The Art of the Oboe
Albinoni's best 
For those who are not familiar with Albinoni, Concerto in D Minor, Op 9 Number 2, Adadio; for me--I find many documentary films that want to cause your heart to stop and listen--this song is the one that stirs my emotions of all the music on this CD. The artist, has to use much discipline in his breath to make the notes seemless. Bravo.
Best of Vanessa-Mae
Great combination of classical and modern fussion!
This CD is very eclectic and exciting! Her arrangements on the classics are beautiful and the fussion numbers are original and excellent! My favorite is absolutely her version of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma".
Wonderful modern classical music
This is a compilation of Vanessa Mae's most awesome works. I love the mix of funky electronica and soulful interpretations of classics. My favorites on this album are the energetic "Bach Street Prelude" and the sentimental "Aurora". I can't wait for her to release her next album!
I prefer accoustic violin
Very talented artist, just not quite what I expected. I little too techno-pop for me.
The Mozart Sessions
Amazon.com
Bobby McFerrin's signature falsetto envelops a poignant, wordless melody, embellished by piano flourishes that uncomfortably tow the line between classical decorum and Chick Corea's airy, modal jazz style. Suddenly the music segues into the opening of Mozart's D Minor Concerto. The A Major Concerto (K. 488) is similarly introduced. While the smooth, thick orchestral fabric suggests forces larger than a chamber aggregation, McFerrin clarifies important woodwind details (the elusive bassoon, for instance, in K. 488's slow movement) and infuses the outer movements with controlled brio. By contrast, Corea's Latin-tinged, improvised cadenzas (and overeager embellishments during solos and tuttis) lose their novelty over repeated hearings. Elsewhere, Corea's literal, dutiful phrasing smacks more of a talented student than a daring and vibrant pianist whose impact on jazz is unassailable. --Jed Distler
Beautiful album
Don't listen to the other idiots on here. If you actually read the other reviews, you will see that they were all just "Don't Worry, Be Happy" fans who have no idea what a concerto is, don't listen to classical music(nor want to), and simply thought they were getting 60 minutes of improvised voice by Bobby McFerrin. Maybe we ought to have read the track listing? Should we have seen that it was "Mozart" not "McFerrin"?
But as for the album itself it is a beautiful rendition. I even liked it better than most. The improvising is excellent on both musicians parts! It is very invigorating for someone who never gets to hear things like that. McFerrin's interpretation is great. I even liked this better than many other classical conductors. He really seems to keep it at a good tempo, and brings out parts in the orchestra that are often times just kind of drowned out. So, great job on his part. And his improvisations (especially the one at the end with Mr.Corea) are amazing!
Corea's performance is excellent as always. Although I'm used to hearing him as a jazz artist he performs this very well. His time is perfect. His technique and interpretation are again beautiful. And his cadenzas are amazing! It's really something to hear a beautifully performed classical piece, and then an actually improvised cadenza!
I'd recommend this to any classical music lover (though net necessarily a strictly McFerrin lover)! This is something any Mozart fan could appreciate. A brilliant performance!
misleading marketing
I guess I fall into the category of listeners who feel somewhat cheated by this album.
Based on their previous collaborations and by the cover art, there is no indication that McFerrin would take such a back seat to primarily conduct while leaving Corea to create the music itself. To address another reviewer's slight, it is not the outdated perception of McFerrin as the guy who sings "Don't Worry Be Happy" that I sought, but rather McFerrin's ephemeral and versatile jazz vocalize melding with Mozart's incredible creations as performed by Corea which drew me to purchase this album. Based on their prior collaborations, the combination of all three seemed ripe for brilliance.
Instead, what I received was basically another recording of Mozart's music pretty much done the way I've always heard Mozart's music. Now - I will be the first to admit that I am not a classical music connoisseur. When Corea is riffing on and improvising around Mozart, I don't know the music well enough to know the difference.
Classical performances strike me as the equivalent of various cover bands playing the same songs over and over again for centuries. Detracting nothing from the brilliance that was Mozart's work, I simply do not appreciate that, as described in the liner notes, there's usually a break where musicians readjust and cough before starting the next segment. Corea moving through without a break is simply defying well ingrained expectations held by the initiated, not really creating something beautiful that can stand on its own to capture the visceral emotion that music can sometimes do. Sure there was more energy behind it than normally exists simply because the orchestra was caught off guard. I guess if that is enough, then this album may be perfectly suited for you.
I'm not taking anything away from Corea's performance or McFerrin's conducting - certainly a more discerning ear attached to a person who knows Mozart's work in and out could make a strong argument for the subtle innovation in this interpretation. It was simply lost on me and probably would be on any casual classical music listener.
