Rebroff was born in Berlin as Hans-Rolf Rippert. He was famous for singing Russian folk songs, but also performed opera, light classics and folk songs from many other countries. He was known on stage for his gusto. He performed over 6,000 concerts in his career, including a two-year seven-day-a-week stint at the French opera, singing, among other greats, Fiddler on the Roof. Rebroff still performed 12 shows in 14 days when he was well into his seventies, such as on an Australian tour.

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In 1940, Zacharias was discovered by Lindström-Electrola (then-name of the German branch of EMI) and in 1941 had his first mainstream success with Schönes Wetter Heute. By the 1950s, he was considered to be one of the best jazz violinists of Europe and was dubbed "The Magic Violinist" and "Germany's Mr. Violin". In 1956 he achieved his greatest success in the United States with the release of "When the White Lilacs Bloom Again" which, on September 22, reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. On 21 November 1964 he reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart with Tokyo Melody, following its use as theme music for the BBC's coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics.  ... Read more

Küpper studierte an der Universität Lucian Blaga Sibiu Soziologie und Ethnologie, außerdem an der Nationalen Musikuniversität Bukarest in Bukarest Panflöte bei Gheorghe Zamfir. Mit ihm trat sie auch bei Konzerten auf. Sie arbeitete als Musiklehrerin in Rumänien an Grund- und Realschulen sowie an einem Gymnasium. Im Jahr 2008 zog sie nach Deutschland. 2009 belegte sie mit ihrer Musik den dritten Platz bei der Castingshow Das Supertalent. Im Januar 2010 erschien ihr Album Panträume. Bei der Echoverleihung 2010 war sie in der Kategorie Newcomer des Jahres (national) nominiert.

Petruța Küpper ist verheiratet und hat eine 2007 geborene Tochter. Sie lebt in Osnabrück.  ... Read more

Jesper Kyd - Ave Maria (Hitman Version)

From PC Game: "Hitman: Blood Money"

This Ave Maria from PC game "Hitman: Blood Money" main menu and level "Requiem". Unfortunately, Eidos didn't put this song to official game soundtrack.

Jesper Jakobson Kyd (born on February 3, 1972 in Hørsholm, Denmark) is an acclaimed video game and film score composer.

He combines sounds of dark ambient, electronic and symphonic music and has won many awards. He is also notable for his work in the demoscene, where he composed a large amount of music in his teenage years, in particular a ten year long set of gatherings known as "The Party". Today, he is best known for composing music for the Hitman video game series and Assassin's Creed.  ~ Read more from Wiki

Official Jesper Kyd forum

From Album: "Andre Rieu ~ The 100 Most Beautiful Melodies (CD4)"

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (born October 1, 1949) is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating an international revival in waltz music with his "Johann Strauss Orchestra". In April 2009 (Australia) /June 2009 (UK), he made a cameo appearance as himself on "Ramsay Street" in the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours.

André Rieu was born into a musical family on October 1, 1949 in Maastricht in the Netherlands. He began studying violin at the age of five. His father was a conductor. From a very young age he developed a fascination with orchestra. He studied violin at the Conservatoire Royal in Liège and in the Conservatorium Maastricht, (1968–1973). His teachers included Jo Juda and Herman Krebbers. From 1974 to 1977, he attended the Music Academy in Brussels, studying with André Gertler, winning the Premier Prix at the academy. .. ~  more info from Wiki…

André Rieu (official website)

From Album: "Cecilia ~ Amazing Grace".    Cecilia is a Classical crossover singer, who originally comes from Norway. Known for her famous rendition of Amazing Grace.

When Cecilia sings her voice sounds clear and clean like crystal.  Every once in a while a beautiful voice comes along. Such a voice belongs to Cecilia, who is renowned for her crystal clear voice. She has released 6 albums, 2 by Universal Music, been singing worldwide, and sold several hundred thousand albums.  Cecilia started her career in 1994 singing for 5,000 people in Sydney, Australia. Her first album "Voice of the Feminine Spirit" went gold there, selling more than 50,000 copies. On her first Australian tour she was singing for 30,000 people in the 5 biggest cities. The album sold 200,000 copies with almost no marketing. It includes her famous rendition of "Amazing Grace".    The world renowned spiritual author Stuart Wilde was the first one to recognize the special quality of Cecilia’s voice when he heard her sing "Amazing Grace" at one of his seminars. He offered to help her, and made it possible to record "Voice of the Feminine Spirit" and to go on tour with himself and several other spiritual authors such as Dr. Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Marianne Williamson and Dr. Deepak Chopra. On Cecilia’s two first albums, Stuart Wilde was also the lyricist and the executive producer. 

Cecilia was singing at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City; including a concert for Nu Skin at the World of Ice, performed on the Norwegian National TV (NRK), for the King of Norway, and also for the Crown prince and princess. NRK made a music video of "My Beloved" at the top of the Olympic mountains.
In April 2002 Cecilia moved from Los Angeles to New York, and continued to work on her style and new songs with Art Labriola, who was asked by Warner and David Foster to produce a mainstream radio mix for Josh Groban. Cecilia also got a new singing teacher, Dr. William Riley, who is also the singing teacher for Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Faith Hill.Cecilia’s music has been used in TV series, documentaries, and videos in America and Asia, and on compilation albums worldwide. In 2003 a "Best of Cecilia" album was released in Greece, and her album "Let There Be Peace On Earth" was released in Korea.    ~ Read more from Wiki

Cecilia’s official site

Nina Hagen - Ave Maria

From Album: "Nina Hagen ~ Nina Hagen"

Nina Hagen (born Catharina Hagen on 11 March 1955) is a singer from East Berlin, Germany.

