"I put this on this morning while I was cleaning and had to stop so I could just listen. This is some of the most beautiful music you can imagine and done wonderfully by Colin Davis, Kiri Te Kanawa, etc. Each section is beautiful, but when you listen to the whole Vespers (tracks 1-6) it is overwhelming. And if you've never heard the Ave Verum Corpus or the Exsultate Jubilate (with the famous Mozart "Allelujah") you are in for a treat. Mozart expresses everything about being human--our hopes, our sadness, our joy. If everyone could hear this music, the world would be a better place. That may sound like a bit much and I'm always hesitant to overstate how much I like something, but you can't overstate how great this music is."
The Ethereal voice of Kiri!
Dr. David R. Weinberg | Bloomfield Hills, MI USA | 02/17/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It has been said that all the great composers spent their lives trying to reach heaven, but that Mozart came from there. Well, in the "Vesperae Solennes De Confessore", Mozart takes the liberty of escorting us there. And as we sublunars stand inside, privileged, under that magnificent vault listening to the music of the heavenly spheres - his music! - we are increasingly rendered awestruck and by the end of "Laudate pueri", mute as well. Understanding our condition, he then leads us to a small anteroom of heaven to listen to a choir of angels sing the "Laudate Dominum" before escorting us back through the gates to the music of the "Magnificat". Davis and Te Kanawa take us on this journey. It is a magnificent recording!"
COLIN DAVIS' MOZART CHORAL MASTERPIECES
Operaman! | Chicago, IL United States | 09/26/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The original vinyl issue of this album was part of a series of the major Mozart choral works conducted by Colin Davis. Included were Requiem, Great Mass in c, Coronation Mass, Credo Mass and this album. Today all of the items have been reissued on CD, but alas, not as part of a combined CD set.
This is about the best performance of the Vespers on recording. Davis, orchestra, chorus and soloists are all on a wonderfully coordinated plane, and I prefer this to those perhaps more historically correct 'period' performances. It would be great if Phillips could rerelease all of the Davis' Mozart choral works on a CD set."
BEST EXSULTATE JUBILATE
Sakari 1952 | Vasteras-SWEDEN | 04/16/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Anybody having Exsultate Jubilate as their favourite would probably agree with me that this CD is the very best. Other performers have recorded this title but none of them has reached the same heights as Dame Kiri.
I have never heard any other soprano sing Exsultate Jubilate with the same clear voice, especially at the end of the part "Unde Suspirat Cor" her vibrato is the most beautiful - it always gives me great pleasure. I can listen to these 15 minutes of the CD anytime.
You can also view same title on the DVD Kiri Te Kanawa-Home & Afar (NTSC) or the same new DVD release (2009) Kiri Te Kanawa- In Concert (NTSC).
This CD is Sir Colin Davis' & Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's masterpiece.