x close

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005 Original Broadway Cast)

When was the last time you heard a musical with a truly hilarious book? Rachel Sheinkin has concocted such a thing for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, one of the most unexpected hits of 2005. Unfortunately, Sheinkin's wit is mostly lost on a cast album; fortunately, the show's songs are by the great William Finn. Set at the titular event, the musical never looks down on the competiting kids (played by adult actors), instead portraying them as endearingly nerdy but also smart, and endowing them with real personalities rather than predictably spelling-bee tics. The cast is uniformly superb, although personal faves include Sarah Saltzberg, playing Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre with a delicious lisp ("Woe Is Me"); Jesse Tyler Ferguson, bringing sweet innocence to Leaf Coneybear ("I'm Not That Smart"); and Dan Fogler, in a breakout comic performance as William Barfee ("Magic Foot," sounding like a sly tribute to Kander & Ebb). This show may be small in scale, but it's a huge winner. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Other Great Musicals of the Season

Spamalot

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

The Light in the Piazza

Little Women

All Shook Up

Altar Boyz

---

Futures

Soundtrack;

---

Customer Review:

Seeing would be believing

The music and lyrics were fun and clever, but I think it lacks alittle without actually seeing the performers in front of you.

Great voices are wasted on an uninspired and BORING musical.

This is without a doubt the worst musical I've ever seen on Broadway - or perhaps anywhere. The music is monotonous, forgettable and uninteresting. For basically the same theme, but with stellar music and lyrics, buy AVENUE Q, which is sheer genius.

HOOKED

I'm hooked on the CD....I listen to it everyday all the way through..Its become one of my favorite musical to listen to.

---

Keywords: Cast Recordings; Music Theater; Musical Theater; Pop; Showtunes / B'way;

---

---

x close

Planet Sleeps

Everything about this CD, from its eye-popping cool packaging to its beautiful booklet, is wonderful, perhaps peerless. It's a study that spans 16 countries, catching paeans to childhood sleep from varied traditions. The set traverses the Cape Breton Gaelic tradition with the Rankin Family, Haiti with pop stars Boukman Eksperyans, and the African continent with music from Tonga, Algeria, and Cameroon. Despite their distances from each other, at times the songs sound quite alike. Voices might begin alone but then gather into choral size, with a reliance on wordless passages to emphasize the flow of time as sleep encroaches. In execution, the surprises are many. Algerian Houria Aïchi sounds East Indian; the Traditional Japanese Music Ensemble of New York sounds poised somewhere between a stately concert of historical court music and a touching homage to childhood; and German singer Michelle sounds pop-music ready even as she toes the line on singing a sleep-triggering song. Beyond being a great collection of international music, this is probably the most interesting mix available of cultural voices approaching the issue of children sleeping. --Andrew Bartlett

---

Futures

Enhanced;

---

Customer Review:

A great cd, very relaxing for babies and adults!

My 4-month old daughter LOVES this cd. She is a very active baby who can have a hard time settling down, but she calms right down when this is on. She loves listening to it, and I really like it as well. I'm not sure that this cd would ever put her to sleep, but she loves to listen to it or to have someone dance with her while it plays.

Simplity Beautiful Music - Wish It Included Lyrics

I just wanted to say that I love this CD. My daugther, my husband and I sleep to it every night since I brought it about 2 weeks ago. I love all the songs and attempt to sing them to my daughter (no lyrics manuel :( ),even thoughout the day. I'm addicted.

The first time I listened to the CD I sat down and was captured by the beauty of all the songs so much that I listened to it again.

I highly recommend this CD to any music lover!

Not for MY baby...

I cannot imagine that this weird bunch of jungle music would actually help a baby sleep. The music is not "bad" per se, if you want a collection of foreign folk music. However, only the french song is remotely like a real lullaby. The other songs are just too stressful and weird. It is hard to believe that any of these songs help babies sleep, even in each song's country of origin. I suspect that IF my baby ever slept to this CD it would result in nightmares.

---

Keywords: Alternative Pop/Rock; Folk Collections; Indian Classical; Int'l & World Music; Lullabies; Pan-Global; Pop; Worldbeat;

---

---

x close

Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic

---

Futures

Box set;

Import;

---

Customer Review:

Disney Magic

I love this box set that I purchased. I received it within the time period that I was told I would. I took it into work and my co-workers loved it. We all sang along to the songs (weird I know) Thank you so much for you service!

