Britten: Piano Concerto/Elgar: Enigma Variations

Advantages: It is simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written
Disadvantages: How dare you ask of any disadvantges!?!

...THE MAN: SIR EDWARD ELGAR It's probably futile for me to tell you who is Edward Elgar. To the British readers here he holds about the same position as Sibelius does for me as a Finn, being THE composer whose musical language captures the ideologies of the country, working as a kind of stereotypical signature for the people. Elgar was born in 1857 as the son of a music shop owner and through a course of self-instruction became a masterful orchestrator and soon found himself as a reknowned choral composer with a great deal of choral works and other religiously titled pieces to his credit. However, it was not until 1899 that his reputation was sealed as a truly great composer when he wrote the masterful "Variations on an Original Theme 'Enigma'", which contained musical portraits of friends of Elgar and became an instant success. After... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Good intro, great pieces
Disadvantages: Extracts, some favourites missing

...Lake) by Tchaikovsky [Billy Elliot, A View To A Kill] 17. Nimrod (from Enigma Variations) by Elgar [Elizabeth, Dumb And Dumber] 18. Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini (Variation 18) by Rachmaninov [Ronin, Groundhog Day] 19. Promenade (from Pictures At An Exhibition) by Mussorgsky 20. Finale: Symphony For Organ No. 3 by Saint-Saens Sorry I couldn't associate each and every one with something popular – I only have my wits and the Net to help me! Oh, OK, I admit it – my wits weren't that much help either :) - Highlights of disc 1 I'm a big fan of bold and brash classical music – something stirring and full of energy. However, I do also like quiet piano pieces too – they are quite calming in the evening. » O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana) by Orff You'll probably know this one from the likes of the 'Old Spice... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Really nice music
Disadvantages: A few tracks arent as good as the others

...tracks like Nocturne in E flat, Op. 9, No. 2, Andante from Piano Concerto No. 2, Op 101 and A Leopard's Lullaby, the rest of the tracks are amazing, expecially Band of Brothers, Tears in Heaven and Live to Tell and these really good ones cancel out the effect of the bad ones. It's a good CD to have playing as background music and is really calming - I like to have it playing while reading or doing homeworks as it is nive calming music that doesnt really divert your attention from the work that you are doing. It was well worth the money I spent on it. Tracks include: 1. Band of Brothers 2. Adagio Cantabile from Sonate 'Pathétique' 3 Tears in Heaven 4. Clair de Lune 5. Live to Tell 6. Touch her soft lips and part 7. Fragile 8. Aria from the Goldberg Variations 9. Gnossienne No.1 in F Minor 10. I Still Haven... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful