Browse by Catagory:
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25 Bach Favorites
Release Date: 1996-08-20
Sales rank: 1433
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Children's Favorites
Release Date: 2000-09-05
Sales rank: 5681
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Switched-On Bach
Release Date: 2001-10-02
Sales rank: 4011
Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach is one of those rare novelty recordings that never gets boring. In the capable hands of Carlos, Bach's keyboard masterpieces sound like they were made for the otherworldly blurps, farts, and chimes of a Moog synthesizer. And, in a sense, they were. Bach's inventive music doesn't lose any of it's contrapuntal punch in these complicated arrangements and, novelties aside, the playing is great on this Grammy Award-winning classic. Whether performing Bach's "Two-Part Inventions," "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," or "Wachet Auf," Carlos offers one-of-a-kind interpretations, her synthesizers still sounding as otherworldly as they did in 1968. This is one of those weird and wonderful classical releases that anyone--classical scholar or pop enthusiast--can enjoy. A Switched-On box set exists, capturing most of Carlos's baroque-gone-berserk output, but this is the disc that started it all. In a word, fun. --Jason Verlinde |
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Perpetual Motion
Release Date: 2001-10-02
Sales rank: 46162
Bela Fleck is one of the greatest five-string banjo players performing today. Beginning in the 1970s, he honed his lightning-fast chops performing bluegrass, then moved on to contemporary jazz and fusion sounds. With this album, he broadens his horizons once again by performing an entire program of classical music transcriptions. Reminiscent of classical guitar albums by John Williams (who makes a guest appearance here), the disc traverses a wide range of repertoire--from Chopin mazurkas to Bach's Two and Three Part Inventions. Throughout, Fleck displays a feathery touch on his banjo, and his instrument offers a pleasant, brassy tone with very little twang. The technique he displays on Perpetual Motion is astounding and a refreshing change of pace from the smooth grooves found on the banjoist's Flecktones recordings. The arrangements are generally minimalist and understated, but violinist Joshua Bell, bassist Edgar Meyer, mandolinist Chris Thile, and percussionist Evelyn Glennie join in on this groundbreaking disc. Bluegrass purists may be disappointed (this is a far cry from the free-spirited, folksy abandon found on Sony's Short Trip Home and Appalachian Journey CDs), but classical fans will be astounded by how perfectly natural Fleck's banjo sounds on these works. --Jason Verlinde |
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Bach & Beyond - Gabriela Montero
Release Date: 2006-09-12
Sales rank: 8804
Taking as her base 12 works of Bach, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero proceeds to play variations on each. The works are familiar and most Classical fans will recognize their melodies instantly. But Montero, who is closer to a jazz improvisationalist than a classical pianist merely embellishing, alters rhythm as well as melody, and the results are invariably both surprising and delightful. The Presto from the Italian Concerto is positively wacky, but "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" sticks to the piece's mood with truth and originality. Montero plays "beyond" Bach with good taste and respect, and always with intense musicality. The results may seem improvised, but I doubt they are---they seem to well worked through---but that is more of a plus than a minus. You'll revel in hearing old favorites "interpreted" and find some unexpected pleasures here. --Robert Levine |
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The Story of Beethoven
Release Date: 1995-04-16
Sales rank: 40990
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The Story of Bach
Release Date: 1995-04-16
Sales rank: 35945
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Switched-On Boxed Set
Release Date: 1999-10-26
Sales rank: 40206
In 1968, keyboardist-composer Wendy Carlos released Switched-On Bach, her bestselling LP featuring baroque music performed on the Moog synthesizer. Carlos intended to spread the gospel of electronic classical music through this quirky release; instead, she sold more albums than Karlheinz Stockhausen could ever dream of, released a few follow-ups, and paved the way for Hot Butter's "Popcorn." Carlos has since become well known for more than just these wacky classical interpretations--she recorded the soundtracks to A Clockwork Orange and Tron and released new works--but the Switched-Ons are the goofy synthesizer recordings that most of us still remember. No less than Glenn Gould proclaimed, "Carlos's realization of the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto is, to put it bluntly, the finest performance of any of the Brandenburgs--live, canned, or intuited--I've ever heard." We're not sure what he meant by that, but if you have half the enthusiasm Gould did for this music, check out this box set. All four of Carlos's baroque-gone-space-age LPs from the '70s are included here--Switched-On Bach, The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, Switched-On Bach II, and Switched-On Brandenburgs--completely remastered in all their stereophonic glory and containing bonus tracks (the fourth CD is even enhanced for use on your computer). The liner notes weigh in at around 150 pages, filled with photos and background information even on the evolution of Carlos's studio (you get the original LP notes in their entirety, too). The music? It's hilarious, absolutely riveting, and--whether Scarlatti, Bach, Handel, or Monteverdi--played successfully by Carlos and her battery of special effects. For the lover of the eclectic or the classical fan who knows how to let loose, this is a box set to get. --Jason Verlinde |
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Switched-On Bach II
Release Date: 2002-05-14
Sales rank: 32804
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Bach: Two part Inventions/Three Part Inventions
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Sales rank: 46722
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