CD-Charts Position 141
Average Rating:

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 / Mehta, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Gustav Mahler, Zubin Mehta, Ileana Cotrubas, Christa Ludwig, Wiener Philharmoniker

Release Date June 13, 2000
This is going to be short and sweet.

First, I am going to completely pass on discussing Mehta's interpretation or the Vienna Philharmonic's performance, as well as the individual merits of Miss Ludwig and Miss Cotrubus. I think all that has been thoroughly discussed here already. In other words, everything that can be said, has been said, although perhaps not everyone has had a chance to say it. This is, simply, one of the great performances.

Therefore, in brief, I would like to give a mention to those amazing men and women who twirl the dials: the engineers. This is an analog recording made near the end of the analog era. The art of analog recording had progressed steadily and significantly for over a half century ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 142
Average Rating:

The Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould

Release Date January 11, 1994
Few music is as addictive as Gould's performances of Bach. Kind of a drug, but far healthier! When you start listening the first prelude in C major staccato-like just like nobody else played it before, you're sure you're listening to something unique.

A copy of this recording should be in each home.

CD-Charts Position 143
Average Rating:

Elgar: The Collector's Edition (30 CDs)

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Emi Classics

Release Date November 06, 2007
It's hard not to like Elgar -- his music is tuneful, bombastic in all the right ways, and has an air of ceremony that somehow perfectly fits what British music should sound like. I guess it's just that Elgar defines "British" music.

There are certainly highlights in this set -- Falstaff and the Cello Concerto are so good that I think any other performance I'll ever hear of either of them will be ruined because they won't compare. The oratorios The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles as presented are widely considered the best out there. And I haven't heard better. There's plenty more here to enjoy even if they're not absolutely authoritative.

I don't like Barbirolli's interpretation of the symphonies -- he takes the "noble" ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 144
Average Rating:

Bach: Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Philips

Release Date February 15, 1994
The recording is a fantastic snap shot of a truly great artist at the top of his game. The Lp version is a bit more lush in terms of overall sound. I wish someone would remaster this to 180 gram vinyl. This set is a wonderful opportunity to experience music playing beyond belief!

CD-Charts Position 145
Average Rating:

Mozart: The Complete Piano Concertos

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Sony

Release Date August 22, 2006
I don't usually post reviews here on amazon but this set deserves an exception. I shopped very carefully to find the "best" of the complete sets (shelling out $80 requires some attention to detail). After reading various reviews and sampling every recording I could find, I purchased this set.

Before I begin, I should say I don't believe that any performance of classical music is "definitive." There are good recordings and bad recordings, yes, but among the good ones, it is often difficult to decide which is the "best." I usually aim for an excellent sound coupled with a solid and moving interpretation of the work. For Mozart's piano concertos, there are several sets which contain both, with the individual recordings varying in the finer things.
... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 146
Average Rating:

Mozart: Symphonien Nos. 35-41

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date January 23, 1996
On these DVDs are the finest performances of Mozart symphonies I have ever seen or heard. I once lived in Vienna and saw Bohm conduct. I was impressed with him then, but not as much as I am now. Karl Bohm is, without question, my favorite conductor of the 20th Century. I used to be a Toscanini fan, but now, I cannot listen to his work at all, after hearing Bohm. I also own the Schubert, Brahms and Beethoven symphonies, all of which are equally good. A very great musician, Karl Bohm, and a superb conductor.

CD-Charts Position 147
Average Rating:

Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: EMI Classics

Release Date June 13, 1995

This is a wonderful recording - Rostropovich delivers a soulful and meticulous rendition of the 6 Bach Cello Suites. This really is exemplary playing and thrilling to listen to. The music carries you right away! The quality of the recording is superb. I highly recommend this - it's a "must have" in any classical music collection.

CD-Charts Position 148
Average Rating:

Mozart - Requiem / Augér, Bartoli, Cole, Pape, Wiener Phil., Solti

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Decca

Release Date March 10, 1992
To my great surprise, in the last two decades of his life Solti turned into a marvelous Mozart interpreter. His '80's Figaro, and '90's Magic Flute and Cosi fan Tutte are among my favorite versions, Sir Georg's sometimes abrasive nervous energy (and scholarly use of reduced orchestral forces) makes for fantastically dramatic, anti-romantic readings. This requiem, recorded on the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death in St Stephen's cathedral in Vienna benefits from an awesome reverberant acoustic, a quartet of fabluous operatic singers (and let's face it, this is an opera manque, religiose, not religious, "the sickly sweets of operatic sin" as Stravinsky called it, and a good thing too I say). Excerpts of the actual Mass ceremony are interspersed, and along with the opening ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 149
Average Rating:

An Organ Blaster Sampler

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Telarc

Release Date February 10, 1991
I am by no standards an expert on music, let alone organ music. I just purchased this CD because I love the sound of the organ, and wanted an album from a mix of artists before I started branching out to single composers. I would also consider myself an audiophile, only listening to high quality music with my portable headphone amplifier and Sennheiser HD-555's. Let me tell you, the quality is perfect, and the music is incredible! Such a full sound, it's *almost* as good as sitting in audience, only lacking the full body experience of organ music. I would recommend this to anybody looking to get a foot into the world of organ music.

CD-Charts Position 150
Average Rating:

Joshua Bell. Kreisler, Brahms, Paganini, Sarasate, Wieniawski.

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Decca

Release Date April 12, 2005
Dealing with pain is hard work, and slower, gentle music is very healthy for those of us dealing with disease. Consequently I'm always on the lookout for soothing sounds. Joshua's violin music is breathtaking; I forget my pain while his violin sings.