Sacred Arias [Special Edition, CD & DVD]

1	Ave Maria
2	Sancta Maria
3	Ave Maria
4	Ellens Gesang III, D 839/
5	Panis angelicus
6	Stabat mater: Cujus anima
7	Requiem Mass: Ingemisco
8	Ave verum corpus in D maj
9	Wesendonck Lieder: no 1,
10	Serse, HWV 40: Ombra mai
11	Pietà, Signore
12	Petite Messe solennelle:
13	Mille cherubini in coro
14	Silent Night
15	Adeste fideles
16	Gloria a te, Cristo Gesù
17	Agnus Dei
18	I believe
Sacred Arias [Special Edition, CD & DVD]
1.	Ave Maria 3:50
	Composed by Giulio Caccini
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
2.	Sancta Maria (based on the Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana) 3:37
	Composed by Steven Mercurio
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
3.	Ave Maria, for voice & piano (or other vocal arrangements; after Bach's Prelude No. 1 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1) 3:01
	Composed by Charles Gounod
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
4.	Ellens Gesang III ("Ave Maria"), song for voice & piano, D. 839 (Op. 52/6) 2:32
	Composed by Franz Schubert
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
5.	Panis angelicus for tenor, organ, harp, cello & bass 3:32
	Composed by César Franck
	Performed by Norbert Balatsch, Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Chorus and Andrea Bocelli
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
6.	Stabat mater for 2 sopranos, tenor, bass, chorus, & orchestra: Cujus animam 5:34
	Composed by Gioachino Rossini
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
7.	Requiem Mass, for soloists, chorus & orchestra (Manzoni Requiem): Ingemisco 4:10
	Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
8.	Ave verum Corpus, motet for chorus, strings, & organ, K. 618 3:05
	Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
9.	Der Engel ("In der Kinkheit frühen Tagen"), song for voice & piano (or orchestra) (Wesendonk Lieder), WWV 91/1 3:05
	Composed by Richard Wagner
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
10.	Serse (Xerxes), opera, HWV 40: Frondi tenere...Ombre mai fu 3:56
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
11.	Pietà, Signore! for voice & piano (or orchestra) 6:59
	Composed by Louis Niedermeyer
	Performed by Norbert Balatsch, Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Chorus and Andrea Bocelli
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
12.	Petite messe solennelle, for soloists, 2 pianos, harmonium & choir: Domine Deus 4:37
	Composed by Gioachino Rossini
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
13.	Wiegenlied ("Schlafe, schlafe, holder süsser Knabe"), song for voice & piano ("Mille Cherubini in Coro"), D. 498 (Op. 98/2) 3:55
	Composed by Franz Schubert
	Performed by Norbert Balatsch, Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Chorus and Andrea Bocelli
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
14.	Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night) 3:08
	Composed by Franz Xaver Gruber
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Andrea Bocelli, Paolo Lucci and Coro di Voci Bianchi dell'Arcum
15.	O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fidelis) 2:55
	Composed by John Francis Wade
	Performed by Norbert Balatsch, Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Chorus and Andrea Bocelli
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
16.	Gloria a te, Cristo Gesù 4:25
	Composed by Jean-Paul Lecot
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Chorus, Andrea Bocelli and Ciro Visco
17.	Agnus Dei, for voice & piano (or orchestra) (Intermezzo from L'arlésienne Suite No. 2/6, arranged by Ernest Guirard) 5:28
	Composed by Georges Bizet
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
	Additional Notes: Bonus Track
18.	I believe 4:21
	Composed by Éric Levi
	Conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
	Performed by Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Andrea Bocelli
	Additional Notes: Bonus Track

Barnes & Noble

Sacred Arias is a whole lot more than a Christmas album. Following up on his bestselling recordings of operatic favorites -- Viaggio Italiano and Aria -- Andrea Bocelli offers a richly varied recital of spiritual music drawn from the vast repertory of classical song, oratorio, and opera. Some of these selections are well known, like Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" (used in Walt Disney's film "Fantasia"), Charles Gounod's "Ave Maria" (based on a prelude by J. S. Bach), and the vocally challenging "Ingemisco" from Giuseppe Verdi's powerful Requiem. But who would expect to find Bocelli singing his heart out in Richard Wagner's song "Der Engel" (The Angel)? In fact, throughout Sacred Arias, Bocelli sings with passion and imagination. He starts Pietro Mascagni's "Sancta Maria" in hushed, trembling tones before letting his voice ring out in its full splendor. "Panis Angelicus" by César Franck has equal parts tenderness and strength. Bocelli performs the difficult Verdi excerpt with remarkable ease, and his heartfelt interpretation makes the most of the composer's awe-inspiring music. Even the rarely heard Wagner song (sung in its original German) finds the Italian sounding right at home. "Silent Night" (sung in English) and "Adeste Fidelis" are given in tastefully elegant arrangements, although the final "Gloria a Te, Christo Gesú" is opulently orchestrated, providing a suitably rousing finale for this uplifting program. Andrew Farach-Colton

Barnes & Noble

While his breakthrough CD Romanza confirmed that Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli could deliver extraordinary vocal performances, his DVD, Sacred Arias, shows why and how Bocelli came to stand among today's most beloved voices. The video cuts back and forth from a performance at the Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, in March 1999, to interviews and footage of Bocelli with his family and friends. Director William Cosel has captured Rome in wonderful, enchanting shots, while focusing closely on Bocelli and his favorite spots in the Eternal City. Drawing on his boyhood love for sacred songs, Bocelli performs 17 classics, including Verdi's "Va, Pensiero," Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," and Bach's "Ave Maria." Bocelli speaks about his early days growing up in Italy and attending church, when his love for this luminous music began to take shape. In performance, close-ups show Bocelli delivering fantastically difficult musical passages, while surrounded by the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Roma, in a spectacle befitting his vast talents. His music may touch hearts worldwide, but this is an ideal chance for Bocelli's fans to know him as a man. Kevin Giordano

All Music Guide

Sacred Arias followed Andrea Bocelli's successful mainstream effort Sogno by a matter of months -- a release strategy that suggests he wanted to shore up his classical audience after a pop-leaning effort. That's nonsense, however. For lack of a better term, Sacred Arias is a holiday album, released in November, just in time for Christmas. For much of Bocelli's audience, given that the arias are religious songs, they are holiday songs as well -- after all, "Ave Maria," which leads off the album, is an integral part of the holiday season, and "Silent Night" and "Adeste Fideles" are also here. But Sacred Arias is more than just a holiday record. It contains other arias that aren't specifically about Christmas, plus selections like Wagner's "Der Engel," which isn't religious. Nevertheless, the album holds together fairly well, since the arrangements are of a piece, and Bocelli performs each in his signature style. He may not offer new interpretations of these standards, nor is his phrasing particularly unique, but nevertheless, he does deliver spirited performances of strong, albeit familiar, music in a way that's accessible to a wide audience. That's reason enough for fans to add this to their collections, especially as it is his first collection of arias and religious music. [The 2003 edition of Sacred Arias includes a live concert DVD, filmed in Rome.] Stephen Thomas Erlewine