If the previous Billboard classical chart was dominated by the piano, this past week's chart was violin-heavy. Besides the arrival of Fischer's disc, three of the five recordings returning to the chart were of violin concertos: Janine Jansen's version of the Mendelssohn and Bruch concertos (no. 11), Joshua Bell performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (no. 12), and Anne-Sophie Mutter's collection of the five Mozart Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra (no. 15). Also re-entering the chart were the Academy of Ancient Music's disc of Handel's Op. 3 Concerti Grossi (no. 18) and soprano Ren_e Fleming's Homage: The Age of the Diva (no. 24).
Joshua Bell's Voice of the Violin is still at no 1, and two Essential Joshua Bell compilations remain on the chart as well: the Sony Classical disc at no. 5 and the Decca Classics collection at no. 14. Yo-Yo Ma's Appassionato and Sting's John Dowland CD Songs From the Labyrinth are still in second and third place. Crossover violinist Andr_ Rieu's The Homecoming! rose from no. 8 to no. 4, and Anna Netrebko's Russian Album went from no. 10 to no. 6.
On the Billboard classical crossover chart this past week, there were no newcomers, though there were two returnees: Immortalized: The String Quartet Tribute To Evanescence (no. 22) and heavy metal musician Glenn Danzig's Black Aria II (no. 24). At the upper end of the chart, Il Divo's Ancora pushed past two Andrea Bocelli titles to rise from sixth to third place, just behind the same group's Siempre. Josh Groban's Awake remains at no. 1. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Broadway CD, Showtime!, rose from no. 9 to no. 6, while Gospel Goes Classical by gospel stars Juanita Bynum and Jonathan Butler fell from third to ninth.
