Well, my Wonder Woman had a couple of small surprises up her sleeves, I suppose because Barnes & Noble wasn’t as quick to deliver as Amazon.com was (similar packages ordered at virtually the same time–the B&N actually first–arrived at hugely different times). Listening to one right now, Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace, and enjoying the living daylights out of it. Have to do it in my office with the door shut, of course, since I like music at performance levels. It doesn’t mean I actually get the air movement of a live performance, but it’s closer than listening at “background music” levels, as far too many people do. But–even more “of course”–it’s worlds and worlds better than people who listen to stuff at excessively loud levels that are impossible without electronic amplification taken to its most hideous extreme.
Of the 22 cuts on the album, I count only two that I will NOT rip for storing on my mp3 player. That’s moderately to partly amazing, but then Yo-Yo Ma has made some amazingy musical decisions in both pieces to include and arrangements/performances of those pieces–few of which he uses as a showcase for his own considerable talent and skill on the cello. In fact, one of the ensemble pieces featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Dave Brubeck and Matt Brubeck is pretty wonderful itself, simply for the ensemble work of the two cellists playing together (No, Dave Brubeck doesn’t play cello :-)).
Really nice stuff–especially all the varied treatments of Dona Nobis Pacem, long one of my all time favs. Do yourself a favor and check this album out. Next up, The Priests. We’ll see how they fare…
Remarkably well. I didn’t want to see the PBS program earlier, because of several reasons, so all I knew of this buncha guys was what had come out in Mass Media Podpeople comments. Since Mass Media Podpeople are universally idiots, that was no help. Not bad voices (OK, very, very good, though not to the quality of Placido Domingo or Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, et al), very good arrangements and choral/instrumental performances. Sucker that I am for well-performed vocal and choral music, I know I’ll spend a lot of time with this one.