Light Classics Reviews

Paul McCartney: Kisses on the Bottom

McCartney takes on the American songbook.

The Four Elements (Nigel Kennedy)

The rogue elements: Nigel Kennedy as composer veers off course.

Rock Symphonies (David Garrett)

Calamitous crossover: Garrett’s musical experiment goes wrong.

ARRIVEDERCI (Vittorio Grigolo t; Orch del Teatro Regio di Parma/Morandi)

Forza Vittorio: Grigolo gets stuck into Italian favourites.

BARBRA STREISAND: What Matters Most

While other singers of this stature (50 gold records, no less) churn out the old hits and count the megabucks, Streisand is still releasing new material that stands strong on its own merits, such as this stunning disc.

2Cellos (2Cellos)

High-powered performances and clever arrangements from cello rockers.

Tori Amos: Night of Hunters

Amos goes classical: Night of Hunters is mostly successful.

The Ten Tenors: Double Platinum

Popera fans rejoice: the Ten Tenors give a powerhouse performance.

Paradiso (Hayley Westenra; Ennio Morricone)

Hayley’s big coup: Westenra teams up with Morricone.

Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor (Caro Emerald)

The Dutch chanteuse serves up 1920s Chicago with contemporary studio sheen.

David Hobson: The Best of David Hobson

A welcome opportunity to enjoy Hobson as a purely popular entertainer.

The King's Speech: original motion picture soundtrack (Alexandre Desplat)

Desplat conveys through music the restrained angst and regal grandeur of the film's hero.

LOVE SONGS (mezzo-soprano: Anne Sophie von Otter, piano: Brad Mehldau)

Classical meets jazz here, as operatic mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter mixes it with jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau in a two-disc tribute to love in all its forms, from elation to deflation and regret.

LLOYD WEBBER Music (Bryn Terfel, André Rieu, Sarah Brightman et al)

Lost without words: the singing's great, the instrumentals are not.

Black Swan: original motion picture soundtrack (Clint Mansell)

This dark score is Swan Lake seen through a glass darkly.

Modern Folk (trumpet: Vince Jones)

Australian jazz singer and trumpeter Vince Jones has one of those perplexing voices whose weaknesses are also its strengths.

Aston

Aston are a group of Sydney Con kids who, when teetering on the abyss of penury that faces many music graduates, decided to take matters into their own hands.

From the Heart (mezzo: Katherine Jenkins)

Classical crossover must have the smallest canon of any musical genre.

MANTOVANI The Magic of Mantovani

More than thirty years after his death, conductor Annunzio Paulo Mantovani makes a return to the Australian charts with this 40-track retrospective.

The Great Tenor Songbook (tenor: Mark Vincent)

The popera albums of teen tenor Mark Vincent have been topping the ARIA charts for about a year, without getting much serious attention from anyone but his fans.
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