.

Baby Einstein - Travelling Melodies

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
by: Baby Einstein Music Box Orchestra

July 03, 2006

Average Rating:

.

Verdi: La Traviata -- Royal Opera House [1994] (NTSC)

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
starring: Angela Gheorghiu, Frank Lopardo, Leo Nucci, Leah-Marian Jones, Gillian Knight
directed by: Humphrey Burton, Peter Maniura

March 12, 2001
This is the opera that shot Georgiu to stardom. It's easy to see why, with her combination of acting, looks and singing. Violetta is a very difficult role, it places very different demands on the singer in each act. Georgiu isn't quite ideal for act 1, but after that she's really in her element. You can practically see the paternal pride in Solti's face as he watches his young protegee bloom. Surely the definitive Traviata.

Average Rating:

.

Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasia; Fantasia on Greensleeves; The Lark Ascending etc.

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
from: Universal Classics

April 03, 1986
Loved it~the Tallis fantasia is glorious~if you like music that fills your head...this is for you.

Average Rating:

.

Martha Argerich: Evening Talks (A Film by Georges Gachot) [2008] (NTSC)

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
starring: Martha Argerich
directed by: Georges Gachot

July 28, 2008
Martha Argerich, for many of us, has long been an enigma. She has always been a private person, one who does not seek the spotlight, who even cancels performances because, it is said, of nervousness, shyness. Filmmaker Georges Gachot, after years of entreaties, gets her to agree, to speak with him on camera. She comes across as a soft-spoken, shy, immensely intelligent but often cryptic person, one who has idiosyncratic but attractive ideas about her relationships with composers and various pieces of music. For instance, she will not play the Beethoven Fourth Concerto because she is afraid of 'what might happen', this after talking about the galvanic emotional effect it has had on her ever since she heard Claudio Arrau play it when she was six. ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

101 Classical Hits

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
by: Various Artists

May 12, 2008
101 TRACKS! 6 CDS! - EACH ONE OVER 70 MINUTES LONG!
Unbeatable value for money!
There's a bit of everything here from movie ost's to the great classics!
Wagner, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Holst, Prokofiev & many,many more!
Each disc is separateley themed; one disc focuses on tracks from the movie & television world, another features lighter, romantic works, another is the big, epic, heavy pieces & so on. That's over 6 HOURS of some of the finest MUSIC ever written! Raging Bull, Platoon; It's all here!!!
It has to be said that the sound quality is EXCEPTIONAL!
I'm a novice to this stuff, having come over from the world of Metal.
This isn't as strange a leap as you may think, considering that Rock ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

Strauss, R.: Four Last Songs, etc.

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
by: Jessye Norman Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Kurt Masur

June 11, 2007
If you find this on Youtube and listen to im Abendrot, she seems to sing for just about a whole minute from about 2:20 to 3:20, without any significant chance to breathe. No strain, just a great sound that keeps on coming. I could listen to this record every day.

Average Rating:

.

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake [1996]

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
starring: Adam Cooper, Scott Ambler, Fiona Chadwick, Barry Atkinson (II), Emily Piercy
directed by: Matthew Bourne, Peter Mumford

October 05, 1998
A truly wonderful interpretation of the timeless classic. Every bit as stunning as seeing it live. Probably not one for the children, so if you are looking for that seek out a more traditional production.

It is witty, excellently crafted and moving. A world wide phenomenon and and instant classic. It is difficult for a DVD to truly capture the magic of a live performance, but this does an admirable job.

Essential viewing for all of the Billy Elliot's out there!

Average Rating:

.

Satie - Piano Works

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
from: EMI Classics

February 07, 2000
This attractive and attuned Satie compilation from Tacchino, spanning the composer's eclectic career, rewards the listener with some of the most finely etched, sensitive and charming playing available. The popular Trois Gymnopedies [1888] offers just the right balance of sustained, nostalgic melancholy, and the wonderful Six Gnossiennes [1890-99], a mixture of mystery (Nos. 1-4), beauty (particularly No. 5) and perturbation (most ostensibly No. 6). The clever Sonatine Bureaucratique [1917] is tweaked by Tacchino to smack even more cleverly of a latter-day Scarlatti or, perhaps, Clementi, each note a pearly, articulated gem; and the lyrically inviting Valse ("Je Te Veux"), a real find, is memorable at every turn. The Veritables Preludes Flasques [1912], ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

Treasure

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
by: Hayley Westenra

February 26, 2007
Treasure is Hayley's third international outing, whilst her fifth album over all. So what has changed since her first release in NZ 'Hayley Westenra' and her fifth album 'Treasure'? Not that much really. Of course, her voice has grown immensely. Only natural for a girl back then who was thirteen, and the woman now who is at the end of her teens.

Her first album contained covers, mostly of musical numbers, traditional songs, pop covers and a few classical numbers. Her first international album (her third album) contained traditional songs, pop covers, a few classical numbers and the odd original song. Her fifth album had traditional songs, classical numbers and the odd original song. The growth based on material is pretty much non-existent. ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

Vaughan Williams - Folksong Arrangements

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Music
by: Ralph Vaughan Williams

June 02, 2008
Every so often a CD comes along where just one track takes your breath away, and no matter what the disc cost it immediately becomes priceless in your collection. Here the track in question is 21), an arrangement by VW for voice, violin and piano of the folksong "How cold the wind doth blow", also known as "The Unquiet Ghost". I'd never heard this arrangment by VW before (he arranged it a number of times), and was literally blown away. The singing, by the wonderful Robert Tear, and the equally wonderful accompaniment from Hugh Bean and Philip Ledger (the former made the best recording EVER of The Lark Ascending, with Boult, by the way), allied to the timeless melody and tragic words, will break your heart. It is as simple as that.

The rest of the disc ... Read More: