Best Forms & Genres
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm a sucker for sentiment, so I particularly love Appalachian Spring: Doppio movimento (sometimes called Variations on a Shaker Tune or Simple Gifts), but it's all wonderful."
"Considering that this is played in the car with the road noise, and player electronics, this recording was a nice relief to commute traffic."
"This CD must be in every American music collection!"
"A classic set of recordings."
"What more could you ask for -- Copland and Bernstein."
"On the last part of Appalachian Spring track 8 Moderato - Coda, the phrasing of the string section is absolutely gorgeous, and every note is played with such feeling and clarity."
"This recording of Hoe Down is sharper and clearer than is the Boston Pops rendition, but I do prefer the slightly slower pace of that recording."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This set may have a slightly glassy sound and may not have the advantage of the technical expertise of the Berlin Philharmonic as in the case of the complete symphonies set by Seiji Ozawa with the BPO (I've written a review on that set as well); yes, the recording is not as refined and the music feels like it is recorded in a hall specifically designed to create echoes (which gives it a live recording feel at times but is also annoying since you cannot latch on to the precise intonation of the sound and have to rely on broad swatches of reverberated sound)...but still I could not deny the power of the interpretation by Theodore Kuchar & Antoni Wit. For 54 bucks, this set gives you 7 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 2 violin concertos, symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, 2 symphonic sketches (Dreams, Autumnal Sketch), Prodigal son suite, The year 1941 symphonic suite, sonata for violin and orchestra, Concertino for cello and orchestra, Waltz suite for orchestra and 2 short Pushkin Waltzes. But the NAXOS set has the edge in that there is a soul to the interpretation and the orchestral playing on this set; a Russian type twang which I felt missing in the Ozawa/BPO set (Although it is not a Russian orchestra playing it)."
"Prokofiev is not for everyone but, if you love classical music that is so nuanced it requires a discerning ear, you will love this composer."
"This set contains not only all the symphonies and all the concerti for piano, for violin, and for cello, it also contains some ballet music (The Prodigal Son, for instance, which is rarely recorded), the Waltz Suite (delectable music rarely heard in the concert hall), and the almost-never-heard Unaccompanied Violin Sonata, among other tidbits, all on 9 fully-packed CDs. Tedi Papavrami is a young Albanian violinst, erstwhile pupil of Pierre Amoyal. Notice in particular how well he projects the top line in the double-stop passages and his affinity for the lyrical aspects of the music. The only competition on a single disc is that of Gil Shaham who plays these concerti with real flair. Both the soloist and orchestra (the Polish National Radio Symphony under Antoni Wit, who accompany all the concerti in this set) are top-notch here. They are all played by the National Symphony of Ukraine under their regular conductor, the American Theodore Kuchar. When I put on the First Symphony (the 'Classical') my heart fell; this is a dolorous account, taken at very slow tempi until, finally, in the last movement things start moving at a faster clip. The brutalist Third Symphony (developed from music taken from his opera 'The Fiery Angel') is given a decent performance. The Fifth is coupled with 'The Year 1941' symphonic suite; this is simply not top-drawer Prokofiev although it has a few creepily effective moments. It begins with a scarily peremptory brass introduction (one imagines the NKVD at the door) before the ironically tender violin theme comes in. But in the last movement, marked Vivace and taken a little too slowly for my taste, there is a weird drop-off in aural presence that I take to be a problem with either sound engineering or the pressing. 3 on CD 2), written in Prokofiev's last year, returns to the simplicity of the Classical Symphony and is one of his most tuneful and least troubled."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This recording has been well reviewed here, but for me this is definitely the best recording and rendition of this Vaughan Williams piece."
"This is a well-performed and well-recorded performance of a seldom-heard variant of the London, and well worth adding to the collection of any Vaughn Williams aficionado."
"beautiful music, a must have for your music library."
"In my opinion, this piece penetrates to the marrow of Vaughan Williams English soul, and he put the entirety of his emotional world into it."
"A beautiful recording of Vaugh Williams famous "London symphony"."
"The initial attraction may be that it is the world premiere recording of the original 1913 edition of the "London" Symphony but I can attest that this makes up for only a fraction of the disc's novelty. He has a careful hand that deftly balances every nuance and the LSO plays with total commitment and striking sensitivity in some of the softer passages. I don't usually connect Vaughan Williams with dramatic impact, but this reading has enough energy that the symphony is suddenly quite invigorating."
"Towards the end of the Scherzo comes a haunting episode that Arnold Bax was particularly sad to see cut ('a mysterious passage of strange and fascinating cacophony' was how he described it). In our time, so far removed from the canon of orchestral masterpieces, a taste for past glory has led to the vogue for second-guessing great composers: so we get every discarded edition of Bruckner's symphonies, Mahler's Das Klagende Lied with the first movement restored, Stravinsky's output in all its differing orchestrations (which he revised, admittedly, to preserve his copyright as the originals ran out), and more planets to update the solar system of Holst."
Best Ballades
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Beautiful performances, on each track."
"After listening to Ashkenazy's "My Favorite Beethoven Sonatas" 2-CD set I was so impressed I got his Chopin 2-CD package. If you like Chopin this set is a must."
"If you love Chopin, as I do, buy this recording it will sooth your soul as only great music can."
"In this recording we hear one of the great piano performers in Vladimir Ashkenazy playing pieces from one of the greatest piano composers in Fryderyk Chopin; with the utmost quality in recorded sound."
"Delightful, brooding."
"The sound is like Chopin is in my living room playing on my piano; not the usual acoustical sound from a padded studio."
"The music of Chopin is jest beautiful."
"Ashkenazy and chopin, really don't need to say more."
Best Canons
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love Schumann so maybe I am biased."
"Crystal clear renditions."
"This set of Schumann's pianoforte works, from Nuovo Era, is now presented in a convenient and reasonably-priced box and is a valuable reference point for students and listeners alike."
"This set appears to be the same as the Nuova Era set also listed on Amazon for a lot more money."
"Great recordings."
"Paul badura scoda produced excellent students."
"Pros: You get all (or most, anyway, since Le Sage's collection seems to contain more) of Schumann's solo piano music cheaply."
"I well remember hearing Demus play in recital thirty years ago and felt he was one of the great ones. For people coming new to Schumann this would not be a very good introduction; that and the lack of notes militate against it being much of an educational tool."
Best Concertos
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A must CD for all trumpet players."
"The trumpet doctor and Erich kunzel pops are in fine Italiano mode and visions of woody woodpecker in the barber of Seville rise up in the imagination."
"The Doctor's rendition of opera pieces ordinarily sung by tenors is quite enjoyable."
"Track 6 is just beautiful."
"I bought this for my Dad who is a retired trumpeter."
"Doc does his usual fantastic job of trumpet playing."
"Love Doc."
"This and a Herb Alpert CD are my only trumpet music albums."
Best Etudes
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Most were new to me because the classical stations available to me over the decades tend to pick "The Best of" (i.e., the monumental works and the rightly popular Vocalise) more often and for some reason recording companies do the same."
"This is an extremely clean recording of Rachmaninov playing Rachmaninov."
"Of course, I was never able to hear Rachmaninoff play, but as I listen to these recreations I find myself able to suspend reality for a few minutes and immerse myself in the sounds of the early part of the last century. Thanks to technology and an immense amount of work, we are able to hear performances by Rachmaninoff that are as close to being there as anything recorded today, in fact, it sounds as if Rachmaninoff walked into a modern recording studio and laid these tracks down yesterday."
"Wonderfull historical recordings."
"To get to hear Rachmaninoff play some of his solo piano works is wonderful."
"This is my #1 loved piano recording ever."
"Amazing sound and performance."
"Amazing to hear the clarity of this recording of pieces played so long ago."
Best Fantasies
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love Schumann so maybe I am biased."
"Crystal clear renditions."
"This set of Schumann's pianoforte works, from Nuovo Era, is now presented in a convenient and reasonably-priced box and is a valuable reference point for students and listeners alike."
"This set appears to be the same as the Nuova Era set also listed on Amazon for a lot more money."
"Great recordings."
"Pros: You get all (or most, anyway, since Le Sage's collection seems to contain more) of Schumann's solo piano music cheaply."
"I well remember hearing Demus play in recital thirty years ago and felt he was one of the great ones. For people coming new to Schumann this would not be a very good introduction; that and the lack of notes militate against it being much of an educational tool."
Best Fugues
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love Schumann so maybe I am biased."
"Crystal clear renditions."
"This set of Schumann's pianoforte works, from Nuovo Era, is now presented in a convenient and reasonably-priced box and is a valuable reference point for students and listeners alike."
"This set appears to be the same as the Nuova Era set also listed on Amazon for a lot more money."
"Great recordings."
"Virtually every piece perfectly rendered in the spirit of Robert Schumann. Another Schumann pianist who can be magical yet is pulled toward darkness. The former Clara Wieck ne Schumann inspired many of these. Ghosts haunt the pieces...and Schumann's fear of madness."
"Here a well-regarded and fairly well-known pianist sits down and records all (even that's up for grabs) the piano music of a pretty well-known and well-regarded composer and barely a peep out there in Internet land. What I did encounter after a lot of searching, and according to different reviewers who deigned to barely mention this bulky and hard-to-ignore boxed set, was this dopey basketful of professional opinions: 1) The recording quality was poor according to one guy. 2) The piano was out of tune according to some editor who happened to also be a piano tuner. 3) The music was criminally recorded using a piano with beat hammers and strings. 4) Demus may or may not have recorded the set with a period instrument that also may have had beat hammers and strings. 5) Nobody should record Schumann on a period instrument according to another expert (without really letting us know if this was the case here). 6) The interpretations were wooden. 7) The interpretations were fabulous despite the crappy sound and beat up old out-of-tune piano. 8) Nobody was sure if this was his complete Schumann recorded in the 1970s and released on Musical Heritage or these were new DDD recordings as listed. OK--as the notes with this set absolutely stink and no one out in Internet land seems to have any consistent and coherent thing to say about it, this then is my judgement, based on careful listening and a few intelligent guesses. I hear distinct tape hiss if I listen closely, this doesn't sound like a 1989 DDD recording (which the box claims it to be) which is probably why the recording has some warmth and (audible tape hiss). 4) Who am I to argue with an editor/piano tuner but if this piano is out of tune I'm not noticing it one zot. )recorded in the 1970s with Jorg Demus playing a piano built around 1850 or so with everything that implies."
Best Improvisation
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I really like the calm music for me and my son."
"Great relaxing nursing and naptime music."
"Looks cute haven't had a chance to listen because it is a gift."
"The music is all very soothing and my daughter drifts off to sleep every night by the 5th-7th track."
"I always fall asleep listening to classical musin - finally someone sells it as a sleep aide."
"A delightful, sleep inducing album."
"I originally received this CD as a baby gift and played it every night for three years."
"all babies should have soothing music."
Best Inventions
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Low on energy?"
"This interpretation is wonderful, it sounds just as amazing and full of life as it did the first time I heard it when it came out during the heyday of car audio. The MP3 version sounds great here played via Amazon MP3 player, from a tablet through two high sensitivity 1-1/8" soft domes, 7" mids and a single 8" sub woofer."
"This was always one of my favorites for showing off my car audio system when I was in high school."
"Very good music, very relaxing, to me."
"Heck I do not like Rap or Hip Hop but I am not condemning the genres."
"Brings bach (pun intended) echos of my youth."
"A classic album with that Disney Like Synth sound....but classical!"
"Dorsey knocks this one out of the park."
Best Preludes
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Most were new to me because the classical stations available to me over the decades tend to pick "The Best of" (i.e., the monumental works and the rightly popular Vocalise) more often and for some reason recording companies do the same."
"This is an extremely clean recording of Rachmaninov playing Rachmaninov."
"Of course, I was never able to hear Rachmaninoff play, but as I listen to these recreations I find myself able to suspend reality for a few minutes and immerse myself in the sounds of the early part of the last century. Thanks to technology and an immense amount of work, we are able to hear performances by Rachmaninoff that are as close to being there as anything recorded today, in fact, it sounds as if Rachmaninoff walked into a modern recording studio and laid these tracks down yesterday."
"Wonderfull historical recordings."
"To get to hear Rachmaninoff play some of his solo piano works is wonderful."
"This is my #1 loved piano recording ever."
"Amazing sound and performance."
"Amazing to hear the clarity of this recording of pieces played so long ago."
Best Requiems, Elegies & Tombeau
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It would be difficult to imagine an early music lover that would not be seduced by the first offering on this disc which is an incredibly lovely sustained work that presents a beautious melody by Heinrich Isaac "Fortuna desperata: Nasci, pati mori" (Reckless fortune). Some of the notable outstanding singers are: CARLOS MENA, PASCAL BERTIN, LAMBERT CLEMENT, FRANCESE GARRIGOSA AND DANIELE CARNOVICH. I purchased it because of the obvious enthusiasm of the performers carefully directed, not just energetic when it is inappropriate, but show deep respect, mystery and nostaligia in their performance."
"Thus it is not all 'Spanish' music per se but a collection including some old chestnuts from other lands."
"One of my favorite besides this collection from Charles V is his set of Armenian pieces (Armenian Spirit)."
"Sit back and imagine you are in the court of Carlos V of Spain!"
"Music (court, chapel, popular), history and politics (Carlos V - the 'first and last great Emperor of Europe', as Savall writes), culture and religion --- all intersect in this disc and its documentation which make it essential for all serious music lovers as well as cultural historians of all stripes."
"fast delivery."
"This is yet another cracking disc from Jordi Savall. The overall sound is lovely, the individual singers and players are excellent and the arrangements are impeccable; the judgement of the use of percussion is excellent, for example."
Best Rondos
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I originally had this fun music on cassette tape and listened to it all through high school and college!"
"I wish Don had more!"
"had this long ago and now again!"
"You get what you asked for, classical music on synth."
"I had this on a cassette tape long ago but wore it out."
"This album is terrific."
"Don Dorsey's "period synthesizers" take Beethoven's best, Rage Over a Lost Penny, Für Elise, and Dorsey's take on Ode to Joy, Ode to Ludwig and rips them apart and puts them back together."
"While we like rock and "electric" renditions of classical, couldn't give this CD away."
Best Serenades & Divertimentos
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Typical Spanish classical guitar album, but a very good random mix of Spanish flavored compositions."
"We are planning a summer vacation in Spain and I purchased this CD to experience local culture before our trip."
"outstanding listening pleasure!"
"Enjoying it every time I lesson to it!"
"Gave this to one of my guitar students."
"This and his other recordings are a testimony that he is not just one of the world's greatest classical guitarists, he is one the world's finest musicians who just happens to have chosen the classical guitar as his instrument."
"Other than Ben Barron, David Russell is my favorite classical guitarest."
Best Sonatas
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Track 6 is just beautiful."
"A must CD for all trumpet players."
"The trumpet doctor and Erich kunzel pops are in fine Italiano mode and visions of woody woodpecker in the barber of Seville rise up in the imagination."
"The Doctor's rendition of opera pieces ordinarily sung by tenors is quite enjoyable."
"I bought this for my Dad who is a retired trumpeter."
"This and a Herb Alpert CD are my only trumpet music albums."
"Doc does his usual fantastic job of trumpet playing."
"Love Doc."
Best Suites
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"There's no question that Leonard Bernstein was the greatest champion of Copland's music and helped gain the composer even more recognition through all of the incredible recordings he made both on Columbia and Deutsche Grammophon. This particular recording, which, as long as I can remember, has remained in the catalog for years, is the perfect introduction to Copland's "Populist" period. Those wide-open vistas, lonely melodies, raucous Western rhythms are all captured with an irresistible charm, but also power under Bernstein. "Billy the Kid" is another ballet that tells the story of supposedly one of the most notorious men to ever walk in the west. Michael Tilson Thomas brings a different set of ears to these scores in his own RCA recording with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra."
"I'm a sucker for sentiment, so I particularly love Appalachian Spring: Doppio movimento (sometimes called Variations on a Shaker Tune or Simple Gifts), but it's all wonderful."
"Considering that this is played in the car with the road noise, and player electronics, this recording was a nice relief to commute traffic."
"This CD must be in every American music collection!"
"A classic set of recordings."
"What more could you ask for -- Copland and Bernstein."
"On the last part of Appalachian Spring track 8 Moderato - Coda, the phrasing of the string section is absolutely gorgeous, and every note is played with such feeling and clarity."
Best Symphonies
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon""Titan Dream's" vocalist's work was the only problem with the CDs. It's not that there was a vocalists at all; I believe that actually makes all his works, it's just this one time it didn't work."
