Track Listings (15) - Disc #1| All Artists: Gioachino Rossini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Strauss, Giulio Caccini, Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Faure, Anonymous, Franz Schubert, Charles Gounod, Gaetano Donizetti, Zbigniew Preisner, Leonard Bernstein, Johann Strauss II, Frederick Loewe, James Conlon, Sumi Jo, Susan Graham Title: Sumi Jo - Prayers / James Conlon Members Wishing: 1 Total Copies: 0 Label: Erato Release Date: 3/20/2001 Genres: New Age, Pop, Classical Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Early Music, Sacred & Religious Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 685738577224 |
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Search - Gioachino Rossini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Strauss :: Sumi Jo - Prayers / James Conlon
 | Gioachino Rossini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Strauss Sumi Jo - Prayers / James Conlon Genres: New Age, Pop, Classical
This program seems designed primarily to display soprano Sumi Jo's fabulous singing and famous stylistic eclecticism. However, it also exhibits an admirable religious inclusiveness, encompassing expressions of faith from ... more » |
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Amazon.com This program seems designed primarily to display soprano Sumi Jo's fabulous singing and famous stylistic eclecticism. However, it also exhibits an admirable religious inclusiveness, encompassing expressions of faith from the Latin liturgy to Negro spirituals; there is even a Richard Strauss song that is essentially a paean to love. An incongruous note is struck by a nun's song from an operetta by Benatzky that is a corny Viennese waltz and by a soundtracklike arrangement of a 16th-century Ave Maria. Ranging from Mozart to Broadway, this musical mix is held together by Sumi Jo's ravishingly beautiful, pure, warm voice and the way she can color and inflect it, and by her mastery of every style (though not every language; her German in particular is unintelligible). Her intonation is impeccable, her breath control incredible. Jo's top notes soar triumphantly, and she can sustain them indefinitely, with enough power left to make a crescendo at the end. Highlights include Ravel's "Kaddisch," which sends shivers down the spine; arias from operas by Rossini and Donizetti; and arias from sacred works by Gounod and Fauré. Of two spirituals, the second one is simpler and more convincing. The accompanying forces are excellent; James Conlon doubles as pianist when not conducting. Susan Graham also makes an appearance in the moving invocation "Take Care of This House" from Bernstein's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. --Edith Eisler Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsPrayerful and beautiful Peter Reeve | Thousand Oaks, CA USA | 11/13/2005 (5 out of 5 stars) "It is a refreshing change to have a collection of arias on a CD with a title that actually bears some relevance to the contents. This is indeed a prayerful collection. That means, of course, that you have to be in the appropriately contemplative mood in order to appreciate it. Another nice change is that the orchestral accompaniment enhances the singing rather than just tagging along as an afterthought, which often seems to be the case. It is fitting that James Conlon gets equal billing here. This is splendid singing to splendid music. Sumi Jo is comfortable in any language and in a broad range of styles. I was uncertain how she would tackle songs like Amazing Grace and Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child. I need not have worried. In the latter she reveals a soulfulness that fits the lyrics perfectly. The only track not worthy of this collection is Bernstein's Take Care of This House. I suppose, as it is a prayer, it was an obvious song to include, and Jo sings it very well, but it is just a very poor song. That still leaves 14 excellent tracks that, if you are a lover of good singing, you will want in your collection. " A Consumer Point of View Juliana LHeureux | Topsham, Maine United States | 05/21/2003 (5 out of 5 stars) "At the outset, this review of "Prayers" is based upon enjoy-ability, because I'm obviously not a music critic. Simple words are the best ones I know to describe Sumi Jo and her perfect renditions of some high brow and popular spiritual music. Words like "wonderful" and "sensitive" come to the top of my mind. Sumi Jo and her crystal clear voice notwithstanding, "Prayers" is mostly enjoyable because of the music selections themselves. Moving from the Old Testament "Kaddisch" into the Christian era is enough of a spiritual range; but adding the touch of spiritual in "Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child" and a Loewe/Lerner "Say A Prayer For Me Tonight" makes for delicious toppings. This CD is a perfectly lovely voice-symphony suitable for almost any religious or spiritual music tastes." Wonderful Voice Lawrence Landis | Tulsa, OK USA | 01/03/2003 (5 out of 5 stars) "This is my first Sumi Jo CD, but certainly will not be my last. Unfortunately, the rating scale only goes up to 5 stars - this deserves more. Ms. Jo has the voice of an angel; her versions, especially of Gounod's "Sanctus" and Preisner's "Lacrimosa", will make you grateful just be alive at a time when such performances are available so easily, and make your heart beat faster with the incredible beauty and power of her voice - but the entire CD is most enjoyable. Certainly, this has become one of the CDs I'd have to have if stranded on a desert island."
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