Advantages: A surprisingly good cast
Disadvantages: worst film known to mankind, other than Police Acadamy 2-7...and its sequel

..., and oh hasn't he done a bad job. Anyway, if you go back to Raiders of the Lost Ark and really look at the action scenes, you can see how poorly done they are. In King Solomon's Mines, they are laughable, which really gives this film its charm. In one scene, Quatermain is hanging onto the back of a train, holding himself steady with his legs on the rails - now forgive me if I'm wrong, but he's sliding on a very plastic surface there. Another example, adding in old footage of elephants and African wildlife that was so obviously taken with another camera perhaps years before. To be fair, this is a comedy, at least I hope it is. Sharon Stone is at her worst in this film, given some of the worst screams and dialogue known to Hollywood. One scene comes to mind where Chamberlain & Stone are just about to be eaten by cannibals. Thrown... Read review

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Advantages: Everything.
Disadvantages: Nothing.

...Scotsman David McVicar has blazed a spectacular trail in his fabulous staging of this Baroque opera seria for the 2005 Glyndebourne Festival. His starting material is Georg Frideric Handel’s formidable, four-hour-long ‘Giulio Cesare in Egitto’ (‘Julius Caesar in Egypt’; also known simply as ‘Giulio Cesare’), with libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Giacomo Grancesco Bussani’s work of the same name. The sheer length of the piece, with its typically Baroque musical da capo repeats of many verses can easily render this work into a completely boring and tedious affair. However, as you will see for yourself, ‘boring’ and ‘tedious’ will hardly apply to this particular staging as conceived by David McVicar and friends. Mr McVicar had the rare privilege of hand-picking his entire cast, and the wisdom of his choices shows clearly... Read review

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Advantages: Händel's music; Rasmussen, Hallenberg, Piau, Bayrakdarian; Rousset and Les Talens Lyrique.
Disadvantages: Cold production design; occasionally slow staging.

...The droll comedy-drama that is George Frideric Händel’s ‘Serse’ (1738) unfurls a tangled romantic daisy chain involving the rival loves of King Serse and his brother, Arsamene, for the beautiful Romilda. On the distaff side, there’s the competing love of Romilda and her sister, Atalanta, for Serse’s brother, Arsamene. Of this confused quartet, only Romilda and Arsamene actually love one another. The titular Serse refers to the real-life Persian ruler, Xerxes I (Serse I), described by the Greek historian Herodotus in his Histories, Book VII. The libretto to ‘Serse’ (likely written probably by Händel himself and perhaps an unknown collaborator, and drawn from two previous libretti, respectively by Nicolò Minato and Silvio Stampiglia) combines both the comic and the dramatic. This new mixing of styles broke off from tradition, which... Read review

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Advantages: Handel's music, Padmore's tonal beauty, excellent Manze & English Concert.
Disadvantages: Too much uniformity in rhythm, volume and tone.

...British tenor Mark Padmore has stolen my heart with his sheer tonal beauty and cool, suave delivery on this disc of Handel arias, 'As steals the morn' from Harmonia Mundi. This recent release (4 February 2007 in the UK) is a collection of songs, recitatives and airs by German-born English composer, George Frideric Handel, taken from his operas, Alceste, Tamerlano and Rodelinda, and oratorios, Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Semele, Samson, Esther, Jephtha and L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. ON MARK PADMORE’S SOOTHING TONAL BEAUTY (AND HIS LOOKS AREN'T TOO SHABBY, EITHER). Mr Padmore sings with such ease and delicacy that every note becomes a soothing balm and a restorative for the droopy soul. Melismas (ornamental phrase of several notes sung to one syllable) are few and far between, and present small difficulty... Read review

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Advantages: Awe inspiring memorable music.
Disadvantages: Long - 2 hrs 20 mins

