CD-Charts Position 131
Average Rating:

300 Years of Guitar Masterpieces

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: Vox (Classical)

Release Date November 04, 1992
This collection from the early years of Manuel Barrueco is one of the best values you'll find. It's 3 discs long and contains some of the best guitar playing I've ever heard. I've owned this set once before and had to buy it again because my original CDs were worn out from ware and tear. Highly recommended for anyone starting a serious classical guitar collection.

CD-Charts Position 132
Average Rating:

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: RCA

Release Date August 10, 1993
I'm not sure where to put my review. I actually purchased the SACD version of this album, but as I don't have an SACD player, what I'm listening to is the CD version (i.e., the product on this page).

It seems as though most (all?) of the reviews of this disc are from individuals who were already familiar with and fond of Bartok's music at the time of purchase. My perspective is a bit different, and I hope will be helpful to those who are unfamiliar with Bartok and are deciding whether or not they wish to try some new music.

Although I have listened to classical music for some time, when I bought this disk I was largely unfamiliar with Bartok's work. In fact, I mostly listened to pre-20th century classical music, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 133
Average Rating:

Ode to Freedom: Bernstein Conducts Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Berlin

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date March 01, 1990
I know who let him conduct it! Those greedy DG music executives, that's who, hoping to make a quick killing with the release of this sludge of a performance. The fall of the Berlin Wall was an event of great significance and to commemorate the occasion, DG gets the most famous living conductor in the world to conduct one of the greatest and most famous works of music in history, Beethoven's 9th Symphony! They even changed the word joy to the word freedom in the finale! This had the makings of something truly special but unfortunately it falls short of even the most mediocre expectations.

Herbert von Karajan died not too long before the Berlin Wall fell and if he was still alive, it would undoubtedly be Karajan conducting on this recording, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 134
Average Rating:

Glassworks

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: Sony

Release Date September 30, 2003
I've long been a fan of Phillip Glass and his repetitive musical style, and find this CD to be a good example for people who don't know his music. I believe that if you like this, you'll like his other stuff. If not, then you probably won't. I'm a big fan and have this music in my play list and find it a nice change from some of the other rock, jazz, folk, and world music i enjoy.

CD-Charts Position 135
Average Rating:

Music of Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11/Orchestral Music; Leonard Slatkin

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
by: Samuel Barber, Leonard Slatkin, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Release Date October 25, 1990
Longest Adagio, I have ever heard. Endless. Perfect for funerals.
The rest is average to say the least.

CD-Charts Position 136
Average Rating:

Bach at Bedtime: Lullabies for the Still of the Night

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: Philips

Release Date October 17, 1995
I just have o have them all. This is wonderful. Happy addition to my collection.

CD-Charts Position 137
Average Rating:

Mozart's Magnificent Voyage

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: Children's Group

Release Date October 13, 1998
A friend of mine got this for her son about 3 years ago and he's still listening to the stories. Its calming and interesting. Its great in the car. The story goes along with the movements of the piece and really brings classical music and a great story to children. I now get this for all my friends with babies and small children.

CD-Charts Position 138
Average Rating:

Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 'From the New World'; Slavonic Dances

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: Apex

Release Date September 17, 2002
Even though Dvorak was not born in the U.S. his expression of his love of country has endeared us to his works.

CD-Charts Position 139
Average Rating:

Philip Glass: Waiting for the Barbarians

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
from: Orange Mountain Music

Release Date June 03, 2008
Philip Glass and librettist Christopher Hampton have adapted J. M. Coetzee's parable about power and inhumanity in an opera that staggers in both dramatic power and beauty. The story is set in a town on the fringes of a nameless Empire that is in the process of expanding over the lands of wandering peoples called The Barbarians. As settlers encroach on grazing lands, the Barbarians are led to raid a few cattle, the same solution that Native Americans were forced into as European settlers forged westward. The Empire's response is very contemporary, however, fabricating a threat and confirming it through "confessions" made under torture. As the army takes over and terrorizes the town, its inhabitants are fanned into a frenzy of fear that allows them to accept militarization ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 140
Average Rating:

Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien

CD-Charts > Music > Forms and Genres
by: Gundula Janowitz, Waldemar Kmentt, Hilde Rossel-Majdan

Release Date June 05, 2007
I have enjoyed listening to Karajan's 1963 set ever since I bought it on sale at the Record Hunter in New York in the late 1980's. I don't find the renditions unemotional as some do. The performances are fast and dramatic. To some the sixth is too fast, but the slower tempos we have become accustomed to are only received tradition just as phlegmatic renditions of Bruckner's symphonies were once the norm. The performances often have the drive more typical of early music versions of classic works, except the pieces are being played by a larger orchestra than would have been common before the twentieth century. They are powerful renditions but not heavy-handed or turgid.
As in his recordings for DG of the Brahms and Schumann symphonies, Karajan also shows his ability to ... Read More: