Customer Reviews

Lully - Ballet Music for the Sun King / Mary Enid Haines · Aradia Baroque Ensemble · Kevin Mallon

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

 

 

This music is so uplifting --- it seduces the listener to enter another world. Both sopranos, Haines and Nafziger, are wonderful. But Nafziger, without a doubt, is essentially the highlight of this CD. Her voice soars to ethereal heights with stately conviction, all the while conveying such warmth, comfort and passion. This is a great young talent that will one day command international attention.

The Aradia ensemble should be congratulated for presenting such music with absolute precision and a depth of character. Bravo!

This isn't the most dramatic of discs, but it's very relaxing, bathing the listener in a smooth, gentle sound that to me feels like it could be devotional religeous music. (That it isn't only adds to my own enjoyment.) It doesn't grab attention but rather sneaks up on the conciousness, while some of the playful melodies stick in the mind without the listener being aware of where they have heard them.

I bought this disc because I wanted to hear some Lully, and this was a cheaper Naxos disc, but I want to hear some more now that I have experieced the delight of this composer.

I really liked this CD! It sounded light and airy and very "original baroque." I find it's a wonderful thing to listen to when you're cleaning up the house because it sounds great in the background too. Most of the ballet excerps are light and have a good beat. The only thing I didn't like is that they played the kazoo on one peice; it was funny once, but then I thought it was a little inapropriate. I wanted to hear the music. Anyway, great CD, Aradia!

Well performed and recorded this disc is marred by the fact that the performances are inauthentic. Kevin Mallon's penchant for Stokowskian like acrobatics leads him to substitute kazoos and paper and comb for authentic instruments in these performances. For some this might be cute and sexy and oh so hip. For me, admittedly someone who prefers authentic performance (all that historical training perhaps), this is just simple historical perversion (a common malady amongst record company executives and conductors who fancy themselves pop culture icons, good businessmen, and aesthetically omniscient).

I am surprised at Naxos. Ethics should require that record companies let us consumers know that specific performances are not authentic (particularly when period instruments are ostesibly used), cut, adapted, or whatever. That so many record companies don't do this probably is the best indicator of the lack of honesty and integrity amongst so many record producers.

Anyway, the moral of the story is this: stick with those who brought you in this repertoire. Opt for Christie and Minkowski here and stay away from the machinations of Kevin Mallon.