Search - Alex North, Eldo di Lazzaro, Glenn Osser :: Classical Confections

It's hard to knock the hopelessly romantic--especially when, like your parents, they have their own national holiday. Designed as the musical equivalent of a Valentine's Day chocolates sampler (right down to its candy-box design and enclosed gift card containing a romantic poem by Robert Burns), the score of tracks here touch on romantic musical confections that journey from the opera stage (Puccini's Gianni Schicci, Massenet's Thais) to a wealth of Neopolitan love songs highlighted by the effusive Pavarotti/Mancini reading of "Chitarra Romana" and Placido Domingo's dramatic interpretations of "Siboney" and the bittersweet "Core 'Ngrato." The contemporary songbook is represented by Goran Sollscher's bossa nova guitar take on the Beatles' "And I Love Her," while Hollywood gets more than its due via lush Boston Pops renditions of "Unchained Melody," "Evergreen," "Love Story," "Romeo & Juliet," "A Summer Place" and "The Godfather." And just when it all seems ready to threaten one's dental health and/or sober nature, along comes Aubrey Woods' sprightly, bonus-track "Candy Man" from Willy Wonka to put it all in perspective; a guilty, lighthearted pleasure for the hopeless romantic in all of us. --Jerry McCulley