Customer Reviews

Luminosa

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just received this CD and have been playing it non-stop.
The voices are luminous.The soloists are ,well,if we could hear angels sing,they might sound like this.
If you decide to buy this wondrous CD,prepare to completely mellow out and stay that way until the last note of the last song.My favorite is "Vespera." The young soloist will knock you dead!!

If Enya became a choir of boys, this is the music she would release.

I can't stress enough, how much this sounds like music Enya would produce. I am not saying the album is celtic. Certainly not. The way they record the music however, almost identical. Instead of just one female voice, a choir of young male voices are there. Beautifully sung traditional sounding songs, backed with synthesized sounds. Crystal clear sound.

Reverb throughout the entire album. It's so gorgeous. Like the final dramatic scene to an epic movie that made you forget you were even watching a movie. It is so very brilliant.

I've not heard the first album, but from what I hear it is just as good. If you like soothing music, get this CD. If you like classical music, get this CD. If you like scores to epic films, get this CD.

And if you have a great sound system - this CD may never leave the player.

After hearing the sound clips of this album, I knew I had to have it. I ordered both "Luminosa" and "Libera" (the first offering by Robert Prizeman and his choir under the name of Libera). After listening to both albums a couple of times, I have to say that Amazon needs to have more stars available for its ratings! This album is easily one of the best I have bought in recent months.

The boys' voices are simply angelic. They sound like such polished performers, easily hitting the soaring high notes with such skill you'd think they'd been training their voices for decades (not possible, since they only range in age from 8 to 14 years old). What set this album apart for me, and made it more appealing than their first album, were the new interpretations of classical pieces. "Sanctus II", based on Pachelbel's Canon, is one of the highlights of the album, as is "Luminosa" which is based on Debussy's "Clair de Lune". You've never heard classical music like this before! The first track on the CD, an original piece called "Vespera", is one of the more haunting and beautiful pieces and is a great start to a wonderful album.

I hope to see more albums from Libera in the future!

I stumbled onto this beautiful piece at a listening section in a retail store. Wow was I impressed! If I had the capacity to conjure up music with choir type boys with a hint of intruments and dubbing I think it would come out to be something like this. These voices are what I will hope to hear when I die and go to heaven. It simply gives me the chills. I play the CD all the time. Very soothing/calming yet magickal. Track 11 has an interesting twist with an adult male voice interacting with the choir boys, as if a mythological god is singing to his children and vice versa (veni sancte). I have no idea what they're saying. I just know I like the sound of it. I agree with a previous reviewer that the words to the songs should have been included in the insert.
As mentioned earlier, there is just a hint of instruments. Personally I don't like the first Libera album at all. Actually I would if that cheesy synthesized techno beat could be trashed and some chello or violin or harp take its place. On the other hand, Luminosa is perfect, focusing on the young boys voices with a touch of contemporary/classical flair. And no cheesy techno dance beats. I hope to hear more CDs by Libera which are an extension of their Luminosa album.

I can't help to think every time I listen to it, is this what heaven sounds like? It's ethereal, it's beautiful, magical, it cleanses and renews your soul. If you close your eyes, you can dream that you've gone to heaven. It's as if a flock of angels had descended overhead and delighted us with their mystical chants. I love it.

I heard this disc being played in a bookstore and loved it so much that I stayed longer in the store and then bought the album.

I enjoy the sweet clean voices of a boys' choir, and I find that the voices on this album are superb. I can only imagine the discipline it takes to do so well. The music fits the songs as well. Catholic friends of mine have enjoyed many of the tracks that are familiar, track 6, Gaudete in particular.

I'm a massage therapist, and clients have enjoyed the music as well. It also isn't so bland that it puts me to sleep. :)

It is, however, easy to picture myself being transformed to a heavenly, angelic, idyll. I just can't keep a bad mood after listening to this disc.

My personal favorties are track 3, lacrymosa, and track 4, sacris solemnis.

It is beyond me who could possibly rate this CD anything less than 5 stars (their hearing was probably damaged from years of listening to punk rock at extreme volumes). I am a young-male voice fanatic. I have heard many boychoirs of the world perform in person time and time again. I currently direct two of them myself. I'm not saying that these boys are the best pedagogically or even musically speaking, but the style of their delivery is simply unparalleled, and for that aspect of this group, alone, they deserve 5 stars. Everytime I play this CD I melt. Most Cds that I buy I listen to for a week straight, then it ends up on the shelf or in my glove compartment... Not these (libera and libera luminosa)! I probably listen to them at least once per week, and I bought them more than 5 months ago! I can't wait for the next one! This goes on my list of "the world must hear" albums. Go to their website. also, check out the "BCSD" -the Boy Choir & Soloist Directory.

If you happen to be a choir director or music teacher, DON'T HESITATE TO BUY THIS CD!! Their diction and vowel unification is as close to immaculate as I have heard! Listen to 'Semele' which happens to be their version of "wher'er you walk" by G.F.Handel. What a fantastic model for teaching young singers! Kids get into the electronic accompaniment that is reminiscent of the popular music they listen to all of the time, but these are boys who excercise in the beautiful voices that God has given them. They aren't trying to sing down low because it is more 'masculine' (music teachers know what I mean). Some of the songs are based on classical works of the past. This would make a great teaching tool for beginning a music history unit.

Overall, This CD is beyond my imagination. As I sit here right now, listening to it, I think back to when I bought it, and wonder how I would be different had I not found this awe-inspiring group of musicians. I would be a great deal less happy, and that's for sure.

I don't want people to turn away from this CD because of Dr. Coleman's scathing (and ill-informed) review. It is a beautiful collection of music that intentionally deviates from the tradition of classical arrangements. Coleman has missed the point completely. It's like going to an exhibition of contemporary art and expecting to see romantic paintings, and then chastising the modern artist for not following romantic norms. If I wanted to listen to Beethoven, then I would buy Beethoven. Luminosa is neither "bland" or "low-relief". On the contrary, the music is profound and textural. Prizeman effectively weaves together elements of Gregorian chant, madrigal hymns and contemporary acoustics to create a rich, fresh sound.

Have been looking for something like this for a year, wonderful , uplifting, good for sleeping or yoga or cooking or life.....

When I need to 'de-stress', I listen to this CD. There is so much talent here by everyone involved, if you don't get this one, you are TRULY missing a soul touching experience!