Best Classical Septets
2007 issue of 22 CD's filled with the works of the great composer drawn from the vaults of Columbia Records.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I found all the performances (as conducted either by Stravinsky or Craft) gave me a strong sense of how Stravinsky personally envisioned his works."
"22 discs, conducted by The Master himself (with one exception, and exceptional, disc conducted by friend and protege Robert Craft. I purchased that 22 disc set for about $30 (that's not a typo) from a UK seller listed on amazon/us and received it in less than a week - many US sellers take longer to ship their product!"
"Stravinsky is the conductor for almost all the performances with the CBS orchestra and, though recorded in the early to late 60's, the sound is spectacular. Bravo for this generous release and anyone, both new and familiar with Stravinsky need not think twice about purchasing this."
"I originally purchased this set in order to replace a few worn out LP's from the 60's."
"Having just watched Jewels by the Paris Opera Ballet on DVD, I was curious about his Capriccio for Piano, which was the first from this set I played."
"oh my this is great music."
"The price for this many works is astounding, and I highly recommend this to any classical enthusiast."
"Loves the whole collection and would recommend it to any fan of Stravinsky you literally get all of his works famous and not but excellent selection."
From the people who brought you the Complete Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 250th Anniversary Edition and the Complete Works of J. S. Bach Edition now bring out the Complete Works of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This set is very well laid out for the classical music fan - discs are labled clearly as is the inside cover of the handsome box holding all the fantastic music."
"This 85-CD set has given me the opportunity of listening to Beethoven works I was unfamiliar with."
"A sampling of a number of different works (symphonies, string quartets, concedrtos, piano sonatas...)reveal first rate performances in all cases I have sampled."
"First, I must echo the advice of others: on any purchase of this size, check the set to make sure that the right CD's are included (none missing or duplicated) and that they are all playable. I saved the symphonies for last, so a few months after receiving my set, I found that the CD with Symphonies 2 & 7 was unplayable."
"There's hardly a music lover out there who doesn't already have multiple recordings of the Beethoven symphonies, quartets, concertos, etc., performances from which we choose according to mood, frame of mind-- to any number of reasons. Imagine what it would cost in money, and time, to fill out a complete-works Beethoven (beyond your favorite sets of the well-known works) with all the wind music, songs, dances... Some thoughts on a few of the major works: The Symphonies, with Masur and Leipzig, struck me as very nice, mainly because in this day of historically informed performance, they are a throwback to the old school of Beethoven playing. The Piano Sonatas, with Friedrich Gulda, are a bit laid-back, compared to some, but the pianist is certainly dedicated to his interpretations, and can thunder when its called for. I'll not get into a discussion on what constitutes a "greater" or "lesser" Beethoven work, but only say that throughout his canon, top to bottom, there's hardly a piece in which one will not hear a turn of phrase that brings a smile, an unexpected modulation, a perfect dissonance--something that makes the listening worthwhile in any number of ways."
"Sometimes with box sets that are compilations from various artists, the volume level and purity of the sound can be inconsistent."
"I have the complete sets for Mozart and Bach too."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love this thing...this and also the Brilliant Classics Corellil box set...I am going to stick with Brilliant Classics in the future."
"It's OK. Nicely packaged."
"nice to have this compilation in one set-."
"These are very well recorded and thoughtful performances."
"Did not to much about the composer."
"All of it displays Purcell's melodic gift and inventive harmony and there's nothing in any of the seven discs that smacks of filler; it's a treasure trove of great music which will give you pleasure for many years. They play on violins, violas and violas da gamba rather than viols, and I miss the wonderful sound on Fretwork's superb disc of these pieces Purcell the Complete Fantazias & in Nomines, but the playing is excellent and, on these instruments, I have no complaint about the performance whatever."
"Purcell (like Correlli) is often overlooked when folks start looking for Baroque and/or Chamber music."
"Not all is harpsichord, the first four discs are sonatas with violin, violas, bass, and continuo. The completeness, sound, and, price of this set combined together guided me give this the 5 star rating."
