1 comments about Ultimate Jewish Music Collection.

1. This is a reissue of material recorded and available in the 1960s. It features the London Festival Orchestra under the leadership of the wonderful Stanley Black, and includes several additional tracks not on the original album. Also liner notes are provided by the comedian Alan King.
   
   The music is symphonic in style and just beautiful. It is hard to imagine anyone who loves Jewish music not being thrilled by this CD. And it would be a wonderful introduction for anyone who wants to introduce themselves to the same. The song Rumania, Rumania is especially good and the version of Yussel, Yussel (Joseph, Joseph) is as good as I have ever heard. While mostly orchestral in form, there are some limited vocal portions as well. I highly recommend this CD and dare you to stand still while listening.

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

5 comments about This Christmas (I'd Rather Have Love).

1. This cd is comprised of traditional Christmas songs and contemporary ones. Teddy the musical genius. I'm in the spirit of Christmas already!!



2. Teddy Pendergrass is, without a doubt, a national treasure, and "This Christmas" instantly joins the ranks of classic holiday collections to be enjoyed for years to come. I only wish he had included more spiritual (rather than secular) holiday songs, because he is--and always has been--such an impassioned vocalist when performing songs that touch on religion and spirituality. Perhaps his next album will be the collection of gospel standards that longtime fans (like me) have hoped for.



3. This music really got me and kept me in the Christmas spirit and I am still listening to it. He is such a genius and a gift to the world. The traditional Christmas songs sound better here than anywhere else I have heard them. I wanted to buy this CD for everyone I know.



4. This contempory christmas cd from Teddy may surprise you when you listen.The quality is very high and captures the christmas spirit in a very warm and honest way.Add this cd to your holliday collection you will not be disappointed.



5. This NOT your typical bland Christmas Album....This even works during Non Christmas Season (Yes, It's just that good). How it got lost in the shuffle is another story, because this should have graced the Charts in a major way. Do yourself a favor and hunt this down QUICK! Before Christmas gets here, You know what?, you could even be an 'Office Hero' and buy a copy for the office...Who knows you might even get a bigger Christmas Bonus :)

4 comments about Christmas Songs.

1. Great CD by the Eddie Higgins trio. Don't wait 'til Christmas time to listen to superb arrangements of some of your favorite holiday tunes. I bought the CD after listening to Sleigh Ride on a local jazz station. Wonderful! Makes a wonderful gift!



2. If you like jazz trios, or even if you don't like jazz trios, this is a really nice Christmas CD! While I change out CDs frequently, this CD stays in my CD changer the entire month of December. Great for dinner, talking with friends, decorating the tree, sitting by the fireplace, etc. To show you how much I enjoy it, I just purchased "Christmas Songs II" by the same trio, which is an import only, Korean Exclusive. I cannot recommend this CD enough.



3. Christmas is over, but I just have to review this remarkable CD before I forget. I love jazz, and despite a plethora of Christmas jazz CD's on the market, most are not good. I bought this CD after reading a review on Amazon (thanks everyone!) and was absolutely thrilled with it. My husband and I are both musicians and were blown away, especially by "Sleigh Ride" - excellent piano playing. This CD is warm, enjoyable, lively, smooth...it's a delight. I cannot recommend it highly enough. This album ranks up there with Oscar Peterson's Christmas, and Vince Guaraldi's Christmas; high praise indeed.



4. I heard snippets of this CD on Yahoo radio and fell in love with the mellow jazzy style of the Christmas favorites. Not melodramatic "smooth" jazz but simple, innovative versions that are beautiful and light. A great mix to put on during a Christmas party as people mingle with cocktails and twinkle lights. I love it!

5 comments about For Christmas.

