols Stille Nacht and Adeste Fidelis for the actor Sprink to sing and uses the voice of the gifted tenor Rolando Villazon to intone the music. To establish the relationship between the two opera singers, Sprink and Anna (Villazon and Natalie Dessay), he has them perform a duet version of Bach's 'Bist du bei mer' - the words of which take on deep meaning as the film progresses. When he has a moment for Anna to sing a solo, he writes his own version of Ave Maria for Anna/Natalie Dessay to sing. It is very lovely.
   
   There are several 'tunes' written for the score - 'Fraternizers' Hymn' ('I'm Dreaming Of Home'), the theme for Anna and Nikolaus - which very well could endure long after the score and film disappear, they are that fine.
   
   In all the score is very strong and well played, sung, and conducted. This is a soundtrack that bears attention for lovers of beautiful music. Grady Harp, November 06



4. wonderful sound track, beautiful, melancholy, nostalgic, sad but sublime music to synchronize this unnecessary human tragedy.
   i remember that i've seen an older movie exactly like this, but it's american soldiers and german soldiers doing the x'mas truce, drinking and singing the x'mas carols together on x'mas eve. why and how it became possible? because both countries still have the same religion, the same belief and the same god.
   anyway, the premise of that and this movie is to deliver a message to you: enemy is what your president, your chancellor, your goverment, your generals giving to you. they point across the border, telling you that a whole foreign country out there and the all the people in that specific nation are your enemy. when these people decide to declare the war on that country, then the people in that country suddenly become your enemy. before that, you never knew that you've got an enemy, you'd never thought the people in that country would be your enemy.
   funny thing is once the war is over, tourism would take over, and then you'd travel to that once you thought very unfriendly country and shake the hands of that country's people. if you go there in the holiday season, you'd say 'merry x'mas' to each other with smiles on your face.
   but some of the countries that would never become your friendly nations and your friendly foreign people if you invade their country and force them to reform a new government and replace all the guys your government doesn't like. and they'd never say 'merry x'mas' to you, because they have different culture, different belief, different god, different book of god, different holidays. but regretfully, when you invade their country, you've totally destroy all the things they used to have. when all the good and bad are forcefully changed in the name of liberation by a foreign nation, there's no way they'd appreciate your holidays with respect.
   this is what we have to learn from this movie.
   you know why this truce could be achieved between german soldiers, french soldiers or american g.i.s?
   funny thing is that under same god, same belief, same bible, same....how could it possible that they'd still become enemies to each other? two boxers with the same belief into the boxing bouts, they both cross themselves before each bout and wish god would help him to beat out of his opponent. why they fight each other? because the words 'in god we trust' are printed on paper money. the green $ sign pushes them to fight each other. maybe the cause of a war between nations with the same religion is the green $ sign too?
   eh, by the way, if i sit in my living room, watching this movie, how could it possible that i would become enemy even to my neighbors, if i don't have a yapping dog barking day and night, bothering their sleep?
   by the same token, how could it possible that i would have a whole region's countries' people who hate me to the guts and screaming 'death to america! death to americans!'?? how could i become an enemy to a country about ten thousand miles away if i couldn't even make an enemy to my immediate neighbors?
   now, you tell me, i just want you to tell me. i don't want my government and its imbecile officials to tell me.



5. I thought the movie was good, but I was disapointed with the rating. I think the sexual scene was downplayed in the PG13 rating, i.e. "a little bit of sexual nudity"..I would not want any children watching that scene, it was obvious sexual intercourse.I think it should have had an R rating instead.
   I was very disappointed with the rating

2 comments about Can You Feel It?.

1. As Blender magazine says" one of black gospel music's secret treasures" This album should change all that.
   Produced by John Medeski(who also plays on several cuts) from Medeski, Martin, & Woods, this is the album that Campbells fans have been waiting for.The arrangements are fresh and innovative and the two steel guitars (one lap steel and one pedal steel) are pushed out front and center where they belong.
   The songs are incredibly eclectic, from the driving Frammin'which opens the CD to the cool arrnagement on Amazing Grace, every song is a wonderful "ride" full of twists turn and surprises.
   The original songs are outstanding as well. Sign of the Judgment and Power Lord showcase straightforward yet mature song writing capabilities and musically, well...remember the last 5 great concerts you saw...you'll hear more smoking licks on this CD thean those shows put together.
   Most bands are lucky to have one good soloist, but the Campbells are a band overflowing with talent. Chuck Campbell was recently declared the first ever "Master of the Pedal Steel Guitar" by the NEA. Darick Campbell makes his lap steel laugh, cry, and sing.Rhythm guitarist Phil Campbell displays some "guitar hero" chops as well as some sweet jazzy riffs. Bass player Malcolm Kirby and dummer Carl Campbell create a wonderful bed for the rest of the band to play on. In short, there's not a bad player in this band.And I didn't even get to the superb vocals from Denise Brown...wow...this lady can flat out sing!
   One listen to this Cd and you'll understand why some of the world's greatest musicians are Campbells fans: from BB King to Jerry Douglas, Bill Frisell to Steve Gadd, The Allman Brothers to Charlie Hunter.
   
