Songs of Paradise

On this CD:

1. Trittico botticelliano (Three Botticelli Pictures) for orchestra, P. 151
Composed by Ottorino Respighi
Performed by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kazuhiro Koizumi

2. Requiem, for string orchestra
Composed by Toru Takemitsu
Performed by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kazuhiro Koizumi

3. Tarantelle styrienne, for piano (or orchestra), L. 69 ("Danse") Orchestrated by Ravel
Composed by Claude Debussy
Performed by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kazuhiro Koizumi

4. Songs of Paradise for orchestra
Composed by Alexina Louie
Performed by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kazuhiro Koizumi

5. Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, overture in D major, Op. 27
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn
Performed by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kazuhiro Koizumi

Tracks:

Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Karl Munchinger
Meditation - Nigel Kennedy
In Paradisum - Iwan Edwards
Gymnopedie No. 1 - Charles Dutoit
Flower Duet - Joan Sutherland
The Swan - Jascha Silberstein
Sleepers Awake - Raymond Agoult
Humming Chorus - Vienna State Opera Chorus
Nimrod - Sir Georg Solti
Walk To The Paradise Garden - Sir Charles Mackerras
Pavane, Op. 50 - Iwan Edwards
Panis Angelicus - Julian Lloyd Webber
Ombra Mai Fu (Largo) - Anthony Way
The Lark Ascending - Iona Brown

Tracks:

Clair De Lune - Pascal Roge
Sheep May Safely Graze - Karl Munchinger
Symphony No. 3 - Second Movement (Excerpt) - Joanna Kozlowska
Stabat Mater - Judith Raskin
Ave Maria - Julian Lloyd Weber
Adagio - Miklos Perenyi
Ave Verum Corpus, K618 - Peter White
Andante Molto Mosso: Scene By The Brook - Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
Dance Of The Blessed Spirits - Karl Munchinger
Largo - Colin Davis
Wiegenlied (Lullaby), Op. 49 No. 4 - Marisa Robles
Adagio - Valery Gergiev
Air On A G string - Sir Neville Marriner

Customer Reviews:

Two and a half hours of divine music...what more can I say?.......2006-02-27

Well, a lot! And since no one else has taken the trouble to review my favorite Adagios collection, I'm just gonna hafta go an' do it myself, won't I?

Starting with the stunningly gorgeous 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring' by Bach, this tape reels you in instantly. I'm not much of a fan of 'slow' and 'peaceful' music; I like the beautiful, sublime type that just makes you tingle all over whenever you hear it. (If only Canon in D was in this tape my cup of joy would overflow) Anyway, don't stop listening because Delibes' 'Flower Duet' comes soon after and it is the very meaning of divine. I listen to the taoe just to hear that one song over and over--but not too much, or it'll loose it's touch. This is a Opera duet (sorry, don't know technical terms, my passion is music, not the science of) sung by two women, for those of you out there like me who know practically nothing!! Gorgeous! Sugoi!! (That's Japanese)

Ahem.
The lovely 'Ombra mai fu' (which, I believe Elizabeth Bennet's sister horribly sings in the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries) is another memorable piece (hear the previews of these titles, please) and finally, William Vaughan's 'The Lark Ascending' a sixteen minute piece of violin heaven played so expertly you will see larks flying in circles about your head--or is that because your noggen got whacked?

Well, as for the second CD, it wasn't quite as memorable, but it's up against perfection, ok? Brahms' 'lullaby' (yes, THAT lullaby) is really sweet and of course there's 'Claire de Lune', a favorite of the Adagios collection, besides 'Sheep may safely graze' and 'Air on a G string'. (Honestly, does EVERY Adagios collection have that one? It's not even that wonderful.)

But what am I going on and on for?
BUY IT!!!!

NOW!!!!

STOP THINKING ALREADY AND BUY IT!!!
=^-^=

Grand Larsen-y: Vocal Music of Libby Larsen

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Grand Larsen-y: Vocal Music of Libby Larsen

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0001LJBSU
Release Date: 2004-03-30

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Delius: Orchestral Works

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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ASIN: B00000IX80
Release Date: 1999-05-11

Tracks:

Brigg Fair
In A Summer Garden
The Walk To The Paradise Garden - (A Village Romeo And Juliet)
North Country Sketches: I. Autumn
North Country Sketches: II. Winter Landscape
North Country Sketches: III. Dance
North Country Sketches: IV. The March Of Spring

Tracks:

Florida Suite: I. Daybreak
Florida Suite: II. By The River
Florida Suite: III. Sunset
Florida Suite: IV. At Night
Two Aquarelles (arr. Fenby): I. Lento, ma non troppo
Two Aquarelles (arr. Fenby): II. Gaily, But Not Quick
On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring
Summer Night On The River
Dance Rhapsody No.2
Dance Rhapsody No.1

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The Ultimate George Gershwin, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Pearl
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Ultimate Cole Porter, Vol. 1

ASIN: B00005KB57
Release Date: 2001-08-28

Tracks:

Sinbad: Swanee - Al Jolson
George White's Scandals Of 1920: The Songs Of Long Ago - Lester O'Keefe
Mayfair And Montmartre: Please Do It Again - Alice Delysia
George White's Scandals Of 1922: I Found A Four-Leaf Clover - Paul Whitman Orchestra
George White's Scandals Of 1922: I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise - Paul Whitman Orchestra
George White's Scandals Of 1922: I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise - The Original Piano Trio
George White's Scandals Of 1923: The Life Of A Rose - Charles Dornberger Orchestra
Little Miss Bluebeard: I Won't Say I Will - Irene Bordoni
George White's Scandals Of 1924: Somebody Loves Me - Tom Patricola
Primrose: Overture - Winter Garden Theatre Orchestra/John Ansell
Primrose: The Countryside - Percy Hemming
Primrose: When Toby Is Out Of Town - Leslie Henson
Primrose: Some Far-Away Someone - Percy Heming/Margery Hicklin
Primrose: The Mophams - Leslie Henson/Heather Tatcher/Thomas Weguelen
Primrose: I'll Have A House Iin Berkeley Square - Margery Hicklin/Claude Hulbert
Primrose: Boy Wanted - Heather Thatcher
Primrose: Mary, Queen Of Scots - Leslie Henson
Primrose: Wait A Bit, Susie - Percy Heming
Primrose: Naughty Baby - Margery Hicklin
Primrose: Ballet Music - Winter Garden Theatre Orchestra
Primrose: That New-Fangled Mother Of Mine - Leslie Henson
Primrose: I Make Hay When The Moon Shines - Heather Thatcher

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Rumanian Chants: Anthology

Manufacturer: The Orchard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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Christian Contemporary Music | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000046PXQ
Release Date: 2000-05-10

Tracks:

Blessings
Extenis
Blessed Is The Man (Ps.1)
Lord I Cry To Thee ' With Sithira'
(Ps.140-141) Orthodox Version
(Ps.141-142) English Version
Apolytikion Of The Nativity
Kontakion Of The Nativity
Exapostilaria Of The Nativity
What Wonderful Tidings
In Bethlehem Dawnwards
Up To The Gate Of Paradise
Little Infant And Lord From On High
There Is The White King
Three Wise Men From The East
Anthology

Gardening Classics: 16 Perennial Favorites for All Seasons

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Gardening Classics: 16 Perennial Favorites for All Seasons

Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000000SOU
Release Date: 1994-07-19

Average customer rating:

Along the Road of Dreams

Manufacturer: Asv Living Era
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Music of Sigmund Romberg
Love Walked In

ASIN: B000058TI2
Release Date: 2001-02-27

Tracks:

The Vagabond King: Only A Rose - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
Along The Road Of Dreams - Webster Booth
Heavenly Night - Webster Booth
The Maid Of The Mountains: A Paradise For Two - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
In Old Madrid - Webster Booth
A Brown Bird Singing - Webster Booth
The Bing Boys Are Here: If You Were The Only Girl In The World - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
Pale Moon - Webster Booth
Robber Symphony: Serenata - Webster Booth
The Second Minuet - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
Strange Harmony Of Contrasts (Recondita Armonia) - Webster Booth
Love's Old Sweet Song - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
Merrie England: The English Rose - Webster Booth
Ideale (My Life's Ideal) - Webster Booth
Bitter Sweet: I'll See You Again - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
Indian Summer - Webster Booth
The Geisha: Star Of My Soul - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
The New Moon: Lover, Come Back To Me - Webster Booth
Song Of Songs - Webster Booth
Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes - Webster Booth
Naughty Marietta: Ah, Sweet Mystery Of Life - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler
The Bells Of St. Mary's - Webster Booth
Break Of Day - Webster Booth
Perchance To Dream: We'll Gather Lilacs - Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler

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Sensational Vocal Album by Carole Farley and William Bolcom
Great Songs, but Mind the Singer
The Songs of William Bolcom

William Bolcom: Songs
Carole Farley , William Bolcom , Farley , and Bolcom
Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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William Bolcom: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 3; Seatlle Slew Orchestral Suite

ASIN: B0009F4UBQ
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Tracks:

You Cannot Have Me Now - Or, the Military Orgy
Night, Make My Day
The Digital Wonder Watch
My Father The Ganster
The Last Days Of Mankind
This Is A Face
Since I Have You
The Rabbit
I Am Not Free
For Me
From Wandering
Beware
I Wouldn't Die
I Remember
For Everything
I Have Climbed
Pity Me Not Because The Light Of Day
How To Swing Those Obbligations Around
The Crazy Woman
Just Once
Never More Will The Wind
The Sage
O To Be A Dragon
The Bustle In A House
Night Practice
I Saw Eternity
The Fish
Costa Del Nowhere
Table
Mary
River Song
Messing About In Boats
Rat's Song
When We Built The Church

Customer Reviews:

Sensational Vocal Album by Carole Farley and William Bolcom.......2007-02-13

Carole Farley and William Bolcom have recorded this landmark CD, and I can easily understand why this CD received a GRAMMY nomination in the "Best Vocal Recording of the Year" and a 2nd GRAMMY nomination in the "Best Engineered Recording of the Year" category. It's indeed one of the best vocal albums of contemporary songs ever made. Carole Farley, who made her MET debut in the MET's first LULU production, seems to be just at home with Puccini, Poulenc, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and even Latin American popular songs (her Lecuona songs album is extremely beautiful).
William Bolcom's accompaniment is brilliant, and the songs are a revelation.
J.B. (Pittsburgh, Pa)

Great Songs, but Mind the Singer.......2006-07-04

This is one of those discs where the listener has to balance the advantages of the program with the disadvantages of the performance. Bolcom is one of this country's most versatile and brilliant composers, and those qualities are demonstrated to great effect in the songs on this album. His piano playing is, as one would expect, also solid and expressive. The drawback here is Carole Farley. Although her diction and intonation are good, as far as tone-color goes, she seems to be a one-trick pony; and if you don't like that trick (opera singer trying to sound like what she thinks a musical theater singer sounds like), listening to her can get very tiring. So while I highly recommend the disc for its content, I suggest listening to excerpts first before buying just to make sure that the singer's voice doesn't drive you batty.

The Songs of William Bolcom.......2006-02-14

The American composer William Bolcom (b. 1938) is best-known for his large-scale setting of William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience," which is available on a 3-CD Naxos set. This new collection of Bolcom's songs also on Naxos shows the composers's lifelong fascination with Blake. It includes an early lyrical setting of Blake's poem, "Mary" which deals with a beautiful and intelligent young woman and her rejection by her society. In the several torch and cabaret-style works it includes, the collection also shows Bolcom's attempts to fuse classical with popular styles of music. Bolcom also has done so in his piano music, much of which is heavily influenced by ragtime.

