1 comments about Handel: Messiah [Highlights].

1. My personal favorite version of Handel's Messiah. Purists may balk but in this CD you get the best cuts from that epic work and a wonderful and rich music tone. It's hard to imagine the Christmas season without this classic. There are perhaps hundreds of versions of the Messiah, and I will not pretend to have listened to them all. This is my personal favorite, though, and would enthusiastically recommend it to others! A superb and sublime recording.

No comments about Jonathan Harvey: I Love The Lord & Other Works.

5 comments about A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra.

1. This is, without a doubt, the best Frank Sinatra Christmas CD available. The album was originally recorded in 1957, when Frank was arguably at the peak of his singing ability. The first side featured secular Christmas songs, while side two featured religious Christmas songs. They are all well sung by Frank, although he didn't seem to have the affinity for Christmas music that Bing Crosby did. The CD has two bonus songs, which are "White Christmas" and "The Christmas Waltz". These songs were released on a single in 1954, three years before the album was recorded. If you want to hear Frank Sinatra sing Christmas songs, this is the CD to get.



2. I love this Christmas CD, it's one of my favorites. After I heard Frank Sinatra singing Mistletoe and Holly on the radio one Christmas it became one of my new favorite Christmas songs and I decided I needed to buy a Frank Sinatra Christmas CD for my collection and this is the one I chose and I love the CD and think I made an excellent purchase! I like every song on the CD but especially Mistletoe and Holly a song that always puts me in a jolly mood! I very greatly recommend this CD to fans of Frank Sinatra and wonderful Christmas music!



3. The Sinatra of legend @ the peak of his Capitol Records concept album period with this all time classic Xmas winner. In the hands of the musical master Frank acts out his vocal interpretation of these songs with feeling & class. All the good stuff as the "The Voice" gives your musical tree the trim!



4. ". . . Merry Christmas, may your New Year dreams come true."
   
   Christmas is just around the corner! And this most-anticipated-holiday-of-the-year wouldn't be complete without listening to this delightful and listener-friendly Sinatra Christmas CD. What I love most about this recording is the traditional, classic and solemn Christmas carols flawlessly arranged and conducted by one of Sinatra's greatest conductors/orchestrators, Gordon Jenkins, and of course Mr. Sinatra's superb and contemplative renditions. Adding to the beauty of each song is the chorus by the Ralph Brewster Singers. Frank Sinatra once remarked that Gordon Jenkins was "the best-equipped musician, orchestrator and conductor that he ever worked with."
   
   It's always been very pleasurable listening to this CD at this time of the year. These are my favorites and the most-loved Christmas songs of all-time.
   
   "A Christmas Song" - a beautiful and ever-popular song Mel Torme and Robert Wells composed in 1946 and was first made popular by another great singer, Nat King Cole. This song is the epitome of Christmas.
   
   "A Christmas Waltz" - Words by Sammy Cahn and music was composed by Jule Styne. The first version (track #5) was arranged and conducted by Gordon Jenkins and the alternate version (last track) was arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.
   
   "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" - written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 film "Meet Me In St. Louis" starring Judy Garland.
   
   "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" - I love this traditional Christmas hymn. The lyrics were penned by Philips Brooks, who was then the rector of Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia and later became the Bishop of Massachusetts.
   
   "The First Noel" - a traditional Christmas carol with its origin unknown. It was first published in 1833.
   
   "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" - a Felix Mendelssohn music and the words were written by John Wesley in 1855.
   
   "Adeste Fideles" (O Come All Ye Faithful) - music composed by John Reading and lyrics by John Francis Wade dating back from the 1740s.
   
   "Silent Night" - a very solemn song originated in Austria. The music was composed by a church organist, Franz Gruber and the words were written by an assistant pastor Joseph Mohr on Christmas Eve of 1818.
   
   "White Christmas" - An all-time and most-loved Christmas carol with words and music by the great composer Irving Berlin. This track was superbly orchestrated and conducted by Nelson Riddle.
   
   "I'll Be Home For Christmas" - a melancholy beautiful song by Walter Kent and Kim Gannon composed in the 1940s.
   
   "Jingle Bells" - the bubbliest and the most spirited track from this collection, it's words and music were written by John Pierpont. The most popular Christmas song and every kid's (from one to ninety-two [kids at heart]) favorite.
   
   "Mistletoe And Holly" - the legendary singer tried his hand at songwriting and co-wrote this wonderful carol with Doc Stanford and Hank Sanicola.
   
   "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" - Lyrics by Rev. Edmund H. Sears and music by Richard S. Willis, an American composer and music journalist.
   
   "It came upon the midnight clear
   That glorious song of old
   From angels bending near the earth
   To touch their harps of gold
   Peace on the earth, good will to men,
   From Heaven's all gracious King
   The world in solemn stillness lay
   To hear the angels sing."
   
   Wishing one and all the best of the Holiday Season!



5. Digitally remastered and rereleased, this Christmas album, arranged and directed by Gordon Jenkins, is one of the very best musical celebrations of the holiday season. Throughout, Sinatra's sounds are accompanied and enhanced by the Ralph Brewster Singers, whose unusually sweet voices and wonderful soprano high notes add warmth and holiday cheer as they echo Sinatra, provide choral variations between stanzas, and sometimes even harmonize with him.
   
   Six modern Christmas songs begins the CD, including a swingy "Jingle Bells" ("I love those J-I-N-G-L-E Bells"), Mel Torme's "Christmas Song," and a song Sinatra has made his own, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." He follows these with six traditional carols. In "The First Noel," the Ralph Brewster Singers' large chorus sings behind him, featuring fine harmonies, expression, and counterpoint. Sinatra, with his trademark phrasing and sure sense of tempo, slightly changes some of the traditional lyrics on this song so that he escapes the standard phrasing and the lyrics flow more gracefully, something he also does on "Little Town of Bethlehem," resulting in new appreciation of the words and meanings.
   
   Two bonus tracks, both directed by Nelson Riddle, include Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" and Sinatra's original 1954 recording of "Christmas Waltz," which gets a different tempo from the Jenkins arrangement, which is also presented on the CD. With style and panache, leavened with holiday emotion, Sinatra, the Ralph Brewster Singers, and Gordon Jenkins present Christmas favorites, many of which (like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas") have become forever identified with Frank Sinatra. If I could have only one Christmas CD, this one would be high on the list of choices. Mary Whipple

5 comments about Operatica Christmas Classics.

1. Jamie Lewis rebuilt the nutcracker and away in a manger. He has proven that techno has soul.
   -your mom -Alternative Press



2. This is a beautiful collection of holiday songs performed by the incredible Maureen O'Flynn in the unique electronic style of Operatica. I gave this gift to my mom for the holidays and she's been playing it constantly. Thank you Operatica for creating this masterpiece. We are looking forward to the next release in your series as we have all 3 now.



3. This is a project of a life time.. Great works, great vibe and an amazing twist to each and every track..Lord Vanger,Maureen and all of the producers involved in this project as well..Great job.
   I must say, it is refreshing to hear such a great variety of works. This is a package full of talent and a great vision for today's music, this is what I call music that never dies. It is a must project for the holiday.. It really is a must..
   Great Job all..



4. These cuts are definitely new and refreshing takes on your basic Xmas classics...it added a mood to my 2003 Xmas that I could not get by listening to the favorite Xmas albums. This year I plan to mix this very hip, very chill collection w/Brian Setzer's album to have one hell of a fantastic Xmas. This album is one for the open-minded music listener who wants to hear an old dog taught new tricks. Highly recommended for its wonderful fusion of operatic vocals and killer-chill electronica.



5. lord wanker better keep his day job, because this is yet another in the downward spiral of kitsch that he has released on his vanity label...i am truly embarrassed for him, since he must have absolutely no taste or shame...sure hope he marries well, cause what a talentless loser he is musically

No comments about Christmas Is....

2 comments about Christmas Wishes.

1. 
   We heard this music playing in the background of our hotel during the holidays. The staff was good enough to fish it out of the CD player so we could get the info needed to purchase the CD. Everyone loves it, friends, kids, young, and old.



2. Listening to one track after another from this CD it shows how boring this cd is, every track sounds the same electronic backround and a boring guitar playing, like someone is playing with a boring feeling, no varations... Jingle bells should be taken out from this cd it sounds horrible....... armik you better study the chords of this song, go buy the christmas book dude and learn the correct chords, or may be the changes from C major to C minor are hard to improvise on... It is okay to change the Rhythm of the song, but playing the wrong chords is not okay, you made jingle Bells sounds like one of your boring minor chords songs from 10 year ago.....WOW.... Do you know in music there are other chords that exist, such as major 7th plus, major diminished, Major 9th, plus suspunded chords, etc... your same old playing is good at first but in christmas music you better respect the chords and the spirits of the song, dont run away form the song cause the chords are hard to improvise on, if they are hard dont record the song and sell it, your octave playing in jingle bell is very very weak you sound like your struggling, take lessons from George Benson, or stick with a single string tremolo solo that you do every time, it sound like who ever taught you music forgot to tell you there are other chords in music than A minor and E major....... if you buy this cd for backround music you will not hear the difference cause your talking and drinking at the same time, your not listening, but if you want to listen to spiritual christmas guitar music with respect to the christmas music, spend your money on some true music....... listen to Nocy's Cd A Flamenco Christmas and you will be the judge especially Jingle Bells ........ you listen then you know what I am talking about.........at the end it is your money.......

1 comments about Medieval Christmas.

