A Portrait

Kiri Te Kanawa (Artist), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Johannes Brahms (Composer), Joseph Marie Canteloube (Composer), Carl Davis (Composer), Gabriel Faure (Composer), Cesar Franck (Composer), John Gay (Composer), Charles Gounod (Composer), Georges Bizet (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Marie Canteloube, Carl Davis, Gabriel Faure, et al.
• Audio CD (February 10, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00013UKMO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,424 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #35 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > Q to T
  • #36 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Composers > Korngold, Erich Wolfgang
  • #57 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Passions

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elegant is as elegant does!, April 24, 2004

By 

OperaOnline.us "OperaOnline.us" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Portrait (Audio CD)

This the review that I wrote for OperaOnline.us: There is only one word to describe this compilation of varied works by soprano Kiri Te Kinawa: Elegant! From the cover to the selection of songs inside, to the way each selection contributes to and results in a perfect blend of orchestra and singer, nothing is out of place. I usually prefer CDs that are thematic and carry a mood throughout, and this offering by DECCA, bless them, will not disappoint those who share my sensitivity to mood. It doesn't hurt either that Kinawa's voice radiates control and smoothness that sweeps one up in defiance of gravity to a place somewhere betyween awe and gratitude, but that is exactly what occurs here. You listen to the melodic expressiveness of Beim Schlafengehen with the Wiener Philharmoniker and think it can't get any better, and then find it followed by Ave Maria with the Utah Symphony, followed by Pie Jesu with the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal, and it does get better. The chorals are pretty impressive as well, as in Nuns' Chorus and Climb Every Mountain. Consistently Kinawa's voice soothes and never presses even close to the edges of shrill. She is a soprano with depth and a cultured delivery that wraps every note in any range with the delicacy of a mother's loving embrace. It just doesn't get any better than this. Give this CD to someone you love, they'll appreciate it, with this one caveat: the second of the two disks is less moody and a little uneven in mood. Hold the second disc back.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gems from the Dame, November 29, 2011

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Portrait (Audio CD)

This 2-cd set was a gift from my husband: am I glad that he did not hold back cd 2. Unlike another Reviewer, I find it as enchanting as the first cd. The contents of both cds are actually quite balanced; but instead of many Mozart pieces, the second cd has (more) arias from Puccini, Verdi and Bizet. I have never heard as much elegant anguish from any other Violetta as from Dame Kiri. Her beautifully nuanced Vissi d'arte ... moves me to tears. How much naive love, worry but determination are expressed in Je dis que rien ...! Arguably, too, she has given the best rendition of Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit in this second cd. My only difficulty is that if I start with cd1, I'd go on playing it again and again; but if I start with cd2, I'd play it again and again as well. By the time I finish listening to both cds, practically a whole week will have gone by. I'd give it 5 stars without any reservation.