The songs on this CD are performed and selected by soprano Carole Farley with Bolcom himself at the piano. Ms. Farley has also recorded for Naxos' "American classics" series a selection of the songs of Ned Rorem with Rorem at the piano. Ms. Farley and Naxos are doing listeners a service by introducing them to the world of the American art song.

The highlight of this CD is the 20-minute song-cycle "I will breathe a mountain" in which Bolcom sets 11 poems by American women. The poems were selected by Alice Fulton, and they include Fulton's own "I will swing those obligatos around" in which the young singer describes a come-on from a boor. The song writing is declamatory in character with many twists, turns, and shouts in the vocal line. Only the setting of H.D.'s "Never More Will the Wind" is lyrical and flowing. Besides Fulton and H.D. the settings include poems by Millay, Gwendolwn Brooks (a poem called "The Crazy Woman" with appropriately wild shrieks) Anne Sexton, Denise Levertov, Marianne Moore (listen to what Ms. Farley makes of the poets wish to be a DRA' GON), Emily Dickinson (in a moving poem of the stillness of a home after death),Louise Bogan, May Swenson, and Elizabeth Bishop. "I will breathe a mountain" is an outstanding and moving contemporary American song-cycle and is in itself sufficient reason for hearing this recording.

The CD also includes a second exquisite cycle, "Songs to Dance" which sets ten miniature poems by George Montgomery. This is a work to be danced as well as sung, and it has apparently been performed live only once, by the composer, his wife, the soprano Joan Morris, and dancer, Dan Wagoner. It has never been recorded before. The work deserves to be heard and seen.

Many of the remaining works on this CD are cabaret-style theatrical pieces that Bolcom composed in collaboration with lyricist Arnold Weinstein. The best of these are two torch songs from a show called "Casino Paradise": Night Make my Day (a parody of the torch style which is sometimes performed straight) and "My Father the Gangster", in which a young woman laments how men are, understandably, worried about her father and afraid to approach her. The collection opens with a scream by Ms. Farley in the erotic novelty "You cannot have me now", about the affairs of the wife of a German officer, sung with a heavily inflected German accent and also set to words by Weinstein.

I enjoyed Bolcom's short setting of May Swenson's poem "The Digital Wonder Watch" with the tick-ticking in the piano. This song is a satire of technology, with the poet describing the features of her "wonderful watch" while asking: "Does it show how to wind up/a broken heart?" The other songs on the CD include the passionate "The Last Days of Mankind", conceived for rock singer Marianne Faithful, two eloquent settings of poems by Richard Tillinghast, and four concluding early collaborations between Bolcom and Weinstein.

This CD offers an opportunity to explore the world of American song in the works of a leading contemporary composer. The cycle, "I will breathe a mountain" will be a lasting achievement in American art song.

Robin Friedman

Robert Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri / Requiem für Mignon / Nachtlied - The Monteverdi Choir / Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique / John Eliot Gardiner

Average customer rating:

An Essential Schumann Recording
Serene ,uplifting & captivating Schumann
Schumann must be smiling
Revolution!
Gardiner proves himself again in another great recording

Robert Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri / Requiem für Mignon / Nachtlied - The Monteverdi Choir / Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique / John Eliot Gardiner
Robert Schumann , John Eliot Gardiner , Barbara Bonney , Bernarda Fink , Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique , The Monteverdi Choir , Alexandra Çoku , Christoph Prégardien , Neill Archer , Gerald Finley , Cornelius Hauptmann , William Dazeley , and Hanover Boy's Choir
Manufacturer: Archiv Produktion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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R. Strauss: Die Ägyptische Helena
Schumann: Genoveva / Ziesak, Lipovsek, van der Walt, Widmer, Gilfry, Quasthoff

ASIN: B00000J67H
Release Date: 1999-06-22

Tracks:

No. 1 - 'Wen bringt ihr uns zur stillen Gesellschaft?'; No. 2 - 'Ach! Wie ungern brachten wir ihn her!'; No. 3 - 'Seht die machtigen Flugel doch an!'; No. 4 - 'In euch lebe die bildende Kraft'; No. 5 - 'Kinder! kehret ins Leben zuruck!'; No. 6 - 'Kinde...
Nachtlied: 'Quellende, schwellende Nacht'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 1 - 'Vor Edens Tor im Morgenprangen'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 2 - 'Wie glucklich sie wandeln, die sel'gen Geister'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 3 - Rezitativ - 'Der hehre Engel, der die Pforte des Lichts bewacht'; 'Dir, Kind des Stamms, schon, doch voll Sunden'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 4 - 'Wo find' ich sie? Wo bluht, wo liegt die Gabe'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 5 - 'So sann sie nach und schwang die Fl '0 susses Land! 0 Grpracht!'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 6 - 'Doch seine Strsind jetzt rot'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 7 - 'Und einsam steht ein Jungling noch'; 'Komm, kuhner Held, und huld'ge mir'; 'Du schlugst des Landes Burger'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 8 - 'Weh, weh, weh, er fehlte das Ziel'
Paradise And The Peri: No. 9 - 'Die Peri sah das Mal der Wunde'; 'Sei dies, mein Geschenk, willkommen dorten'

Tracks:

Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 10 - 'Die Peri tritt mit schner Gebe vor Edens Tor'; 'Gern grussen wir, die so gegangen'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 11 - 'Ihr erstes Himmelshoffen schwand'; 'Hervor aus den Wassern geschwind'; 'Ach Eden, ach Eden'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 12 - 'Fort streift von hier das Kind der L 'Fen ersten Fall'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 13 - 'Die Peri weint'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 14 - 'Im Waldesgrstillen See'; 'Ach, einen Tropfen nur aus der See'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 15 - 'Verlassener Jg'; 'Doch sieh, wer naht dort leise schleichend'; 'Du hier?'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 16 - '0 lass mich von der Luft durchdringen'; 'Sie wankt - sie sinkt'
Das Paradies und die Peri: 4 Bars Before No. 17 - 'Schlaf nun und ruhe in Traumen voll Duft'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 18 - 'Schmdie Stufen zu Allahs Thron'; 'Auch der Geliebten vergesset nicht'; 'Seht da, die Bahn zum ew'gen Licht'
Das Paradies und die Peri: 3 Bars Before No. 19 - 'Dem Sang von ferne lauschend'; 'Noch nicht! Treu war die Maid'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 20 - 'Verstossen: Verschlossen aufs neu das Goldportal!'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 21 - 'Jetzt sank des Abends goldner Schein'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 22 - 'Und wie sie niederws sich schwingt'; 'Peri, ist's wahr, dass du in den Himmel willst?'; 'Mit ihrer Schwestern Worten wachst ihr Schmerz'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 23 - 'Hinab zu jenem Sonnentempel!'; 'Sie schwebt herab im frohen Hoffen'; 'Doch horch, wie Vesperruf zum Beten'; 'Und was fuhlt er, der sund'ge Mann'; 's war eine Zeit, du selig Kind'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 24 - '0 heil'ge Trn inn'ger Reue'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 25 - 'Es fallt ein Tropfen aufs Land ypten'; 'Und sieh, demutig betend kniet der Mann'
Das Paradies und die Peri: No. 26 - 'Freud', ew'ge Freude, mein Werk ist getan'; 'Willkommen, willkommen unter den Frommen!'

Amazon.com

This lovely, unjustly neglected work should have become part of the mainstream repertoire long ago. Based on a Persian legend retold by poet Thomas Moore, the story is an endearing mixture of Western and Eastern religion. Setting a Christian vision of Heaven in Allah's garden, it tells of a supplicant tainted not by guilt but by inheritance, who must be cleansed by compassion and undaunted personal effort to be admitted to Paradise. The music is basically lyrical, tender, and serene but encompasses the depths and heights of intensity, lamentation, devotion, ecstasy, and triumph. A succession of vintage Schumann songs, sometimes bursting into operatic arias, is held together by often highly dramatic accompanied tenor recitatives and by long passages melding the solo voices with chorus and orchestra; the instruments evoke images of sun, moon, flowers, water, even the clash of war, refuting Schumann's supposed inability to orchestrate. The singing by both chorus and soloists is beyond praise; the orchestra is wonderfully transparent but often too subdued, evidently by interpretive choice. Of the two short pieces, the second is more beguiling for its mysterious, shimmering atmosphere. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