C'est un bon choix à un bon prix

Comme tout produit Disney, la qualité est bonne. Il y a parfois des variations du niveau d'enregistrement entre différentes pièces mais hormis ce détail, c'est un bel ensemble. Il y a parfois certaines longueurs car certaines pièces contiennent une partie du dialogue du film ou une trop longue introduction musicale, mais cela n'enlève rien à la qualité et à la diversité de cet ensemble. Vous pouvez acheter chacun des 5 CD individuellement mais si vous aimez cette musique, je vous conseille d'acheter l'ensemble qui revient réellement moins cher. Personnellement, je préfère les CD #1 et #2 mais d'autres personnes pourraient préférer le #3, le #4 ou le #5. Comme toutes les pièces sont identifiées, achetez celui qui vous convient.

Excellent quality; all original performers

If you're looking for some Disney to bring back some great memories, don't look any further than this boxed set. All original performers - even Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke! These songs are taken right out of the movies so if you're expecting to hear for example, Phil Collins singing "Circle of Life" this isn't it!

I'm thirtysomething and love all the "oldies". I bought this so my 6 month old daughter can grow up listening to the real thing! I coldn't be happier with these cds.

---

Keywords: Adult Contemporary; Box Sets (Audio Only); Children's; Childrens; Film Music; Musicals; Original Score; Pop; Pop/Rock; Show Tunes; Soundtrack; Soundtracks; Traditional Pop; Vocal Pop;

---

---

x close

The Chorus (Les Choristes)

Already a box office sensation with a million-selling soundtrack in its native France, writer/director Christopher Barratier's tale of a post-war music teacher's lasting impact on his young charges rode its formulaic Hollywood roots all the way to Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Foreign Language Film, as well as an Oscar nod for Best Song ("Look To Your Path [Vois Sur Ton Chemin]," a collaboration between the director and film composer Bruno Coulais). Taking his inspiration from the boy's chorus at the center of the film's drama, Coulais has concocted a masterful, classically rooted score that showcases the crystalline, youthful harmonies of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choir. The composer bridges the baroque and modern eras in a collection of mostly Latin choruses and chants, a skillful, often haunting fusion that also netted Coulais' compelling score BAFTA and Cesar Awards in Britain and his native France, respectively. -- Jerry McCulley

---

Futures

Soundtrack;

---

Customer Review:

Les Choristes

I was very impressed with the service from Amazon as it was my first purchase with them. I live in Peru South American and my CD arrived within a very short time after I ordered it. It arrived safely and complete, and of course, the CD itself is magnificent. The movie was very good and the music is incredible! If you are a chorus enthusiast, you simply must have this CD!

Haunting. Ethereal. Wonderful.

I'd never heard of this composer before, but after having viewed "The Chorus", I was desperate to lay my hands on the soundtrack! The hauntingly ethereal quality of the boys' voices is remarkable. Just as with any fine Italian opera, the listener need not comprehend the language (in this case French) to appreciate this music -- although, quite thoughtfully, the English translation of each song's lyrics is found in the accompanying booklet.

Anyone who appreciates choral music, particularly as performed by a boys' choir, will find the soundtrack of "The Chorus" a highlighted piece for 2004 (or 2005, whenever it became available in the U.S.!).

Very good

I first watched this on an in-flight platform. Already, the score had appealed to me, although my french is rudimentary at best.

This soundtrack is a very lovely piece of work. I rarely come across something quite as good. Selected mentions include:

Track 4: Pepinot. This is an instrumental piece, woodwind, piano and strings. Very sensitive and slightly moving. If you have seen the movie, it really fits Pepinot's character so well.

Track 5: A reprisal of track 1. Already very well reviewed. I have nothing to add.

Track 7: Together with La Nuit, they are the highlights. Again, the melody hauntingly mirrors that of Track 4. After enchanting the first verse by the choir, the background orchestra tunes down, increasing the haunting woodwinds, and the lead singer comes in, blowing me away. He reprised the choir perfectly.

Tracks 9 and 16: Kites / paper planes. Almost mirror images. Fast paced and catchy. Childlike in innocence. This was sung during the scene where Clement Mathieu had to depart, and the boys, locked up in a tower, threw paper planes written with messages for him out of the window...

Very strong buy rating recommended.

---

Keywords: Film; Film Music; France; Miscellaneous; Miscellaneous Music; Movie Themes; Original Score; Pop; Soundtrack; Soundtracks; Soundtracks & Film Scores;

---

---