CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

My Fair Lady (1964 Film Soundtrack)

by: Alan Jay Lerner

Release Date October 18, 1994
I bought this soundtrack for my mom for her birthday-she loved it! Shipping was fine, price was decent, everything was in good shape...
It's good to see timeless songs surviving through the digital age.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Debussy for Daydreaming

from: Philips

Release Date April 11, 1995
Claude Debussy had been one of my favorite composers even before I knew how to write and behave like a big kid. Growing up my mother would play his tunes on the piano and flute and later I got to follow her footsteps and enjoy his dream like compositions. The French composer has been called the Impressionist and no surprised here, along with another favorite of mine, Ravel, dominated the turn into the twentieth century with his ethereal and magnificent creations. His unusual, radical harmonies have influenced artists that shape the world of music to this day.

This album has all of my favorite pieces, the melancholy Syrinx, bright and almost as if from a magical movie - Maiden with Flaxen hair, silky and soothing Reverie, Clair de Lune ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 - 4

from: Decca

Release Date February 13, 1996
I have been listening to these recordings for a number of years. And I keep coming back to them. Great interpretation and technical playing. These are among my desert island CDs. Highly recommended.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Vaughan Williams: The Nine Symphonies

from: RCA

Release Date March 09, 2004
I reported the CDs were not rec;d within 2 months' time. Then soon a new package was resent immnediately and I rec'd the goods within several days. This is quite different with the response from Import CDS when I was under the same circumstances. No further action was taken after reporting the lost of the delivery. I think this was irresponsible and seemed an act of cheating. Therefore I placed another new order to Amazon because Amazon gives me confidence.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

from: Class. for Pleas. Us

Release Date July 31, 2007
I have owned several CD recordings of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and this most recent purchase is the best I have heard.

I have many recordings of Andre Previn, both as a pianist and a conductor. Andre Previn has never let me down. He has a natural feel for everything I have heard him perform.

Previn presents Swan Lake totally complete as Tchaikovsky originally composed it, including the two additional numbers in Act III which were added after the 1st performance. The tempos in each number are ideal and the ADD sound is excellent, considering the recording originates from 1976.

I would recommend this version highly over the horribly conducted Bonynge. Better is the Sawallisch but I found the 1994 recording too laid back.

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CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Chopin: Greatest Hits

from: Sony

Release Date August 09, 1994
When I think of the piano, the first composer that comes to my mind is Chopin. Chopin was a composer who excelled in small form writing for the piano. He wrote beautiful melodies with complex accompaniment that was both challenging for the performer and enlightening for the listener. Chopin did not write many multi-movement pieces and what he did write is generally not as good as his solo piano pieces anyway (this is my opinion, not a fact).
When buying recordings of Chopin's music, there are basically two options. You can either go with a "Greatest Hits" type collection, which works very well with Chopin, or you can buy collections that assemble all he wrote for a certain form (preludes, nocturnes, etudes, etc...). If you are new to Chopin, I suggest buying ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty

from: EMI Classics

Release Date August 10, 2004

I begin my review of this splendid cd with a slice of musical heresy: *listening* to a ballet with no dancers on a stage in front of you is inevitably a partial experience. Perhaps its closest analogy is listening to film music, which presents lush harmonies and brilliant dramatic effect. But if you've never seen the film, you miss something. This is because music written to accompany ballet and music composed to embellish a film are inescapably programmatic. They depend to some degree on the thing they accompany.

OK, I'm over that.

André Previn and the LSO are at their typical wonderful selves in this recording. In SLEEPING BEAUTY, Tchaikovsky is at his most changeful and malleable. The score he has produced is something of an artistic ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Saint-Saëns: Greatest Hits

from: Sony

Release Date November 14, 1995
Don't get me wrong on the rating; the CD is good and the recordings and performances are great, but to call something a greatest hits collection, there really needs to be more of the greatest hits and not just the filler they have included. All of the songs are wonderful but if you are a new Saint-Saens lover you will need more.
Camille Saint-Saens was the master French impressionist, the wizard of piano and organ composition, one of the greatest composers ever. He is definitely top 5 in my book.
The problem with this recording is simply what is provided on the CD, or more appropriately, what is not provided. There are far too many omitions to count this as a greatest hits collection.
Bare minimum, a greatest hits collection for Saint-Saens must contain the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Gustav Holst: The Planets, Op 32

from: Telarc

Release Date October 25, 1990
You can read the more detailed reports about this performance and the quality of the recording. My comments are simply buy it, load it on your portable music player, get outside at night where you can relax and view the night sky, listen.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Alone: Ballads for Solo Piano

from: Decca U.S.

Release Date June 26, 2007
Andre Previn is a jazz piano genius just like Rob Mullins. I love this music!