Illuminations [Import]

Track Listings

1. Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism

2. Angel of Air/Angel of Water

3. Bliss: the Eternal Row

4. Angel of Sunlight

5. Illuminations

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Carlos' 1974 album for the Columbia label, a collaboration with Alice Coltrane. Five tracks, including 'Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism' and 'Angel Of Air/ Angel Of Water'. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Tracks:

God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot
Mary
Better To Find Out For Yourself
The Vampire
Adam
The Dream Tree
Suffer The Little Children
The Angel
With You, Honey
Guess Who I Saw In Paris
He's A Keeper Of The Fire
Poppies

Customer Reviews:

Totally Superb magic!.......2006-08-29

Illuminations has always been one of my all time favorites from Buffy. I couldn't be happier that the CD issue is sonically satisfying. I still have my original mint LP copy and this CD copy doesn't show the usual cold digital sharpness of many reissues of the classics. This is a must have for every Buffy fan!
Rich

Worth Waiting For..........2006-03-01

This album was one of my favorites back in my teen years. I never thought it would get released on CD, but it finally was. Buffy is an aquired taste...you will either love her or hate her. The standout cut on this CD is without a doubt "God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot". The rest of the songs grow on you with the passage of time. A great representation of the end of the 60's that carried forward to the early 70's. A great choice for your collection.

Bone Chilling Masterpiece.......2005-10-07

Hearing this CD now, after all this time, reminds me of why artists like Buffy Sainte-Marie should not be forgotten. Of all the so-called "folk singers," Sainte-Marie was the most adventurous and fearless. No two of her wonderful albums were alike, but this one went the farthest out on a limb, mixing her trembling vocals with electronic backing, searing electric guitars and pulsating rhythms. "Poppies" is a spellbinding trip; Leonard Cohen's "God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot" is a mystic dazzler, beginning and ending with an ocellating loop of Buffy's voice repeating the title line; "Better To Find Out For Yourself" will give you the shivers, especially when she hits that final, angry wail on the fade out; "Suffer The Little Children" is more relevant now than ever. "He's a Keeper Of The Fire," a chanting rocker bristles with energy, and "The Vampire" should be the theme song for a really good horror movie. Ed Freeman's "The Angel," with its echoing bell sounds, is simply sublime, one of the most gorgeous songs Buffy has ever sung. ILLUMINATIONS is a dream-like, captivating record that was way ahead of its time, and still sounds daring today.

a for-real lost classic.......2004-01-29

Genuinely mysterious and absorbing, this is one of the more striking works to come out of the "psychedelic" sixties. On many of the songs, Buffy teamed up with Peter Schickele (yes, P.D.Q. Bach in his other life!) on songs that featured primitive but effective electronic experimentation. "God is Alive, Magic is Afoot," is one example, as BSM sings across/over an eerie musical backdrop that the listener gradually comes to recognize is a heavily treated recording of her singing the same song. In spite of the experimentation, it's spine-chilling and beautiful.
At the same time, Sainte-Marie kept her folk roots and her social consciousness intact. The voice-and-acoustic "Suffer the Little Children," with its commentary on capitalism, would not sound out of place on her earlier albums, and the downright sensuous "Guess Who I Saw In Paris" is one of her best love songs.

The real fascination here, though, is how far afield Buffy goes. In "Keeper of the Fire" she provides a Jorma Kaukonen like guitar solo with her voice on the ride-out, and "Poppies" is outrageously trippy and far ahead of its time, reminding the listener of an early version of Enya or Loreena McKennitt.

The album was not a commercial success in its day, primarily because it was so "out of character" for what Buffy's fans wanted. But thirty-odd years later it still sounds subversive and strange. The album combines Buffy Sainte-Marie's natural warmth and power with eerie and transcendent moments quite unlike anything else out there at the time (or now). Very much a lost classic, "Illuminations" is not just for folkies. Anyone with an interest in psychedelia or the unusual will find a lot to like here. One of her best and well worth having.

A Masterpiece.......2000-10-20

Buffy Sainte-Marie really left the "moldy figs" in the dust with this one.This album made history as the first quadrophonic, electronic vocal and instrumental album. Even now, modern day alt-rockers cite this album as an influence. From the opening Leonard Cohen track "God is Alive, Magic is Afoot" to the closing "Poppies" the listener gets a slice of psychedelic 1969 with technology well ahead of its time. Meanwhile, acoustic cuts such as "Dream Tree", while remininiscent of her earlier "Winter Boy" and "Eyes of Amber" nevertheless fits well into this electronic, Velvet Underground-esque album. For modern day shuffle play CD listeners, this album will fit in as well with Sonic Youth as it does with Odetta.

Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings; Les Illuminations; Nocturne

Average customer rating:

Comparing Britten's 'Serenade' from Bostridge and rivals
Bostridge and Rattle Offer Definitive Britten
EXCELLENT SINGING: OUSTANDING PLAYING

Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings; Les Illuminations; Nocturne

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Britten: The Canticles; Ian Bostridge, David Daniels
Britten: Holy Sonnets Op35 / Bostridge, Johnson
Ian Bostridge - Songs of Faure, Debussy & Poulenc
Die Schone Mullerin
Osvaldo Golijov: Ayre

ASIN: B000AXZE3U
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Tracks:

I. Fanfare
II. Villes
IIIa. Phrase
IIIb. Antique
IV. Royaute
V. Marine
VI. Interlude
VII. Being Beauteous
VIII. Parade
IX. Depart
Prologue
Pastoral
Nocturne
Elegy
Dirge
Hymn
Sonnet
Epilogue
On A Poet's Lips I Slept
Below The Thunders Of The Upper Deep
Encinctured With A Twine Of Leaves
Midnight's Bell Goes Ting, Ting, Ting
But That Night When On My Bed I Lay
She Sleeps On Soft, Last Breaths
What Is More Gentle Than A Wind In Summer?
When Most I Wink, Then Do Mine Eyes Best See

Amazon.com

This is a wonderful record, in substance and execution. As Ian Bostridge writes in his passionately involved program notes, these three song cycles represent a pinnacle of the all-too-sparse literature for tenor and orchestra. We owe them to Britten's long personal and professional partnership with the great tenor Peter Pears, for whom he wrote all his vocal music. Listeners who remember Pears' unique and unmistakable voice and style will be astounded at how thoroughly Bostridge has made these works his own. His voice is very different but no less unique, and intoxicatingly beautiful. He has at his command colors and nuances which he uses so masterfully that they become an integral part of the music, never sounding artificial. Giving equal weight to words and music, Bostridge captures the lush sensuousness of the French cycle, set to poems of Rimbaud, the lyricism, lightness, serenity, horror and triumph of the Serenade, and the declamatory drama of the Nocturne (the last two use poetry from Shakespeare to Wilfred Owen). The cycles trace the development of Britten's style, from the tonal orientation and direct expressiveness of the first, through the greater emotional depth and variety of the second, to the descriptive, sardonic, wild, passionate rhetoric of the third. The orchestra's principals are superb in their extensive solos. Unfortunately, they are nameless except for Radek Baborák, a worthy successor to Dennis Brain, the virtuoso hornist for whom the Serenade was written. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Comparing Britten's 'Serenade' from Bostridge and rivals.......2006-06-26

In 1944, a year after it was composed, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings began a long streak of excellence on disc. Six decades later we have this acclaimed new one from Ian Bostridge, so it seems worthwhile to compare it to the best from the past. (I will name my personal favorites at the end.)

Pears 1944: The Gramophone calls this, the premiere recording, 'usurpassable,' and so it would seem with the unique combination of Peter Pears, the tenor voice for which the work was written, Dennis Brain, the young horn virtuoso whom Britten also had in mind, and Britten himself conducting. There are some drawbacks, though, principally the ugly wartime sonics, which are murky and boxed-in. Pears is not as dramatic as he would become later on, and although Brain is very musical and supple in tone, he doesn't extract the last ounce of intensity from his part.

Pears 1964: Pears' remake is the unsurpassable one, perhaps. We get excellent stereo from Decca, and Britten's conducting is more or less perfect. Barry Tuckwell sets a new standard in the horn part, taking hair-raising risks and underlining the darker side of the score. Pears has grown immensely in his interpretation of the poetry, but one can't escape that he is 20 years older--his voice is obviously under strain in the more difficult passages and at loud volume. Even so, his depth and artistry quickly make you forget anything but the music itself--a great recording.

Rolfe-Johnson 1991: The Gramophone loved this recording when it came out on Chandos. The outstanding performer here is the tenor, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, who took up Pears' artistic manetle. Like Pears he has a sweet, focused tenor with a prominent head tone (R-J's sound is less idiosyncratic than Pears'), but more importantly Rolfe-Johnson does almost as much with the poetry as his great predecessor. The conducting by Bryden Thomson is fine, and so is the horn player, Michael Thompson, though he is too cautious to take the kind of risks Tuckwell did.

