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Sibelius - Complete Symphonies

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
from: RCA Red Seal

March 15, 2004
I only really came to appreciate Sibelius in the last couple of years, travelling through time from Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms; I'm glad to have taken the trouble.

Although I find something a little sterile about some aspects of the performances of some parts of this bargain box, I guess that Sir Colin Davis is allowed to relax a little on this umpteenth traversal of Sibelius's orchestral music.

The RCA sound quality is just fine and I agree with the other reviewers that this set would make a great choice for Sibelius beginners; it certainly proved to be so for me!

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Monteverdi: Vespers 1610 · Venetian Vesper Music 1642 /Tavener Consort, Choir & Players · Parrott

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Taverner Consort, Andrew Parrott

January 24, 2000
I was very disappointed to find that Virgin/Veritas have not included the very full and interesting 68 page booklet, containing the libretto, essays and notes, which came with the original EMI publication.

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Holst: The Planets (LSO Davis)

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
by: London Symphony Orchestra

May 06, 2003
Every time you listen to this CD you will be amazed at the quality of it. Excellent playing from the orchestra under the experienced direction of Davis- he makes the music shine; flexible and powerful playing from the LSO. The recording is surely demonstration quality; you cannot listen to the start of "Mars" - or any other section of the set -and not be amazed by the clarity of the sound.
For the price, this is an excellent set; it remains one of the best even compared to rivals that cost much more.

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Rossini - Petite messe solennelle;Stabat mater

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Cambridge King's College Choir

April 04, 2005
Every time you listen to this CD you will be amazed at the quality of it. Excellent playing from the orchestra under the experienced direction of Davis- he makes the music shine; flexible and powerful playing from the LSO. The recording is surely demonstration quality; you cannot listen to the start of "Mars" - or any other section of the set -and not be amazed by the clarity of the sound.
For the price, this is an excellent set; it remains one of the best even compared to rivals that cost much more.

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Carols from King's

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
from: EMI Classics

November 17, 1997
Having just heard the CD, I am warmed by the quality of ALL the tracks, the singing is beautiful and sung so professionally.
If you are looking for a traditional Carol CD, then I would definately recommend this one,

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Britten: War Requiem

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
by: Galina Vishnevskaya Peter Pears Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau The Bach Choir London Symphony Chorus The Melos Ensemble Of London London Symphony Orchestra Benjamin Britten

May 15, 2006
This was the piece of music that first really turned me on to classical music, listening to the very first performance from Coventry Cathedral on a small tranny radio. What I failed to realise then was that this massive impact was achieved by brilliant structural simplicity.

The whole work is effectively a study on the tritone, the 'diabolus in musica', that most disturbing and unstable of intervals. From the bells at the start to the harmonically ambiguous endings of the first and second movements and of the entire work; from the alternating tonics of the boys' Te Decet Hymnus to the alternating tintinnabulations of the soprano's Sanctus; from the fanfares of the Dies Irae to the two halves of the tenor's ineffable Dona Nobis Pacem at ... Read More:

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Rachmaninov: Symphony No.2

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
from: Emi Classics

September 06, 1999
This performance of Rachmaninov's second symphony made quite a stir when it was released on vinyl back in 1973 and although that may seem like a generation ago (because it is, sadly!), this newly (1999) re-mastered version succeeds in recapturing the excitement which its original release created. Prior to this recording, Previn and the LSO had toured with the symphony to Russia, where the unexpurgated version had not been heard for years, and it caused a sensation. Listening to this recording, it is not hard to understand why. This is unashamedly beautiful and lyrical music, played by an orchestra and conductor who had no misgivings about whether the music was fashionable or not, and given its full measure of feeling, with great drama and passion. ... Read More:

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Gladiator: Music from the Motion Picture

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
from: Decca

March 11, 2002
Despite the plagiarism of Wagner (Siegfried's Funeral March) and Holst (Mars) this is an astonishing soundtrack.

Dr BeeClarke.

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The World's Greatest Mozart Album

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
from: Decca

May 08, 2000

Putting a title like `Worlds Greatest' on the front of a CD is obviously a bold claim, and one which many people have become so familiar with that they tend to take it with a pinch of salt. There are so many ways of trying to catch the buyers interest that very few titles like these really jump out at the buyer.

This one did jump out at me, though not so much for the choice of tracks, more for the quality of artists who perform them. Considering this is only a 2CD set, far too short for any Mozart compilation, the list of performers reads like a roll call for the best `Last Night of the Proms' ever staged.

A simple list of some of the orchestras, conductors, singers and soloists sums up this gem of an album:

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Wild Swans

Childrens Toy Shop > Classical Music > Classical Instrumental
from: ABC Classics

July 03, 2006
This album is absolutely fantastic and you actually feel what is happening in the fairy tale.

The problem is that people do not know that Elena Kats-Chernin composed this music for a ballet "The Wild Swans" and every piece of music relates to something in the fairy tale. Eliza Aria (the music on the Lloyds advert is the piece composed about the Princess) who was turned mute after a spell was cast upon her by her wicked Stepmother.

In a faraway kingdom, there lives a King with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry. He marries a wicked Queen who is actually a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into swans and forces them to fly away. They carry their fifteen year ... Read More: