Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Album Review:
McCartney Classical, take one at 2003-11-10
Best to look at this now in hindsight. This is where McCartney began his Classical Music career - one can point to The Family Way soundtrack, the Eleanors Dream score based on Eleanor Rigbys string accompaniment which is on Give My Regards To Broad Street, but this is where it begins in earnest. If youve heard the more realized works that followed (Standing Stone, the pieces on Working Classical or the work on Garlands for Linda), you will better appreciate this full length concert work in its proper context. It is not pop music. And it is not fully realized classical either, but it has its moments which are brilliant. Lyrically, it is comical at times and you have to wonder (aside from the Spanish Lesson) how much Sir Paul might have found funny at the time, especially hearing august operatic voices singing them. Melodically, phrases will stay with you long after the recording is over. There is some beautiful music here if you will give it a chance. If you are only interested in giving McCartneys classical writing an ear, try starting with Standing Stone or Working Classical (which includes quartet arrangements of many familiar songs).
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Album Review:
Junk at 2003-07-12
Wretched little ditties by Cutesy-Pie Paulie, puffed up by a competent arranger into a bloated mess. McCartney may be the most overrated musician of all time.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Album Review:
Ok stuff, Not bad but nothing special at 2003-12-05
This is ok stuff. Very soothing and easy going stuff, may be an initiation for those new to choral works. The music is too simple, you can make out its by Paul. The complete school section is good. Basically it has some 5 sections, each depicting a period of pauls life. It feels more like paul wrote a few pop ballads and then he extended it for an oratoria. Not bad, but you dont need to include it in you collection, unless you want very much to see what Paul sounds like in the classical vein
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Album Review:
The second star is for effort at 2005-06-11
This mans been playing Silly Love Songs ever since the contrast between that and the late John Lennons pre-punk ethos formed the nucleus of the Beatles. But you have to remember that the main reason this freshman effort at symphonic music reached the mass market at all was because McCartney had made his mark many years ago. Already being famous helps, believe me. The arrangements are courtesy of Sir Paul laying out the basic threads using MIDI computer sequencing, at which point an arranger steps in and transcribes the result into real orchestral parts. And the libretto here are more than just a tad weak. One scene deals with a quarrel between Our Hero and his newly-pregnant wife. He makes that one statement in such situations that one regrets as soon as he says it, and gets this response; Wife: Right! (dramatic rchestral hit) Wife: Im off! (repeat of same chord) Wife: (spoken) And by the way, youre going to be a father. And she promptly storms out into the street and gets hit by a car. Oh buh-rother! Unless I miss my guess, operatic work is not McCartneys long suit. Aparently that occurred to him as well, because his followup work is The Standing Stones, a much stronger work that is instrumental. If youre a follower of Paul as the cute one of the Beatles, both of these works will be but pieces in a collection. If youre curious about Sir Pauls musical visions, youre better off with the later work.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Album Review:
Better than any other Pop Stars Efforts at 2005-08-07
Ill admit that I dislike opera, and the only reason I was exposed to this work was because it was McCartney (and also, I suppose, because I love classical music). There are certain elements that are common to all good music, no matter what genre;one such is melody. McCartney has built a career on intoxicating tunes, and he doesnt stop here. Ive listened to classical music for a long time, and these are some of the best melodies Ive ever heard. McCartney doesnt seem too worried with Oh, this is Classical, and my my, I mustnt disturb the English caste system of how things are supposed to be. He basically just does what he does best, only he puts it into a classical context. Im somewhat surprised he pulled it off so well for a first-timer, but then again, McCartneys works from very early on suggest an uncommon ability to write well in a multitude of styles. More so than John Lennon, he seems to be able to step outside himself and indulge in whatever role is needed to write a great song. If Lennon and McCartney had been actors and not Beatles, Lennon would have been a Sean Penn or Alan Alda or Gary Cooper-type, playing basically an extension of himself, but playing it passionately, and playing it very well. McCartney wouldve been more like Dustin Hoffman or Meryl Streep, with a broad range, amazingly different in every role. McCartneys sophomore effort, Standing Stone, was one I found very uninteresting. The next one, Working Classical, is outstanding.That stated, I find the first CD (the Oratorio is 2 discs) to be five-star, and the second to drag somewhat, about a 3 1/2. So lets call it a four or 4 1/2.