Langridge 1994: This recording, originally on Collins Clasics, is on Naxos now. Philip Langridge is the doppelganger to Rolfe-Johnson, both bieng Britten specialists who have recorded most of his major tenor roles. Langridge has a bigger voice, with an unusual but pleasant nasality. It's less focused than Rolfe-Johnson's or Pears', so the pitch can spead a little, and some wobble creeps in under pressure. On this CD Langridge gives a notably quiet, tender reading, with a lot of variaiton in tone and poetic sensitivity. He is aided by the excellent conducting of Britten's disciple, Steuart Bedford. The horn playing of Frank Lloyd matches the singer in tenderness, even if he isn't the daredevil that Tuckwell ws--Lloyd's suppleness is closer to Brain in approach.

Bostridge 1999: The latest generation of Pears' descendants is represented by Ian Bostridgee, who has attained more fame than the previous two tenors outside Britain. Bostridge's voice started out quite slender and cooing, so he can't attack the Serenade's more strenuous parts head on. His solution is to give a lighter, quicker version that is refreshingly different. His hornist, Marie-Luise Neunecker, is a true virtuoso, more at home in this music than any player since Tuckwell. She is also caught in vivid, clear sound by EMI. Ingo Metzmacher's condcuting sometimes lacks zest and impact, though it passes muster well enough.

Bostridge 2005: Bostridge got to remake the Serenade for EMI after only a few years, not the twenty that Pears waited. In the interim his voice has acquired more weight--it's still the lightest of any being considered here, however--and that extra heft helps him to deepen his interpretation, adding more darkness and mystery to the text (mystery being one of this singer's best modes). The presence of Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil. strings certainly ups the ante, and the first horn of the orchestra, Radek Baborak, at last brings us Tuckwell's equal in daring and risk-taking. British critics have acclaimed this recording as the only modern one to stand beside Pears/Britten, but I think Rattle and Bostridge are both a little guilty of fussiness; every syllable and musical phrase is underlined to the point where we notice the performers more than the music at times.

I have owned Serenades by other singers like Martyn Hill and John Mark Ainsley, both on EMI and both in the boyish tenor vein of Bostridge, if without his notable intelligence and musical insight. I would be hapy to own either of Bostridge's efforts, but the ones that send chills down my spine are by Rolfe-Johnson and Pears 1964.

Bostridge and Rattle Offer Definitive Britten.......2005-11-30

Ian Bostridge continues to astound with the variety of his repertoire and the glowing beauty of his richly burnished tenor voice and his enormous musicality. Here he sings three of Benjamin Britten's finest works and with him in collaboration are Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. An embarrassment of riches!

Each of the three cycles feels as though Bostridge and Rattle are in complete agreement with Britten's intentions. 'Les Illuminations', designated as a work 'for high voice and strings', here benefits greatly from the timbre of Bostridge's baritone-infused tenor voice. The poems by Rimbaud were written by a man for a man and thus it feels more appropriate to have the male voice singing (though the numerous performances by sopranos do hold a special glow). Supported by some of the most lush strings sound ever recorded, Bostridge sings the songs with more passion than most. These are heartfelt and not the cerebral exercise they often receive. Yes, there are moments when memories of other performances rise - such as during the downward glissando of 'et je danse' when other singers caress every note in the fall. But the overall effect is very dramatic and, well, luminous.

'Serenade for tenor, horn and strings' finds Radek Baborak in the horn role. Again the pulsing Berlin strings under Rattle are almost unbearably beautiful. Bostridge's perfect diction again demonstrates how Britten was the finest composer for the English language. The cycle is involving in its survey of an interesting variety of poems. Likewise the Nocturne 'for tenor, seven obbligato instruments an strings' is a mature work of Britten's and has echoes of phrases from what by the time of its composition were closely identified with the 'Britten sound'. Again Bostridge sings with such purity of line and intense communication. His voice and thinking are married in a perfect effect.

Perhaps it is the fact that Bostridge commits his concert time to demanding lieder recitals with piano that makes him one of the most sought after vocal artists of the day. When he steps in front of an orchestra, especially such as the Berlin ensemble with Rattle on the podium, he is wholly at home with these beautiful but technically difficult cycles, and the degree of communication of both the music and the poetry are extraordinary. An added bonus with this CD is the personal set of program notes written by Bostridge. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, November 05

EXCELLENT SINGING: OUSTANDING PLAYING.......2005-11-23

This is a marvellous disc of the most famous Britten orchestral Song Cycles - not so much for Bostridge's singing as for the stunning playing of the strings of the Berlin Philharmonic and the excellent conducting of Simon Rattle.

The very opening bars of Les Illuminations give a thrilling taste of excitements to come as the violins and violas throw the fanfares from side to side of the stereo spectrum. In the hands of the Berlin Phil, Les Illuminations reveals itself to be as big a compendium of string orchestra techniques as the Frank Bridge Variations. Here are wonderfully light harmonics, creepy harmonic glissandos, perfectly together full-bodied pizzicati, haunting cantilenas, rich thrumming accompaniments. Ensemble throughout is impressively immaculate. Antique is hauntingly beautiful, Being Beauteous achingly so. Bostridge's singing is also impressive in these Rimbaud settings, bringing to some of the songs a real baritonal quality to set beside his more familiar headtones - perhaps suggesting that a Pelleas from him might be an interesting proposition. For me, the sound of the original soprano voice works better in these songs (they were first done by Sophie Weiss): it rises freer and cleaner of the string accompaniments. But Bostridge is fine among the tenor versions, up there with Pears himself.

The Serenade fares a little less well after such an impressive opening. Maybe the horn player, Radek Baborak, is to blame. He seems a little cautious - the phrases of the Prologue and Epilogue seem a little disjointed, the keening sounds of Blake's Sick Rose lack the last ounce of passionate commitment, the scary glissandi in the Lyke Wake Dirge are barely touched in compared to the hair-raising whoops of a Tuckwell or even a Brain and Ben Jonson's Queen and Huntress doesn't have quite the lightness of step she should. Bostridge, too, seems to be straining a bit hard and Fischer-Dieskau-like to get the last ounce of meaning from the text. The plosive 't' at the end of 'elephant' in Cotton's Pastoral practically splashes the listener. He has recorded the Serenade before (also with a German orchestra) and despite the wonderful playing here of the Berlin strings - their splendour falls magnificently on Tennyson's castle walls - it's the earlier version I would prefer.

The horn player is better in his onomatopoeic Middleton song in the Nocturne. Indeed, all the soloists are excellent in this cycle and I would single out Stefan Schweigert's bassoon solo in The Kraken for particular praise. The Nocturne always seems to get rather short shrift in comparison to the Serenade or even Les Illuminations. For me it is the finest of the three cycles. It is a central piece among Britten's explorations of sleep around that time - the Dream, the guitar Nocturnal, the piano Notturno, 'Let us Sleep' in War Requiem and 'Dormi nunc' in the Cantata Misericordium are all roughly contemporaneous. It is also more of a cycle than the Serenade with its linking 'breathing' motif on the strings (which was actually rescued from a setting of Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, written for but rejected from the Serenade). Bostridge is better here with a little less obvious pointing of words. He copes with the magical melismas of the Coleridge setting well. He holds nothing back in Wordsworth's nightmare recollections of the September Massacres with a full-bodied scream on the parlando 'Sleep no more'. Owen's Kind Ghosts sound more than ever like a precursor of the Owen settings in War Requiem and Rattle secures a wonderfully heavy tread from his string players. Perhaps only Pears had the secret of those magic Britten phrases that flow straight through the natural break in the voice (the arch of 'Thus I my best beloved's am' at the end of Canticle 1 or the rising Dona nobis pacem in War Requiem come to mind): Bostridge can't quite match him in the similar phrase for the last couplet of the Shakespeare Sonnet, but for the rest he does achieve a near perfect balance of melodic line with judicious pointing of Shakespeare's pun-fest.

The playing of the Berlin Philharmonic again is a joy to hear in this song. The voicing of the chord when all the obbligato instruments and the strings play together for the first time at the beginning of the Shakespeare is breathtaking and Rattle makes the climax of the Sonnet (and indeed the whole cycle) an overwhelming moment. The recording quality throughout this disc is superb - crystal clear but with true warmth and depth. Bostridge contributes a fascinating essay to the booklet and all the texts are there, too. All in all, an outstanding issue.

Average customer rating:

Who dares, Win.
Cinematic Orchestration
hernandoguitar69
Not what you think.
FREE!!!!!!!!!

