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EDUCATIONAL

utdchris | Addison, Tx United States | 04/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I BOUGHT THIS CD SOMETIME AGO WHEN I WANTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OPERA. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST CD'S OUT WHEN CONSIDERING TRYING TO TURN YOUNG PEOPLE ON TO THE ARTS, ANYONE WHO LISTENS TO THIS WILL DEFINETLY HAVE AT LEAST ONE FAVORITE."

For those who like the stirring operatic bits

reddoberman | 04/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not a diehard opera fan. That means I can't sit through the no or low musical sections. After all, opera is a visual art as well as an aural one, and there's alot of low energy periods where one would have to be watching it live to avoid slipping into a coma. If that. I tend to like the arias and the duets. These are the bill of fare on this album, with a healthy portion of brain glue added by each piece's tie-in with a major motion picture. For instance, a favorite picture of mine is the Australian production of "Gallipoli", which depicts the carnage inflicted on Aussie and Kiwi troopers doing the Queen's dirty work with wave after wave of direct frontal infantry assaults against Turkish heavily fortified breastworks and murdurous interlocking fields of fire of many heavy machine gun positions and pre-sited mortar batteries. There is a certain eerie and sad scene depicting a couple of young Aussie junior officers, boys really, in the tent of a superior on the night before the early morning attack. The viewer has the superior vision of recorded history, while these apple cheeks have no inkling of the mailed fist that will hammer them down in a few hours. The older officer puts a platter on the crank up Victrola, and for most of us, we get our first introduction to the haunting strains of "Au Fond du Temple Saint" from the French opera "Pêcheurs de Perles". I'm sure a portion of the haunting and eerie qualities stem from my total lack of french language skills. That piece will forever be associated with the bloodbath at Gallipoli Peninsula, at least as far as my brain goes. And so it goes with many of the other pieces of music in this collection. From "Apocolypse Now" is included the best piece of music to attack an enemy by, "Ride of the Valkyries" from the famous AirMobile copter assault, an attack scene that redefined cinematic battle sequencing forever. Everyone should recognise at least one musical movie slice here.
Tie ins include Raging Bull, Fatal Attraction, and Someone to Watch Over Me."