Stamitz: Clarinet Concertos, Volume 1

Advantages: A definite easy listen
Disadvantages: Maybe too easy

...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 dinner parties! Not one of the most used CDs iv bought. In fact i only listen to it about once evry 2 months so it isn't exactly excellent value for money. Below is a list of the tracks incase ur interested. The CD is priced around £19.99 and available from most music stores such as HMV and Virgin Megastore. CD 1 Vivaldi - The Four Seasons Pachelbel: Canon JS Bach - Air 'on the G string' Mozart - Ave verum corpus Handel - Largo JS Bach - Jesus bleibet meine Freude Mozart - Clarinet Concerto Beethoven - 'Emporer' Concerto Mascagni - Intermezzo Bruch - Violin Concerto Rutter - The Lort is my shepherd Saint-Saens - Aquarium Holst - Venus Chopin - Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor Faure - Pie Jesu Shostakovich... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: One of the most Romantic concertos around, full of beautiful melodies and passion
Disadvantages: over-recorded

...INTRODUCTION Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov was one of the most promising composers emerging from Russia after Tchaikovsky. His early works included the youthfully energetic Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op.1, an orchestral fantasia The Rock, the opera Aleko, several songs, piano pieces (including the famous Prelude in C sharp minor, a work that would plague Rachmaninov with its popularity throughout his life) and the First Symphony in D minor, Op.13. Rachmaninov had high hopes for the latter; it was his magnum opus up until that time. However the symphony proved to be the biggest disappointment of his career, causing a tremendous crisis in his creative life. All the critics jumped on the work, most notably César Cui who compared it with the Seven Plagues of Egypt and condemned the work as modernist trash. The effect on the sensitive... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: The Best Recording Ever
Disadvantages: None

...mental state at that time. It’s not a happy piece; it’s dramatic, wistful, yearning and at times downright angry. It combines lyricism with spikiness and is disquieting. It’s an excellent piece to listen to if you’re feeling a bit miserable and want to wallow self-indulgently for half an hour, perhaps with a glass of rather strong red wine and a good brie. Don’t listen to it with anyone else and make sure it’s on quite loud for full anguish. The Concerto is in four movements; I: adagio-moderato, II: lento-allegro molto, III: adagio, and IV: allegro-moderato-allegro, ma non troppo. (For the unenlightened, these ‘names’ just refer to how fast the music goes). I The Concerto starts with heart-wrenching, deep cello notes, which are echoed by the clarinet, in a pensive, tearful upward scale... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful