Into paradise review

Stephanie · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 66

http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2006/02/13/features/music/27zmusic14cdreviews.txt

Sissel

"Into Paradise"

Universal Classics

In her follow-up to 2004's "My Heart," Scandinavian classical-pop songstress Sissel puts the emphasis on the classical. There is some ABBA thrown in - which might as well be from the 17th century for some of our younger generations - but she makes tunes by Bach, Faure and Purcell the true classics of "Into Paradise."

While she is as huge as Celine Dion in Scandinavia, Sissel's better known in America as the haunting voice from James Horner's soundtrack for "Titanic." A few measures of her version of Bach's "Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme" should wash away any memories of ginormous sinking ships - Sissel takes one of classical music's most gorgeous melodies, from a religious chorale setting, and makes it her own amid a full choir and world-music backgrounds.

She globetrots through the classical world, tackling Villa-Lobos' string-ridden "Bachianas Brasileiras," Faure's gentle "In Paradisum (Into Paradise)" and Albinoni's haunting "Adagio."

With this album's classical bent, Sissel utilizes more operatic vocals than she has in previous efforts, but is adept with a more pop-oriented style for the Norwegian folk tune "Ingen Vinner Frem" and a version of ABBA's "Like an Angel Passing Through." It's a passable ballad and one that's not often covered - thank Napoleon, there is no "Waterloo" anywhere - but it doesn't hold a candleabra to a classical number like Mascagni's "Sancta Maria."

Brian Truitt

kcuteus · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 172

thanks