Customer Reviews

The Classical Child at the Opera

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No, this isn't Bugs Bunny's version of opera. It is, however, an excellent introduction to opera, for young and old alike. The the translations to English are quite clever, and the singers' voices are, for the most part, excellent and clear (overly florid voices can be such a turn-off). Grant Doyle, the baritone, is a particular stand-out: rather than sing "at" you, he manages to convey humor and emotion in his parts... you can almost *see* the funny bird catcher, Papageno, in the three songs from Mozart's "Magic Flute", which happent to be my 5-year old's favorite tracks. Doyle's turn as Figaro in "Largo al Factorum" from "The Barber of Seville" is pure joy. The children's chorus in "The Children's March" from "Carmen" is also delightful, and Gabriella Santinelli's(?) voice as the doll from Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffman" is simply amazing.

As much as I enjoy this album, I question the inclusion of the last three songs, which come from "Hansel and Gretel". The voices on the songs are of the overly florid nature, and I can see my daughter lose interest. I think it would have been more interesting to include more "Carmen," or arias from other such popular operas "Rigoletto" or "Aida". Or if the album needed to end on a slower note, the overcoat song from "La Boheme."

IAC, I have caught my daughter humming bits and pieces from the operas. Even I have managed to amaze people by correctly identifying the Flower Duet from "Lakme"! I strongly recommend this album.

My wife and I received this cd as a gift at a shower and started playing for our kids in the car. They loved it! I have a degree in voice and was delighted when I began to hear my two and a half year old son singing along with the arias. He now knows many of them word for word and note for note. This cd is a wonderfull way to get your kids listening to and enjoying opera and classical music. Our original copy was broken in a bizzare baby/cd incident so I had to buy a second copy because my kids were begging for it. BUY THIS CD!!!!!

My two boys received this album as a gift in tape form. We have listened to it so often we now have to purchase the CD to replace the worn-down tape. We can't live without it! My 6 year old begs for "Figaro!" and my 3 year old loves the Flower Duet! This is a wonderful gift!

Our baby seems to enjoy this operatic CD almost as much as her parents enjoy it. Maybe she doesn't even really hear it, but she does see her parents acting silly and singing along to the catchy opera songs. I think we'll be listening to this one for many years to come. You'll probably really enjoy this CD if you have an appreciation for opera already.

My wife and I got this cd as a shower gift and started playing it for our kids in the car. I have a degree in voice and was delighted when I heard my two and a half year old boy start singing along with the arias. He knows many of them word for word and note for note. This cd is a wonderfull way to get your kids to listen to opera and really enjoy it. Our copy got broken in a bizzare cd accident so I had to buy another because my kids wanted to hear it. Buy this cd!!!!

All I can say is my family LOVES this CD! We have a blast singing along, dancing, etc. It's made opera a new discovery for all of us.

I use this CD is my classroom for a wide variety of activities including art instruction for which it is ideally suited. It is hard to recommend this CD enough! Thanks for putting it together.

My one complaint is that after I listen to this CD, the catchy tunes get stuck in my head! And then I want to keep listening to it more and more. I love the selections on this CD, the fact that the songs are in English (I always wondered what the "Figaro, Figaro, Figaro" song was about!), and that a little background is given to each piece as well.

As a music teacher, you learn just how little non-pop music children are exposed to, so I made an effort to get them exposed to this form of musical art. I'm not a huge fan of opera myself, but I want my students to have an appreciation for all aspects of my art, and finding a way to introduce them to it without playing into their stereotypes of the fat lady with horns. So, I tried this CD, and am quite pleased with it. It gives enough of an overview that I can use it with my younger students, but has great classics so that I can go a little more in-depth with my older students. A great find!

This is an excellent choice... I love that it is an English translation, and does not distort the beauty of the music in order to suit children. Beautiful to listen to and lots of fun. I bought this for my 5, 3, an 1 year old and just bought one for my 5 year old niece. I love it for myself to. I just order my own full length opera (the magic flute) because of this cd.