classical music: John Cheek

classical music: John Cheek

classical music:

John Cheek

The Power & The Majesty: Essential Choral Classics

Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Choruses

Telarc, 1995

Best of American Choral Singing!
This CD could be the cornerstone of your choral music library! Wonderful performances of all of the essential choral pieces give a wonderful introduction to choral music for someone new to it, and also give a nice sampler of the best pieces for someone already familiar ...

Berlioz: Requiem; Boito: Prologue to Mefistofele

John Cheek, Hector Berlioz, ...

Telarc, 1990

A superb modern performance of the Berlioz Requiem.
Two hundred years ago today, Louis-Hector Berlioz was born. This is a day for me to comment on a few of my favorite performances of his works, some of them "favorites by acclamation" and others simply those in which I find special merit, enough so that they are ...

Igor Stravinsky: The Composer, Vol. 1

John Cheek, Igor Stravinsky, ...

Music Masters Jazz, 1991

Terrific collection - HOW CAN THIS BE OUT OF PRINT!!!!
Stravinsky is one of my favorite composers and this set has several of my favorite compositions by him. The "Symphony in Three Movements" is a popular and frequently performed work. Stravinsky said that this work was his reaction to the Second World War. It is ...

Strauss - Elektra

Birgit Nilsson (II), Leonie Rysanek

Deutsche Grammophon, 2006

Some corrections to prior postings
I thought I would add some corrections: 1. this performance was not Nilsson's return to the MET after a five year absence. Her first Elektra in 1980 was on February 1 and this recording is from February 16. 2. this performance was not "cut" due to her vocal ...

Absolute Heaven

William Stone, John Cheek, ...

Telarc, 1997

I may be musically challanged but....
This is one of those recordings that would have a hole worn in it from overuse if CD's were capable of getting holes from being used. This is the most used CD in my entire collection. I love it! It picks me up when I am down and it quiets me when I am high. It send ...

Verdi - La Traviata / Rudel, Sills, Price, Fredricks, Wolf Trap Festival

Beverly Sills, Henry Price

Video Artists Int'l, 2001

A Gorgeous Traviata: Beverly Sills Triumphs
This performance was captured on film in 1976 as one of many in a series of operas made into film starting in 1974 with La Fille Du Regiment by Donizetti. Beverly Sills was a regular at the Wolf Trap Festival in Virginia, where she sang often at the Filene Center ...

Verdi - Rigoletto / Domingo, MacNeil, Cotrubas, Diaz, Levine, Metropolitan Opera

Plácido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil

Deutsche Grammophon, 2004

most moving!
This trio performance of MacNeil, Cotrubas and Domingo is overwhelming, and actually I was on the verge of tears upon seeing it. What more can I say? Just have your copy of it, please!

Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time

Sarah Walker, John Cheek, ...

Naxos, 2005

Tippett's Autumnal Performance of His Powerful Early Work
Michael Tippett was a lifelong pacifist who served a brief sentence during World War II as a conscientious objector. He wrote 'A Child of Our Time' early in WW II and he wrote the text for it himself after T. S. Eliot, whom he had asked to supply the libretto, told him ...

Franz Joseph Haydn: The Creation

Franz Joseph Haydn, Donna Carter, ...

Telarc, 1992

Mensa... whatever
This recording has been regarded as "required listening" for choral musicians and directors. I doubt we will find better choral singing of this piece in our lifetimes. You should have heard it LIVE! To "Mensa Girl," why did you need a recording to help you learn ...

Menuhin & Grappelli Play...

Eddie Tripp, Jack Sewing, ...

EMI Classics, 2005

Most beautiful music
This is happy music. Just plain happy, instrumental music. Highly recommend to everyone.

Rossini - Semiramide / Conlon, Anderson, Horne, Metropolitan Opera

June Anderson, Marilyn Horne

Image Entertainment, 2000

Semiramide is the best Rossini opera!!
This DVD of Semiramide is fantastic!! The singing and the music were very beautiful. June Anderson is a great Semiramide, and Marilyn Horne with a beautiful mezzo-voice was amazing as Arsace. The rest of the cast was incredible!! You should get this DVD because the ...

Handel: Messiah

John Cheek, George Frederick Handel, ...

RCA, 1999

A Messiah for the Millenium
While no work with as varied a performance history as The Messiah can be called definitive, this one comes close. First, the size and scale of the chamber orchestra and chorus is ideal; they sing and play with a precision that creates an impact of much larger forces. ...

Puccini: Tosca / Scotto, Domingo, Bruson; Levine

Giacomo Puccini, Renata Scotto, ...

Angel Records, 1997

This is the best Tosca of the digital era
Though I agree that the Callas/De Sabata and the Price/Karajan Toscas are the best recordings ever made of this opera, there is still much greatness in this recording and it is certainly worth hearing. First of all Scotto gives a tremendous performance in the title ...

Bernstein: Songfest; In Memoriam: Nathalie Koussevitzky; Symphony No. 1

Vernon Hartman, John Cheek, ...

RCA, 1993

A Cautionary Note
Prospective purchasers of this CD should be aware that the major work here, the Jeremiah Symphony, is not a modern recording but an ancient monaural one from 1945 with a youthful Bernstein conducting the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (with Nan Merriman as the ...

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral"

Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Shaw, ...

Intersound Records, 1995

Excellent
I don't personally own this album; however, I have been lucky enough to hear it. I have also heard Shaw perform this live, and it was thrilling. I truly think that this recording of Beethoven's greatest work and one of music's masterpieces is second only to ...