Beethoven & Brahms: Orchestral music

Advantages: Soothes your Child instantly
Disadvantages: It could send you to sleep as well!

...Classic Fm for Babies is a must have if you have that child who just refuses to go to sleep.With a running time on each CD more than enough for your child to fall asleep.Classical Music just became Cool Again and is a must have music for babies.If you dont know your Brahms from your Beethoven then who cares because your child doesn't.The soothing orchestral music will calm any child who just wont go sleep put the CD on shut the door and see them in the morning GREAT! .The Double CD is great value as well with 27 tracks with all the well known composers on it Mozart,Chopin and Schubert to name just a few.My daughter who is now 2 listens to it every night and i have had very few sleepless nights.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Subtle, Expressive, Beautiful Performances
Disadvantages: Pricey but worth the cost

...Every classical music fan will probably have a collection of Brahm's four symphonies around somewhere, but for tonal clarity, poetic beauty and the milking of every orchestral and melodic subtlety I have heard no better than Karajan's rendition with the BPO. The first is clear and bright, with a truly haunting adagio and nice pace to the finale. There are other performances of the 2nd that I prefer, but this gave me new insights into the form, Karajan paying particular attention to crisply defined structure rather than over-Romanticising Brahms' score. The highlight, however, has to be the tumultuously powerful 4th symphony, in which both form and drama fuse marvellously, especially at the culminating final moments of the first and fourth movements. Forget the lower rate orchestral versions around the web, this is worth every penny... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here.
Disadvantages: None at all!

..., occasionally playing the theme against her brief sinuous counterpoint. A short cadenza lets Mutter show off some complex fiddling, with furiously played phrases that leap as they ascend across the octaves. The piece concludes with the traditional booms from the orchestra, evoking a sense of finality and closure. ~~~~~~~~~~~ I warmly recommend this particular disc over the previous Brahms recording by Mutter--but just by a nose--while noting that 'tis a rather difficult choice to make. Both are wonderful and worthwhile, as each reflects a different point in the musical life of the violinist. It can’t fail to capture your ear and mind, heart and soul, what with Brahms, the "Romantic Beethoven," as composer, the always compelling Mutter on violin, and maestro Masur and the NYPO lending wonderful orchestral support. Five solid stars... Read review

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