Best Gigue
Mozart Edition: The Complete Works will make a great gift this Holiday season for the music lover in your life or someone who is hard to buy for.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you are loading some of the works into your iTunes library for use on an iPod, as I am, there are inconveniences in variability of the disc labeling such that the format of the labeling varies between parts of the same opera so that iTunes loads the tracks on one part out of order in the library. You will have to manually correct the labeling of each track in order to get the tracks of the operas affected by this problem in correct order for iTunes and your iPod to play them in correct order. For instance, the CD in the envelope labeled part 3 of Cosi Fan Tutte, volume 9 CD 40 with the CD itself labeled part 3, volume 9 CD 40, actually contains the tracks for part 1, volume 9 CD 38, so you get a duplicate of CD 38 but no CD 40, thus missing the last tracks of Cosi Fan Tutte. There are also several cases so far of tracks that "freeze" and cycle the read head in the CD drive and preventing ejection of the CD without closing iTunes and starting it up again with the offending track unchecked to cause iTunes to bypass it. So far (about 60% of the discs reviewed) the errors have occurred on only a few discs, with manual relabeling correcting all but a couple of incorrect track content problems."
"It is hard to justify spending $120 for one opera, but if you do buy this Mozart box set you will be rewarded with a delightful Così fan tutte. Huub Claessens brings the correct blend to Don Alfonso -- a character actor's comic patter plus a lyrical ability to actually sing the music. Soile Isokoski tosses off Fiordiligi's "Come scoglio" without making it sound like an Olympic routine on the uneven parallel bars. While her trouser impersonations of the doctor and notary are somewhat sloppy (albeit for intentional comic purposes), I'll take her chesty blustering over the standard drill of ear-piercing nasality. Don Giovanni is quite good, although the cast is not as strong as for Così, and the tempos seem out of proportion in the Act One finale. I like Le nozze di Figaro despite its flaws -- blatant nepotism is perpetrated by Marie Kuijken (the conductor's wife? I have found a few unfamiliar (to me) treasures in the box set: The Divertimenti of Volume 3 make pleasant background music while I am working."
"Mozart, along with all piano music composers/players of that period, would have given his right arm for a modern piano; well maybe not an arm, but possibly a leg. Most of those are very well done as well, although I must point out to those performers as well as all other "period practice" cultists, that Bach did not write for countertenors."
Best Classical Sextets
Mozart Edition: The Complete Works will make a great gift this Holiday season for the music lover in your life or someone who is hard to buy for.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you are loading some of the works into your iTunes library for use on an iPod, as I am, there are inconveniences in variability of the disc labeling such that the format of the labeling varies between parts of the same opera so that iTunes loads the tracks on one part out of order in the library. You will have to manually correct the labeling of each track in order to get the tracks of the operas affected by this problem in correct order for iTunes and your iPod to play them in correct order. For instance, the CD in the envelope labeled part 3 of Cosi Fan Tutte, volume 9 CD 40 with the CD itself labeled part 3, volume 9 CD 40, actually contains the tracks for part 1, volume 9 CD 38, so you get a duplicate of CD 38 but no CD 40, thus missing the last tracks of Cosi Fan Tutte. There are also several cases so far of tracks that "freeze" and cycle the read head in the CD drive and preventing ejection of the CD without closing iTunes and starting it up again with the offending track unchecked to cause iTunes to bypass it. So far (about 60% of the discs reviewed) the errors have occurred on only a few discs, with manual relabeling correcting all but a couple of incorrect track content problems."
"It is hard to justify spending $120 for one opera, but if you do buy this Mozart box set you will be rewarded with a delightful Così fan tutte. Huub Claessens brings the correct blend to Don Alfonso -- a character actor's comic patter plus a lyrical ability to actually sing the music. Soile Isokoski tosses off Fiordiligi's "Come scoglio" without making it sound like an Olympic routine on the uneven parallel bars. While her trouser impersonations of the doctor and notary are somewhat sloppy (albeit for intentional comic purposes), I'll take her chesty blustering over the standard drill of ear-piercing nasality. Don Giovanni is quite good, although the cast is not as strong as for Così, and the tempos seem out of proportion in the Act One finale. I like Le nozze di Figaro despite its flaws -- blatant nepotism is perpetrated by Marie Kuijken (the conductor's wife? I have found a few unfamiliar (to me) treasures in the box set: The Divertimenti of Volume 3 make pleasant background music while I am working."
"Mozart, along with all piano music composers/players of that period, would have given his right arm for a modern piano; well maybe not an arm, but possibly a leg. Most of those are very well done as well, although I must point out to those performers as well as all other "period practice" cultists, that Bach did not write for countertenors."
Best Classical Octets
2007 issue of 22 CD's filled with the works of the great composer drawn from the vaults of Columbia Records.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I found all the performances (as conducted either by Stravinsky or Craft) gave me a strong sense of how Stravinsky personally envisioned his works."
"22 discs, conducted by The Master himself (with one exception, and exceptional, disc conducted by friend and protege Robert Craft. I purchased that 22 disc set for about $30 (that's not a typo) from a UK seller listed on amazon/us and received it in less than a week - many US sellers take longer to ship their product!"
"Stravinsky is the conductor for almost all the performances with the CBS orchestra and, though recorded in the early to late 60's, the sound is spectacular. Bravo for this generous release and anyone, both new and familiar with Stravinsky need not think twice about purchasing this."
"I originally purchased this set in order to replace a few worn out LP's from the 60's."
"Having just watched Jewels by the Paris Opera Ballet on DVD, I was curious about his Capriccio for Piano, which was the first from this set I played."
"oh my this is great music."
"The price for this many works is astounding, and I highly recommend this to any classical enthusiast."
"Loves the whole collection and would recommend it to any fan of Stravinsky you literally get all of his works famous and not but excellent selection."
Best Classical Duets
Mozart Edition: The Complete Works will make a great gift this Holiday season for the music lover in your life or someone who is hard to buy for.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you are loading some of the works into your iTunes library for use on an iPod, as I am, there are inconveniences in variability of the disc labeling such that the format of the labeling varies between parts of the same opera so that iTunes loads the tracks on one part out of order in the library. You will have to manually correct the labeling of each track in order to get the tracks of the operas affected by this problem in correct order for iTunes and your iPod to play them in correct order. For instance, the CD in the envelope labeled part 3 of Cosi Fan Tutte, volume 9 CD 40 with the CD itself labeled part 3, volume 9 CD 40, actually contains the tracks for part 1, volume 9 CD 38, so you get a duplicate of CD 38 but no CD 40, thus missing the last tracks of Cosi Fan Tutte. There are also several cases so far of tracks that "freeze" and cycle the read head in the CD drive and preventing ejection of the CD without closing iTunes and starting it up again with the offending track unchecked to cause iTunes to bypass it. So far (about 60% of the discs reviewed) the errors have occurred on only a few discs, with manual relabeling correcting all but a couple of incorrect track content problems."
"It is hard to justify spending $120 for one opera, but if you do buy this Mozart box set you will be rewarded with a delightful Così fan tutte. Huub Claessens brings the correct blend to Don Alfonso -- a character actor's comic patter plus a lyrical ability to actually sing the music. Soile Isokoski tosses off Fiordiligi's "Come scoglio" without making it sound like an Olympic routine on the uneven parallel bars. While her trouser impersonations of the doctor and notary are somewhat sloppy (albeit for intentional comic purposes), I'll take her chesty blustering over the standard drill of ear-piercing nasality. Don Giovanni is quite good, although the cast is not as strong as for Così, and the tempos seem out of proportion in the Act One finale. I like Le nozze di Figaro despite its flaws -- blatant nepotism is perpetrated by Marie Kuijken (the conductor's wife? I have found a few unfamiliar (to me) treasures in the box set: The Divertimenti of Volume 3 make pleasant background music while I am working."
