Simply The Best Classical Anthems is a compilation album of ‘36 of the most powerful Anthems on Earth’. But, it is also said to be something else. It is said to be a gateway. A gateway to another world. A world where our imagination can run free without being shackled down by any borders or boundaries or rules or limits. A world that we have all seen or perhaps more accurately have all heard of but for many of us a world that we have never dared to enter. Never dared to enter because of fear. The fear of being ostracised and shunned by our community.

THE MYTH
‘Classical Music!’, I can hear some of you cry. ‘That isn’t another world. That’s just music for the upperclass, the high-brow, and the pompous.’ Surprisingly, I too felt this way for a long time until I accepted the invitation made to me by Simply The Best Classical Anthems. I always felt that Classical Music was nice to listen to as background music for a Levis ad or a Car ad but I would consider people strange if they chose to hear it on its own. However, after having listened to this album I realised how wrong I was in my assumptions.

THE TRUTH
Music as with all forms of amusement helps to take you away from where you are now. It helps to relax you when you are stressed with anger; it helps to give you strength when you are vulnerable; it helps to keep your spirits up when you have faced tragedy or loss. It helps. And, for me the type of music that best conjures up the most passionate emotions (love, hate, courage and anger) at our most testing times is Classical Music.
How? I don’t know.
Why? I don’t know.
I can only promise you that in my experience it does.

THE CHEST
The album, in visual terms, is very difficult to overlook amongst the plethora of records that may surround it. This is because the album has a very distinct purple sleeve cover. Not any kind of purple mind you but the Cadbury’s kind of purple. The kind of purple that carries with it an invitation. An invitation that if accepted promises you a treasure inside.
And since, I have always enjoyed the treasure within the purple Cadbury’s Dairy Milk wrapper, I asked myself why would an album carrying the same invitation promise to be anything different? Thus, I parted with my tuppence worth and went back home to open this purple chest of promised treasures.

THE PROMISED TREASURE
As you may have guessed, the contents of the album are somewhat different to the contents of a Cadbury’s bar. When I opened the album, I was presented with two compact discs. At first glance, there did not seem to be anything special about them. They were just your average, everyday, run of the mill compact discs. To tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed because I suppose I had hoped for something more.
However, looks can be deceptive. (Afterall, a Cadbury’s Dairy Milk does not seem very appetising until you taste it!) And, also come November each year, I am always bemused and surprised at how the shabby contents of a cardboard box can both light up the sky and light up the faces of the neighbourhood. Thus, I pushed aside my assumptions and I ignited the discs (not literally of course, I just pressed the play button on the CD player). And, I let the fireworks begin.

THE KEY
From the very beginning, you will feel like you have unlocked the doorway to something special. And, after a full two hours of listening to both discs, you will feel like you have been taken out of this world and transported to another. Welcome to the world of Classical Music.

GUIDANCE
In the beginning, continue to listen to both discs in one go (i.e. one after the other). After a while, you will know which tracks you enjoy listening to the most. For those tracks you enjoyed the most make a promise to yourself that you will listen to the whole of the piece from which that track came from.
Good Luck on your quest if you choose to accept it.
Ride amongst the Valkyries, listen to the Flight of the Bumblebees, and use The Planets to keep you on the path.

I am not a good reviewer because as with all of my reviews I refuse to comment too much about what is inside the product but rather more about what effect the product has had on me. (Me, me, me. Vain & Egotistic, I know, so my friends and family keep telling me). But, I just want to cause a raucous about the product, enough not to spoil but enough of a raucous to let you experience it for yourself.

So my final words are:
Simply The Best Classical Anthems is an invitation. An invitation to the world of classical music. A world where you can begin a never-ending quest of curiosity. A curiosity that will always be rewarded with fulfilment.

Do you accept such an invitation?

Hope you found this review helpful.

Churlish reservations relate only to the overall choice of repertoire--perhaps at the expense of a little less Mozart and Handel, still more space devoted to an uninterrupted sequence of songs with piano would be welcomed, an area where many find von Otter's gifts at their most compelling. The magical 1996 Swedish song album isn't represented at all, but then again a quick flip through the von Otter discography leaves one wishing so much else was included here. That would be totally impractical, of course, after all, who could buy this and not want then to explore her discography in detail?...
Splendid introduction, 2002-10-31
As Amazon's own reviwer says in praise (or warning?), this is an excellent introduction to Otter's work, and likely to cause your credit card to burn a hole in your wallet as you order more and more of her discs. An incredible vocal genius is at work here. For those who are wary of classical music for voice (operaphobia, perhaps) this is proof that there is much intoxicating music to be discovered. And for those who already love Ms Otter's work, her intriguing album with twisted pop philosopher Elvis Costello might begin them on a new road into intelligent pop music.

This latest release brings together tracks from that night in Rome (including "Nessun dorma" and a competitive rendition of "O sole mio") with music performed in a 1994 concert in Los Angeles as well as at the 1998 event in Paris where the Three Tenors sang to an audience of thousands with the Eiffel Tower as their spectacular backdrop.

The 22 tracks which comprise The Best of the Three Tenors range from operatic standards, such as the joyful "Brindisi" from La traviata to popular songs including "Singin' in the rain" via songs from the shows ("You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel). There are no solos on this disc--each piece is performed by all three singers. And with plenty of applause and cheering to be heard, not to mention the sense of fun in the singers' voices, the disc truly captures the atmosphere of these extra...
The Best of the Three Tenors, 2003-12-08
I am not really a classical music buff, but with my father in law being one its an obvious choice for presents. knowing that he likes the 3 tenors is a big help seeing as i do not really know much at all about classical music apart form the odd few bits world cup and films. I bought this disc for his birthday not really relishing the thought of hearing it, however I was pleasently supprised indeed. This was very easy on the ears indeed and shock horror on the whole i enjoyed cd there was the odd one i was not that overly keen on not to sure which one it was called i think it was track 4 Sous le ciel de Paris. By comparrison you'll never walk alone i thought was very enjoyable along with nessumdora the world cup anthum from a few years back now. Untill listening to this cd i thought this to be a bit highbrow and deffinatelly not my cup off tea at all even for my (heinz 57) taste trance,rock,reggea,tamla garage etc my 19 month old daughter was bopping along to it even my wife thought it was good. What was more worrying still i purchased a copy myself to add to my collection looks a bit odd being just below deaf leppard. If you are into classical music or not this is well worth adding to your collection and hey you might find you like it and play it a lot more than you thought you would, I certainly did! if you do not its a good present for someone who does. The cover looks good to