Illuminations
Santana & Alice Coltrane
Manufacturer: Sbme Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Latin Pop | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Latin Rock | Latin Music | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music

Guitar Gods | Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Jazz | Imports | Stores | Music

Classic Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Oneness: Silver Dreams Golden Reality
The Swing of Delight
Borboletta
Welcome
Love Devotion Surrender

ASIN: B000006ZUV
Release Date: 2006-01-13

Tracks:

Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism
Angel of Air/Angel of Water
Bliss: The Eternal Row
Angel of Sunlight
Illuminations

Album Description

Carlos' 1974 album for the Columbia label, a collaboration with Alice Coltrane. Five tracks, including 'Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism' and 'Angel Of Air/ Angel Of Water'.

Album Description

Carlos' 1974 album for the Columbia label, a collaboration with Alice Coltrane. Five tracks, including 'Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism' and 'Angel Of Air/ Angel Of Water'.

Customer Reviews:

Who dares, Win........2007-01-10

This is another daring Fusion Jazz Rock musical work for Carlos Santana.
Anybody who bought this album some 30 years ago hardly understood this musical work, since Santana's audiences were totally into different kind of music. For that reason Illuminations was the first Santana release not to go to Gold.
After the release of "love, Devotion and Surrender" and "Caravanserai", both in 1972, Santana continued exploring different routes from the Rock and Latin sounds he already was famous for.
On this album Santana is fully into Fusion, Jazz and Rock; with David Holland on bass, Tom Coster on Keyboards and Alice Coltrane on Harp, topped by a Classical 18 member band. The result is one of Santana's finest accomplishments.
This album is mainly for the lovers of Fusion Jazz Rock, Santana fans and any guitar great sound lover.
If you like this album, make sure to listen to "caravanserai" and "Love, Devotion and Surrender as well". 3 Santana albums that go hand in hand.

Cinematic Orchestration.......2005-12-28

The names Coltrane & Santana sold this album to me as I found it accidentally one day searching through some experimental jazz albums! The album it self is a orchestral/jazz trip through warm washes of bass and drums through to the yearning call of the saxaphone blended with Carlos's typical solo routines backed with tabla beats. Any sample searchers out there should note that the orchestral arrangement in the first song was used by The Cinematic Orchestra for 'All That You Give' and has the same epic effect on you as the CO song does.
defintaly recommend this album if you are in to the Prog Rock sound and ambient jazz. Combined well to create a interesting album.

hernandoguitar69.......2005-09-03

I bought this album when I was 16 yrs. old and did not like it and never played it until again till I was in my 30s now I understand it. Carlos guitar tone is increidable Alice really complaments his playing thank you Carlos&Alice for breathing fire in our souls

Not what you think........2005-04-20

I was very disappointed by this album. It is almost reminiscient of noise. Terrible jazz/rock fusion, to the point of being nearly unlistenable. Be sure to listen before you buy.

FREE!!!!!!!!!.......2004-07-06

This is the closest album thing to avante garde jazz that
Carlos Santana every did.Featuring brilliantly dramatic string accompanyment by harpist/arranger Alice Coltrane,her harp also
plays a big role.The music is typically otherwordly and if you close your eyes while listening you will believe you are being transported to another world!Wheather orchestral,rock or jazz
the stylistic blend of sound and YES-great sense of melody make
this a high point for both musicians.Alice Coltrane's entire
catalog,by the way,is also definately worth checking out if you like what you hear on this recording!

Ravel: Shéhérazade - Debussy: La damoiselle elue - Britten: Les illuminations / McNair, Graham, Ozawa

Average customer rating:

This is an excellent album.
a very good program, but poorly served by Ozawa
Typically French, Classically beautiful

Ravel: Shéhérazade - Debussy: La damoiselle elue - Britten: Les illuminations / McNair, Graham, Ozawa
Maurice Ravel , Claude Debussy , Benjamin Britten , Seiji Ozawa , Sylvia McNair , Susan Graham , and Boston Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Sylvia McNair: Love's Sweet Surrender (Mozart Arias)
Music of Peter Lieberson: Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto
Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs

ASIN: B00000DI3P
Release Date: 1998-11-10

Tracks:

Sheherazade: Asie
Sheherazade: La flute enchantee
Sheherazade: L'indifferent
Les illuminations: Fanfare
Les illuminations: Villes
Les illuminations: Phrase
Les illuminations: Antique
Les illuminations: Royaute
Les illuminations: Marine
Les illuminations: Interlude
Les illuminations: Being Beauteous
Les illuminations: Parade
Les illuminations: Depart
La damoiselle elue

Customer Reviews:

This is an excellent album........2007-01-28

Sylvia McNair singing was outstanding. She relayed the mood of this fantazy extremely well. The lyrics chosen by ravel did not have much meaning.

a very good program, but poorly served by Ozawa.......2006-12-07

I listened to this album alongside that which contains the recent recording of the Shéhérazade by Anne Sophie von Otter and the Cleveland Orchestra, with Pierre Boulez. In Boulez's hands, Shéhérazade is a heartrending masterpiece; in Ozawa's it's frankly boring.