If that makes me an unsophisticated brute, then so be it. But I didn't pay to just hear another orchestra perform the same music orchestras have been performing for centuries. I paid to hear McFerrin integrate his vocal talents as a prominent instrument amidst what Corea does so well with conventional instrumentation. Nothing in the exterior presentation of the packaging indicated such an opportunity would be limited to a mere 2 minutes or so. Perhaps that slight of hand was done on purpose to boost sales. After all, how many McFerrin fans would pay to hear him conduct? Either way, I was disappointed.
the one from the old audi commercial
If you're looking for the cool piece from the old Audi commercial, it's the first part of the 466 -- Allegro. Apparently you have to buy the whole piece to get it on iTunes. Very pretty.
Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis
Amazon.com essential recording
This 1966 reading from Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony is a classic. A noble, compassionate interpretation, it represents a very successful melding of the English oratorio tradition with the then-emerging notion of an authentic performance style emphasizing lightness of texture and firm rhythmic underpinning. In its latest incarnation, as a Philips "Duo" offering (two CDs for the price of one), it's an especially good bargain. --Ted Libbey
Good recording - very complete
I really like this recording even though I grew up with a couple of different recordings of The Messiah. I especially like that it's got pieces I've never heard before. The accompanying notes on the history of The Messiah are interesting as well.
subdued and disappointing
From the opening Sinfonia, this Messiah is far too subdued. While it may be nuanced and even, it lacks passion, grandeur and any sense of the sacred, and has little narrative drive. The Choruses, except for the Hallelujah Chorus, have little majesty. There is also something wrong with the sound mix. I can't quite put my finger on it but somehow the bass-treble balance is just off. I tried the special anniversary 24 bit rerelease and found that the sound of it was, oddly enough, even worse. I would instead very highly recommend Sir Colin Davis' other recording of The Messiah, with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. It is a bit difficult to find but just spectacular.
A Safe Harbor
Maestro Davis employs modern instruments, a relatively small chorus and orchestra and first rate soloists in a performance that's not wacky, weird or wayward. Sincere expression and tasteful ornamentation are emphasized-there aren't any life and death struggles going on here. Yet the spiritual elements are not slighted-consider for example, Heather Harper's wonderful "I know my Redeemer liveth.." She sings with great purity and no artifice. The chorus has good diction and is vigorous when it needs to be. Sir Colin's conducting flows and allows the listener to get "caught up" in the performance. He doesn't impose any particular interpretative viewpoint but allows this masterpiece to speak for itself. For forty years this has been a top choice.
The London Concert: Haydn/Hummel/Mozart/Fasch
Marsalis delivers again
If you like trumpet concertos, you cannot go wrong with this album.
This is a perfect album...
People may solely know Marsalis as a world-class Jazz musician, but he's... at worst... pretty darn good on Classical works too. He does have a strong background in both Jazz and Classical. And he played all of the pieces very well, including those requiring killer high notes. Forget all the negative responses; he does an absolutely great job!
This album features some of the most beloved works for trumpet, all which were composerd during the Baroque and Classical era. The original release has him performing concertos by Haydn, Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang's dad), and Hummel, as well as a concerto for trumpet and 2 oboes by Fasch. The Haydn is above all a classic for all Classically trained trumpet players.
The bonus tracks not included in the former releast, however, makes it even better; two exciting concertos requiring killer high notes (even up to a high A!), and another one featuring two trumpets (even though Marsalis played both parts using multitrack - would have been nicer if he worked with another trumpet player, perhaps Maurice Andre). Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, the latter of the works with high notes, is a piece you're likely to hear in one place or another, and it's a must for every trumpet player to check it out. All works in general require a great deal of virtuosity and musicality, so like any Maynard Ferguson piece, it's pretty darn hard to master.
This is a perfect album whether you're a Wynton Marsalis fan, or enjoy listening to any hard-core trumpet music regardless of genre.
Schubert: The Complete Impromptus
Super Chamber Music
As I was listening to this while gardening, I forgot for a moment that I was listening to Schubert, and thought 'My, what good Chopin this is!'. Well, I caught myself and realized my little slip revealed the fact that even though solo piano may not have been Schubert's strongest suit, he still managed to do it as well or better than the great classic Mr. Piano Man himself. This is an excellent bargain package with two CD's for the price of one and a complete set of a major composer's genre. I'm not a student of piano style, but Alfred Brendel seems to realize these in a better than workmanlike fashion. He may not be Murray Perahia, but he's no slouch.
Great Schubert, but add some schmaltz please!
I was greatly disappointed with my reaction to these CDs. There is nothing specific that I can say against the CDs, but....I was completely and totally uninvolved. I tried multiple listening, but it did not help. I was standing outside the music, and was examining it like I would an ant under the microscope. I know it is not my reaction to Schubert's impromptus, simply because I just adored them when I heard them performed by Krystian Zimerman.
The only thing I figured out is that Mr. Brendel was just too elegant and detached here for my taste. To use a metaphor, he was as elegant as a black cocktail dress, while a dress with some frills, colors, lace, and something soft would have been more appropriate here, I felt. In my view, even some schmaltz would be welcome here.
