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Cheryl Dring's Holiday Picks


Check out Cheryl's picks for this holiday season

Here's What's New and Exciting

Bach: Goldberg Variations with Simone Dinnerstein (Telarc 80692)

You may have seen the New York Times review….the critics are losing their minds over this recording, seemingly out of nowhere. In 2005, Dinnerstein was living a quiet life in Brooklyn. She had been performing publicly for more than a decade and had been a much-awarded student at Juilliard, but at the age of 33, she did not hold a major competition title, nor did she have a manager. She decided to take her career into her own hands.

In November 2005, she performed the complete Goldberg Variations on a self-produced Carnegie Hall recital debut. This bold move, coupled with the increasing interest in her unreleased recording of the piece, won her critical acclaim in the press. Within two years, she had concert dates, a management contract, and a record deal.


The Browns in Blue: The 5 Browns (RCA 711322)

A whole family full of musicians…all pianists! These siblings made Juilliard history by attending the prestigious institution simultaneously. From Gershwin's Jazzy Home Blues and Embraceable You, to the classical mood of a Chopin Nocturne and Debussy's Clair de lune, The 5 Browns show why they remain classical music's irresistible new champions.


Appropriate for the Season...

Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa (Teldec 99000)

Did you hear her at Mondavi in October? Here’s a Christmas album for your favorite Kiri te Kanawa fan...recorded in Coventry Cathedral.


Chanticleer: Sing We Christmas (Teldec 94563)

Chanticleer is always a favorite with Northern California audiences…and around the world. With selections spanning the last five centuries of Latin, German, English, Spanish, and French festive fare, this recording makes a perfect Christmas gift.


Luciano Pavarotti: O Holy Night (Decca 000530102)

First released on LP and cassette in 1976, O Holy Night has always been one of Luciano Pavarotti's biggest selling albums. It has now been completely remastered for even greater presence and clarity - and with new cover art that recaptures the spirit of the original LP sleeve. There are also three new, never-released bonus tracks from the beloved tenor.


Some Beloved Musicians We Lost This Year

Pavarotti’s Greatest Hits (Decca 000904002)

Back by popular demand — Pavarotti’s Greatest Hits. First released as an LP in 1980 and then again in 1985, this is one of Pavarotti’s best-selling albums. This classic is now reissued in a slim-line jewel box for the first time as a specially priced 2 for 1 set. Celebrate the life and career of Luciano Pavarotti—two CD’s of the great tenor, including 9 high C’s in one aria!


Douglas Moore: The Ballad of Baby Doe with Beverly Sills (DG 465148)

Beverly Sills in one of her first Big Hit roles. 'The Ballad of Baby Doe' received its New York premiere in 1958 with Sills in the title role.Its riches-to-rags story of Colorado miner Horace Tabor has a great plot, excellent characters, real arias, and dynamic chorus scenes. This recording by the New York City Opera is full of crackling fast tempos from conductor Emerson Buckley and great theatricality. Beverly Sills, Walter Cassel, and Frances Bible all inhabit their roles completely, with Sills delivering 4 heartbreakingly beautiful arias.


Mstislav Rostropovich: Bach Cello Suites (Emi Classics 55363)

One man, one cello...and Bach. Rostropovich finds a perfect balance between a romantic, rhapsodic interpretation and one that emphasizes the purely formal "aridity" of Bach's structures.



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