1. There were ten songs on the original LP...at least the one that I have. But it's only right that the CD version should allow for more because the CD holds more music than an LP...though they could have filled it up a lot more than with one extra song! Little Drummer Boy, Carol of the Bells, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Let It Snow-Let It Snow-Let It Snow, Rudolph, and the CD extra Hallelujah Chorus all come from the Mercury album Sounds of Christmas. Jingle Bell Rock, Do You Hear What I Hear, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and The Lord's Prayer all come from the Columbia album Give Me Your Love For Christmas. This CD is a good mix of the two albums, but there are some wonderful songs on the originals that would have been worth including.



2. This is a wonderful cd for the holidays. Mr. Mathis version of "Do You HEar What I Hear" is amamzing. I also think his "Little Drummer Boy", "Lord's Prayer" and the rare "Calypso Noel" are top rate. Buy this cd or give as a gift. It will be enjoyed year to year. A. J. McCall - Lowville, NY



3. This is an enjoyable CD, but I caution anybody who already has some Johnny Mathis Christmas CDs or plans to buy more than one to be careful. This one contains a combination of songs from other releases. It is not an original album. So check the song list against other CDs you own or plan to buy to avoid getting duplication.

   I enjoy listening to this CD, but it's not his best Christmas CD. If you are planning to buy just one Johnny Mathis CD, buy Christmas Eve With Johnny Mathis. That is the one that contains the Johnny Mathis holiday hits you hear most often on your radio.

   The songs on this CD are pleasant enough. I like his slowed down version of Let It Snow, Let It Snow. It's a nice change from the perkier versions, which I also like. However, I must admit, if something happened to my copy of this CD, I wouldn't bother to replace it.




4. My old copy got lost, and this CD is very hard to find. So I bought two copies! It is my kids (4 and 7) favorite, as it has Hallelujah and Little Drummer Boy. Last year they made my wife and I keep playing it in the car well into August. Nothing like driving around in 80 degree weather singing about Santa Claus. This is a complilation record and is his best one.



5. As noted above, this 1989 release is actually a compilation of tracks culled from two previously-released Mathis Christmas albums.
   
   "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", "Carol of the Bells", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", and the "Hallelujah Chorus" are all taken from Johnny's 1963 album THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS, which was subsequently re-issued in 1972 as CHRISTMAS WITH JOHNNY MATHIS and is still available on CD under that title.
   
   The balance of the tracks are taken from 1969's GIVE ME YOUR LOVE FOR CHRISTMAS. This album, too, is available on CD is its entirety.
   
   There are no tracks here from Johnny's first (and best) Christmas album, 1958's MERRY CHRISTMAS, or from 1986's CHRISTMAS EVE WITH JOHNNY MATHIS. While everything on FOR CHRISTMAS is worth hearing, Mathis fans would be better off getting the original albums (or, if a more well-rounded compilation CD is desired, checking out THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC OF JOHNNY MATHIS: A PERSONAL COLLECTION).

5 comments about Praetorius - Mass for Christmas Morning.

1. I can only pile on to the other glowing reviews: this is a tour de force of choral and solo singing as well as instrumental color. With deference to Steven Guy (who's done yeoman's service in producing public-domain versions of some of this music!), I'd have to say I can gladly overlook the historical inaccuracy of using crumhorns, racketts etc. in exchange for the sheer sense of scale and awe that McCreesh provides. I own the Musica Fiata recording he mentions, and it's excellent--but it probably won't send 10,000 volts through your skull the way the massed choirs, ensembles and organ on this disc will.



2. i have had this recording for several years now. its the first one of mccreesh's i bought. and i bought it based solely on the exceptional reviews given here on amazon (4 or 5 at the time). it is unarguably pointless to write a review now, but i am going to anyway ;o).
   