...Composed by George Frideric Handel Lyrics compiled from the bible by Charles Jennens Performed by Cambridge King's College Choir Academy of St Martin in the Fields directed by Sir Neville Marriner with James Bowman (Countertenor), Robert Tear (tenor), Benjamin Luxon (Bass) Conducted by Sir David Willcocks Label EMI Price £15.99 Available in most good music stores Handel is a German born English composer. He was born in Halle, Germany on 23rs February 1685. He first moved to London in 1710 settling there in 1712. He was eventually nationized English in 1726. In 1741 Handel was invited to visit Dublin and give concerts in aid of charities there. In the same year Jennens sent Handel a religious text and Handel duly composed the music to Messiah (not The Messiah). It debutted in Dublin in 1742. Messiah is the most famous... Read review

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Advantages: Rich, creamy vocal; enveloping warmth; text, character alive; facile Baroque ornamentation; impeccable diction; fine Symphony.
Disadvantages: Only over an hour of music here; wanted more!

...!) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: *Melisma, roulade = a string of several notes sung to one syllable. +For the Ciao police: this review has also been posted elsewhere in modified form by the author.+ ~~~~~~~~~~ CD Notes: SARAH CONNOLLY HEROES and HEROINES Georg Frideric Händel) The Symphony of Harmony and Invention Harry Christophers Track List: Alcina (Ruggiero) * 1. Sinfonia (Act 3) 0.48 * 2. Sta nell' Ircana 5.39 * 3. Mi lusingha il dolce affetto 7.15 Solomon (Queen Of Sheba) * 4. Sinfonia - 'Arrival Of The Queen Sheba' 3.00 * 5. Recit & Aria: Will The Sun Forget To Streak 6.36 Ariodante (Ariodante) * 6. Sinfonia To Act 2 1.29 * 7. Recit & Aria: Scherza Infida 12.12 * 8. Dopo Notte 6.56 Alcina (Ruggiero) * 9. Entrée Des Songes Agréables 2.35 * 10. Verdi Prati 4... Read review

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Advantages: The voice
Disadvantages: None

...**Introduction** As a fan of Soul music One of my favourite artists has got to be the legendary soul singer Solomon Burke, With a voice as big as his build Burke is regarded as one of the greatest singers of all time by fans, critics and fellow performers alike. This album is made up of songs written by some of his biggest admirers in the music industry. All the songs were written especially for Solomon Burke and this album Don't Give Up On Me. A diverse range of artists wrote songs for this album including the likes of Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello aswell as the album's producer Joe Henry who wrote the song "Flesh and Blood". Some well known songwriters there but will the album work well or not. well here are my thoughts. **Don't Give Up On Me** 1 Don't Give Up On Me This is a superb... Read review

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Advantages: Fine musical performance.
Disadvantages: Stage director too sharing of his horniness

...This 1735 opera by Georg Handel set to libretto (lyric) by Antonio Marchi is based on a side story from Ariosto's tome 'Orlando Furioso'. THE STORY is of the rescue of the crusading knight Ruggiero from the enchantment of the sorceress Alcina by his fiancee Bradamante and Melisso, their magician/counselor. Ruggiero proves a tough rescue due to the love spell placed on him by Alcina (who has an alarming habit of turning past lovers into animals and other 'artefacts' that litter the island). It also doesn't help that Alcina's sister Morgana falls for Bradamante (in disguised as her own brother Ricciaro) to the indignation of her husband Oronto. The rescue party is joined by the young boy Oberto, who is looking for his dad (a past lover of Alcina who is now one of the critters on the island), though the boy's big mouth alerts Alcina... Read review

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Advantages: Amazing building
Disadvantages: Art is secondary to the building

...the Gugenheim Museum, long before the Bilbao was even dreamt about. Having since been to both, I still feel that the Soho offering must be seen by anyone with an interest in space, gallery’s or architecture. The Guggenheim Museum was the founding building for an ever growing family which later formed the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation. First established in 1937, the following 60 years has seen the collection grow from one solitary gallery housed in someone else’s space to five galleries spanning Europe and America, three of which have buildings designed especially for Guggenheim group. The founder of the group was a humanitarian by the name of Solomon Guggenheim. Soloman and artist Hilla Rebay had established an interest in establishing a new form of art which could be seen in a new concept of space. So basically they wanted to break free... Read review

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