Koncocoo

Best Keyboard

Mozart For Your Mind - Boost Your Brain Power
Reviews
"Mozart For Your Mind. Very melodic and nice."
"Enjoy listening to this cd to help focus."
"Good stuff."
"I wasn't impressed with the quality of this CD."
"I put this on as background music as I'm working at my desk, baking, or puttering and I love it."
"Bought for my 2 month old for car rides and she loves it!"
"I can't honestly say it boosts my productivity or the quality of my output, but, unlike a lot of instrumental music, it doesn't put me to sleep either."
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Classical Naptime for Tots
Reviews
"I really like the calm music for me and my son."
"The music is all very soothing and my daughter drifts off to sleep every night by the 5th-7th track."
"Great relaxing nursing and naptime music."
"An excellent compilation of consistently beautiful and soothing songs performed by orchestras."
"Relaxing for Mommy and Daddy too!"
"Great introduction to classical music."
"Looks cute haven't had a chance to listen because it is a gift."
"I always fall asleep listening to classical musin - finally someone sells it as a sleep aide."
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Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos No. 2 & No. 3
Reviews
"This is an all-around satisfying recording of a splendid piece of music."
"Very deftly curved phrasing.. this performance is all heart.. best I have ever heard."
"Excellent pianist, especially his rendition of #3."
"Absolutely GREAT pianist."
"I have never heard this CDs before but I know Rachmaninoff's compositions."
"very good for meditation.Lifts your consciousness and heart Above!Rachmaninoff must have beencommissioned by the Angels sent by God for our upliftment."
"The sound is very good (as one would expect from Telarc) and Gutierrez plays with the emotion and intensity I want to feel when I hear these works."
"The second had the correct pieces on each disk but the data was still incorrect and each time I tried to rip disk 2 it would record the correct tracks but name them the same as the first disk. The disk data is for an album that is identical to disk 1 minus the 6th track and is only a one disk album."
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Best Concertos

Trumpet Spectacular
Reviews
"A must CD for all trumpet players."
"The trumpet doctor and Erich kunzel pops are in fine Italiano mode and visions of woody woodpecker in the barber of Seville rise up in the imagination."
"The Doctor's rendition of opera pieces ordinarily sung by tenors is quite enjoyable."
"Track 6 is just beautiful."
"I bought this for my Dad who is a retired trumpeter."
"Doc does his usual fantastic job of trumpet playing."
"Love Doc."
"This and a Herb Alpert CD are my only trumpet music albums."
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Best German

Wagner: The Ring Without Words
Reviews
"Honestly the Tenors and Sopranos get to be a bit much for my ears after a short while."
"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."
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Best Reeds & Winds

Beautiful Wedding - Prelude
Reviews
"We played it before our wedding ceremony."
"I purchased this CE to provide some ideas for music for my daughter's upcoming wedding."
"Very nice."
"I'm sure it makes for a nice prelude at a Beautiful Wedding, but I bought it because I liked the musical selection."
"This is a great alternative to having musicians before our wedding and Canon In D is last so it can play right through to the processional."
"I'm not getting married but it gives me more inspiration to paint when it's playing."
"There was one song in particular that I wanted and this cd had it."
"Absolutely beautiful."
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Best Forms & Genres

Bernstein Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring; Rodeo; Billy the Kid; Fanfare for the Common Man
Reviews
"I'm a sucker for sentiment, so I particularly love Appalachian Spring: Doppio movimento (sometimes called Variations on a Shaker Tune or Simple Gifts), but it's all wonderful."
"Considering that this is played in the car with the road noise, and player electronics, this recording was a nice relief to commute traffic."
"This CD must be in every American music collection!"
"A classic set of recordings."
"What more could you ask for -- Copland and Bernstein."
"On the last part of Appalachian Spring track 8 Moderato - Coda, the phrasing of the string section is absolutely gorgeous, and every note is played with such feeling and clarity."
"This recording of Hoe Down is sharper and clearer than is the Boston Pops rendition, but I do prefer the slightly slower pace of that recording."
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Best Brass

Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18, No. 1-6
Reviews
"The recordings are more detailed with much less "bloom" than the RCA set, and I found that an increase in the bass adjustment of my receiver produced fine results."
"I love the Tokyo String Quartet."
"Still, for modern instrument recordings of these works, I still vote Tokyo all the way, and certainly endorse their entire Beethoven cycle."
"Listening to this CD was just like being driven in a brand new top of the line Lexus."
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Best Electronic

SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century
Reviews
"Liner notes would have been appreciated not only as explanations of this admittedly esoteric music, but as an opportunity for the performers to respond to potential criticism and explain their intentions."
"The 4th CD in the SYR experimental series (titled Goodbye 20th Century, appropriatly) of Sonic Youth Records, is a fantastic double album soundscape of the finest kind. The CD has reinterpretations of post 50's era classical pieces (by such illustrious names as John Cage, Steve Reich, Christian Wolff), and they sound great for the most part. If you enjoy this record, why not try other CD's in the SYR series, Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, or seek out the works of the composers on this album?"
"Having heard the works of John Cage, Christian Wolf, James Tenney, Cornelius Cardew and Steve Reich there is a connection by SY's interpretations."
"Takehisa Kosugi's "+-" will probably take a few listenings to be appreciated, but is nonetheless an oustanding example of how dense layers of instrumentation, mixed with scathing white noise and a loose feel successfully work to create an atmosphere that just can't be achieved through any stardard rock strucuture."
"Just wanted to let people know that after attempting to order this divine album, I was sent an album entitled "The Jazz Harp"."
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Best Strings