1. My family has thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful Christmas music on this CD which includes authentic Medieval instruments and ancient chant from the Holy Mass. There are a couple of very spirited numbers which will fill your house with Christmas cheer and many more solemn songs and chants which will remind you of the sacredness of the season.

4 comments about Spook Along With Zacherley.

1. A few years ago I started the switch from records to CDs. I had some great stuff like every Elvis LP ever released. Others included Chuck, Fats, Gene, Jerry Lee, and Little Richard. In total over 700 of the best 50s and 60s had to offer. I got rid of them all except for Spook Along with Zacherley. I just couldn't part with it. Sure the songs are simple and silly but they are also great fun. If you like the classic horror films from the 30s and 40s you'll like Zack.



2. Zacherley is a legend among horror junkies and it shows. This is a great CD for a kids Halloween party. The songs are light and full of (bad?) puns.
   If you're into Halloween and ghoulishly good fun, you won't be disappointed!



3. a fun 60's halloween cd.i dig the first cut "COOLEST LITTLE MONSTER".You will find yourself whistling these tunes as you walk past the graveyard at night.



4. I am a huge horror fan. And when I heard Zacherley. I had to get it.
   My son even can be heard in the car singing along. I grew up during the late 60's but this is for all fans of his. Zacherley is the man.

1 comments about Bradley Welch plays at Broadway Baptist.

1. When I read of this recording I was intrigued enough to order it right away. It wasn't that I'd heard of Bradley Welch, but the maiden recital of a new giant among French-style organs was irresistible! And the program seemed interesting enough, though maybe not quite what I would have expected (e.g., no Franck).
   
   First, a word about the organ: it is indeed a giant, claiming to be the largest French-style organ in the world. Built between 1994 and 1996 as opus 3750, the biggest ever by Casavant Frères of Québec, it boasts 11 divisions, 191 ranks, and some 10,615 pipes, all housed in the Broadway Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas. A few interesting features include the two 5-manual electromechanical consoles, front (chancel division) and rear (antiphonal division) "en chamade" (horizontal) trumpets, a Zimbelstern stop (dubbed "clochette"), and a Bombarde division specially designed for playing with an orchestra. (The last item raises the question of when we'll get from this organ a new recording of the Saint-Saëns Third "Organ" Symphony with the Fort Worth Symphony. When it comes it should be well worth hearing!)
   
   As for the music, it is not limited to the French masters, nor to any particular nationality, but includes nearly 69 minutes of quite varied fare, emphasizing the 20th century. To be sure, the French are represented: Dupre, Guilmant, and surprisingly Debussy, in works which account for nearly half of the disk's duration. The Germans Max Drischner and J.S. Bach, the English John Cook and John Newton (Amazing Grace), and the American Raymond Haan round out the composers of the eight works presented. We thus get the idea that this first recording is designed to exploit the organ's versatile and colorful palette and to show what it can do over a fairly broad range of music.
   
   The youthful organist, Bradley Hunter Welch, is a Tennessee native transplanted to Dallas, Texas, where he is Artist-in-Residence at Highland Park United Methodist Church. A student of Joyce Jones at Baylor University and of Thomas Murray and Martin Jean at Yale University (where he's currently a candidate for the doctor of musical arts degree), Mr. Welch won the Dallas International Organ Competition in 2003 and has appeared with several orchestras, playing the world premiere of Stephen Paulus' Grand Concerto for Organ and Orchestra with the Dallas Symphony. On this recording he displays impressive command of the considerable resources of the organ, all the technique we could ask for, and excellent interpretive insights.
   
   Here are a few comments on the individual pieces:
   
   John Cook's "Fanfare" is a familiar vehicle to display the more showy aspects of a given organ. It highlights the reedy trumpets, but demonstrates, too, the full organ with its ear-filling lower stops as well as some delicate textures of flutes and mixtures. The church's reported 5-second reverberation time suggests that very loud and full passages of fast notes may get blurred considerably unless pains are taken to control the acoustic environment.
   
   Max Drischner, another 20th century composer, offers a lovely and imaginative set of variations on "O Laufet Ihr Hirten," (Come Running, Ye Shepherds) which feature mainly the softer and subtler sonorities of the instrument, though not eschewing entirely the trumpets, reeds, and powerful pedals. If my ears don't deceive me, we get to enjoy the unusual and delightfully playful Zimbelstern (a rotating set of little bells) at about 2'47" into this piece. As Drischner offered no guide to registration, we have to thank Mr. Welch for his imaginative and wholly appropriate choices. The piece as presented here is utterly charming, tender, and child-like in its sincerity and simplicity, according well with its Christmasy theme.
   
   Raymond Haan, again mainly of the 20th century, gives us another work emphasizing the softer, sweeter, and more peaceful mood of the instrument in his "Pastorale." The work is lovely and conveys wonderfully the expected idyllic mood.
   
