Alma Gluck Review

Alma Gluck sold millions of records for Victor back when Caruso was King. Not a monster operatic voice, she instead was perfectly suited to the early acoustic recording process, and turned out a wealth of pot-boiler tunes. Along with these she also recorded a considerable number of art songs and some operatic pieces. A fine linguist, Gluck was pretty much the perfect lyric soprano, merging a beauty of a voice with marvelous technical skills. Her popularity should never disquise the quality of her artistry.
Gluck and Caruso recorded one selection together, a fine record, but it is to her solo selections you should hear for the true range and measure of this endearing singer. If you care for singing, and are not averse to the older style prevalent at the turn of the 20th century, you should give this CD a long careful look. There are two Cds and a wealth of selections to sample. They should give you a very clear idea if Gluck is for you.
Marston did a fine job on the transfers; aided in part by the luxury of Gluck's great popularity most of her records can be found in superb condition. I believe many of the records came courtesy Lawrence Holdridge, the premier auctioneer in America of older opera records. Lucky us!
The enclosed booklet does a fine job discussing Gluck's career and life. She was married to the outstanding violinist Efrem Zimbalist, and they made several recordings matching his beautiful playing to her fabulous singing. Her singing of the famous aria "Depuis le jour" from Louise is enchantment itself.
For Remington Steele fans, Stephanie is Gluck's granddaughter.


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Chris Norman: Portraits Review

This CD really can't be seen as a "best of" album, because I think Norman has too many great pieces to fit on one CD, but what it can be seen as is an incredible collaboration of his many years of hard work. This CD consists of selections from his various CDs with groups/ individuals like Helicon (a Baltimore based trio), The Baltimore Consort, Alasdair Fraser, Camerata Bariloche, Pete Sutherland, Custer LaRue, and the list goes on. If these names don't mean anything to you, just trust me that they are all magnificent musicians who are well known on the international circuit. Although I own the CDs that more than 60% of these songs came from, there are a collection of previously unreleased tracks on this album that keep me coming back for more. My favorite tracks are 5-8, 11-14, and 15. Track 5 stands alone as what I consider the greatest waltz I've ever heard. Billy Comiskey is incredible on the accordian, and the Quebecois blend is something so amazing that it cannot be described in words. Tracks 6-8 are a series of reels from Norman's "The Beauty of the North" CD, and they simply make you feel good all over. Tracks 11-14 are a series of American tunes from Norman's "The Man With the Wooden Flute" album, and are a wonderful blend of upbeat little tunes. Track 15 is the first song of Norman's that I can specifically remember falling in love with. Again, I can't really describe why it's so incredible, but take my word for it, and buy this album, not just for the specific tracks that I mentioned, but for the entire experience that Norman creates. It's truly magnificent!

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Oro Incenso e Birra [Import] Review

Great album for anyone collecting the Italian Bluesman's music. Don't expect a CD full of hispassionate love ballads. Oh child, this disc gets you rocking! The best advice is to get some Sugar in your life and get thisCD!

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Pure Classical Gold Review

I bought this CD hoping to have a large variety of Classical music at my fingertips for easy listening.In a sense, that's what I got.

Unfortunately, this large quantity of music was at a very, very low quality.Whether the trouble was in the Orchestrae themselves, the recording process, or the post-processing, this music is usually recognizable, but not at the quality one might want to listen to.Some of the tracks were better than others, but at their worst, I suspected that several of the tracks were low-budget MIDI sequences, rather than actually being performed by live people.

So, yes, this is a great price for lots of music.However, you get what you pay for, and over 3 discs, your money gets spread awfully thin.

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Product Description:
In an attempt to keep on giving the people what they want, Pure proudly introduces Pure Classical Gold: four additional CDs of pure Classical brilliance from Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Tchaikovsky and many more!

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Italian Treasury: Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta Review

I'm don't think I'm a sopisticated reviewer of music, and I do not have Italian heritage; I simply liked this CD, and generally like unpolished regional music. If you want something slick, this probably isn't for you. The voices are not trained, and sometimes the singing is off-key; some of the music is peppy but much of it is lilting, soothing, and fairly melodic.



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Product Description:
Piemonte and Valle D'aosta Songs of love and war, marriage and jail, emigration and alms seeking, ballads and sung debates, dances performed by accordions, tambourine, and brass band: this CD includes a generous selection of historic and sometimes astonishing original field recordings from Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta in northeastern Italy, made almost 50 years ago. Italian Treasury In 1954, Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella set out on a yearlong voyage of discovery that resulted in an exhaustive documentation of Italian folk music. "It was a mythic time. None of us suspected that that world - made of music, songs, poverty, joy, desperation, custom, violence, injustice, love, dialect, and poetry, formed over the course of millennia - would be swept away in a couple of years . . . by the voodoo of 'progress.'" -Vittorio De Seta. The Alan Lomax Collection The Alan Lomax Collection gathers together the American, European, and Caribbean field recordings, world music compilations, and ballad operas of writer, folklorist, and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Recorded by Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella.

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Southern Journey, Vol. 12: Georgia Sea Islands - Biblical Songs And Spirituals Review

There is something about hearing a voice recorded back in time that tells more about a people than anything you can read in a book. These beautiful, strong and rich voices from the past are something every person shouldhere. What a pleasure! Bessie Jones singing O Death.OH MY! She is anational treasure! Growing up in Georgia I have heard some of these songssung on St.Simons Island and the power and feeling they evoke are pure anddeeply spiritual. It's that deep spiritual center in all humanbeings thatthese voices sing from.These singers just seem to be a little closer thanmost of us to that essence. hehe Get this CD. It will make you think aboutyour life and remember theirs. Or forget anything deep about it and justenjoy!

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Patchwork Review

The liner notes on this CD state that Hesperus chose to mix the styles of early and traditional music "for no good reason at all."The result is a mix of medieval-Renaissance music with traditional American music that is truly delightful.The three members of Hesperus play a diverse group of traditional and modern instruments and their choice of instruments on particular songs is as interesting as the choice of the songs that they blended together.The music is crisp and clear showing that the members know their music and their instruments.Dr. Tina Chancey is an expert on early music, while Scott Reiss is a graduate student studying ethnomusicology. All three members are experienced recording artists.The only (minor) drawback to this album is that Bruce Hutton, the solo vocalist, is excellent on some music, but seems a little bland on the blues tunes.Unlike more "authentic" recordings of traditional/historical music, this CD provides insight into the evolution of music and into (perhaps) into the shared motivation of musicians through time.In any case, the sheer joy contained in the music makes this CD a lot of fun!!

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