classical music: Marc Minkowski

classical music: Marc Minkowski

classical music:

Marc Minkowski

Offenbach - La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein / Lott, Piau, Beuron, Le Roux, Les Musiciens du Louvre, ...

Felicity Lott, Sandrine Piau

Virgin Classics (EMI Music), 2006

Very Funny, Great Lott
Dame Felicity Lott struck me as all wrong as La Belle Helene, so I wanted to say she's an unqualified howl as La Grande Duchesse. Here, middle age works for her dramatically and vocally, as she struts, leers, and pratfalls the plausible character of a frustrated ...

Rameau - Une symphonie imaginaire / Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski

Jean-Philippe Rameau, Marc Minkowski, ...

Archiv Produktion, 2005

Love it!
Love it, love it, love it. Have not stopped playing it since it arrived and haven't gotten sick of it yet either. I bought it because I heard just one track briefly on the radio - bit of a gamble but it paid off. Great to drive to! Love the fast violin playing and ...

Natalie Dessay - Greatest Moments on Stage

Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri

Virgin Classics, 2007

Opera par excellence
Natalie Dessay is apsolutely marvellous in this wonderful DVD. If you love the operatic voice, this is certainly a terrific choice. She gives a tour de force at every level, and if you cannot see her in person on the stage, than this is the way to go.

The Baroque Christmas Album

Johann Sebastian Bach, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ...

Archiv Produktion, 2005

5-PLUS Stars
There are not many things in life that I would describe as just Gorgeous -- but this album is definitely one of them. The selections, the arrangements, the production quality, all are clean, yet lush -- simultaneously light and rich. The effect is wonderful. This ...

Handel - Ariodante / von Otter, Dawson, Cangemi, Podles, Croft, Sedov, Coadou, Les Musiciens du Louvre, ...

George Frideric Handel, Marc Minkowski, ...

Archiv Produktion, 1999

...spoilt for choice!
This review is a bit of an addendum to the one I wrote about the McGegan Ariodante. How lucky we are to have both his and Minkowski's superb recordings, so different yet both alive with vocal and dramatic excitement. I've mentioned that I choose McGegan over Minkowski ...

Handel - Giulio Cesare / Mijanovic · Kozená · von Otter · Hellekant · B. Mehta · A. Ewing · Bertin · Les ...

George Frideric Handel, Marc Minkowski, ...

Archiv Produktion, 2003

Minkowski's (overdue) return to Handel
I'll admit that I am a big fan of Marc Minkowski and that I've followed him from his first Handel recordings (Amadigi and Teseo) to his Offenbach and Strauss. However, while his "modern" forays have been quite nice (especially the Orphée aux Enfers), I'm glad that he ...

Rameau - Une Symphonie imaginaire

Jean-Philippe Rameau, Marc Minkowski, ...

Archiv Produktion, 2005

RAMEAU - MINKOWSKI & Les Musiciens du Louvre: sur le Ouvre posthume
Before Rameau (1683-1764) there was instrumentation; after Rameau, there was orchestration. Then came Mozart, Beethoven, von Weber, Berlioz, Fry, Lizts, Gottschalk, Wagner, Lèfébure-Wélly, Franck, Bruckner, Mahler, and the rest is part of the world's music history. ...

Cecilia Bartoli ~ Opera Proibita (Handel · Scarlatti · Caldara) / Les Musiciens du Louvre · Minkowski

George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, ...

Decca, 2005

Amazing disc
This disc has all the elements needed for an amazing disc. The conductor, orchestra, and music are all top notch. Bartoli's singing is amazing. I find this album energizing and a testament to how exciting baroque music can be. However, if you don't like Bartoli's ...

Rameau - Platee / Agnew, Delunsch, Beuron, Naouri, Le Texier, Lamprecht, Minkowski, Paris Opera

Paul Agnew, Marc Minkowski

Kultur Video, 2004

A lot of fun
One doesn't expect 18th century French Opera to be so much darn fun! This is one of those clever productions where most of the money got spent on costumes and the barest minimum of sets so the director's talents and abilities are on full display bringing us a witty, ...

Bizet: L'Arlesienne; Carmen

Georges Bizet, Marc Minkowski, ...

Naive, 2008

Very special recordings of "standard" Bizet works
These frequently recorded Bizet works (L'Arlesienne suites and incidental music, and Carmen suite) receive a very refreshing expression in this new recording by Marc Minkowski and his Louvre musicians. French music is unique and is best performed by the French. In ...

Handel's Largos

Claire Giardelli, Marion Middenway, ...

Elektra / Wea, 2001

Shows Breath & Depth of This Composer
Handel certainly was prolific composer, and this rich two-volume set of Largos is exemplary proof of such in Largo form. From operas and orchestral pieces, this is full of sumputuous music from concertos to operetic pieces. Especially fond of work from Concerto ...

Lully - Acis & Galatée / Fouchécourt, Gens, Naouri, Crook, Delunsch, Felix, Masset, Les Musiciens du Louvre, ...

Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marc Minkowski, ...

Archiv Produktion, 2006

Perfect, cold Lully-fricassee
Jean-Baptiste Lully (né Giovanni Baptista,1632-1687) has the honor of belonging to the vast group of non-French who, for their time, set the very idiom of "French" music (Eric Satie is a more current example). Lully, and his party of "Lullistes," advocated a priority ...

Handel - Hercules, Musical Drama in Three Acts (HWV 60)

George Frideric Handel, Marc Minkowski, ...

Deutsche Grammophon, 2002

Magnificent, Riveting Version of a Handel Masterpiece
Like "Semele," "Hercules" (1744) is a secular English-language drama drawn from classical mythology, composed at a time when Handel had turned from Italian opera to English oratorio. Though presented without scenery, costumes or stage action, this "Musical Drama" to a ...

Pachelbel: Greatest Hits

Tomaso Albinoni, William Byrd, ...

Decca, 2003

Much better than typical compilations.
This and the other compilations in this DECCA series are excellent. Much thought went into the choices of recordings, with high caliber artists performing the selections. If only all compilations were this good . . .

Anne Sofie von Otter sings Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach, Marc Minkowski, ...

Deutsche Grammophon, 2002

A Bright Voice, Delightful Music, and Hilarious Delivery
I'm a relative newcomer and amateur in opera. Right now, I particulary enjoy buying CDs of sopranos, and I decided to "try" Ms. Von Otter. Was I blown away. My favorite on this CD is the "Sextuor de l'Alphabet" (the Alphabet Sextet). I had to laugh the first time I ...