An Essential Schumann Recording.......2006-07-22

I recall a biography of Schumann that I once read in which the author opined that Schumann was a miniaturist foolishly driven to try his hand at bigger works. The author went on to say the composer's tiny piano piece "Elf" (from Bunte Blatter, I believe) is worth more than all his massive choral works together, collecting dust as they are on library shelves. I submit there are two things wrong with this assessment. First, when it was issued, no one had taken Schumann's big choral works down form the shelf and dusted them off for a long time, so it was pretty impossible for music lovers to make a judgment about their contents. Second, the person who took them down off the shelf, when it occurred, was not John Eliot Gardiner. Pretty strong praise, maybe, but though "Das Paradies und die Peri" has been recorded before, more or less successfully (there used to be a semi-decent version by Armin Jordan on Erato), the beauty and sheer genius of Schumann's work was only hinted at in earlier recordings. And it is a thing of beauty, with music that would beguile even Schumann's detractors. Much is made of Schumann's naivete about orchestral color when he wrote his First Symphony in 1841. Well, by the time of "Peri" in 1843, Schumann knew how to write for the orchestra. His writing for winds, harp, high percussion--instrumentation he rarely used for coloristic effect in his works--is beautifully rich.

Part of the success, of course, is original instruments, whose freshening effect in Schumann's music can be likened to the efforts of a restorer working on the oil painting of an old master. However, it must be said that Schumann was in the thrall of Mendelssohn at this point in his career, so a piece like "The Chorus of the Nile Spirits" (No. 11) has all the lightness of a Mendelssohn scherzo; this is an influence Schumann progressively shed in his later choral music. Still, it is not merely original instruments nor Mendelssohnian influence but Gardiner's sure ear for balance that makes this music come up so fresh and radiant.

Add the fact that Gardiner has at his disposal the radiant voice of Barbara Bonney for his Peri, and it would be difficult to imagine finer talents employed on Schumann's behalf. The other soloists are fine as well--Christoph Pregardien being an especially sweet-voiced match for Bonney in the tenor-solo role.

As critics have pointed out, in "Peri" Schumann benefited from his work with the German lied; the vocal writing is always fluent, and Schumann is always sensitive to the text he is setting. High points for me are the gentle finale to Part 2 (No. 17); No. 20, where the rejected Peri vows to keep on keeping on; No. 23, where the Peri wins her wings, so to speak, by capturing the tears of the repentant sinner; and the final magnificent solo and chorus (No. 26), to which I could listen again and again. No. 23 is like one of Schumann's famous ballads, Nos. 17 and 26 like the best of his great love songs. Sure, the libretto is more than a bit corny for modern tastes. Just skim it, and listen to the music.

Actually, Schumann did miscalculate a bit in this work, and that may be why it isn't heard as often as it should be. The first part is clearly the most dramatic, with a thrilling battle scene using "Turkish" percussion and a powerful final chorus with thundering timpani; Schumann would use that trick again at the end of his wonderful Second Symphony. At this point, Schumann wasn't a seasoned enough oratorio composer to pick, or craft, a libretto that would share the dramatic wealth across all parts. But Parts 2 and 3--especially Part 3--have so many individual beauties that we're the losers if we don't overlook Schumann's miscalculation.

As to the other works on the disc, "Requiem fur Mignon," a very unusual setting of a scene from Goethe, is probably Schumann's best-known choral work, though you are unlikely to hear it in as imaginative and subtle a treatment as Gardiner gives it. Until hearing Gardiner, I thought Abbado's recording, also on DG, was as much as I needed to know about this work, but again, original instruments make all the difference. Despite the enthusiasm of Schumann expert John Devario, who wrote the excellent notes, for "Natchlied," I find it is not on the same exalted plain as either Peri or the Requiem, but it is short and relatively sweet and certainly nice to have as an addendum to the other pieces.

