Customer Reviews

Christmas With Pavarotti

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This recording is from the concert held in Notre Dame Cathedral in the late 70's or early 80's and broadcast on PBS. It occasionally has some audience noise but with full adult and boy's choir's the sound is worth it!

Christmas with Pavarotti..is..Christmas. The music..in particular..Panis Angelicus...and Pieta Signore..and others...has its own power. Combined with the voice of Pavarotti...it is..sublime. Adeste Fideles.....Ave Maria....O Holy Night.... have a special place in the minds and hearts of many people. So does the sound of Pavarotti..... so does Christmas... Put these all together.........and.......ENJOY !

I may have to eat my words here. I've often championed budgetline disks--in all genres--because they give the listener a fair sampling of what a given artist is all about--and usually at a price that's hard to beat.

But I'm having second thoughts after listening to this recording. For one thing, NOBODY needs an inexpensive intro to Luciano Pavarotti these days. If any one figure in the operatic world has become well known--and loved--by the masses of non-opera fans it would be Pavarotti.

And besides, Pavarotti isn't even ON about half the tracks. I don't find ANY liner notes in my package, but I see that a reviewer below has asserted that the recording was from a live PBS production. That might make some sense, and would explain why "guest" choral groups (unattributed here) are featured on so many of the tracks, some of which plainly ARE live--while others would appear to be rough hewn studio takes.

The roughness might be excusable in a TV broadcast--from 20 or 30 years ago--but as far as a pure listening pleasure is concerned, I'd say this doesn't cut it. Pieces come to startlingly abrupt ends, the background noise on some of the "live" tracks is beyond annoying. And even the tracks featuring Pavarotti seem to be alternate takes, with some glaring vocal gaffes sprinkled here and there.

Those of us who are NOT purists might be forgiving of those gaffes, if the overall quality of the disk were better. But the poor production values put the damper on even the small pleasures one might otherwise hope for. Already feeling cheated by Pavarotti's total absence on several tracks, I started to wonder if some others featured "Luciano wanna-be's," instead of the great tenor. With product this shoddy, you have some justification in wondering.

But then the singer would do something so characteristically "Pavarotti-esque" that I'd be reassured as to the identity of the singer, but nonetheless puzzled as to how he could ever allow such a performance to be released on record. Then it hit me. He likely did NOT give his permission to Laserlight OR anyone else to put this product out (at least not as it is). There could have been all kinds of finagling going on that left Luciano out of the loop.

And how can you trust a label that lists--not once but twice--the German title "Tausend Englein Im Chor" as "Tausene Englein Im CHOP." Talk about BUTCHERING a text.

That kind of thing DOES seem to go on with "bargain" labels often enough to make you wonder if their releases really are any kind of bargain at all. Especially when--for just a few dollars more--you can get reasonably priced "official" releases on the artist's own label.

Bottom line, completists may nonetheless want this for the good (and, yes, occasional GREAT) moments, and if you're able to get it from a low cost distributor for a fraction of its original cost, it MIGHT be worth it. Others will find much more satisfying Pavarotti product out there and should be advised to seek it out. Definitely a case of "caveat emptor!"

Although Pavarotti is awesome, this recording is FAR from it. There are so many sneezes and odd fumblings with the recording equipment that it is difficult to concentrate on Pavarotti's flawless voice. This CD was a major disappointment. I felt that I could have done a better job with a hand held tape recorder. Skip this one and buy The #1 Christmas Album, it isn't all Pavarotti but it is all incredible.