Search - Giacomo Puccini, Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra :: Pops Plays Puccini

Martha L. from LA PINE, OR
Reviewed on 8/10/2006...

The 19 tracks shown under Track Listings are all on this CD but are listed in a different order on the artwork.

Lyrical Clarity... Beauty... and Gracefulness...

08/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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..."

Puccini's arias beautifully performed as instrumentals

06/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."