I guess it all depends on how you would be affected by this CD, so I do encourage you to try it!
Brendel displaying his greatness
I've always heard Brendel was a great interpreter of Beethoven, but have not heard his recordings before this work of Schubert. Brendel is an amazing pianist, and Schubert an inspiring composer. Some say this work by Brendel doesn't bring out the fullness of Schubert, but if this isn't one of the best recordings of Schubert, I'll eat my hat.
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
A Solti performance for those who don't like the conductor
I purchased this recording recently in part because of the favorable reviews listed here. I was not disappointed. Over the years I have been ambivalent about Solti: his interpretations of standard repertoire are often exciting, but rarely nuanced and frequently relentless. His studio account of the Mahler fifth from the '70's (also with the CSO) has always struck me as tight-fisted and unsympathetic to Mahlerian irony. This newer live performance, vividly recorded in Vienna, is undeniably thrilling. The CSO, challenged by Solti from the first note to the last, provide some stunningly virtuosic playing (and a couple of ragged moments as well). They are clearly energized by the occasion, and play as if their lives depended on it. Solti's interpretation has deepened considerably since the earlier recording; the Scherzo, particularly, is both more uplifting and more atmospheric (with Mahler's ingenious contrapuntal textures superbly clarified). The first and second movements are appropriately gripping without any hint of vulgarity. The adagietto is leisurely but not cloying (with some gorgeous playing from the CSO strings), and in the finale Solti and his band really go for broke, leaving the listener somewhat exhausted in the end--but better that than a tepid response.
In sum, then, here is a Solti performance for those who have their doubts about him (or about the ability of the sometimes spiky CSO to provide sensuous allure). Solti recordings seem to be going for a song these days (both new and used--check Amazon's listings), and collectors who find this recording congenial might want to look up his Haydn London Symphony cycle (another of the conductor's better ventures), his Beethoven symphony cycle (much better than its reputation), his Schubert "Great" C Major (another thrilling, but also intelligent, performance), and his Handel *Messiah* (believe it or not, Solti did Baroque music particularly well--not for him limp rhythms and anemic textures). Perhaps it's time for a reconsideration of this much-maligned figure.
A Wonder Fifth
I bought the original LPs of this recording (which also included a selection from Songs of a Wayfarer, I believe) shortly after they were issued and I am always impressed by the passion of the reading. For me the recording sounds dangerous, as if the orchestra might derail; Georg Solti did like aggressive playing and this probably is a great example.
There are many excellent recordings of Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony and I have had several other recordings over the years, notable among them being Bruno Walters recording from the 1940s: this recording is one that I would not part with. Unfortunately, the Walter recording has such a dry sound that I don't play it very often but the conductor takes the Adagetto at the faster speed that Mahler preferred and shaves at least two minutes off of the usual tempo taken by the majority of conductors. In this Georg Solti does not differ, and the movement is well-played with great depth of feeling.
The recording has been nicely transferred for CD; the balance was very good on the LPs and is still marvelous. There is come slight distortion when the side drum is played in the great climaxes in the Scherzo, for example, but this hardly detracts from my enjoyment of the recording, and actually, for me, adds to the excitement. This recording is one to hear.
Solti's live remake of the Mahler Fifth is one of his best
Solti took the Mahler Fifth on the road with the Chicago Sym. for two decades--I heard them in Boston in the early Seventies and was flabbergasted at the orchestra's virtuosity. It was a thrilling show, and here we have it from Vienna in 1990. Solti is rarely given credit for growth. It's always assumed that he will press fiercely ahead, drive the tempo, and choose blatant showmanship over depth and emotion. But by 1990 he was no longer revving his engines at supersonic speed, and although an intense and fast-paced reading, this live concert Fifth keeps its thrills going while also letting us hear Mahler's score. (P.S.--Having heard both Solti and Barenboim live in the Fifth, I much prefer Solti.)
Solti's studio effort from 1970 has been scorned by Amazon reviewers for its garish spotlit sonics, and I agree. But here we get detailed, natural digital sound of very high quality. The brass are still prominent, but that was the CSO style under Solti. Anyway, the brass parts tend to lead the way in Mahler's score, so this is an appropriate vehicle for them--and they know it. The execution here by all the winds is stupendous.
I find no exceses in the first three movements, but in the Adagietto there is some controversy. The Gramophone reviewer feels that Solti reverses course and ladles on sentiment after giving us none up until this point. First of all, at 9:42 min., the reading is not slow or soupy. To my ears Solti shapes the melodic line much more than before, but this lovely song calls for it, and I can't fault him for finding a heartfelt reprieve from all the banrstorming. The finale reverts back to Solti's usual extroverted style, but again, it's nowhere near as driven as you might assume.
Overall I would rate this an excellent recording, wonderfully played and recorded. In addition, it's far more accurate than either Bernstein reading and has more inner life than the recent version from Berlin under Simon Rattle (EMI). Solti ended his Mahler recording career with a winner.
