Customer Reviews

Encore?

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who loves classical music, Victor Borge, Flanders & Swann , Beatrice Lily, or PDQ Bach will love this album, play it over and over, and quote her to friends.

I was first introduced to Miss Russell in 1980 by fellow musicians in Rochester NY. We spent late nights after rehearsals secretly listening and laughing ourselves sick. She had the ability to put us and our conductor in our places and made us like it! Miss Russell clearly understood opera, live concert events, touring and all aspects of the music of the world. Parts of this album were recorded in New York City USA and parts in Johannesburg South Africa. It makes no difference where the audience is, the language and experience is universal and we all laugh together. Undressed bagpipes, ears turning into gardenias, the lament for the fat ladies, and "Jolly Old Sigmund Freud" presented in the singular voice of a "ruined opera singer" are irresistible.

The best comment about this album came from my seventeen year old son. Just last year (2006) I finally got a CD copy of this priceless work of art and shared it with him. He listened totally enthralled. The selection "Hamletto, or Prosciuttino (sung in simultaneous Italian and English0" caused him to comment, "Well, now I know what Hamlet is about." He since asked me to get the others and has loved them as well. "Backwards With the Folk Song" brought back memories of Voice Lessons and dreary concerts that now can be enjoyed safely from a distance. Today's indie and emo musicians could do well to listen and learn.

I would recommend Miss Russell's work for any teenaged class, they seem to adore her sly wit. Besides, all the French Horn players in the High School band need a little teasing from time to time.

From the velvet-voiced music reviewer herself, Anna Russell has laid many a sour note. This in itself, is what makes her so funny. She takes greater pains to sound bad as most other singers do to sound good. And the best thing about this, and all of her recordings in general is that you will never tire of them, no matter how much you play them... From those before her or after her in the musica funnia farma (P.D.Q. Bach, Victor Borge, Florence Foster Jenkins, etc.), it is in this venue of music appreciation (or as some say, depreciation), that will bring newer fans to the classical arena...

My first exposure to Anna Russel was through that venerable old Canadian institution, CBC Radio. The program I was listening to featured, among more respectful pieces by other artists, Anna's "music appreciation" lecture on the bagpipes. I laughed to the point of tears! Rarely had I heard anything so funny. By the conclusion of the piece, I was determined to purchase a copy of the CD for my own music collection.

In Encore?, Ms. Russel satirizes a variety of different musical genres, including jazz, folk, opera and, of course, bagpipe music (which most would agree is in a class of its own). Of the five tracks on the CD, other reviewers have identified "Backwards With the Folk Song" and Verdi's imaginary opera, "Hamletto", as highlights. While I certainly enjoyed these, my personal favorites are the two music appreciation talks given by Russel, entitled "The French Horn" and "How to Enjoy Your Bagpipes". Both are truly hilarious!

The only track that didn't appeal to me was the first one, "Poetry in the Cellar", which features Anna reciting intentionally absurd poetry against a backdrop of jazz music played by Jimmy Carroll and his Miserable Five. I found this section just a little too over-the-top for my tastes.

My only other complaint with this CD is a small one: The second track, "Backwards With the Folk Song", is actually comprised of five separate songs totaling almost 18 minutes playing time. It would make the CD more user friendly if each of these songs were on separate tracks. This would allow direct access to favorites when demonstrating Ms. Russell's humor to friends who might not wish to listen to the entire section.

In spite of a few minor shortcomings, for those who appreciate musical comedy, this fine reissue of a timeless classic will surely inspire much hearty laughter. With more than seventy-six minutes of material at a bargain-basement price, Anna Russel's Encore? is a most affordable dose of good medicine for the weary soul, earning four out of five stars from this reviewer.

This is it - real humor about classical music, from the inside.
I stumbled over Anna Russel by accident. Now you can enjoy her wonderful sense of humor and performance skills. If you like real music, with lots of laughs, Go for it, you will love it.
Pretentious snobs need not go further.

This CD is entertaining and amusing, if a little dated and containing some jokes only a Britisher would appreciate. Nonetheless, Anna Russell is a very funny lady.

Miss Russell reveals her brilliance as both a performer and lyricist in this album as well as in a companion CD, "The Anna Russell Album". She was quite popular in the 1950s and 1960s and I'd like to think that younger generations are discovering her talent. Listening to her clever lyrics brought me back to my student days when we'd gather to listen to her on LPs.

Miss Russel quite funny as usual, but buyers should be warned that these CDs are cheap reissues lacking the original booklet with all the texts and lyrics.

But they are not advertised as such !!!!!!

Anna Russell's synopsis of Verdi's "Hamletto" rates up there with her own synopsis of Wagner's Ring Cycle. (Comparing Anna Russell to herself is, I realize, somewhat redundant, but there's no one else I can think of who has done for opera what The Daily Show does for current events.) The fact that Verdi did not even write an opera based on Shakespeare's Hamlet makes her synopsis all the more ingenious. Hamletto can be listened to over and over again, because it is humorous on so many levels.

Her folk song spiel is equally fabulous, highlights being "Ricky Ticky" and "Jolly Old Sigmund Freud."

Highly recomended listening for the serious classical music enthusiast who enjoys a good laugh!