   As if you needed any further encouragement to buy this record...i will agree with all the preceding raves. i dont even mind the rackets and crumhorns and shawms, etc. - adds character. i would like to highlight one track here against the others: Puer Natus in Bethlehem. This one never gets old. such tremendous energy and powerful joy. i honestly have to wonder about the structural integrity of Roskilde Cathedral after the performance of this one piece. Nowhere else in all of his recordings is McCreesh's unparalleled talent illustrated. His scholarship, arrangement, and interpretation of this piece is a rare treasure of this genre. Considering another comparison with the Roland Wilson on Sony Vivarte release, yes, McCreesh's effort clearly has first place. Back to the entire recording, other standouts include the opening chorale - one of the most exotic and grabbing harmonies you will ever hear, the Quempas (although the cathedral acoustics do rob some of the subtle harmonies that really make this piece), and the final hymn Puer Nobis Nascitur: simple, but, again, infectious and addictive expression of the highest joy. I would also echo a previous reviewer's comment about the Roskilde organ. The tone and sonic capabilities of this instrument are simply astonishing.
   
   Again, this review is unnecessary so far as selling is concerned, but the work represented here deserves many more. Go ahead and pick this one up, and give it the place of honor in your entire collection.



3. I am incredibly taken with this recording, and listen to it throughout the year, not just at Christmas. I've studied the history of Lutheran liturgy, and McCreesh has not simply produced a replica of the musical portions of a seventeenth-century Lutheran Mass, he has done so in a beautiful and compelling way. If I could only keep ten CDs, this would certainly be one of them.



4. I've been a "fan" of Michael Praetorius's works since I first purchased an LP of Terpsichore. This, one of the latest releases of some of his enormous output is just fantastic. Closing my eyes and listening to the sonorous music reflected off the high cathedral ceiling and walls takes me into the core of the music. This is "meat and potatoes" music, not like the fluff that is passed off on us nowadays - it's spiritually satisfying, and we come away feeling fed. Having grown up in the Lutheran Church way back when, I finally bolted away due to their losing their way musically and politically. This music brings me back to the foundation of the church and the rich musical heritage that it had enjoyed.



5. This is fully enthralling. As a young man I find it difficult to enjoy such music but I would give this album a thousands stars, thats all. this is genius.

3 comments about This Christmas Time.

1. This is the greatest Christmas CD I've heard in a long time...



2. This is a wonderful album to add to your holiday season soundtrack. The songs are done with tender vocals, yet, you can tell the boys had a great time with this project.



3. I sought out this album solely for their rendition of "drummer boy" because I LOVE bagpipes. These guys did a great job! The rest of the album is also enjoyable, because I like country, and Lonestar's sound. This is a good Christmas album to add to your music library, and not get tired of over the years.

4 comments about A Christmas Carol/Mr. Pickwick's Christmas.

1. Lately, Deutsche Grammophon has been releasing on CD some of the old American Decca mono recordings of the 1940's and '50's. While the original 78-RPM Broadway cast albums of "Oklahoma!", "Carousel", "The King and I" and "Annie Get Your Gun" found their way to CD years ago, some of these Decca recordings have inexplicably been ignored by American CD labels, including Decca itself, and now DGG has taken up the slack and is doing a splendid job.
   
   Their latest is not a classical or popular music release. It is a spoken word album - a very overdue American release of two Charles Dickens classics, "A Christmas Carol" and "Mr. Pickwick's Christmas". Both were previously available on an Australian CD which was never released in the U.S. Each Dickens tale was originally released by American Decca as a single item on 78 RPM before the age of LP's. "Carol" was recorded in October 1941, and released in November of that year, a sobering thought considering the fact that Pearl Harbor was soon to be attacked, ushering the United States into World War II. "Pickwick" followed three years later, in November of 1944. Both were later included on a single 33 1/3 RPM LP, one of the most popular Decca albums ever made, selling well into the late 1960's. The LP version of "A Christmas Carol", however, omitted two characters (the charity collectors) heard in the 78 RPM version, and that moment has not been restored on this CD. (Ferdinand Munier, who played one of them, is erroneously credited as appearing on this album. He does not.) The sound is quite good, especially for recordings made before the age of real hi-fi, though, of course, it is not stereo.
   