"Mozart, along with all piano music composers/players of that period, would have given his right arm for a modern piano; well maybe not an arm, but possibly a leg. Most of those are very well done as well, although I must point out to those performers as well as all other "period practice" cultists, that Bach did not write for countertenors."
Best Classical Quintets
does its best to cover both well-worn classical favorites (Bach's "Air on the G String," Pachelbel's "Cannon," Debussy's "Clair de Lune") and some eclectic left-field choices (an excerpt from Gerick's Symphony No. does its best to cover both well-worn classical favorites (Bach's "Air on the G String," Pachelbel's "Cannon," Debussy's "Clair de Lune") and some eclectic left-field choices (an excerpt from Górecki's Symphony No.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"He finds it very relaxing and soothing to listen to, and finally decided he wanted a copy of his own."
"This is a must buy for anyone who enjoys classical music while they are busy working, relaxing, knitting, reading a book or just want to sit down and listen to beautiful music."
"The cover says it all."
"love this cd, great choices & many well known; totally worth the price."
"Don't get me wrong, I don't spend my time in a coma, but beautiful music floating thru the room is so much more enjoyable, and conducive to my reading.... and infinitely better than the tinnitus I hear 24-7."
"The 1999 set retains the cuts I love most--the Canon and Delibes' Flower Duet, cuts 3 and 7 on disc one."
"I have loved this collection for decades now."
Best Classical Quartets
The Most Relaxing Classical Music in The Universe, the 1st 2-CD set in the & Most Relaxing, series features some of the most well known classical pieces of all time, including Canon in D, Clair De Lune, Fur Elise, Ave Marie, Moonlight Sonata, Adagio for Strings, Greensleeves, and More!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This collection of Classical music is superb."
"I love listening to this on the speake's of our travel trailer."
"Very good for relaxing."
"love this collection of classical music."
"Added this to my collection of relaxing music to fall asleep to."
"great music, very soothing."
Best Classical Nonets
GRAMMY® Winning artist Laura Sullivan has created another blissful masterpiece that you will love for MEDITATION MUSIC, MASSAGE MUSIC, HEALING MUSIC, RELAXING SPA MUSIC, MUSIC THERAPY, BACKGROUND MUSIC, YOGA MUSIC, MUSIC FOR RELAXATION, CALMING MUSIC FOR KIDS, DINNER MUSIC, CALM MUSIC, and RELAXING MUSIC FOR SLEEP. This album of of BEAUTIFUL PIANO MUSIC combined with violin, guitar, flute, oboe and other ambient instrumentation, takes listeners on a SOOTHING MUSIC journey of music inspired by America s mystical and sacred places. CD PRODUCT PACKAING: The product packaging of this CD is an all new, simple, and eco-friendly trademarked professional packaging for CD and DVD duplication called an eco-pack.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is really nice music to."
"An absolutely fantastic album!"
"Beautiful and relaxing music."
"This is my favorite CD ever!"
"Extra ( 7 ) cds for Christmas gifts. My favorite piano artist ever and a wonderful friend .!"
"Ms. Sullivan is a musical genius."
Best Classical Trios
Aside from the technical mastery and beautiful tone that are absolutes in all of his playing, one is dazzled by his curiosity and ability to adapt to so many forms and types of music. His Bach and Vivaldi are pellucid and played with non-sentimental crispness, his tango music gritty and rhythmically pungent, his jazz seemingly spontaneous, the "Meditation" from Thais simply ravishing, "Anything Goes" a romp, and the Appalachian music performed with both respect and a great twang, while the traditional Chinese music is fascinating.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Excellent recording of this master of the cello."
"A very good value as it is two CDs with something for every taste, from classical to folk to "show tunes" to world music, and of course all impeccably performed."
"I bought this album primarily for Alison Krauss singing "Simple Gifts," one of the finest (and hard to find) renditions of that wonderful song that is often badly covered, both instrumentally or vocally."
"What a fabulous and diverse collection: Classical, American traditional, Chinese traditional, Appalachian, Brazilian, baroque, and jazz."