I really enjoyed this CD and I did find the music relaxing. However as someone who meditates regularly I do not think that it is music that would be used to meditate to. One can sit and relax to this CD but if you want to meditate this CD, in places, can be quite stirring and would not lend itself to an actual meditation practice.
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I really enjoyed this CD and I did find the music relaxing. However as someone who meditates regularly I do not think that it is music that would be used to meditate to. One can sit and relax to this CD but if you want to meditate this CD, in places, can be quite stirring and would not lend itself to an actual meditation practice.
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Well the compositions are brilliant and the playing is brilliant, BUT it is this ridiculous "Opendisc". Despite apparently not being copy protected it does not let the first disc be ripped for my MP3 player. They say you can get extra info, but you have to register with more personal data than is needed to open a bank account. Their helpline is patronising and unhelpful
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Well, I think I must have a different version of this CD to the other reviewers because Cliff Richard - Faithful One has a strong Christian message e.g "I will bow down before God's only son".
The first track (How Great Thou Art - Aled Jones) is worth the price of the CD on its own.
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I should start my review by saying that as a Welshman living just a stone's throw from Karl Jenkins' home, I may be slightly biased but I'll try to give as balanced a view as possible.
There's certainly less of an ethnic feel to this latest release, and despite the ravings of a fellow reviewer here, the orchestrations sound fine to me (and before the one star reviewer asks, yes I am a classically trained musician).
Those of you who have enjoyed the recent Stabat Mater, the Armed Man etc will thoroughly enjoy Quirk. I'm fairly sure the decision to include Palladio was made by the marketing dept of the record company, and though I feel it's been done to death it's nice to have the 'definitive' version here.
I have often listened to church music thinking to myself is it all manifested in the same place and released under different titles? However this selection 'hits the spot' with some great renditions of worshipful music and if you like to listen to part singing then cd 1 is excellent. There also some lovely descants some of which i had not heard before, an inspiring selection. Excellent.
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I bought this cd because Amazon offered it as a double deal for under a tenner! I loved the last song - Somewhere over the Rainbow and thought why not treat yourself to it, it costs nothing! Anyway,it is such a beautiful collection and I totally love it. Very relaxing to listen to but in no way boring, it lulls you, then teases you, then absorbs you - superb. I think it allows you to have a glass of wine and ponder or as I just did peel the potatoes and ponder!!! There's more than one gem on this cd - it is a collection of gems. Treat yourself!
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There are two sides to Shostakovich's music and most listeners tend to know only the darker side. There is wit in Shostakovich's music although usually in acidic or sardonic way. There was a time before the Stalinist purges and the Second World War when the wit really flourished and Yablonsky and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra (formerly the U.S.S.R Symphony Orchestra) give us some very fine examples of it. The plot of "The Bolt" (evil capitalist industrialists brought low by rightous socialism) so embarassed the composer that he rarely spoke of it and never pushed for a revival after its initial run. He did realize that he wrote some very good music for it and from it he made this nearly half hour suite. The Jazz Suites are really works with ... Read More:
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If anything, this recital shows Florez to be in even better voice than in his last album "Voce d'Italia: Arias for Rubini" (see my review). Despite the beauty of Florez' singing there, a few top notes showed signs of strain; here, the voice is more easily produced, sweeter and more characterful than ever before. For me, the plum item is his newly minted account off that old warhorse "Una furtive lagrima"; he sings with power and delicacy, managing some heart-stopping diminuendi and maintaining seamless legato. The Italian version of Florez' calling card aria with the nine high C's is as thrilling as ever and the more interesting for being less frequently heard. The choice of repertoire is judicious: a preponderance of Donizetti but a very varied selection ... Read More:
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This Cistercian abbey has a continous history since its foundation. My only criticsm is that according to the Rule Cistercians should chant in the Ambrosian mode - very slow & ponderous, and this CD is a little too fast. One of the plus points is that Cistercians do not have choir boys so the overall effect is a deeper more inspiring chant.
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