I Sing The Glory of This Land

A short bio of Madame Jenkins appears in a wonderful book called "American Eccentrics" by Carl Sifakis. It explains the history (or is it hysteria?) of this most maligned and misunderstood of American coloraturas. The most telling of anecdotes regarding M. Jenkins is that she was riding in a New York taxi that crashed. She was going to sue the taxi company until she discovered that she could sing ". . .a higher F than ever before…". Need I say more? Apparently, she sent the cabbie a box of expensive cigars as a thank-you.

René Jacobs' performance of Handel's 1750 version of Messiah is remarkable for the fresh insights he brings to such a familiar work. His reading is fleet but never hurried, and movements flow fluidly from each other, virtually without pause. This Messiah is an integrated whole, whose ebbing and flowing move it inexorably toward its climaxes, avoiding the usual sense that the oratorio is merely a string of separate, thematically related numbers. The speed of some sections, and certain unconventional articulations, can at first seem eccentric, but Jacobs' interpretive decisions are always guided by the meaning of the texts, and when the initial surprise fades, seem obviously to be the best choices possible.

I do think that this Decca set is arguably the best compilation reissue of such a bulk of Handel work which has been released in a long time, just in time to commemorate the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the passing of il caro Sassone. There is a lot in this box, absence of libretti notwithstanding. The enclosed booklet is essential to navigate you through the track listings and timings and little else but a small general essay on GFH.

By John Van Note

A limited guitar player at best, and with a voice that hardly spans a couple of octaves, Leonard Cohen has nonetheless fashioned a legacy of gorgeously realized songs that reach deep into the heart of lust, ill- and well-fated romance, hope, and redemption, and if he doesn't sing like an angel, he could certainly mesmerize one with the melody, lilt, and power of his songs…

Recorded in 1995, this Esther was first issued as Collins Classics 7040-2 early the following year. Like Hogwood, Harry Christophers recorded the original 1718 version of what has gone down in history as Handel’s first English oratorio.
In point of fact, the complex and still largely unresolved history of Esther suggests that it was not originally composed as an oratorio at all, but rather as a staged work that would have formed a companion to the near-contemporary Acis and Galatea.

This is a great collection of Doo Wop tunes from back in the day! 587 tracks total. Lots of rare tunes from lots of groups. If you like Doo Wop and you don't have this series, you will want these. As I once read on a Doo Wop site, "Rock and Roll may be here to stay but Doo Wop never left". This series consists of 20 volumes and it is long out of print.