   Heavier listening is "Crucifixion" from Dupré's "Symphonie Passion," a work begun as a public improvisation on the Wanamaker organ and later developed for publication. The mood is sad, lugubrious, pathetic, and even painful, with much emphasis on lower stops, along with dissonant cries from the middle ranges. As presented here the programmatic piece is highly effective and emotionally evocative.
   
   A second work associated with the Wanamaker is Virgil Fox's sensational arrangment of J.S. Bach's sacred song "Komm süsser Tod," translated here as "Come Sweetest Death" (though elsewhere more correctly as "Come Sweet Death"). In any case, Welch displays his courage by tackling the work so much identified with Fox, and comes out very well indeed! The performance of this dead-slow arrangement builds steadily toward a hugely powerful climax and then rather quickly dies away to a barely audible pedal rumble. Though it will never displace Fox's 1960's recording, this rendition is strikingly beautiful and impressive, not only in its excellent interpretation, but also in the sumptuous sound of the organ as offered up by 24-bit digital engineering.
   
   Frederick Swann's arrangement of the folk-like hymn "Amazing Grace" starts with reeds imitating the bagpipe then proceeds to fuller, more characteristic organ textures. It is a smallish, peaceful work in a mood of resignation fitting to its subject, and sounds very beautiful.
   
   Surely the most substantive composition here is the 1874 "Sonata 1 in D Minor" of Alexandre Guilmant, world-class organ virtuoso, beloved and respected teacher, and prolific composer. Undoubtedly written for the Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Church of the Holy Trinity (Église de la Sainte-Trinité) in Paris, where Guilmant was titulaire from 1871 to 1901, the three-movement, 25-minute work is fully symphonic in character. The first movement features vigorous successions of strong, rich and full chords, as well as athletic, reedy, and powerful pedal motifs, the 32-foot stops providing all the bass you could want, and a brassy trumpet fanfare. The second is a pastorale which doesn't seem quite characteristic of the genre, though it does employ the requisite 6/8 or 12/8 meter. I suppose the point is arguable, but this one does not seem to have nearly the campestral quality of Raymond Haan's piece on track #3. The third movement starts with an energetic figure punctuated by powerful bass chords leading to some strong climaxes, then relieved by a simple, sweet song-like passage whose phrases are terminated with fast arpeggiated filigrees in the bass. The piece grows in excitement, activity, and power until a longish pedal point leads to a brief coda and a strong and exultant final chord. Though the sonata as played on this organ may sound rather different from a Cavaillé-Coll performance, it has an authenticity and character of its own which make it stand up very well in such a comparison.
   
   The final piece is a transcription of Debussy's ubiquitous "Claire de Lune" (Moonlight) made by Cellier (an organist and student of Guilmant). Though this is a pleasant and fairly faithful transcription of an enormously popular impressionistic piano piece, it seems the least important item on the disk. Pianists and lovers of piano music will not likely care much for it, finding it only a very rough approximation of the original. Lovers of "mood music" and those not familiar with the piano version may however enjoy the evanescent and tranquil character of this lacy bit of will-o'-the-wisp music.
   
   To sum things up, this maiden recording both of Bradley Welch and of the new Broadway organ seems a stunning success! Welch plays with great artistry, imagination, and skill on an organ whose sound is very beautiful, even ravishing. I'm particularly impressed with the purity and sweetness of this instrument, its wide palette of nuanced colors, and its majestic fullness and power. (Take a deep bow, Casavant Frères!) Though it may have cost the church some four million dollars, the amount seems a reasonable investment in the edification and enjoyment of not only the congregation, but also of the entire Ft. Worth cultural world. I recommend this CD with the greatest enthusiasm.

3 comments about A Victorian Christmas.

1. It doesn't seem like the holiday season if I don't have a cup of cocoa, a cozy fire and these magnificent carols playing in the background. Truly a work of art!



2. This CD is charmingly beautiful. It is quiet enough to play during Christmas dinner, or a quiet evening gazing at the Christmas tree. I also like to listen to it while decorating or baking. It creates a wonderful Christmas mood in my home. The music is quiet and elegant, yet festive.



3. Robin Petrie, perhaps the finest hammered dulcimer player in the world, has put together the ultimate Victorian Christmas cd. From the selection of carols to the traditional style in which they are played, this is a 'museum piece,' that is, worthy of historical value. When people today or in the future want to here Christmas past, this (and it's sister cd - "Noel") is the music they will reach for. This is NOT 'New Age' music, this is TRADITIONAL Christmas music, second to none. A great collection of known and not so well known carols to be played in a candle lit room with a sprig of holly over the door. Why am I writing this when I should be thinking of Summer (it is May as I write this)? Well, that's how great this cd is - It's on my mind even during the warm months. Yes, I wait until at least November before I play it, but it's on my mind none-the-less....