I'll go so far as to say that where Boulez is intoxicating with this music, Ozawa seems intoxicated: it's really not too much of a stretch to think that he might be slightly inebriated, not fully aware of what's going on in the score and, in his stupor, failing to understand how he might reveal the subtle nuances and shades of color and expression that it contains.

To be sure, McNair's singing is gorgeous, and the playing of the Boston Symphony leaves nothing to be desired. But there's no significant contribution of leadership and direction from their conductor.

What saves the disc, and the reason for three stars and not only two, is that the Britten and the Debussy that round out the program are fascinating lesser-known pieces. Furthermore they are not as subtle than the Ravel, and therefore more immune to Ozawa's daft, vapid conducting: their meaning and expression still come through, as they doesn't require the masterful interpretation that Boulez brings to Shéhérazade in order to convey their meaning.

In all, then, this is an admirable recital disc for McNair, a very important program to add to your collection, and as I am a real fan of the Boston Symphony, I'm glad to have another record of their playing. But Ozawa really detracts from a disc that might otherwise have been the equal of Boulez's genuine masterpiece of an album.

Typically French, Classically beautiful.......2001-04-05

Late nineteeth-century French works might often lack authenticity, but never do they miss the mark for imagination or for the lyrical sense so evident in this "Scheherazade". Like Delibes' "Lakme", the setting is exotic, in the French idiom, and the music, while without any semblance of accuracy from a Middle-Eastern/Arabic standpoint, is the perfect vehicle for displaying some truly beautiful voices. And here, the voices of Sylvia McNair and Susan Graham do not disappoint. This is not involving music, but it is wondrous to lsten to for it's sheer beauty. This is not said to convey any sense of triviality...just that it has a single redeeming quality and that is that it is extremely pleasant to hear. Perfectly chosen voices and Ozawa's careful attention to the "feel" of French music make this a real "must-have" for anyone who likes the creamy-smooth delivery of these two fine sopranos. Graham, in particular, shows that when not stretching,she has the tools to make you glad you came.

Britten: Serenade; Les Illuminations; Nocturne

Average customer rating:

Britten: Serenade; Les Illuminations; Nocturne

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
ASIN: B000FIHMH6
Release Date: 2006-05-08

Tracks:

Serenade For Tenor, Horn & Strings, Op. 31
Les Illuminations, Op. 18
Nocturne For Tenor, Seven Obbligato Instruments & Strings, Op. 60

Album Details

The Three Orchestral Song Cycles Collected Here Are Central to the Britten Canon of Recorded Repertoire and Whereas Pears' Other Recordings of the Serenade and Les Illuminations (With Boyd Neel and Benjamin Britten as Conductors) have Been in Circulation, this Mono Recording with Goossens Receives Its First and Much-anticipated Release on CD. All Three Recordings Date from the 1950s and Catch Pears in Full Vocal Flight.

Average customer rating:

Illuminations
McCoy Tyner
Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

West of 5th
Manhattan
Structures

ASIN: B000294RQM
Release Date: 2004-06-22

Tracks:

Illuminations
Angelina
New Orleans Stomp
Come Rain Or Come Shine
Soulstice
Blessings
If I Should Lose You
The Chase
West Philly Tone Poem
Alone Together

Average customer rating:

a democracy of playing
Great...fabulous
good music with a medium quality sound
Excellent Music - Not So Good Recording
Public radio thank you for promoting jazz!!!

Illuminations
McCoy Tyner
Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Land of Giants
The Real McCoy
Infinity
Fly with the Wind
R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal)

ASIN: B000294RQ2
Release Date: 2004-06-22

Tracks:

Illuminations
Angelina
New Orleans Stomp
Come Rain Or Come Shine
Soulstice
Blessings
If I Should Lose You
The Chase
West Philly Tone Poem
Alone Together

