Classical > Beethoven, Ludwig van Classical > Chamber > English Chamber Orchestra

Just watch the world go by

Advantages: A definite easy listen
Disadvantages: Maybe too easy

This CD was probably a strange choice for me as i've never bought a classical album before, but i was attracted by the front cover ( i know never judge a book by its cover, but it was a CD) which seemed to depict everything i was looking for. Something i could just lie back, listen to and drift away into my own little dream world. Well it did exactly that. I drifted off to sleep after about track 6 and dint wake untill the CD had ended. This unfortunately ...
...but i soon listened to it again to get the full effect. It is definitely as described a very peaceful album. The music seems to lift you up and allow u to float above the world but i warn it does make u feel very drowsy. Whether id advise u to buy it or not depends on if ur into classical music. Although saying that i wudnt exactly say im 'into' it, i jus fancied a change. Its a good CD if u want to relax or for background music if u have sophisticated ...

specialme 17.06.2004 · Read full review
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Review of (The) Most Peaceful Classical Album in the World...Ever!

Classical Music is now Cool

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 ...

Dexter2102 26.09.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Classic FM - Music for Babies

Orchestrating Music with Colourful Dialect

Advantages: Great performances of popular favourites and some rare gems
Disadvantages: Barely none, with perhaps slight issues with sound.

...As part of Deutsche Grammophon's Panorama series (cheap 2 CD collections of famous and not so famous music), the recordings are generally very good, mostly performed by top ensembles like the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras among others, under people like Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Daniel Barenboim and Seiji Ozawa. The recordings themselves range from the early 1960s to the late ...
...hiss or other distracting anomalies. With this much talent involved, you can be sure there is not much to be disappointed as far as the performances are concerned. Beginning in high style by a wonderful performance of Hugo Alfvén's Swedish Rhapsody No.1, "Midsommarvaka", the recording of the Gothenburg Symphony under Neeme Järvi is one of the best I have heard (as are the other rhapsodies in the set from which this has been taken from), being rich, ...

berlioz 06.05.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Panorama - Colours of the Orchestra

A good collection of pieces not lacking noteriety

Advantages: Superb collection of beautifully recorded pieces
Disadvantages: Nothing particularly abstract, few 'original' interpretations

The Classic FM CDs tend to excel particularly in the regions of recording quality, original and varied choices of music from all periods, and a well-enforced central theme. This CD is no different-from the most ancient of Baroque composers to Modern Film pieces each style is well-represented here. As ever, the recordings are crystal-clear, which is to be expected from this franchise. However, the music, though varied in period and musical aspects, ...
...Classic FM style the music is recorded for the casual listener, and as with all compilations the educated musician will often be frustrated at the incompleteness of full works, and also perhaps the often unoriginal interpretations of the pieces. This is definitely a compilation again aimed at the listener with a piece in mind who doesn't particularly wish to delve into the academic realms of study but is perfectly content being able to listen to ...

sjmog 04.11.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Relax & Escape - (The) No 1 Collection of Smooth Classics

Sumptuous works by a little-known composer

Advantages: Good recordings of unfamiliar, but rewarding works
Disadvantages: None

Karlowicz is a relatively unknown composer whose chief claim to fame was his untimely death in a skiing accident just before the First World War. He left a small collection of works, the later of which (figured in this disc) show a talent that was tragically snuffed out before he could achieve greatness. The Symphonic Poems featured here reveal a composer adept at interesting orchestral effects (try the sad theme at the start of the Lithuanian Rhapsody, ...
...writing for the lower-toned instruments of the orchestra. Karlowicz has clearly learnt a lot from Richard Strauss, whose shadow fell across much pre-1914 music, but it often lacks the extrovert quality of the Gernman composer's tone poems; as the inlay notes say, there is a 'brooding' quality to much of this music, particularly evident in the middle sections of these works. Another feature of Karlowicz's writing is his tendency to pick himself up ...

chivhu 15.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Karlowicz: Symphonic Poems Vol 1