CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Air on a G String

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: Telarc

Release Date March 04, 2008
Russell's tone always amazes me and his technique is impeccable on this CD as usual.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Kapell Rediscovered

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: RCA

Release Date May 06, 2008
The first thing that's amazing about these recordings is that they exist at all. As for the music... wow... There is sensitivity and passion which reaches through the years and the technical limits of these recordings to touch us. But what really amazes me is that even with the extraneous noises, I can still hear incredible clarity and precision in his playing.

One of the important skills of a pianist is to make the melody sing beautifully above the other notes, which frequently come across as a wave, blur or rumble of notes, especially in 19th Century music. In Kapell's playing on these recordings, not only do the melodies sing, but every single note plays a precise role with clarity, even in the Chopin Scherzo. It has given me ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: DG

Release Date April 08, 2008
Yes, this is probably the best performance of the Schoenberg Violin Concerto ever recorded. That said, it is still a piece that looks better on paper than it sounds. The constant hype about the work does NOT make it a better piece of music. It is dull, paper music, PERIOD! This is musical castor oil played very sweetly, but even Mary Poppins won't make this go down "...in a most delightful way!!!" Hahn's hyperlyrical style makes the work sing better than ever before. The orchestra performance is excellent as is the conducting.

The Sibelius is a DUD and completely earthbound. There is NO grit in this performance, it is all oily-smooth and punctilliously played, but it NEVER catches FIRE as it can. Just listen to Heifetz or David Oistrakh ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

O.C.M.S.

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
by: Old Crow Medicine Show

Release Date February 10, 2004
Old Crow Medicine Show has taken bluegrass, rock and country music and, IMO, fused it into some real good-time music. While the Album is strong throughout, "Wagon Wheel" is what I would call their signature song. It's catchy and will appeal to anybody who loves lively music and who does not have a built in bias against vocals with a twang. I've seen them live and they were great. While their second CD does not have a song as catchy as "Wagon Wheel", I think OCMS's second album is more consistent throughout than this CD.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Bach: The 6 Unaccompanied Cello Suites

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: Sony

Release Date June 06, 2006
Not exactly sure what I would do without these recordings. A world without Bach: a scary thought. My pulse slackens a bit each time I put these on. Relaxing, sure, but also tremendously moving. A perfect antidote for the trivial drone, distraction, and bustle of our post-capitalist world. No need to go buy new-age computer glitch world-music ambience; this is sonic therapy, written centuries before we needed it.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

The Most Soothing Lullabies In The Universe

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: Denon Records

Release Date April 06, 2004
very soothing for the unborn baby (decreases in-utero kicking) and the newborn baby (increases between-feedings time at night). highly recommended for any newly minted parents out there.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Philip Glass - Songs & Poems for Solo Cello - Wendy Sutter

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: Orange Mountain Music

Release Date February 12, 2008
This is quite unlike Philip Glass' minimalism music. It is lush and fluid, written for Wendy Sutter, whom he loves. It is obvious and lovely. The old cello she plays has a wonderful deep tone and she plays with controlled virtuosity and passionate feeling. Highly recommended. I am giving the recording as a gift to those who appreciate music.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

The Chopin Collection

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: RCA Victor Europe

Release Date October 07, 1991
These impressions are based on very limited listening thus far but the performances seem to be very crisp and correct and devoid of schmaltz which surprised me. I think Chopin needs a bit more melodrama to be at its best.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Sarah Brightman Classics

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
by: Sarah Brightman, Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Francisco Tarrega, George Frideric Handel, Fryderyk Chopin, Sergey Rachmaninov, Giacomo Puccini, Antonin Dvorak, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Marie Canteloube, Francesco Sartori, Paul Bateman

Release Date November 20, 2001
An absolutely dreadful CD, with one decent rendition (Ave Maria); the rest -- pure awfulness.

It's like listening to Susan Alexander Kane (Citizen Kane's second wife) sing a whole album. Brightman's voice wavers & quivers all over the high notes. Oh, it is SO bad.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

25 Classical Favorites

CD-Charts > Music > Instruments
from: Vox (Classical)

Release Date January 23, 1996
Overall an excellent collection of classical favorites and for $3.99 its a steal, but strangely there is not a single Beethoven composition in the CD.