"Ok everyone... Get over it, Bocelli and Bartoli only sing 4 of 16 selections. Is it just me, or has everyone lost their mind when trying to review this album!? This is absolutely beautiful music written by brilliant composers and performed extremely well by very well-accomplished musicians. Those of you who feel robbed by the lack of feature soloists obviously haven't experienced the pure joy and ecstacy a good chorale piece can bring because you've automatically closed your minds to the no-names who perform in this album. They are all wonderful musicians, and as such they deserve an enormous amount of credit. Take it from me, these people don't practice a half hour a day. If anyone has experienced life in a conservatory or music school, you'd know these people are practicing upwards of 4-5 hours a day. It makes me sick that people can no longer appreciate the purity of music as it has always been and still is today. Obviously they don't perform with absolute perfection (no one ever has... even Horowitz), but Chung did a fabulous job getting an absolutely gorgeous sound out of the choir which isn't exactly an easy task! Overall, very good album. As a final note: if you must, throw away the CD case documentation to get the picture of Bocelli, Chung, and Bartoli out of your mind. Just sit back and enjoy the clarity of tone and fabulous musicality of the entire album. Allow yourselves to fall in love with the music. Without that passion, there is no way any performer would have made it in the world, and you wouldn't be able to listen to such beautiful music."
Misleading advertising
Laura Wood | 04/01/1999
(2 out of 5 stars)
"To be sure, this album has some beautiful cuts. But that is overshadowed for me by the fact that while megastars Bartoli and Bocelli are featured so prominently on the cover, THEY ONLY SING ON 4 OUT OF 16 TRACKS. This kind of misleading advertising is reprehensible. If I hadn't purchased this while on vacation, I would have returned it"
Great music for a beautiful event
Laura Wood | California USA | 11/14/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Enjoy this beautiful music performed by wonderful
musicians at an extraordinary event. Per liner notes,
"the visit of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to
Paris in August 1997, to celebrate an open-air Mass
as part of the Worldwide Days of Youth." You can put
yourself there while listening to these selections
that celebrate life. A surprise benediction touched
me."
A Worthy Hymn
Akimon Azuki | 09/28/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I got this CD as a gift and I have to say, seeing "Andrea Bocelli" in my iTunes is a strange feeling, but this album does what it is supposed to do, and I really liked the whole thing. Commissioned for Pope John Paul II, who came to Paris in August 1997 to celebrate an open air mass as a part of the International Day of Youth, this is a collection of sacred music from Baroque to the modern era. The progression is roughly chronological, but the flow of moods and styles works great. The chorus of Santa Cecilia National Academy is totally on, the orchestra, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, enthusiastically joins in, and the two soloists are a strange pair, but they both put in a great performance.
The opening choral movement from Vivaldi's Gloria is fast- not as furiously fast as Rinaldo Alessandrini's take on Gloria, but really fast and energetic. Then Cecilia Bartoli comes in and serves up a killer Domine Deus from the same Gloria- beautiful, just beautiful! No tricks, just glorious singing and great oboe obligato to boot. Then you get nicely done Jesus bleibet meine Freude by Bach and some Mozart: moving Ave Verum, and ecstatic Alleluia from Exsultate, jubilate, sung by supercharged Cecilia. Another Ave Verum and Qui seminant by List and a well done Sanctus from Verdi's Requiem, plus Rossini and Vitali round up Phase One of this album, and set the stage for piece de résistance: Bizet's Agnus Dei, sung by - Andrea Bocelli.
I have no strong feelings about Bocelli, his attempts to sing opera or his crazed fandom which apparently felt this CD was a rip off because it didn't have enough of Divine Andrea singing and wasn't sexy enough- ??? - and all I can say is: he is very good in this piece, closely miked, straight up and quite moving. And, followed by Panis Angelicus, sung by Truly Divine Cecilia- she is too good! Beautiful singing, bordering on ravishing. I had no idea that she could sing a simple piece, without any aspirated heeheehoohoo coloratura, and sound so great.
Serene In Paradisum from Faure's Requiem, a piece by Messiaen and a Rite Of Peace prayer, read by Pope John Paul II, end the album.
The sound is not so great, and it is a live recording, so there are a few rough spots, but it's a very surprising delight and well worth getting your hands on. And if you need more: there is a happy sequel, too, Hymn for the World II and Bryn Terfel joins the ranks of singers."
A Timeline of God-Inspired Masterworks
Christopher Schmitz | Rocky River, Ohio United States | 11/07/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, Andrea Bocelli and Cecilia Bartoli, the tenor and mezzo of the moment, are used sparingly on this CD. Their popularity is rather shamelessly used to promote this music, and their voices aren't much heard. I don't care! I like the disc's concept: A timeline of spiritually inspired masterworks moving roughly from earliest to latest. "A Hymn to the World" opens appropriately enough with Vivaldi's jubilant ornate Glorias. It passes out of the Baroque period into the Classical for Bach's famous "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Next comes the Romantic Period, represented by a pair of Liszt compositions. This is followed by the work of composers whose fame rests on opera but are capable of much more: a slice of Verdi's renowned "Requiem" (Mass for the dead) and Rossini's touching "Stabat Mater" (scene of Mary at Christ's cross).The grandeur of a Gounod march and the tunefulness of Bizet's "Agnus Dei" come next, the latter featuring the warm buttery voice of Bocelli. And Bartoli wraps her famous mezzo around another liturgical piece, the plaintive "Panis Angelicus." Both are highlights, but the disc does not need famous voices to shine.It closes by whisking us into the 20th century. The final portion of Faure's Requiem, called "In Paradisium," unfolds with all its warm layered lushness. This sampling lead me to the entire Faure Requiem, now one of my favorite works. I must say it's even better to build to "In Paradisium" than hear it in isolation, since it resolves the tension and brightens the darkness of the preceding sections. Its sweetness, I think, has to be earned! Faure himself called his composition a "lullaby of death." Finally, there is Messiaen's "O Sacrum Convivium" which depicts sacred experience as a nu-Gregorian gang vocal in clear simple plainsong. It concludes the journey far from the Baroque flourishes of where it began.It's a journey worth taking, an excellent tour for the person new to classical and/or sacred music and a solid addition to the collection of the regular classical listener."
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1
