STING/DOWNLAND TOPS CHARTS

Songs From the Labyrinth, the disc of John Dowland lute songs performed by the veteran rock star Sting, is the best-selling classical album of 2006, according to the Billboard year-end chart.
The Deutsche Grammophon release is followed by No Boundaries by the piano-playing siblings The 5 Browns (who have another disc at no. 11 for the year), The Flying Dutchman by Dutch crossover violinist André Rieu (who has two other titles in the year’s top 10), Joshua Bell’s collection Voice of the Violin, and Renée Fleming’s Sacred Songs.
Opera Proibita, Cecilia Bartoli’s CD of arias from 18th-century Italian oratorio, is at no. 8 on the 2006 classical chart, followed by two releases from Yo-Yo Ma: a disc of music by the renowned film composer Ennio Morricone and Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon, the latest disc from the cellist’s Silk Road Project.
Billboard’s 2006 list of top-selling classical artists follows the list of best-selling albums fairly closely, with Sting, Rieu, The 5 Browns, Bell, Fleming, Ma and Bartoli occupying the top seven spots.
Source: PlaybillArts