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25 Classical Favorites
Release Date: 1996-01-23
Sales rank: 1098
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A Concert for George
Release Date: 2003-11-18
Sales rank: 3114
A tribute to George Harrison under the musical direction of Eric Clapton.
Genre: Music Video: Concerts
Rating: NR
Release Date: 18-NOV-2003
Media Type: DVDExceptionally moving but not the least bit sentimental, Concert for George is a splendid tribute to the late George Harrison, whose contributions to the Beatles were so often hidden in the long shadows of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. A year to the day after Harrison's November 29, 2001 death, Eric Clapton assembled some musicians--people who had played with Harrison and known him intimately, including McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty--to perform his music at London's Royal Albert Hall. They take on not just the predictable ("My Sweet Lord" and "Something," beautifully sung by Billy Preston and Sir Paul, respectively), but also lesser-known fare like "Old Brown Shoe" and "Beware of Darkness," all to superbly empathetic effect. But the tune most likely to make you misty-eyed is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," which brings together three of the five musicians who played on the original recording: Ringo on drums, Clapton replicating his own classic solo, and McCartney playing piano and harmonizing with Clapton's lead vocal. Concert for George enjoyed a brief theatrical release, but even those who caught it on the big screen will delight in this two-disc DVD edition. Disc 1 features the complete concert (sans interview and rehearsal footage, but with a few additional songs and in the original running order), while disc 2 contains the theatrical version and some additional backstage and photo material. All in all, a beautiful piece of work. Wish you were here, George--but man, what a way to be missed. --Sam Graham |
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Beethoven's Wig 4: Dance Along Symphonies
Release Date: 2008-08-12
Sales rank: 3025
Boogie with Beethoven's Wig! Move to the music while delighting in zany lyrics set to classic music pieces written especially for dance. Step into a fun foundation for classical music and timeless dances that will last a lifetime.
Inspired and wildly imaginative, the Beethoven's Wig series has won 40 national awards including three Grammy Award nominations. It has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered and on NBC's Today Show.
The CD booklet includes lyrics, trivia questions and activities. The instrumental performance of each piece is also included without lyrics.
Beethoven's Wig is the classical music sensation for the whole family! |
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Chocolat: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture (2001 Film)
Release Date: 2001-01-09
Sales rank: 1567
Director Lasse Hallstrom's recipe for Chocolat is bittersweet, a tale of human hope and frailty imbued with no small amount of symbolism. It's a story that requires a deft, sensitive musical touch, and Hallstrom has wisely turned again to English composer Rachel Portman for the honors. As she did on The Legend of Bagger Vance and her previous, Academy Award-nominated collaboration with Hallstrom, The Cider House Rules, Portman walks the fine line between preciousness and delicacy with grace and dignity. The gypsy flavor of Django Reinhardt's and Stephane Grappelli's "Minor Swing" sets the story's place and time, while Portman's gentle pastoral melodies outline its emotional core, with a few gratifying excursions into more Euro-ethnic music to keep it well-seasoned. The result is another quiet, powerful Portman masterpiece. --Jerry McCulley |
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Bernstein Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, etc / Bernstein, New York PO
Release Date: 1997-10-28
Sales rank: 2962
Happy is the composer who has an advocate as passionate and talented as Leonard Bernstein. These Copland performances have been the preferred versions since they were first issued--better even than the composer's own, later recordings. Originally they were spread over two discs, but thanks to the extended playing time of the compact disc, you can now get all three great Copland ballets together, along with the ever popular Fanfare for the Common Man. Bernstein brings to this music the right sharpness of rhythm but also a typically open-hearted warmth. He coaxes a virtuoso response from the New York Philharmonic, which knows this music as well (or better) than anyone. Self- recommending. --David Hurwitz |
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Sousa's Greatest Hits
Release Date: 1999-09-07
Sales rank: 4538
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Vaughan Williams: The Collector's Edition
Release Date: 2008-07-08
Sales rank: 4489
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Spirit Of The Glen
Release Date: 2008-02-12
Sales rank: 10848
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is Scotland's senior regiment and her only regular cavalry. The band members, as well as being trained musicians, are all Army soldiers who crew tanks and have served two tours of duty in Iraq. The album, both Scots and classical tunes, is a tribute to the dedication and talent of this group of military pipers. While they are first and foremost soldiers, the music on Spirit of the Glen is a heart-warming and beautiful demonstration of the incredibly powerful and emotive sound of bagpipe music. Some album highlights: the McCartney popularized #1 single, Mull of Kintyre, Amazing Grace 2007, a reworking of Rod Stewarts `Sailing,' and film themes Dances with Wolves & The Last of the Mohicans. |
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God Bless the U.S.A.: Kids Sing Songs for America
Release Date: 2001-09-16
Sales rank: 3380
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Copland: Appalachian Spring/Fanfare For The Common Man/El Salón México/Danzón Cubano
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Sales rank: 3182
If Copland's own recordings of his music have the warmth of a soft summer night, those by Leonard Bernstein convey the blazing heat of noon. In his later remakes of several of these scores for Deutsche Grammophon, Bernstein exhibited a tendency toward overly-nuanced readings. But his earlier accounts with the New York Philharmonic, recorded by CBS in the late 1950s and early 1960s, are still incomparable in their vitality and impetus. Bernstein's way with the Western ballets is exuberantly personal and persuasive. He has the ability to move between delicacy and brashness, always getting the gestures right, and he delivers magical characterizations of both scores. The Phiharmonic's playing, while sometimes a bit raw, is confident and rhythmically secure; there is certainly nothing to apologize for here. There is a wonderful sense of immediacy to Bernstein's account of the Appalachian Spring Suite, in which the New Yorkers give a virtuosic account of themselves, playing in a rhythmically incisive fashion that puts Copland's account with the London Symphony in the shadows. The couplings are a mixed bag, however. Bernstein always had the measure of El Salon Mexico, and gives a rousing account of it here. But the so-called Fanfare for the Common Man is lifted from his recording of the Third Symphony; its beginning is not the same as that of the real fanfare. Both recordings have been wonderfully remastered by their original producer, John McClure, and have excellent presence and a palpable sense of atmosphere in the quiet pages. --Ted LibbeyLeonard Bernstein was a friend of Aaron Copland's, and he approaches this music with rare flair and verve--as well as with sympathy and warmth--and, we can assume, with a good idea of the composer's intentions regarding it. This is a classic album, containing several of the works in the essential Copland oeuvre; the sound is not as good as you'll find in a more contemporary recording, but for most listeners the spirit will make up for that. --Sarah Bryan Miller |
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