Best Baroque (c.1600-1750)
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If one has to give an extra-special Christmas gift, I strongly recommend, as I have, at various times here, the complete set of Bach Cantatas recorded at performances throughout Europe, and ending at St. Bartholomew's in New York (that odd faux-byzantine episcopalian contraption on Park Avenue two blocks up from my old office) each on its appropriate sunday, by John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir, Bach Soloists, and a batch of wonderful solo vocalists including Magdalena Kozena, Mark Padmore, James Gilchrist, Nathalie Stutzman, Robin Tyson, Katherine Fuge, Peter Harvey, etc. Throughout my life I have dipped into the various collections of Bach cantatas beginning with the pioneering Harnoncourt/Leonhardt collection, Suzuki, Ton Koopman, Richter, Gonnenwein, but as individual performances and overall, I think John Eliot Gardiner captures the beauty, liveliness, gravitas, virtuosity, drama, and devotion in the music in ways others did not realize was present."
"The singing is glorious, in part because the group was recording their Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in a succession of churches where Bach had worked."
"BWV 178 is an ingeniously constructed and intensely dramatic work; it is also (as Gardiner notes in his unusually insightful commentary) formidably difficult to perform. BWV 45, long a favorite, has recieved many distinguished recordings, including those by Karl Richter and Ernest Ansermet from the early stereo era. They should not be forgotten, if only because the solo singing--though more operatic than many listeners may feel comfortable with today--was so splendid (both Krause for Ansermet and Fischer-Dieskau for Richter eclipse all subsequent competition in the dramatic bass arioso). Gardiner conveys the deep unease at the heart of the work (more in the two arias than in the unexpectedly jubilant-sounding opening chorus) quite as well as his traditional performance-practice forbears, though once again I must note that the solo singing is not quite up to par. Gardiner's rendition of the great opening chorus stresses the dramatic contrast between the elegaic first half (which Bach later used for the "Qui Tollis" of the B-minor Mass) and the minatory fugue which follows. BWV 101 is probably the most harrowing cantata in the Bach canon: a deeply troubling evocation of peril, fire and sword--in both the literal and spiritual senses. Fischer-Dieskau and Richter are at once more animated and more alive to the dramatic potential of the text (one of St. Paul's most scathing denunciations of hypocrisy); Schwartz and Gardiner give a subtler and more subdued account that is just slightly disappointing for those who were expecting more incisiveness. There is not a hint of routine in any of these performances, even when the solo singing falls below standards set by the formidable competition in Suzuki's equally outstanding cycle."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I plan to buy more classical choral music as I used to sing with the choral affiliates of the Indianapolis and the Detroit Symphonies."
"CD Arrived Timely and Nicely Packaged!"
"I have admired Robert Shaw and I love Choral arrangements."
"Anyone who pursues the art of choral excellence - and with it a representation of the masterpieces will want and enjoy this CD."
"I like knowing that music I have hunted for can be found at Amazon."
"As usual, the articulation of words is such that you can hear them clearly, even sung by a large chorus."
"Robert Shaw (1916-1999) founded his Chorale in 1948 in New York City."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Maybe it's just a coincidence but all of my favorite Vivaldi/Four Seasons recordings are done with in-house soloists (Corigliano/Bernstein, Schwalbe/Karajan and this, Silverstein/Ozawa)."
"Love the Boston Symphony Orchestra's interpretation of this great work by Vivaldi."
"Didn't realize each "season" was interspersed with other violin pieces unrelated to the 4 Seasons suite.."
"The CD was wonderful."
"Just what I was looking for in classical music."
"I've said this before in other reviews, but I love Vivaldi."
"I bought this for my daughter-in-law."
"Audio at times was awful and skipped a few times."
Best Baroque (c.1600-1750)
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"So so good; a must for your collections; peaceful soothing spiritual music."
"Five stars for the music; 0 stars for the degree of difficulty in the Amazon Music app about how to re-upload downloaded music back into the Amazon Cloud."
"I grew up listening to Robert Shaw Christmas on the huge console stereo that took up half the living room!"
"As a Christmas music and classical music lover, I'm delighted by the inspired creativity and imagination shown by selecting these particular pieces. This is pretty much the very best Christmas CD I've ever heard."
"I have been forfunate to have sung with Robert during my college years-it was a truly wonderful experience to have him pop in on our rehearsals once in a while."
"The arrangements are simple, tasteful, and transparent; if you like BCM (Bombastic Christmas Music) this is not for you."
"This is some of the most beautiful Christmas music I own."
"A cappella music is difficult to sing and the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers do an amazing job of it."
Best Classical (c.1770-1830)
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Rebuilding my somewhat deficient Classical collection."
"Beautiful sound and presentation."
"A thrilling interpretation of The Ring, without all that awful singing."
"WOW you've got to hear this!"
"His personal behavior was low....yet, these orchestral excerpts show the God-given musical genius he possessed right up there with Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. The conductor was able to capture "the Noble Savage" aspect in Siegfried with those musical bits."
"Berlin Philharmonic is one of best orchestras in the world."
Best Romantic (c.1820-1910)
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you have any love of piano music, Clair De Lune is a must."
"BEAUTIFUL, VERY SOOTHING AND GREAT FOR RELAXING."
"Lovely music, well-performed."
"I love this performance of "Reverie" more than any I've heard ."
"Great CD, totally enjoying the clarity & beauty of Debussy's music."
"I love this music...I can't believe such grand music exits on this disc."
Best Modern & 20th Century
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm always on the lookout for good background music to write to, and my goodness, this album is incredible."
"Blackheart is worth the price of the entire album all by itself."
"Two Steps From Hell specializes in the increasingly popular genre known as "Trailer Music"; compositions that are clearly in the style of action-adventure symphonic scores, but which are clearly not from movies you've ever seen."
"When I love a track or feel my mind creating visuals for some epic movie trailer or thrilling fight scene. It's like I mentally become a movie director and start visualizing scenes that excite my imagination to no end. But the auto tuned lyrical songs are terrible and certainly not a strong point for the Two Steps team."
"Imagine trying to find inspiration to tackle on dull chores, or even finding the drive to make yourself finish that half-block of a morning jog."
"Which is nice to have - the album flows rather well, and the tracks do lend themselves quite well to the title of Skyworld.."
"I've been a fan of TSFH for a bit now so as amazing as this album sounds to me there is some bias in my opinion."
"Since first coming to this genre after listening to their first album and finding many other offerings, I've found TSFH to not be capable of delivering consistently album to album. Their albums have two versions of each track, one with vocals and one without."