Songs Of Angels: Christmas Hymns And Carols
Reviews
"These songs were first introduced to my ears on my father's old collection of 45 rpm records."
"To be heard, the volume on my stereo must be turned way up to listen to it at all."
"The song selection and choral and orchestral renderings are beautiful and so fitting for the Christmas season."
"I think the Robert Shaw singers are the quintessential coral singer for Christmas songs, none better."
"I ordered this album to approximate an old 33 LP record by the same-named choir (probably different singers many years later) that my parents had when I was a child in the '50s and '60s."
"Great compilation of Christmas carols, all beautifully done in acapella."
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Best Percussion

Xenakis, Iannis: Complete Percussion Works
Reviews
"The original PoS recording is a wonderfully primal black hole vortex, coming off like an ancient ritual, as intended (here, the Mode is just transcendent). The primal power of this piece is really just lost, and in some places I feel like he's just banging away at different kitchen things. Forever we have only had Glaetzer's pioneering recording... from the '70s LP era I believe, and it has certainly served well, and revealed one of Xenakis's most charming works. But here we really have some awesomeness: the percussion is sumptuously recorded, and the oboe sounds like it's playing walls of chords. The opening sixxen has never sounded as good (though the Denon is the other best), and overall it's just a great compliment to the other three European performances. CD3. 'Kassandra'. Sakkas/Gualda (Salabert Actuels). Larson/Schick (Mode). Someone pointed out how much more creepy this version is from the original, and I heartily concur. The original was just a wild crazy good fun time, but here it is taken deadly serious, and the drama carries over- this piece takes on an almost orchestral texture and made more of a convert of me. I don't know, I found it powerful stuff, and it goes to show that there are hidden things in Xenakis that great players can bring out (no offence to Sakkas/Gualda). Here that is achieved by a really nice recording position, but the players still sound to me to be coming from the same basic direction. The original Trio le Circle (Montaigne) was a somewhat muddy or indistinct recording, and I haven't heard the Hague group on Globe (though the sample sounded somewhat blank). But the previous Mode offering ('Ensemble Music 2') was a pretty good effort, with the acoustic supplying that fourth partner that made that recording so nice. I made a judgement call on the Pedro Carnieo (ZigZag Territories) and sold- nothing good or bad, but I chose the Mode and Talujon over Carniero, so, he got the boot. Yes, this is a very greatly recorded Okho, and it is played as well as one would want, but there is a 'fluttering effect' missing here because there is no real spatial/acoustic interplay- which, frankly, in such a vanilla sounding piece- it would seem a no brainer (still, only one other version has really taken advantage). We've had the original for a long while, and the piece is very soft sounding there and mild and was a favourite of mine for its pacific character. it not as bad as the Robert McEwan (Mode 'Ensemble Music 2') or Johan Faber (Bvhaast), but I am absolutely shocked that Schick let this go. His much much earlier versions ("Born to be Wild" and "Drumming in the Dark") were both quite formidable contenders, and one still hears Schick's personal style here, but here there are moments when he almost sounds human, which, at this point, one just isn't allowed to do with Rebonds. is Marcus Leoson on Caprice, and absolutely epic reading that will take you right up Mount Olympus. Still, the sonics are really sweet, certainly it may the the most deliciously clear and professionally well lit recording of Rebonds, but, of course, it highlights every micro-moment... oh, there is the part... maybe the second or third entry of the woodblocks- and Schick actually plays it as a gallop!?!?! But still, it does add a certain charm of 'weakness', as if we need to be remind of the impossibility of Xenakis (as the liner notes tell us- I guess Schick is demonstrating?). ... though, I head the Peabody group who played this on regular drums got quite a bit of flak (it did sound pretty cool though- but, I do see the point of keeping the instrumentation here- it's quite one of the most unique pieces out there by an avant composer). The two big pieces are both unique, in different ways, but Persephassa in particular is an astounding achievement, with a truly spectacular ending that opens up vistas no one could see coming. Rebonds and Okho are being played by every aspiring percussionist,as is Psappha, and now the youngsters are getting hip on Persephassa and Pleiades."
"On the positive side the recording quality is crisp, and the performances are generally excellent, with spirit. On the negative side, it's a bit pricey for the CD set (but a bargain for the download). Yes, there are other equally excellent and impressive recordings of many of these pieces (Mortensen, Caneiro, Ueno, Kroumata, etc.--and people will prefer some versions over others), but where else are you going to find all of them in one set???"
"Such is the case with this Mode 3-disc set of Iannis Xenakis' percussion works, all he produced except his disappointing last piece "O-Mega" written while he was succumbing to Alzheimer's. It begins with a section of rhythmic noodling, followed by an exceedingly slow portion where plenty of silence is left after each drumbeat for maximum impact. The material is developed from "pitch sieves" (the piece is closely related to "Mists" for solo piano), but the range of sounds is vast, from a flurry of random-seeming notes to hyper-elegant gamelan rhythms. They are akin to Xenakis' orchestral works with their large clouds of sound, and feature an enormous diversity of timbres (with whistles even). "Unfortunately, as the effect of these two pieces depends to a large extent on the spatial arrangement of the performers around the audience, this merely stereo recording isn't very impressive."
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