   I recently read a review that summed it up better than anything:
   "If Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Django Reinhardt formed a band with Mahalia Jackson on vocals, they could almost keep up with the Campbell Brothers."...need anyone say anymore. Buy this now...it's a life changer.



2. I bought this CD after hearing them in Hawai'i.
   Wonderful people doing soul moving music that makes one
   want to jump up, shout and dance.
   
   Because of that, the CD should have a warning on it though:
   
   Exert extreme caution when driving a vehicle while listening
   to this CD
   

5 comments about Come on Christmas.

1. I love the combination of Country and Christmas music. However, Dwight Yoakam did not seem like the obvious choice, having a voice that's more suited to lonesome material, rather than the festive fare usually associated with Christmas. Being absolutely mad about Dwight and bit of a completist this album finally did wound up in my mailbox. And I'm glad it did! Trust Dwight to make this anything but standard material. The closing track "Santa can't stay" tells of a drunk dad dressing up like Santa throwing presents at mom's new boyfriend. See what I mean? Lyrically, the other songs are more conventional as Dwight resurrects some classic Christmas songs. However, it's the arrangements that make it really work. "Away in a manger" and "Silent night" prove that Dwight really ought to bring the world a Gospel album. "Silver bells" is hauntingly beautiful because of the harmony vocals of Beth Andersen. "Here comes Santa Claus" has a Rhumba feel to it, which can't help but make you smile. Overall, this is a surprisingly original Christmas album. If only more Christmas albums were this innovative.



2. Wow! I can play Dwight at Christmas time. Stellar performance, however, more traditional Carols please!



3. excellent CD, not available in shops. Fast and prompt delivery. Excellent service!!!!!!!



4. i bought this at a garage sale years ago, and lost it recently. It is by far the most fun christmas album that exists!! Dwight makes it so much fun, you have to have it!! My kids know when they hear this, mom is in the christmas spirit!!



5. Dwight brings the Christmas spirit to you via this CD. I would have given this 5 stars but the first song is slow and depressing. Who starts off a CD with a slow song? Anyway, the rest of the music is great and creative and it is priced right.

5 comments about A Soulful Christmas.

1. Brian Culbertson does a tremendous job on this album of taking old classics and revisiting them without ruining them. Many artists try so hard to be new and creative they do the songs an injustice - not so on "A Soulful Christmas".
   
   As you listen to this album you realize the double-meaning behind the title. Culbertson mixes gospel singers (Joy To The World) with the soaring soprano of his wife (Some Children See Him) to put the attention on the `soul' of man. Note the rest of the tracks included.
   
   He opens with a classical rendition of Joy To The World that swiftly transitions into a rollicking version of the same and keeps the quality at the highest level throughout. Some of the biggest names in smooth jazz collaborated with him in the studio such as Eric Darius, Eric Marienthal, Warren Hill, Peter White, Nathan East and the list goes on. There is not a track I would skip as they flow together effortlessly creating a treat for your family and loved ones as you gather during this special time of year.



2. I loved every song! Especially Jingle Bells and Joy To The World. Michelle has a beautiful and calming voice! Listening to it every year will surely become a part of my family's Christmas tradition. Brian makes it seem so easy! He is truly talented and I would hope that one day, I could play 1/2 as well!



3. Trust me, I know you probably have a dozen or more Holiday CD's. But if you are a smooth jazz lover like I am, you need to add lucky number 13 to your collection. Brian does a tremendous job tickling the ivories on these favorites. The music is crisp, tempo just right, and puts you into the right spirit for the holidays. Just sample it and then either purchase the CD or download it. You won't be sorry.



4. I had contemplate buying this album for some time. Some christmas albums leave you tired. lol Not this one!! I wish that I would have brought it when it first came out.
   
   No one does it better on the keys then Brian Culbertson. This christmas jazz album has everything you need. Joy and happiness. Every song is wonderfully made. My favorites are: Joy to the World and Christmas..by the Man Micheal Macdonald.
   
   
   Buy this album and you'll be playing this over and over and over...
   
   Merry Christmas



5. I've been a fan of Brian Culbertson since 1995 and his Christmas CD is very, very enjoyable. If you get the chance to check out his Christmas concert, I highly recommend it!!

2 comments about Feliz Navidad.

1. It was great to find this CD. I have always been a huge fan of Jose.



2. Excellent that I finally found this CD. I have been looking for it for a long time. Timely arrival and it's in excellent condition. Good job!

4 comments about Christmas with Ernie Haase & Signature Sound.

1. Ever since Ernie Haase started Signature Sound, we have like their sound.
   We were pleased to find a Christmas album. It has old favorites and some
   new songs. Very nice mix and really good sound. You can even picture them singing, after having seen some of their concerts. Good investment.



2. Ernie Haase & Signature Sound never fail to please. This is a wonderful selection of Christmas songs that are sure to lift a person's spirit. It's clear that Ernie and the guys love the Lord, and through their singing, they share this love with the world.



3. I am finding anything done by Ernie Haase and Signature Sound is fantastic. Their delivery of each song is immense and very profound. Their name is very fitting...they do indeed have a Signature Sound.



4. This is one of the best and most talented group of young men/singers that I've heard in a long time.

No comments about Christmas from the Heart.

5 comments about It's Christmas Time.

1. If you are looking to try collecting cds, that Elvis Presley is singing Christmas songs, you can start with this. If you an Elvis Presley fan, and looking for a short album, this is the cd for you. The cd runs 23 minutes and 15 secends. I know that it is not Chirstmas time, but do you really need to wait until Chirstmas to start listening to Chirstmas music? There are 10 songs, on this cd, and they are Blue Christmas, Silent Night, White Christmas, Santa Claus is Back in Town, I'll Be Home for Christmas, If Every Day Was Like Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane), Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me), and Mama Likes the Roses. The last one (to me) doesn't seem to have anything to do with Christmas. So that is why I am giving this a 4. Also, track #8, doesn't know have much to do with Christmas, but a town. But all in all, a still good cd for Elvis Presley fans.



2. They've been on budget releases for years now but these songs in this order are an essential part of Christmas. Everyone should have this cd in their collection. It's as American as apple pie. Nothing puts you in the Christmas spirit more than Elvis' Blue Christmas.



3. This is the 1970 edition of the Elvis Christmas album just re-packaged with a new cover and name. The original Elvis Christmas Album was released in 1957 and included 8 Christmas songs along with 4 Gospel songs from the "Peace In The Valley" EP. His original Christmas album was repackaged and re-released in 1970 with the 4 Gospel songs being replaced by "If Every Day was Like Christmas" (which was originally released as a single in 1966) and the non-Christmas song "Mama Liked The Roses". The 1970 edition was then re-packaged and released on CD as "It's Christmas Time" a few years ago.
   
   Elvis' performances on the songs here are excellent! Several of these recordings have become Christmas classics, still receiving significant radio airplay nearly 50 years after they were recorded!
   
   While this was a great album in its day, it has since been superseded. All the songs on this album are currently available on the Elvis "White Christmas" CD along with the 4 Gospel songs and every song from his 1971 "The Wonderful World of Christmas" album. I would recommend that you spend a few extra bucks and buy the Elvis "White Christmas" if you can still find it or the "If Every Day was Like Christmas" CD instead. You will get a lot more Christmas cheer!
   
   I do have one complaint. It is more about how RCA/BMG is mis-managing Elvis' library of releases than anything else. The 1970 edition of the Elvis Christmas Album is Elvis' single biggest selling album in the US with sales certified by the RIAA in excess of 9 million copies. Why on earth did RCA decide to repackage the album under a new name and release it as a different title when they were less than a million short of Elvis receiving his first Diamond award for sales in excess of 10 million?!? Sales of this CD, "Its Christmas Time" have exceeded 2 million in the US according to RIAA! If they would have just kept the original title and cover, Elvis would have had his first Diamond award!!!! Makes no sense to me!



4. Let me start off by saying by saying that I just bought this cd, and it is the first Elvis cd I have ever bought. Im 18 years old, and i'm a metal head.
   
   Now why do I like Elvis? Well it's simple, Elvis is the man, he's the king. This is A very good cd, It is a little on the short side. There is only 10 songs and none of them are over 3 minutes. So the cd will be pretty much over before your done washing the dishes from your Christmas dinner. But even still, I picked this cd up at Target for $5.99. It was well worth it.
   
