Antonio Carlos Jobim Music

I just love him... I love his music..
Just a fact that CD case was all broken, it's all good as long as I can hear his music.

My nephew mentioned his desire to hear some classical music (Yo-Yo Ma, especially) on the boring trips back & forth from college. He really seemed to enjoy receiving the CD for Christmas!

The ratings on this 2 CD set are inflated. The first CD is enjoyable, but no more than an assembly of tracks from other Yo-Yo Ma albums. The second disc is uninteresting. I think there are much more enjoyable Yo-Yo Ma albums to invest in than this one.

This is one of the best CD's for Cello that I have heard.
Yo-Yo Ma is such an artist.

Love It!

Great for studying, however if listening in your car the sound can be a bit repetitive.

A wonderful collection of the quiet delicate Jobim compositions and a reminder of how the bossa nova rhythym washes over us like a "Wave".

This album is a collection of the best of the best of Jobim. Delightful, happy music.

Antonio Carlos Jobim weaved a magic spell with his music the way few songwriters ever can; and he sang wonderfully as well. He truly invented Bossa Nova music in the late 1950s with João Gilberto; and for this he deserves to be in the history books forever for his fine contributions to the world of music.

The CD starts off with the smash hit "The Girl From Ipanema." Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto's wife, sings the part of the vocals that are English. Although some may say that Astrud "sang flat;" her voice imparted a sense of natural sensuality and honesty that few professional singers ever achieve. The Portuguese lyrics are also beautiful even if you don't understand precisely what they mean--this song is THAT good.

Another major early hit for Jobim follows; the song entitled "Desafinado (Off Key)" shines like gold. Jobim plays piano on "Desafinado (Off Key)" while both Astrud and João Gilberto sing to perfection. Stan Getz does a great saxophone solo on this classic track, too. In addition, "Só Danço Samba" continues the romantic, enchanting early '60s Bossa Nova flavor; Jobim is on guitar and again Stan Getz accompanies the rest of the crew with a flawless saxophone performance.

"Insensatez (How Insensitive)" features Astrud Gilberto once more as she sings the lyrics to this melancholy ballad. The Marty Paich Orchestra performs a very well done musical arrangement; and Jobim also plays guitar for this number.

"Amor Em Paz (Once I Loved);" Água De Beber" and "Samba De Uma Nota Só (One Note Samba)" provide us with three magical instrumental numbers. The sophistication of the musical arrangements showcase the genius of Jobim's music and artistry; and the Brazilian beat enchants you with its captivating beauty. I love those strings and the piano on "Samba De Uma Nota Só (One Note Samba)!" SMILE

"Wave" and "Tide" boast smooth as silk arrangements by Claus Ogerman and Eumir Deodato, respectively.

The CD track set ends fittingly with Jobim's "Passarim," a number from the late 1980s. The vocals on "Passarim" reflect great forethought and good judgment. In addition, the track set proceeds in chronological order; this illustrates the development of Jobim's artistry very well.

The liner notes include an essay about Jobim and his career by Steven Ivory; and you get the song credits and the years in which they were recorded. The artwork exceeds my expectations with good use of color and a great black and white picture of Jobim on the front cover.

I highly recommend this CD for Jobim fans and fans of Bossa Nova music everywhere. If you want to get acquainted with Jobim's work but you can only choose a single CD to buy you can't go wrong with this one.

Enjoy!!!

For one who has much of A. C. JOBIM's recordings, I found this album rather dissapointing. His compositions are excellent, but his performances were always very good when he collaborated with top notch musicians, whether Brazillian or American Jazz.

Antonio Carlos Jobim made some of the Greatest most breathtaking Music ever. his tone and textures are timeless and so unique. his approach to creativity is amazing and the music stands the test of time. a warm soulful collection and very Ground breaking.

This is a great cd with Arthur Fiedler at his best with his Boston Pops and a good tranfer of the analog tapes to the digital format recommended to all fans of the old Boston Pops.
Regards
Ian.

Fantastic musical journey; many, many layers. If you like melodious jazz that is soft and intriguing coupled with a classical flare thrown in you will be not only enthralled but asking for more from these artists. I've a collection of over 500 cd's and this is on the top! Listen and enjoy.

I first heard The Virtual Consort on A Prairie Home Companion. They performed some of the most beautiful music I had ever heard. I immediately ordered the only cd I could find of theirs. It had none of the music that I was looking for from their performance, but I loved each piece more than the next. I used to play it at work every day and my clients would always ask who it was. I highly recommend this album.

Elly Ameling held the quiet stage for recitals of great artistry and dignity for several decades and sadly most of the enormously successful CDs of her long career output are now unavailable. For those who have little access to the documentation of this very special artist, this box set is a must. It is a compilation of many of her recordings with differing accompanists, conductors, orchestras and composers. And while not all of the choices for inclusion here would be considered her greatest moments, there are enough works that sustain the warm memories of the little Dutch hausfrau who quietly and simply paid homage to composers with her clear and intelligent musicianship and radiant voice.

Ameling was known to schedule recitals of Schubert cycles and songs and in the afterglow of her performance answer the demand for curtain calls with additional Schubert melodies: she gifted her audience with the dignity of honoring a composer's works by maintaining the focus on that composer rather than milk the audience with the usual encore applause-getting favorites. And special moments such as quietly and pensively strolling through the orchestra during the Mahler 4th symphony to arrive at front stage, unapplauded, just in time for the opening line of her singing - those simple homage to composers and collaborators made her selfless manner endearing to audiences.

Despite the fact that Ameling's voice was on the small side she was always able to muster the projection to carry her message solidly in context with an orchestra. Yes, other more famous singers have recorded Ravel's quintessentially French SHEHERAZADE, but few have the perfection of diction and aura of mystery that Ameling maintained. Whether singing with piano or orchestra, or interpreting Bach, Mozart, Handel, and Vivaldi with the same degree of involvement as Brahms and Schumann and Schubert, Elly Ameling spanned a career that engendered passionate commitment from her fans. And this boxed set is a pocket full of memories to be treasured. Buy it before this too becomes unavailable. Grady Harp, May 05

Treasures from a Treasure.

Ameling, one of the world's most beloved recitalists is captured here in a 5 CD collection offering some of her most beautiful recordings of song. While we are used to her perfection in songs of Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Faure and Hahn, an added joy is her "pop" side, tackling - without a whiff of pretension, Porter, Kern, Gershwin, Ellington, et al.

What an absolute joy it is listening to this amazing artist sing these songs with an almost uncanny natural ease. There is no resorting to a "pop" voice and yet most of these pop standards songs sound as though they could have been written for her. Clean attacks, sometimes a bit of the pop technique of hanging on to a consonant longer than a classical artist normally would shows an appreciation and understanding of the style. Still, there is never once a compromise of her vocal beauty.

I like the way the songs have been arranged for her voice in that she sort of sings them clean, unaffected in the first half and then lets loose and kinda "swings" with it adding embellishments but never really changing her voice (Price, von Stade and other favorite singers of mine seem to have always added a breathy quality to much of their crossover material.)

Ameling doesn't resort to trying to "let her hair down" or get down and dirty, but rather the honest with which she approaches every one of these songs shows how much she enjoys singing them and her style is as refreshing as stumbling onto a cool spring on a sweltering summer's afternoon. A wonderful surprise.

As I had the privilige of hearing this outstanding Lied-singer during her long career in Holland and being the proud possessor of almost all her recordings, I cannot but fully agree with the professional and joyful review of Mr. Robert Holliston from Victoria, B.C. Canada.
Yes, it is unbelievable that of about the 150 recordings Mrs. Ameling made during her long career (for the greater part of course on the 'oldfashioned' LP's, as well as the innumerable Dutch live-recorded radio-concerts), so few CD's have been released.
Speaking of tradition: it was the page-turner of the Wigmore Hall in London who told Mrs. Ameling after her first recital in this hall, that she reminded him of Elisabeth Schumann. (And he certainly didn't mean her looks only!)
For those who are eager to hear her singing Ravel's Shéhérazade (just one example of stirring imagination combined with her Art of Singing) I can tell you that Philips released a 2-box CD of this work in 1999, combined with Debussy's La Damoiselle élue and a compilation of French mélodies, i.e. Debussy, Fauré, Duparc, Satie. One of the gems is Caplet's Le Corbeau et le Renard which even make children, who know the fables of La Fontaine, revel in the singing of the quarrelsome birds....
Her brilliant accompanyist is Rudolf Jansen. Let us cherish great artists in their art!

I had a 33 rpm album of Elly Ameling singing Schubert lieder accompanied by piano and clarinet at times. It was one of my all time favorite albums so I have been disappointed that I have not been able to find it anywhere on CD.

Now I can just buy this excellent collection. So much music in one place! Since I confess that I am far from an expert on the rest of her records, I look forward to hearing her sing many other styles and composers.

I think it is silly to criticize her for not singing Wagner, for example, since her version of many songs, especially lieder, are nothing short of sublime. I would like to hear how many Wagnerians sing Schubert or Mozart.

I doubt if they could approach the skill and soul with which Elly Ameling sings lieder.

To speak as briefly as possible about this superb collection from an equally superb singer, what can I say but that Ms Ameling possessed a voice that shone with radiant warmth and star-like shimmer? And unlike many another light lyric soprano, Elly Ameling was possessed of a very high standard of musicianship, considerable intelligence, and a sort of immediate charm that captivates the listener.

So many of her recordings have still to be released on CD, but this 5CD-set goes some way towards remedying the situation. The repertoire spans a wide variety - French mèlodies, Lieder, light-hearted "sentimental" songs, Bach, etc. - and in each piece, Ms Ameling shows that quality of pearl-like beauty. It is a beauty which is also extremely pretty - a beauty of voice that is never overbearing and over-ripe, but perfectly blossoming upon the tree of inspiration.

I recommend this set unequivocally. It truly is sheer delight.