CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Terry Riley: The Cusp of Magic

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
by: Kronos Quartet

Release Date February 05, 2008
"This project by pipa player Wu Man and the untiringly eclectic string quartet Kronos continues a collaboration that began more than a decade ago, when they recorded Ghost Opera.."(The Guardian).
Once again the Kronos, the hippest string quartet on the planet, has teamed up with its favourite composer, Terry Riley, the man who brought '60s hippieness into classical music. The original minimalists are now old men.
Riley, turned 70 in 2005 and to mark the occasion the Kronos Quartet commissioned a new work from him.
In this six-movement "mid-summer rite", there's a prominent solo role for the jangling Chinese lute, or pipa, played by the wonderful Wu Man - who also sings Chinese lullabies - against the astringent, urgent ensemble ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
from: Nonesuch

Release Date February 07, 1995
I am befuddled by the negative reviews of this recording, just as I am befuddled by those who dismiss Glass, Reich and their peers as "Minimalists" as if their development had ended where it started. Both Reich and Glass are now mature and accomplished composers who have transformed the radical ideas of their youth into a rich and unique compositional language.

On this recording, Kronos show us just how involving and nuanced Glass's "repetitive" language can be. The Quartet #5 in particular is a masterpiece. Perhaps my favorite Glass composition. It is chock full of wonderful melodic and rhythmic ideas. Yes, the rhythmic and harmonic backdrop consists of relentless diatonic arpeggios, but the continual harmonic and dynamic modulations ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Pieces of Africa

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
by: Hamza El Din, Obo Addy, Kevin Volans, Terrence Kelly, Hank Dutt, David Harrington, Joan Jeanrenaud, John Sherba, Said Hakmoun, Radouane Laktib, Dan Pauli, Kronos Quartet

Release Date March 03, 1992
If this CD has made this fantastic quartet known to a larger number of people, then, it's fine. But what a desappointment in terms of music ! A few interresting songs, but i can't feel any great inspiration in this commercial CD poorly surfing on the ethnic wave. A shame.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Schubert: The Piano Sonatas

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date October 10, 2000
To my uneducated ear this set is excellent. But beware, the first CD of the first set sent to me, when viewed on iTunes was totally in an oriental language. I sent the set back and the second set had the very same thing. The first CD seems to have come from a foreign edition. All other CDs were fine. The paperwork was in English.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

East Meets East

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
from: EMI Classics

Release Date July 22, 2003
Right now I'm in the opinion that this is the most sublime
and emotionally intense record I have ever heard.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date July 12, 1991
Like all of the music he recorded, Wilhelm Kempff has a way of applying his own unique interpretive style to these sonatas and making them his own, without taking away from the composer's intention. Unlike some of the recordings by today's artists, who play at speeds that tend to blur the notes, Kempff articulates each line clearly, cleanly and accurately. Now, I'm not saying that each one of these sonatas is my favorite interpretation, but several are. Two that I'm not particularly fond of are his readings of Nos. 21 & 23, both of which I prefer Gilels. He takes the Hammerklavier at a much slower tempo than any other I've heard, but he pulls it off remarkably. To my ears, of the more conventional approach to No.29, Serkin and Soloman do it a little better. As for the rest ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

The King's Singers Greatest Hits

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
from: EMI Classics

Release Date February 05, 2008
King's Singers Greatest Hits was disappointing. The contemporary music included did not have the smooth feel that one expects, and the classical pieces were all right but not spectacular. I did not feel that some of these pieces were greatest hits. I will probably go back to listening to older collections of their music.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

William Kapell Edition (Box Set)

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
from: RCA

Release Date September 29, 1998
I wrote my doctoral dissertation on William Kapell (we share the same school, and my teacher was a student of his), and to still see the outpouring of admiration and love for Kapell's art is still very moving for me.

CD-Charts Position 9
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All At Once Well Met: English Madrigals; The King's Singers

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
by: John Dowland, Thomas Morley, Thomas Weelkes, John Wilbye, William Byrd, John Farmer, The King's Singers

Release Date October 25, 1990
I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this CD. True, I could have listened on line before buying but that would have taken the fun out of the purchase. Besides, I really didn't care for the CD the first couple of times I listened but now I really love it. It's not something to listen to all the time but given the right circumstances e.g. a small gathering of friends, it's perfect. If I'd listened to online, I wouldn't have purchased it.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Sir Edward Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 - Nigel Kennedy / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley

CD-Charts > Music > ( K )
from: EMI Classics

Release Date November 26, 1991
For anyone who has heard the live recording of Glenn Gould playing the Brahms Piano Concerto #1 with Bernstein and the NY Phil, this recording of the Elgar is kind of the equivalent of that, the only difference being that it is not a live performance. Recorded around 1984, when Kennedy was not yet in his 'punk virtuoso' period, this is the finest reading of the Elgar I've ever heard. The tempos are remarkably broad and Kennedy, English himself, fully understands the piece, and milks every phrase for everything it's worth. While Heifetz's 1949 RCA recording is of course superb, Kennedy's is definitely right up there alongside of it. I'm sure there have been some who have argued that the often slow tempos are simply cheating because he didn't have the technique to play them at the correct tempo ... Read More: