Classical music reviews

Symphonies 21 to 41 ("Jupiter"), with the Minuet in C (K. 409). Solid performances. Are there better? Perhaps--but not in one set like this, really. I think Sir Neville shines more here than in the complete piano concerti set. So spin these discs, lie back, and float downstream. Dig it.

Obviously this is a lot of money to blow all at once. If you can possibly find it used somewhere though, don't hesitate. Marriner and company do an excellent 29th, and to have that AND the 25th AND all the late symphonies in one package is terrific. For my money, only Bruno Walter was a better interpreter of the Mozart symphonies, and then not by much.

It is through his symphonies that we see a musically mature Mozart. It is a fine example of the symphony itself. It is the Classical Era where the symphony began. The Haydn symphonies of course are probably the most prolific in the genre.. and some would say best. However, Mozart's later symphonies are highlights of the Classical Symphony. Marriner of course, is the best interpretor of Mozart. The symphony 25 shows from its opening movement the "dark" sound that is so definitive of the Romantic Era. Symphony no. 40 and 41 does the same. Mozart's later symphonies move from the classical to the next movement in music. These symphonies are a must have for the lovers of classical music itself... and for the lover of the music of Mozart

These discs have to compete with giants of the pianoforte (as opposed to the fortepiano). In general they are successful - but nothing can erase some of the greatest modern performances - by Annie Fisher, Murray Parahia,Zimmerman etc.

But it is a close run thing - and to hear these works as they were originally intended is revelatory. Sir John's contribution cannot be underestimated and reveal new depths to the orchestral part.

Malcolm Bilson is first class - and reveals new delights in every concerto. But I have to wonder what other pianists might do, if they took up the challenge of the fortepiano?

So - not up to the absolute best new versions - but worth having for the balance and sound that Mozart would have heard.

In essence - a great alternative version,

If you want to hear the sheer monumental, inexpressable genius of Mozart's music, this box set is essential. 5 stars does not even begin to describe the level of performance that Bilson, Gardiner, and the EBS set with these recordings. Truly astounding. But like one previous reviewer stated, it is pointless to write a review and even worse to rate it on a scale of one to five. You have to hear it for yourself.

It's not that Bilson is the world's greatest (forte-) pianist, although he's very, very good. (He's better as a performer than as a composer--he uses his own cadenzas where better ones, such as Beethoven's in #20, are commonly played.) It's not that two centuries of developing the modern piano were wasted effort, and the fortepiano sounds best after all. It's not that history trumps musicality. What makes these recordings great is that an appropriate balance between soloist and orchestra is restored.

Anyone with a sense of musical proportion, who listens carefully to recordings of piano concertos, can tell that the piano is often in the foreground when it belongs in the background, and backup from other instruments is often nearly inaudible. Of course this is especially true of the earlier concertos (Bach, Haydn, Mozart), which were scored and written based on the feeble solo instruments of the time.

Here, Archiv's restraint in miking/mixing, on top of the severe limitations of the fortepiano, greatly shifts the balance of power back towards the orchestra. This is not invariably an improvement, but most of the time it restores proper proportion to Mozart's music, with outstanding results. Often it adds drama, because instead of floating above the orchestral fray, the soloist must play very forcefully to address the competing sound of the orchestra. Perhaps the orchestra plays with a bit more conviction knowing they're not just going to be overrun by a Steinway the size of an Amtrak.

As Bilson was literally the first to admit (in the original CD notes), the fortepianos he plays cannot deliver the long legato line that pianists use to great effect in the slow movements. So there is much to be said for hearing these works on the modern piano. But Bilson and Gardiner take the bull by the horns, pick up the tempo as needed, and make the slow movements convincing on their own terms.

I got the full-priced edition years ago, and greatly enjoy going back and forth between it and modern-piano versions. Highly, though not exclusively, recommended.

While Mozart's string quartets are somewhat uneven, the quintets are all masterpieces, especially K. 516, one of his most original and daring works. If you are a true Mozartian, this music is required listening. The performances here are simply superb, absolutely riveting in their drama. As a bonus, there is Mozart's most beautiful chamber work, the clarinet quintet. Three CD's for the price of one, outstanding music and wonderful performances, you cannot go wrong.

These are fine perfomances - both intellectually and emotionally balanced. Fine playing and perfect pacing. A great bargain as well.

These discs are a real pleasure. The pieces are wonderfully composed, well-played and the sound is absolutely immaculate. Strongly recommended.

One crowning piece of this CD is the amazing Sinfonia Concertante in E flat, K. 364 performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter on violin and Bruno Giuranna on viola, supported by Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

The Allegro masestoso is both complex and playful, rich and feast-like in its vast range and depth. I love the horns in this piece, announcing passages of violin bursts. The violin and viola compliment and echo each other, like courting sparrows. Complexity for Mozart seems to be based on games rather than theory. The feeling that the listener is caught in a giant game in this first movement overwhelms me when I listen to this first section of the Sinfonia. The strengths of the symphony and the intimacy of the double concerto remain not only intact but victorious in this first movement. The piece is perfectly balanced like a tower of flowers. The ending sweeps me away. You will recognize this grand piece for it is hard to lose.

In the second movement, the slower Andante, the violin and viola must carry the weight and message. The melody is at first hard to pin down as Mozart's composition strays above and below it. In the middle of the movement an emotional passage develops, not quite free of the games Mozart always plays, but straying into new territory, almost experimental and yet under complete control as the violin and viola explore together. As the movement nears its end, I wonder where has he taken me, where have I been?

In the third movement, Presto, the power of the orchestra joins the double concerto, as the tempo increases and instruments echo a folk-like melody, twittering and jumping back and forth.

Very masterful and expresive playing by Mutter and Giuranna.

The three pieces selected for this CD are glorious examples of Mozart's composition for the violin, and are played with sensitivity and grace by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Bruno Giuranna, and Sir Neville Marriner.
The Violin Concerto # 1 is a youthful delight, composed when Mozart was in his late teens, with a sprightly Presto finale that Mutter makes the most of.
The Adagio in E was written as a replacement for the Adagio in the Violin Concerto # 5, at the request of the violinist it was written for, Antonio Brunetti, but in the following years the Concerto # 5 was performed with its original 2nd movement, leaving this beautiful piece to be played separately.

My favorite piece on this CD is the Sinfonia Concertante, which adds Bruno Giuranna as a performer on viola. The 2nd movement Andante has one of Mozart's loveliest melodies, and this is an exquisite, soulful rendition of it.
Anne-Sophie Mutter has been playing in major concert halls since her youth, debuting with Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic when she was only 15. Her repertoire is wide-ranging, and she has had many modern masterpieces dedicated to her, like Penderecki's Violin Concerto # 2, and Lutoslawski's Partita.
Bruno Giuranna was one of the founding members of the fabulous chamber group I Musici, and has been the Artistic Director of the Padua Chamber Orchestra.
Every recording I've heard by Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields is excellent, and this CD is yet another example of their fine musicianship.
These recordings were made in 1991, the sound is good and total running time is 59'05.

This disc, though not by far the most renowned of Mutter's numerous recordings, has a lot to offer. Her playing is at her usual superb level and she has topnotch support from Neville Mariner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Bruno Giuranna, her partner in the Sinfonia Concertante, is at one with her musically and the result is one of the best traversals of this much-recorded work available. Together they wring every drop of emotion out of the deeply felt slow movement.

The other pieces here are less familiar works but equally worthwhile. The early violin concerto No. 1 in B-flat is earthier, less elegant than the more familiar Nos. 3 and 5, and Mutter gives a correspondingly straightforward performance. Rounding out the album is an ethereal reading of the Adagio in E major, written as an alternative slow movement to the Concerto No. 5 in A major. Consistently beautiful playing from all concerned and great recorded sound make this one a keeper.

Yeah I'm a big Narada fan and this, in my opinion, is their best Chrismas CD. I bought it while stationed in Germany in 1992 and the music coupled with living in that part of the world at that time of year was just magical. My favorite song is the first...no doubt. But they are all great. A must CD for your holiday collection.

I love this CD. I first got it on cassette tape in the mid 1990s, wore out that tape, bought another one, and finally got the CD. The version of the First Noel is the most beautiful I have ever heard, and The Evergreen Song is touchingly done. I would recommend this CD to anyone who loves Christmas music, and music in general. I listen to it even in the summer!

This album is my favorite Christmas album. The classics are so well done! And the new original songs - with a little marketing, they could become classics. "Song of the Evergreen" & "Gloria" are especially wonderful.

This is an amazing collecton of really wonderful music. I bought it to entertain the customers in my coffee shop. After playing it a couple times, I realized that my customers were enjoying the music just as much as I was. What convinced me that I was on the right track was when several customers asked me what was playing and where they could purchase the cd for themselves.
Two tracks, especially, are favorites: David Arkenstone's Yosemite and David Lanz's Madre de la Tierra. On the other hand, there really aren't any tracks that aren't good. This was money well spent, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I don't know what it is about these Narada collections but they are really addictive. I have the Guitar (1) and the first Narada Decade sets and with this Wilderness set, they never leave the cd player.

The artists are all masters of the genre; I especially like Tingstad and Rumbel, Brewer and Arkenstone, but all of them blend well together and don't "clash" on the cd. The compositions chosen are sometimes the best and here's the funny thing; I found several artists I really like on these cd's and when I purchased their albums, I found I liked THIS cd better. Why? It's the best of the best. If you like New Age composers like John Tesh, you may like this even better.

This is a marvelous sounding CD with a great variety of selectinns. I had the CD playing while on the CPU for five hours and then went bck.

David Arkenstone starts the CD with a dawn-breaking view of Yosemite. Following a beautiful rendition of Break of Day by Bernardo Rubaj, the next few tracks also are wonderful sounding, inspiring and relaxing. Fragile Majesty is played gently. One can almost sense the White Water as Doug Cameron moves through it. After daytime comes Early Moon and Firelight. Carol Nathan helps make the early moon, already appealing so much more desirable. David Lanz plays a fine Madre De Le Tierra at track 15. The final track, Lament for Hetch Hetchy performed by Alasdair Fraser ends a magnificient voyage. But, if you are like me the "continuous" play is most likely to be on.

I have not enjoyed many CDs as much as this. There is one more with classical movements that can come close: "The Conifer Sound Naturally." Alas, Amazon doesn't carry The Conifer Sound. Having this Narada CD in your collection or taking it on a long trip makes life even more meaningful. I feel this is the best collection heard on Narada and many other labels. A few copies may be found at steal prices on auction. But, don't quibble.

One last point: No song is less than 3.20 minutes. Sometimes CDs have lots of selections with times ranging from 1.01 to 10.24. The balance of songs and timing in this CD adds to preservation of (he symetry of)the Wilderness.

An almost perfect combination of selections for relaxing background music, which is played frequently as our dinner music.

I would have appreciated a little less "electronic doctoring" as some notes (especially the lower range) don't sound quite "true", but then again it could be my ears!

Anyway, am delighted that it does what it was designed to do...provide an enjoyable time of relaxation. Thanks.

I bought this CD for my elder son when he was tiny; he listened to it nightly (and often for afternoon naps), and his little brother is continuing the tradition. What I like best about this compilation is that this is REAL music - real Brahms, Mozart, etc - and not watered-down versions or arrangements of the classics (like the vast majority of "classical" compilations on the market these days). (I suppose I am just a crank about this, but I grew up listening to real music, and I want my kids to do the same.) The performances are gentle and understated - not what you would want in a concert, but just right for sedating a small one.

This CD is just wonderful for babies and adults and children. It has a good blend of music to introduce children to beautiful classical music. I think that the playing is just superb.

I am a great admirer of Mozart, and the first movement of the K 550 is perhaps the single most perfect, moving, inventive and shockingly beautiful piece of art since the birth of time. It says molto allegro, and Bernstein, for some inexplicable reason, plays it much too slowly. The dynamic power of this masterpiece is thereby terribly diminished.
And it doesn't stop there. The powerful and haunting third movement seems good at first, but then some (brass?) instrument takes the upper hand and ruins everything. If there's one quality a conductor should possess (apart from having the right tempo), it is a thorough understanding of how the orchestra works, and how perfect balance of instruments can be achieved.
The last movement of the 40th is played faster than the first; too fast even, perhaps. Anyway, it has the feeling of carelessly racing through the material.

Then comes the much admired, grand Symphony No. 41. The brilliant first movement (joining the ranks of its brother in the G minor) immediately sets off on the wrong foot by introducting some sort of fermata (why I have no idea), and again the orchestra seems awfully raw and unbalanced. The sliding strings at the beginning are hardly heard over all the noise.
Then, finally, we come to the great Schlussfuge (final fuge), another beautiful and ingenious composition. The tempo is good, but it's the same story all over again with the orchestral colour: the build-up, in particular the bass entry at the beginning, is clumsily handled, and the fugal complexity is trashed by Bernstein's unbearable racket.

I might have given this CD a higher ranking than just one star, but the problem is that we're talking about two divine miracles, one of the most beautiful stream of dots and lines any man has ever been able to put on paper. I hardly ever listen to the first movement of the 40th symphony, because when I do, I am drowned by the unstoppable urge to become a part of the heavens I never will, I move my arms violently, but can never match the intense emotion, the restless fire and the ruthless power of the greatest symphonic achievement ever. Bernstein has attempted to translate the word of the gods, and to do so as carelessly as this, is unforgivable sacrilege.

I think Bernstein's fans have gone overboard here. These two Mozart performances, recorded live in 1984-85, find the conductor in a good mood. Bernstein's Mozart was never extreme, and he took special care to find expression in scores that have very few expression markings by the composer. Compared to similar accounts over the years, these readings are less smoothed-over than Karajan's, less militant than Bohm's, but also less buoyant than Beecham's and less lovig than Walter's. Anyone who admires the Vienna Phil. will certainly find them to be stylish and warm (much more so than when they recorded all the Mozart symphonies under Levine during this same peirod); this is very congenial Mozart where eveyr phrase is kissed.

Overall, I'd place Bernstein's G minor in a league with Britten and Walter, the Jupiter in a league with KLemperer, although in the long run Klemperer's Mozart is more imposinb and memorable. For anyone who hasn't been totally won over by period practice, this CD is very satisfying without being any kind of apotheosis.

I read a Penguin review about this CD in Penguin's Book of Classical CD Recordings and Penguin placed a "rosette" symbol next to it. You know what that means, right? A Magical recording. Indeed it is. If you are a big fan of Mozart's #40 and #41 symphonies look no further than this CD.

This Magic Flute is not quite a good version. Starts good, but some arias are just poor sung... choose another one.

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS MS PETERS IS SLIGHTLY OFF KEY ON HER HIGH F PLACEMENT? THE REST OF THE CAST WAS GREAT....BUT CAN'T STAND PETERS EMOTIONLESS QUEEN OF NIGHT AND I DISLIKE HER TONE PERIOD. STICK WITH SUMI JO, LILY PONS, AND ADELINA PATTI

No entiendo: Porque est� tan barato este CD??
Es una de las mejores versiones de "La flauta" que he escuchado, el d�o final de Papageno y Papagena es de lo m�s rico que he escuchado en Opera y la reyna de la noche no desmerece en absoluta junto a otras afamadas coloraturas, aunque yo personalmente prefiero como interpret� el c�lebre papel la Deutekom.
La orquestaci�n es correcta y el resto del elenco cumple cab�lmente, mi conclusi�n ya la puse al principio de estos p�rrafos, �qu� est�s esperando?

An okay audio document of the first ever Ozzfest tour,as these cuts were recorded on Oct.25&26,1996 in Phoenix and San Bernadino.The best tracks,in my opinion were Ozzy's "Perry Mason",Slayer's face-ripping "Angel Of Death",Sepultura's ass-kicking "Attitude" and Coal Chamber's "Loco".Most patrons that've ever attended one or more Ozzfests should decently appreciate this disc.

THIS LIVE COLLECTION IS SUPERB. MOST OF THESE BANDS SOUND BETTER HERE THAN THEIR STUDIO SONGS. COAL CHAMBERS OPENS WITH A FURIOUS SONG, CELLOPHANE BLASTS OUT NEXT. OTHER GOODS COME FROM EARTH CRISIS AND THE LEGEND HIMSELF. FEAR FACTORY DOES A GOOD SONG HERE AS WELL. GREAT LIVE FOOTAGE.

Having just purchased Ozzfest 2001, I decided to take a little trip back 4 years to Ozzfest '97. This CD has some of the greatest metal bands around, many of whom were only low-budget upstart bands at the time of this recording. I remember buying this CD simply for Ozzy Osbourne being on it, singing the awesome "Perry Mason," and not even knowing who the other bands were. But having matured and discovered more hard music bands out there, I can say that I definitely appreciate this CD more than I did 4 years ago. With great acts such as Coal Chamber, Powerman 5000, Biohazard and Slayer, any fan of heavy music will enjoy this. It may only be 10 songs, but they're 10 of the greatest live metal tracks of the late 90's!