All in all, this is one of the most important Schumann recordings in years. And years.

Serene ,uplifting & captivating Schumann.......2000-10-31

I have just re listened to this marvelously moving collection of Schumann's choral works again after my initial purchase. I am even more moved and in awe at both Gardiner's way with the Romantic era, and Schumann's powerfully wrought music. Lilting, intense, lyrical but always serene and flowing.

If Gardiner's driven and superbly played HIP Schumann Symphonies were not enough to entice, then do try these beautifully proportioned and recorded works. The clarity is amazing. The Nachtlied is spell binding. Barbara Bonney is enthralling in the Peri role. The choral ending and final brass blaze to part one of Paradise and the Peri is spine tingling, no other way to describe my reaction.

I'm a real Schumann convert. Now wouldn't John Eliot like to try Schumann's opera Genoveva? I hope so. This is simply a spectacularly affecting set. Don't hesitate.

Schumann must be smiling.......2000-10-08

In an interview, Gardiner said that he thought that no one understood Schumann. And you know what -- he's right. It's too easy to criticize Gardiner for his hubris, but when the results are this good, who cares? Schumann is NOT the incoherent, rambling, second rate Romantic composer that too many people view him as (Schumann, BTW, absolutely *hated* the term "Romantic"). Such a misguided point of view makes musicians think that it's perfectly fine to tamper with Schumann's scores, modifying dynamics, setting out sluggish tempi that are modified with self-indulgent rubato, and blaming him for poor orchestration without making an effort to bring out the often cleverly beautiful counterpoint and part-writing in proper balance. With great soloists (lead by the incomparable Barbara Bonney as the Peri), a disciplined choir, and a "period" orchestra, Gardiner's recording of Schumann's "Paradis and the Peri" is a triumph in every way. Gardiner finally reveals Schumann as the one of the most important (if not *the* most important) and vital composers of the first generation of European Romanticism (the others include Mendelssohn, Liszt, Berlioz, and Chopin). The use of period instruments and a properly balanced choir (NOT of the overblown Victorian type, thank god!) ensure clarity, so that the various lines come out with great eloquence. And Gardiner's direction is forthright and vigorous, yet eloquent and expressive, not entirely lacking in rubato (which is a hallmark of 19th century performance practice, after all) yet careful to keep the score moving, thus emphasizing the overall strucuture of this glorious and deeply moving work. Gardiner presents Schumann as Master Raro -- Florestan and Eusebius in perfect balance. Also, don't miss Gardiner's recording of Schumann's symphonies! And I do hope Gardiner will go on to record Schumann's Faust Scenes -- one of the composer's greatest yet most neglected works.

Revolution!.......2000-01-16

This is actually beyond words! What Gardiner is doing with the romantic repertoire should have been done a long time ago! The clarity of the orchestra, the superb soloists and the wonderful choir blended together to create something absolutuely overwhelming! This cd makes you wonder...what have we really been doing all these years...is the 20th century ideals really good when it comes to the music and the way we hear it? Anyway, this is a superb disc with music ignored by the people who had no understanding for Schumann's way of writing when it actually were themselves who didn't understand a thing!

Gardiner proves himself again in another great recording.......1999-10-01

This superb album of three Schumann choral works proves (yet again) that John Eliot Gardiner belongs in the class of major conductors and not just of "period instruments" specialists. And the works themselves richly deserve to be heard, particularly the spectacular "Paradise and the Peri," which is Schumann at his best; despite the somewhat quaint period flavor of the text, the evocative nature of the music makes this an oratorio that deserves more than to be trotted out as a curiosity. Gardiner and his singers and instrumentalists play it for all it's worth, as they do the magnificent "Requiem for Mignon" and the explosive "Nachtlied." An album not to be missed!