Kiri Te Kanawa - Ave Maria

Charles Gounod (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Henry Purcell (Composer), George Frideric Handel (Composer), Franz Schubert (Composer), Felix Mendelssohn (Composer), César Franck (Composer), Kiri Te Kanawa (Performer), Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Kiri Te Kanawa, Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral
• Composer: Charles Gounod, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, et al.
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B0000040X1
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,598 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > Q to T
  • #7 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Te Kanawa, Kiri
  • #9 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Songs & Lieder > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting, sublime...a heavenly collection, June 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Kiri Te Kanawa - Ave Maria (Audio CD)

Te Kanawa's singing gives real joy, and her affinity for the music shines through. She is well accompanied by the English Chamber Orchestra, and some choral and instrumental(Purcell's charming Trumpet Tune) selections help make this beautiful collection more than just a set of arias. She seems to have a great gift for Baroque music, as evidenced also by the shining performance she gave in Handel's Messiah conducted by Sir Georg Solti. A very uplifting CD indeed, and it includes a brief and interesting introduction by David Fingleton who is the author of "Kiri", a biography of Te Kanawa. Here are some of her own words from the CD booklet: "I chose many of the pieces on this recording myself, because they are very beautiful, very melodic, and make people feel good; and if music makes you feel good, well listen to it or sing it!"

Her rendition of Bist du bei mir moves my soul, and her sense of perfection in the Laudate Dominum would have pleased Mozart himself. Aside from her beautiful voice and enthusiasm for this music, she also articulates every phrase just right. It will not come as a surprise to you that she has been singing sacred arias for as long as she remembers, as the CD booklet mentions. Very highly recommended.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consummate musicianship, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Kiri Te Kanawa - Ave Maria (Audio CD)

Though I had heard her on public radio several times, this was the first recording of Ms. Te Kanawa I had ever heard, and I was immediately swept away by the beauty of her voice and the complete musicianship of the soloist along with the choir and orchestra. The Mozart pieces especially shine: Laudaute Dominum displays Kiri Te Kanawa's voice as flexible and musical; and Ave Verum is compelling in its simplicity, grandeur and beauty. This is one of the best recordings of church music available. I have purchased several copies to give as gifts to family and friends. I highly recommend it.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kiri is Perfect - Sound level leaves something to be desired, August 17, 2001

By 

Mark R "Mark R" (Hamptons, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiri Te Kanawa - Ave Maria (Audio CD)

For anyone who loves Kiri and opera, this CD is superb. The music is gorgeous - glorious, as is KTK's voice in its prime. However, the volume level of the recording is peculiarly low. If you listen to this CD as a stand-alone event you can just turn up the volume to a normal level. The problem arises when you mix this album, or tracks from this album with other albums, and the low volume level of this album becomes readily apparent. If your other albums/tracks are at a comfortable listening level, tracks from this album will be virtually inaudible. If you increase your system's volume to bring tracks from this album to normal levels, the tracks from other albums will be uncomfortably loud.