"I LOVE THIS ALBUM. Those aside, "Juggernaut" and "Dark Ages" are unquestionably my LEAST favorite songs on the album; as someone who uses music to create specific atmospheres for writing, I can imagine myself having no use for those two songs--especially "Juggernaut"--except in the event that I need to write a scene of chaos and death or the like. I suppose this is because Invincible and Archangel are primarily about individuals or small groups saving the world, as can be told by the song titles; by comparison SkyWorld is primarily about expansive landscapes and forgotten legends. So if you have to have music that pushes you through every second of your day--if you have/want to feel like you're about to go into a fight and take over the world or if you have/want to feel like YOU are the legend--you might not like this album."
"Compared to the other TSFH albums Invincible, Archangel and Illusions, Skyworld is my favorite."
"I'm always on the lookout for good background music to write to, and my goodness, this album is incredible."
"Each song is brilliantly created and has inspired new work for me to write. The rich detail evokes emotions well thought of in each song. Close your eyes, shut the door and open your mind."
"Blackheart is worth the price of the entire album all by itself."
Best Toccatas
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love Schumann so maybe I am biased."
"Crystal clear renditions."
"This set of Schumann's pianoforte works, from Nuovo Era, is now presented in a convenient and reasonably-priced box and is a valuable reference point for students and listeners alike."
"This set appears to be the same as the Nuova Era set also listed on Amazon for a lot more money."
"Great recordings."
"Virtually every piece perfectly rendered in the spirit of Robert Schumann. Another Schumann pianist who can be magical yet is pulled toward darkness. The former Clara Wieck ne Schumann inspired many of these. Ghosts haunt the pieces...and Schumann's fear of madness."
"Here a well-regarded and fairly well-known pianist sits down and records all (even that's up for grabs) the piano music of a pretty well-known and well-regarded composer and barely a peep out there in Internet land. What I did encounter after a lot of searching, and according to different reviewers who deigned to barely mention this bulky and hard-to-ignore boxed set, was this dopey basketful of professional opinions: 1) The recording quality was poor according to one guy. 2) The piano was out of tune according to some editor who happened to also be a piano tuner. 3) The music was criminally recorded using a piano with beat hammers and strings. 4) Demus may or may not have recorded the set with a period instrument that also may have had beat hammers and strings. 5) Nobody should record Schumann on a period instrument according to another expert (without really letting us know if this was the case here). 6) The interpretations were wooden. 7) The interpretations were fabulous despite the crappy sound and beat up old out-of-tune piano. 8) Nobody was sure if this was his complete Schumann recorded in the 1970s and released on Musical Heritage or these were new DDD recordings as listed. OK--as the notes with this set absolutely stink and no one out in Internet land seems to have any consistent and coherent thing to say about it, this then is my judgement, based on careful listening and a few intelligent guesses. I hear distinct tape hiss if I listen closely, this doesn't sound like a 1989 DDD recording (which the box claims it to be) which is probably why the recording has some warmth and (audible tape hiss). 4) Who am I to argue with an editor/piano tuner but if this piano is out of tune I'm not noticing it one zot. )recorded in the 1970s with Jorg Demus playing a piano built around 1850 or so with everything that implies."
Best Variations
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you are a classical and electronic music fan, were around in the late 80's and early 90's and have never heard this album you were probably in a comma :) Its predecessor Bachbusters was the number one classical music recording of the year, the only classical recording without any musicians (aside from mr. Dorsey ) ever to attain such popularity!"
"I originally had this fun music on cassette tape and listened to it all through high school and college!"
"I wish Don had more!"
"had this long ago and now again!"
"You get what you asked for, classical music on synth."
"I had this on a cassette tape long ago but wore it out."
"This album is terrific."
"While we like rock and "electric" renditions of classical, couldn't give this CD away."
Best Renaissance (c.1450-1600)
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Wonderful, relaxing holiday music."
"Gorgeous music!"
"CD had a great collection of songs!"
"Great collection."
"I gave this as a Christmas gift and the receipient was charmed by the sounds of the Middle Ages."
"A Feast of Songs is a gorgeous journey through a millennia of different cultural takes on the Christmas theme."