Born in East Germany, Nina Hagen had already gained a reputation as a flamboyant rock singer by the time she emigrated to the West in 1976, where she formed a band, signed to CBS Germany, and released their debut album, Nina Hagen Band, in 1978. It was followed in 1980 by Unbehagen. Hagen's first U.S. release, Nina Hagen Band EP (1980), was a four-song EP consisting of songs drawn from her two German releases. She moved to New York and made her first English-language LP, Nunsexmonkrock, in 1982. That and its follow-up, the Giorgio Moroder-produced Fearless (1983), charted briefly, and "New York New York" was a Top Ten dance club hit. But Hagen left CBS after Nina Hagen in Ekstacy (1985). In 1988, she celebrated her marriage with the EP Punk Wedding, released in Canada, and in 1989 she returned to the German market with Nina Hagen. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

German Lyric: (from lyricwiki)

Ave Maria
Maria, mein Gesang
erbittet Dich um Gnade
Für Menschen, die schon solang
Ganz und gar ohne Hoffnung sind,
Ganz ohne Hoffnung sind
Siehe dort ihr traurig Dasein
Der Hunger tiefst, der Angst vor dem Tod
Millionen leben hier auf Erden,
immer noch, in allergrößter Not
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Santa Maria
Erhöre mein Gebet, Maria
So vieles Leid, das schon geschah
Warum kommt immer neues Leid?
Nur neues Leid?
Lass nun die Menschen wieder glauben
Lass sie verstehen und verzeih'n
Dann könnten alle Völker Freunde
Und alle Rassen Brüder sein
Ave Maria
Aaaaahh.....
Lass nun die Menschen wieder glauben
Lass sie verstehen und verzeih'n
Dann könnten alle Völker Freunde
Und alle Rassen Brüder sein
Ave Maria

Christina England - Ave Maria (Sountrack)

From Album: "Christina England ~ Be Still, My Soul", also from soundtrack for the 2007 film Hitman.

Christina England Hale is a classically trained singer born in Logan, Utah in 1982. Starting out in the Cache Children's Choir, she has been performing since she was five years of age. Commencing private voice lessons at age 9, she has been studying and singing ever since. Her first album, "Be Still, My Soul", was released in 2000. It made the Deseret Book top ten bestseller's list during its first month of release.  In the same year she graduated from Logan High School. Her follow up album was titled "Oh, That I Were An Angel" released in 2003. She also frequently performs in musical theatre productions. Christina still resides in her home town of Logan. She was married in 2001 and has two children.  

Perhaps her most well-known work is an arrangement of Schubert's "Ave Maria" from her debut album which featured on the theatrical trailer for the 2007 film Hitman. For the actual film, an electronic arrangement by Geoff Zanelli was laid over the opening titles. The trailer for "Hitman" can be viewed by following the link below.     ~ Hitman" trailer on YouTube

~ Read more from Wiki

Terem Quartet - Ave Maria

From Album: "Terem Quartet ~ Dog's Waltz"

Terem-Quartet (Russian: Терем квартет) is a musical ensemble from St. Petersburg, Russia known for its virtuosity on Russian folk instruments. The group performs repertoire from both folk and classical genres at a frantic pace and with humorous attitude, sometimes reminiscent of cartoon soundtracks.

The group was formed in 1986, playing first in Soviet state-sponsored competitions. They had their first paying jobs in 1987. Their first international touring began in 1988 in support of baritone singer Vladimir Chemov. After Chemov was sidelined by illness in 1989, Terem began solo concert tours. In 1991, they met Peter Gabriel at the WOMAD festival. Gabriel helped the group to reach a wider audience in the western world by releasing their albums Terem and Classical on his label, Real World Records. ~ Read more from Wiki

~ Terem Quartet official site

Edward Simoni - Ave Maria

From Album: "Edward Simoni ~ Festliche Melodien".

Edward Simoni, bourgeois Edward Krok (* August 7, 1959 at Bytom, Upper Silesia), is a German-Polish Panflutist or multi-instrumentalist and composer and arranger.

At 14 years, he learned flute. The flute was next to the piano his main instrument at the State Music School in King Hut (Chorzów), Upper Silesia. By chance, he came to the Panflute from whom he was immediately fascinated by his self-taught and learned. Thus, he created a distinctive sound. With this instrument he made numerous recordings. His first album earned him a gold plate. Meanwhile, several of his albums with gold and platinum awards.
Edward Simoni 1991 was the first instrumentalist to the history of this program in the ZDF-Hitparade in Berlin and attended as a guest with his own composition Pan-Träume twice square 1.

It belongs next to Gheorghe Zamfir's most successful Panflötisten the world. They call him the magician of Panflute, and he is always in different television programs at home and abroad. He is also a sought-after live-musician and, therefore, like to tour and gala events to hear where his audience not only on the panpipe, but also on the flute and the violin, delighted.   ~ Read more from Wiki

Edward Simoni Official Homepage