Amazon.com

Tyner is first among equals here in a meeting of special talents. It's the traditional quintet instrumentation of modern jazz, with trumpeter Terence Blanchard and altoist Gary Bartz in the frontline and Christian McBride and Lewis Nash in the rhythm section. Few contemporary drummers can spark the joyous conviviality that's the mark of this session, but Lewis Nash provides a rhythmic backdrop that's as secure and as sparkling as that of the late Billy Higgins. It shows in almost all of these 10 surprisingly concise performances, including Tyner's Latin-based "Angelina" (with wonderfully liquid lines from Bartz) and the soulful funk rhythms of "New Orleans Stomp." Tyner reveals some of the sheer trip-hammer brilliance of his right hand on the uptempo "Chase," a trio feature, but this is generally a relaxed session, full of collective spirit and wonderfully lyrical moments. Blanchard does some special things on the standards, including the signature half-valves that add emotional drama to "Alone Together." --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

a democracy of playing.......2006-11-07

first of all, mccoy tyner has history scanning four decades. and, historically, this is not his best recording. try listening to the real mccoy and tyner on david henderson's inner urge.
the music here is all too contemporary, which isn't all bad when you consider the contemporary players, nash, blanchard, mcbride, tyner has chosen. but that's just it, he's chosen them almost as a showcase, and these established performers hardly need showcasing. the cd belongs to them, with tyner and bartz sitting in as elder statesmen of jazz.
gary bartz is a reflective saxophonist given to flights of magic when inspired by his personal muse and here that magic is missing.
a nice album, some latin tinged numbers and melodic pieces. and everyone under fifty gets plenty of time, particularly terance blanchard under whose rubic this cd could easily had been released.

Great...fabulous.......2006-02-20

I had seen McCoy Tyner in concert the night I ordered the CD and I am glad that I did. Jazz fans will love it.

good music with a medium quality sound.......2004-09-14

hi, first of all i am a true fan . I own both telarc's sacd :Mc coy tyner with stanley clarcke and al foster and land of gaints .I bought "illuminations" last week,and i immediatly enjoyed it.I'm just dissapointed about the general mix,the drumset sound seems flat and the peak level is lower than others telarc's sacd.I've got a good hi-fi system and this is the first time that i'm dissapointed with the quality sound of a telarc sacd.Anyway, if you like tyner's music and you are not an audiophile, you can buy this one too.

Excellent Music - Not So Good Recording.......2004-08-16

Let me be clear: McCoy Tyner is an excellent musician, and I just love his work. This is a wonderful album musically, but the sound quality leaves something to be desired. 4/5 for the music, but 2/5 for the recording quality!

I got hooked on McCoy Tyner on his _Land of Giants_ CD - which is an amazing CD, great music and a truly spectacular recording and transfer to disc. Illuminations is even better for a music point of view - but in my stereo system at home - instead of being blown away, I was dissappointed.

The recording seems to have lost some of the brilliance of the drums (they sounded flat as if something was wrong with the drums or the miking of the drums) and the overall presence of the music was much less than it could have been (it sounded as if someone had tossed a veil over my speakers!) - it was billed as being a "direct from DSD transfer" but boy did that not seem to help at all! It got a little bit better on the following tracks, but the drums never seemed to get fixed which ruined the whole album for me. The average recording level seemed really low as well - making me crank up the volume to get the same level of loudness from most other albums making me think that someone had not adjusted the level and done their job in crafting the music. As you could see, I had spent a lot of my time wondering what went wrong rather than getting lost in the music as I had done upon pressing "play" in his Land of Giants disc. I consider something gone horribly wrong with the technical mastering/creation of this disc!

Since my home stereo is a bit revealing, I though I would give it a second chance and I listened to it in my car - and it sounded a bit better though the drums sounded really flat either way. For my money, I hoped that the sound engineers had done a better job in mastering, but CD recording quality is very uneven even today, even in Jazz titles. [Note that the sound is better than the Real Player samples on Amazon, though not a huge amount better!]

If you want stuff from this artist - check out Land of Giants which is a great performance and recording - I am not sure what went wrong in the transfer to disc, but I would not have bought this album in hindsight.

In summary: Great Artist, Great Music, Medoicre Sound Quality.

Public radio thank you for promoting jazz!!!.......2004-07-29

This is an excellent recording and I owe public radio gratitude for bringing this great music to the PUBLIC! McCoy Tyner is the real McCoy; everything that was there with Coltrane not only remains but has flourished..From the Latin style on "Angelina" which attracted me to this CD to the N'awlin's groove that captured my heart and feet on "New Orleans' Stomp"! Don't waste your time waiting for great music; this music is Now, this music is here and it will be here when the so-called "next big thing" comes along!

