Best 11 of 99: Classical Greatness [Import]

Amazing....a classical music CD collection without Vivaldi's "Four Seasons!"
This 11 track sampler features some very intriguing selections and performances.First off,the collection is done by all male performers,yet two of the numbers are done by two famous countertenors,David Daniels and Brian Asawa.Daniels is a full voiced male soprano and his thrilling rendition of Handel's "Ombra Mai Fu" is robust and pitch perfect.Asawa,a softer more "feminine" countertenor sends spine chills with his performance of Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise",usually performed by an instrument.Ian Bostridge lends his lyrical tenor to Schubert's "An Die Musik" in a gentle,soft German tongue,and reaches his high notes as if floating upwards.
The collection opens with Andrew Manze,directing (not playing) Handel's Cto.Grosso,#5,Op.6 with the stark and clean sounds of The Academy of Ancient Music.A really interesting and refreshing track is Sanz's "Canarios", a rarely heard Spanish Baroque number performed by The Chatham Baroque Ensemble.Fazil Say interprets Bach's "Italian Concerto" crisply and cleanly on the piano (not harpsichord).There is only one "overdone" performance to my ear in Ramon Vargas's singing of "Core'ngrato" live.He pushes and gushes and his pitch sharpens quite a bit.
This is a wonderful, short collection,inexpensive and perfect for home or car listening.Worth the penny on line!

Track Listing:

1. Handel: Concerto Grosso, No. 5, Op 6 (Excerpt) - Academy of Ancient Music / Andrew Manze (Conductor)

2. Schubert: An Die Musik - Ian Bostridge

3. Bach: Italien Concerto (Excerpt) - Fazil Say

4. Handel: Ombra Mai Fu - David Daniels

5. Danz: Canarios - Chatham Baroque

6. Cardillo/Cordiferro-Fields: Core'ngrato - Ramon Vargas

7. Tchaikovsky: Hopak - Minnesota Orchestra / Elji Oue (Conductor)

8. Verdi: Le Donna e Mobile - Marcello Alvarez

9. Schickele: Fast and Driving - The Lark Quartet

10. Rachmaninov: Vocalise - Brian Asawa / Academy of St. Martin In The Fields / Sir Neville Marriner (Conductor)

11. Stravinsky: Disparition du Palace et des Sortileges Animation des Chevaliers Petrifies / Allegresse Generale - Kirov Orchestra / Valery Gergiev (Conductor)