   Both stories are beautifully done. In "A Christmas Carol", renowned film actor Ronald Colman stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, and while he would have seemed miscast if he had ever done a film version of the story, he is quite excellent on records, his beautiful voice not only acting the role of Scrooge, but, in a very imaginative touch, narrating the story to the listener in character, as if Scrooge were reminiscing about his misspent life. He makes no attempt to sound "old", but is nonetheless completely convincing - better than Laurence Olivier is in *his* recorded version (and I, an Olivier fan, once never imagined I'd say that).
   
   A further testament to the excellence of this production is that, although it is only twenty minutes or so long, each actor convinces completely in his role, and the story never seems rushed, because director George Wells has known exactly how to edit it. The supporting cast includes few familiar names, although all were noted screen character actors of the period; the most familiar names are Hans Conried (Captain Hook in Disney's animated "Peter Pan") as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and Gale Gordon ("The Lucy Show"'s Mr. Mooney) as a *speaking* Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
   
   This "Carol" certainly won't replace Alastair Sim's 1951 film, but it will certainly do on records. (I have not heard Patrick Stewart's one-man version).
   
   The second selection on this CD is a tour-de-force for Dickens enthusiasts and fans of virtuoso acting. It is Charles Laughton doing a one-man reading of the Christmas chapter from "The Pickwick Papers". Unlike "A Christmas Carol", this selection is not really adapted, just abridged. It is Dickens' words all the way through, with musical accompaniment, and no one has ever read Dickens better than Charles Laughton, one of the greatest actors of the twentieth century. Dickens is not boring in his hands. Laughton is delightful as he supplies all the voices, male and female, of the many characters.
   
   Those who like their CD's to play 70 minutes or more may be disappointed with this one; it plays for only 39 minutes. But it is undoubtedly a very worthwhile recording, and it ought to have the same success on CD that it had on LP and 78 RPM years ago.



2. Loved these storries, especially Mr Picwicks Christmas, beautiful old english storry. loved it



3. I discovered this CD last Christmas and have added it to my Christmas favorites. The Colman 'A Christmas Carol' full-cast radio play is much better than either Laurence Olivier's or Orson Welles'. Furthermore, though it is a monologue, I think the Laughton 'Mr. Pickwick's Christmas' a greater artistic work than the Colman 'A Christmas Carol'. No one could have read this story better than Laughton, one of the 20th-century's greatest actors.
   
   Last year I gave a copy of this CD to a friend who is an old-movie buff, and she was delighted. I shall do likewise next Christmas as no classic movie lover could resist these performances.



4. Literary scholars love to tell us folk who love Christmas that the holiday, as we know it, was invented by the imagination of Charles Dickens in his novel, "Pickwick Papers," and his first Christmas novella "A Christmas Carol." Personally I have every recording of "A Christmas Carol" publicly produced, and none produces the magic of Redemption except Alastair Sim's 1951 movie. However, no Christmas was complete in mid-20th Century America without listening to Charles Laughton perform "Mr. Pickwick's Christmas." If you have not heard it, give yourself a treat that will last a lifetime. And the recording here presented has been carefully cleaned by Deutsche Grammophon. You may like the Carol very much; you will love Laughton's Pickwick.

No comments about Today's Country Christmas.

4 comments about Christmas Is Always.

1. I haven't heard the Jingle Bells/Sleigh Ride song since I was about 8 years old. Roy Rogers yodeling, the Harmony of Dale Evans what a masterpiece. This is a priceless piece of work.



2. THIS WAS A GIFT FOR A FRIEND WHO IS A ROY ROGERS FAN. SHE JUST LOVED IT.
   SHE PLAYED IT FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY THIS CHRISTMAS.



3. If you are a Roy Rogers fan you will love this holiday collection. It's a little too "cowboy" and "cheesy" for my taste. However the first track is titled "Jingle Bells/Sleigh Ride" and is one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time. You may recall hearing it in the movie Sleepless in Seattle when Meg Ryan is in the car and singing "Horses, Horses, Horses." It's total holiday overload complete with yodeling.



4. Wonderful! I always loved Roy & Dale and this is a great CD. Some of my favorite songs along with new ones I had not heard!