Average customer rating:

The Maslanka Will Beguile You

Illuminations

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Concertos, Symphony No. 4
Illionois State University Wind Symphony - Maslanka: Symphony No. 7 ; Samuel Zyman: Cycles ; Matthew Halper Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble

ASIN: B0002W4TG2
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Tracks:

Song Book for Flute and Wind Ensemble
Double Star for Solo Clarinet, Solo Piano and Wind Ensemble

Album Description

David Gillingham earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Michigan State University. He has an international reputation for the works he has written for band and percussion. Many of his works are now considered standards in the repertoire. He is currently a Professor of Music at Central Michigan University. Double Star for Solo Clarinet, Solo Piano and Wind Ensemble was commissioned by Gary Green and the University of Miami Wind Ensemble to celebrate the friendship between the composer and the two soloists. The work, therefore, celebrates humanity, especially the goodness and friendship one achieves through music. David Maslanka's Song Book is a set of pieces that are songlike - that is, intimate and expressive, though not necessarily quiet. "The solo flute feels like a voice to me," writes the composer. "One which has a complex story to tell, in the form of musical dreams. I have used three chorale melodies in Song Book." David Maslanka was! born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He attended the Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied composition with Joseph Wood. He spent a year at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and did graduate work in composition at Michigan State University with H. Owen Reed. He has served on the faculties of the State University of New York at Geneseo, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University and Kingsborough College of the City University of New York. He now lives in Missoula, Montana.

Customer Reviews:

The Maslanka Will Beguile You.......2004-10-11

This release featuring the University of Miami (Florida) Wind Ensemble contains two pieces that unwittingly demonstrate the difference between extraordinary music (Maslanka) and well-crafted but rather more ordinary music (Gillingham). Both composers are known primarily for their compositions for winds and both write with a seeming ease and confidence for this medium. However, Maslanka has a true gift for finding originality at the same time that he is writing in a very conservative style; he seems to have his own voice that owes little to any of his predecessors. Gillingham, on the other hand, writes in a style that sounds much of the time like a knock-off of late Romantic epigones such as John Williams. Fortunately his three-section piece 'Double Star for Solo Clarinet, Solo Piano and Wind Ensemble' is much the shorter work here. It is, one must say, expertly played by the soloists (Margaret Donohue, clarinet and Ellen Rowe, piano), somewhat less so by the Miami Wind Ensemble who have some rough patches here and there.

Although I've said that the Maslanka 'Song Book for Flute and Wind Ensemble' is original in impact, it is based in three of the five movements to a large extent on Bach chorales. These are not simple arrangements, but rather meditations on the Bach pieces. All five of the movements are lyrical and unfailingly both beautiful and memorable; Maslanka's ability to craft memorable melodies is remarkable. I was particularly struck by the quiet and ravishing third movement, 'In Loving Memory.' The 11-minute fourth movement, 'In the Crucible of Your Pain,' written in the aftermath of the horror of 9/11, is both wrenching and consolatory. The equally long fifth movement, 'A Song for the End of Time,' is a meditation on final things; the flute seems to be a single soul searching for answers. When, after much emotional turmoil in this movement, Maslanka returns to Bach's 'O Gott, du frommer Gott,' it is hard to keep the tears away. The flute soloist, Christine Nield, is simply superb throughout. Further, the Wind Ensemble under its conductor Gary Green plays much more skillfully and consistently here.

This issue is worth obtaining for the Maslanka. It is destined to be played a lot, I suspect, largely because it is not only very effective but must be rewarding for the instrumentalists involved.

TT=66:55

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Music for Relaxation and Inspiration

One Light

Manufacturer: EMI Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000AAI9KS

Product Description

These 10 beautiful, relaxing tracks are: 1. Hymn, 2. Poeme, 3. Women Of Ireland, 4. Coyote Lullaby, 5. Mediterranean Dream, 6. Varanasi, 7. Obiero, 8. Chi, 9. Sol Ja Camba, and 10. Millennium Theme.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Music for Relaxation and Inspiration.......2006-11-09

My friend found this CD in the bargain bin of a local discount store and gifted it to me. We were both amazed at the beauty of this music. It is richly textured, inspiring, and wonderfully peaceful. I am not a fan of ambient music, and this is not that type of faire. This is a rich CD full of lovely music.

Average customer rating:

Illuminations

Manufacturer: Equilibrium Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000E8QV0G
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Music Review:

Music Review

Music Review

1. Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism
2. Angel of Air/Angel of Water
3. Bliss: the Eternal Row
4. Angel of Sunlight
5. Illuminations