Customer Reviews

Pops Plays Puccini

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
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I first heard selections from this CD on WCRB, a classical radio station in Boston. They played a "classic cluster" from Madama Butterfly, Gianni Schicci and Turandot. These were some of the greatest orchestral arrangements that I had ever heard. This CD is a must for all classical music lovers. If you don't like opera, this is great because there's no singing. Buy this CD and find out why Puccini is considered such a master of the melody!

This album of Puccini pieces contains orchestral playing which sounds top-rank and effortless...though that is the true sign of excellent lyrical discipline and ensemble sensitivity by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The aspect which is so stunning in these pieces is the ensemble string playing...in a piece such as "Recondita Armonia" from *Tosca,* you almost believe that you have never really heard the lyrical beauty of this piece before...the strings are sumptuous, yet clear... The only piece which sounds "ponderous," because of the orchestration's bringing out the menace as well as the fatefulness is the "Te Deum" from *Tosca*... the organ is there...the brass is there...but it simply does not seem to be in synch with the lyrical beauty and grace of the other pieces...though it is, in itself, melodic, chordlike, but too heavy... There is quite a dramatic contrast which occurs on the CD as you go from the loud climax of the "Te Deum" and then are introduced to the quiet lyrical beauty of the "Vissi d'arte"...though it, too, builds in intensity to a climax... which subsides into quiet beauty once again... Much of the reason for the beauty and the grace of the sounds on this album must go to the adaptation and orchestrations of the pieces...these have been done by Crafton Beck, Steven Bernstein, and Erich Kunzel... ...the "E lucevan le stelle" is exquisite...quiet...but melancholy...lyrically longing...never strained...simply ravishing in its haunting beauty and sentiment...with a crescendo climax that also quietly fades away... ...I personally do not care much for the use of the horn at the beginning of the "Nessun Dorma"...but then the string playing becomes incredibly stately and harmonic... and when the horn returns the second time, it seems quite appropriate at that spot... ...if there are two pieces which sum up the beauty and lyricism of this album, they are the "Ancora un passo or via" from Act I of *Madama Butterfly* and the "Vogliatemi bene" from Act I of *Madama Butterfly*...the string playing is passionate, tender, and compelling (especially on the "Vogliatemi bene")...and the clarinet playing in the early part of the "Vogliatemi" is as harmonically apt as is the use of the same instrument in the "I pini del Gianicolo" in Respighi's "Pines of Rome"... ...lyrical clarity...beauty...and gracefulness...

If you like opera, you want this disk around because you love these melodies and want to hear them at times when it isn't appropriate to listen to the whole opera, or the vocal presence of the singer might not be appropriate for a particular setting. If you hate opera, here's your way in--you might already know and love these melodies from hearing them from popular sources, and if not, you will love them when you hear them.

The music has been tastfully arranged for sections of the full symphony orchestra to carry the melody line. Eric Kunzel is an expert at performing this sort of music, and the Cincinatti Pops Orchestra is at its peak of perfection. These are emotional moments in the operas' stories, and the sheer beauty of the music will give your home lots of real class.

I REALLY LIKE THIS CD. I PLAY IT OFTEN ALONG WITH THE OTHER
"OPERA WITHOUT WORDS" CDS I HAVE. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CD.

Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra has done a marvelous job of playing operatic orchestral music. Other titles in the series include Verdi Without Words, Puccini Without Words, Carmen Withour Words and Wagner Without Words. Puccini's music alone is entirely lyrical, and in several instances slide into dramatic and powerful moments of climax. Kunzel and his Pops Orchestra lavish the scores with finesse, beauty and power. On this album: music from Tosca - the Love Duet between Tosca and Mario beginning with "Mario! Mario! Mario! Son Qui..." in Act 1. It is followed by the music for Act 1's finale, the Te Deum, in which the evil Baron Scarpia blasphemously declares that Tosca makes him forget God, the music concludes with Scarpia's celebrated motif. This bombastic, brash music is oddly at variance with the more spiritual, slower-paced "Vissi D'arte" music that accompanies Tosca's prayer aria. The music slowly builds to a crescendo and then subsides. The passionate music from Tosca is followed by the equally passionate music to Madama Butterfly. On here is the music for Butterfly's Entrance when she first meets B.F. Pinkerton, the exotic melancholy that is Butterfly's aria "Un Bel Di" and the Japanese-influenced Humming Chorus. The CD concludes with the beautiful, lilting and sad music from La Boheme. For fans of opera and orchestral music, this is a must have. It is a fine way to get into opera by listening to the score first as well.

I REALLY LIKE THIS CD. I ENJOY OPERA WITHOUT WORDS AND THIS IS
A WONDERFUL RECORDING TO HAVE IF YOU LIKE OPERA. QUALITY IS GREAT AND THE PERFORMANCE IS SPLENDID......

I REALLY LIKE THIS CD. I PLAY IT OFTEN ALONG WITH THE OTHER
"OPERA WITHOUT WORDS" CDS I HAVE. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CD.

I am using the music to choreograph some dances. The lyrics can be distracting to the choreography, so I prefer having it without lyrics.

I have owned this CD since it first came out many years ago. It's a great CD very well recorded and played. Fantastic melodies from the Puccini Operas I love. It's great to just have on while doing things around the house. I think of all the CDs I have ever bought this is likely in my favorite top 2 or 3.

I heard selections from this disc on my local NPR station (WRNI), tried to find it at a local music store, and returned to Amazon where I found it for much less, including the shipping. The quality of the disc is excellent. The music is a welcomed relief of the intense effort and strain of singers as it is instrumental and I'll use it as well to share as atmosphere to introduce my workshops on Dante.
Having it on my iPod means more play time!!!
Peace,
len