   I like almost all the songs on this cd. Almost...I'm not a fan of "O Little Town of Bethlehem". But the rest of the songs I enjoyed alot. My favorite being "If Every Day Was Like Christmas".
   
   This cd quickly got me in the holliday mood. And its a great way to help you get in to the holliday spirit. I hope you enjoy it like I do.



5. I was interested in a particular Christmas song and this cd had it, as well as others that I like.

5 comments about Windham Hill Christmas: I'll Be Home for Christmas.

1. I love this CD, I'm sure I will be playing it all through the holiday season.



2. Played it for 3 weeks. Kept me calm in a hectic season.



3. This is one of my favorite Windham Hill Christmas albums. I really love the "Christmas Time is Here" rendition on guitar - brings me back to my childhood watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - there are also a couple of jazzy interpretations on this very beautiful album.



4. A lovely CD. We listened to it while driving, gift wrapping and tree decorating. Classic Windham Hill, evocitive moods and lovely musical settings.



5. The Windham Hill Christmas volumes are a repository for some of the very best "New Age" artists around, and in this one you get primarily instrumental renditions of several each of the most familiar carols and pop tunes, combined with three you don't get to hear very often. Dealing with these first, we'll start with the one track here which does have a vocal - the last one.
   
   The best way to describe Yazala Abambuti is to quote from the liner notes (which are, in effect, track by track comments by the various artists). Samite, the stage name for the African musician Samite Mulondo of Uganda (he now lives in upstate New York), and a world-renowned flute and kalimba player (sort of a "thumb" piano) writes: "This is a song I used to sing when I was a little kid, and it was re-introduced by my aunt who came to visit me in Ithaca. The story is a legend about a man who gave birth to the Pogmies by bringing Christianity to them. His name was Apollo Kiva Ebulaya. My grandfather assisted him on his long trips into the Congo. All these years I believed that was a Ugandan tune, until I overhead someone in the U.S. singing it, a traditional hymn he had learned in English."
   
   On the traditional 17th Century French carol, Bring A Torch Jeanette Isabella, Brian Dunning on flute/recorder, keyboardist Jeff Johnson and violinist John Fitzpatrick are featured, along with guitarist Tim Ellis, bass guitarist Phil Baker, and percussionist Gregg Williams, while on the old English Sussex Carol you hear the mellow harmonica of Michigan-born (1949) but Montana-raised George Winston, also a famed "Rural Folk Pianist."
   
   Another Montanan, jazz keyboardist Philip Aaberg, who regularly weaves elements of jazz, blues, rock, classical and even bluegrass into his music, used "as many pieces as I could from Tchaikovsky's masterpiece, blended with touches of Bee (sic) Bumble and the Stingers" in his 5:32-long The Complete Nutcracker Sweet. For the record, B. Bumble & The Stingers was a Los Angles a studio group with three hit singles in the early 1960s, including Nut Rocker, itself adapted from the master's The Nutcracker ballet.
   
   From Philadelphia-born (1957) pianist/synthesist Tim Story we get a nice rendition of The Holly And The Ivy, while yet another well-known American pianist, Giovanna Joyce Imbesi contributes the old pop standard, I'll Be Home For Christmas, first made famous in 1943 by Bing Crosby. Marseilles-born Philippe Saisse, a smooth as silk jazz/New Age keyboardist makes another standard, Winter Wonderland, first a hit for both the Guy Lombardo and Ted Weems orchestras way back in 1934, sound like a new original composition, and from the Pennsylvanian-born jazz woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless, Jr. we get the less-known carol, A Child Is Born. Here he is featured on the oboe as well as the French horn and the keyboard.
   
   The Little Drummer Boy, which we first heard in 1958 by The Harry Simeone Chorale, makes a nice piece for the guitar of San Franciscan Steve Erquiaga, as does the 1944 hit for Judy Garland from the film Meet Me In St, Louis, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, for the piano of San Diego native Liz Story (born in 1956). Electric violinists Tracy Silverman and Sean Harkness give their own unique approach to, respectively, O Holy Night and Vince Guaraldi's Christmas Time Is Here from the now-classic A Charlie Brown Christmas.
   
   Another jazz pianist of some renown is Barbara Higbie, who wipes away all doubts regarding her at-first seemingly dubious choice of Angels From The Realms Of Glory, and from New Age pianist Jim Brickman we get another fine performance on what might initially seem to be a poor choice for a piano instrumental - Good King Wenceslas. Beautifully done, as is every other track on the disc. A perfect one to slip into the CD player some cold, snowy evening while sitting in the dark in front of a blazing fire.