Editorial Product Review: :One of Europe s greatest epics the story of King Hrothgar the monster Grendel and the hero Beowulf has been passed down in written form for hundreds of generations. In this remarkable oneman tour de force Benjamin Bagby (co-founder and director of the Sequentia ensemble for medieval music) accompanying himself on an Anglo-Saxon harp delivers this gripping tale in the original Old English as it could havebeen experienced more than a thousand years ago.BONUS FEATURES: Interview with Benjamin Bagby Discussion with Beowulf scholars ...
Editorial Product Review: :One of Europe s greatest epics the story of King Hrothgar the monster Grendel and the hero Beowulf has been passed down in written form for hundreds of generations. In this remarkable oneman tour de force Benjamin Bagby (co-founder and director of the Sequentia ensemble for medieval music) accompanying himself on an Anglo-Saxon harp delivers this gripping tale in the original Old English as it could havebeen experienced more than a thousand years ago.BONUS FEATURES: Interview with Benjamin Bagby Discussion with Beowulf scholars ...
Editorial Product Review: :It's not opera; it's not a pop concert; it's not Broadway. It's all of these and none of them. Once you accept the fact that this sequel to the original blockbuster concert recording is less about music and more about entertainment and the power of musical personalities, you can appreciate what you're hearing as an event--phenomenal and bizarre, momentous and frivolous. This is an occasion to celebrate the voices and egos of three huge superstars, and to have fun listening as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido ...
Editorial Product Review: :If you like your Wagner served up in bleeding chunks or if you're simply in a hurry to hear the tunes, then this compilation is for you. The performances, drawn from the Polygram (mainly Deutsche Grammophon) back catalog, are for the most part authoritative. They feature the likes of Herbert von Karajan, with the Berlin Philharmonic, and Karl Böhm, with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra (and chorus), in extracts from recordings of complete operas, and conductors Giuseppe Sinopoli, Otto Gerdes, and Antal Doráti in some ...
Editorial Product Review: :If you like your Wagner served up in bleeding chunks or if you're simply in a hurry to hear the tunes, then this compilation is for you. The performances, drawn from the Polygram (mainly Deutsche Grammophon) back catalog, are for the most part authoritative. They feature the likes of Herbert von Karajan, with the Berlin Philharmonic, and Karl Böhm, with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra (and chorus), in extracts from recordings of complete operas, and conductors Giuseppe Sinopoli, Otto Gerdes, and Antal Doráti in some ...
Editorial Product Review: : Taking as her base 12 works of Bach, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero proceeds to play variations on each. The works are familiar and most Classical fans will recognize their melodies instantly. But Montero, who is closer to a jazz improvisationalist than a classical pianist merely embellishing, alters rhythm as well as melody, and the results are invariably both surprising and delightful. The Presto from the Italian Concerto is positively wacky, but 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' sticks to the piece's mood with truth ...
Editorial Product Review: :Of all Puccini's major operas, the intimate tragedy of Madama Butterfly is least in need of elaborate staging and might therefore benefit most from the close scrutiny of film. The story is domestic, the setting Spartan, the incidental characters kept to a minimum. This 1974 version, however, demonstrates that Butterfly still needs a healthy injection of proscenium arch melodrama. Director Jean-Pierre Ponelle's production strives for realism but remains unfortunately studio-bound, having neither the benefit of location filming nor the heightened reality of an opera ...
Editorial Product Review: essential recording:Although Einstein on the Beach is by definition an opera, Philip Glass's most famous work also transcends traditional music categories. Glass avoided all vestiges of plot in the piece and dug deep into his quiver of repetitions to create an artfully unnerving five hours of brilliance. The instrumental ensemble never exceeds five members, playing electric keyboards, saxophones, flutes, and a single violin. Furthermore, the music congregates around the upper registers, often darting through its loops at seemingly incredible paces. The chorus bears ...
Editorial Product Review: essential recording:Although Einstein on the Beach is by definition an opera, Philip Glass's most famous work also transcends traditional music categories. Glass avoided all vestiges of plot in the piece and dug deep into his quiver of repetitions to create an artfully unnerving five hours of brilliance. The instrumental ensemble never exceeds five members, playing electric keyboards, saxophones, flutes, and a single violin. Furthermore, the music congregates around the upper registers, often darting through its loops at seemingly incredible paces. The chorus bears ...
Editorial Product Review: :Neville Marriner's 1976 account of the Covent Garden version of the score (1743), with the Academy and Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and soloists Elly Ameling, Anna Reynolds, Philip Langridge, and Gwynne Howell, is positively plush-sounding but nicely animated. I'd love to have this kind of string tone for, say, the Dvorák Serenade, but for Handel it may be just a bit much. --Ted Libbey
Steering clear of many of the pitfalls that sapped past video-on-demand broadband solutions, Vudu delivers the closest thing to "Netflix in a box" that we've seen to date.
It's June 29th and Apple is finally ready to let the public play with the iPhone. The past six months have shaped up to be the highest profile mobile phone launch ever, Apple has conjured up an...
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