Classical > Copland, Aaron Classical > Orchestral

A Classical Review

Advantages: A great diversity of famous works
Disadvantages: Not everything is perfect

I am a huge fan of classical music, with a collection soon breaking the 700 marker. But where did it all begin? Well right here. When I got my first CD player, I played my parents CDs until making my first CD purchase. I stumbled along a 2-CD collection called "Simply the Best classical Anthems." Honestly, I had not the slightest clue about what music al the names on the back contained. But there were so many interesting pieces there so that I immediately ...
...buy. Unlike many other collections, this one features many top flight recordings of some of the most popular classical music. Some of them are still holding their own in the mass of my collection. It was also extremely useful for me in expanding my collection. TRACK LISTING AS FOLLOWS: CD 1 VERDI: Dies Irae from Requiem ORFF: O Fortuna from Carmina Burana HOLST: Mars from The Planets, Op.32 WAGNER: The Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre ...

berlioz 08.08.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Simply the Best Classical Anthems

'Classical genius for the classically untrained'

Advantages: Classical music of the highest order providing 'Where have I heard this before?' entertainment.
Disadvantages: A pathetic excuse to release classical genius, along with poor album art and information.

...am by no means a classical fanatic, and do not regularly listen to this music genre. However, upon browsing the track listings, I knew enough to recognise composers such as 'Beethoven', 'Bach' and 'Tchaikovsky'. At just £1.72, I therefore purchased my bargain thinking it would receive just the once over. 'Classical Greatest Hits' was originally released in 2003 on an import-only basis, and later re-released in May 2004 in white format. The album ...
...follows a list of each classical piece featured on the album, the orchestra performing it, the conductor's name and the pop hit it inspired. One has to question the need to show how classical music inspires popular culture, and whether it would have been more appropriate to simply release the album for the classical masterpieces alone. The Tracks - Wagner… Before purchasing this compilation, I had a limited knowledge of classical music. Wagner's ...

Bakerboykev 02.03.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Classical Greatest Hits

A proper journey into emotional Classical Music

Advantages: A decent collection of varied music
Disadvantages: Several 'sections' of music

I am myself a fan of music that particularly illuminates deeper aspects of ourselves; something that makes us 'think', or, as the back of this CD box says, 'uplifting, spine-tingling classical music'. How could I possibly go wrong with this? The answer is; I haven't. This is a lovely CD, the recordings are, if not beautifully clear, crisp and refreshed. The pieces are well played and some interpretations- for instance the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto ...
...beautiful I have heard. This CD obviously lacks the massive buying power of larger compilation producers but through this it has found less well-known, more abstract performers that tend to push a far deeper message through their music. The tracks are well-laid out and sourced; from the opening track of Sunrise from Also Sprach Zarathrustra by R. Strauss to the closing The Lamb by Tavener you feel as though you are not just listening to music, ...

sjmog 04.11.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Euphoric Classics - Classical High

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
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Karlowicz: Symphonic Poems Vol 1

Music for Meditation

Advantages: A good introduction to sacred music
Disadvantages: A rather niche album on which those into the genre will find nothing new

...the same. Requiem is subtitled "music for Reflection and Meditation". It takes various well known settings of the requiem mass, together with a couple of other fitting pieces and puts them together in one place. If one is so minded, one should note that this album is NOT a requiem mass. The pieces don't follow in the right order but, having said that, to the knowledgeable, the whole album stands on its own as a good religious set. One of the other ...
...who are less well-known. When one says "requiem" one might think of Verdi or Mozart but here we also have offerings from Spanish composer Lobo (a motet) and the Italian Pergolesi (an extract from his Sabat Mater). I feel that Naxos have really got it right with this compilation. The perfect balance between the known and the unknown is struck with excerpts from the more well known Requiems by Mozart and Verdi featuring more than once meaning ...

CareBear 15.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Requiem - Classical Music for Reflection & Meditation