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Displaying records 1 through 10 of 1691
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  Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies

 
Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies under The Classical Store
Price: $12.98
Sale: $6.97
 
Brand: Rounder Kids
Manufacturer: Rounder / Umgd
 
Description: Inspired and wildly imaginative, Beethoven's Wig is one of the best introductions to classical music you could give to your children. Featuring snippets of 11 classical music staples--Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, et al.--the disc and its creators, Richard Perlmutter and friends, pour on the silly lyrics the first time around to familiarize young ears to the old masters. Then in the last half of the record, the orchestra plays the same "serious" music pieces instrumentally. You might cheerfully recall Alan Sherman's popular spoofs of old classical works in Wig and you'll again chuckle at pieces like "Drip, Drip, Drip," which adapts Delibes's "Pizzicato from Sylvia." You'll also marvel at the expertise throughout the CD, with all the pieces well played yet thoroughly fun. Beethoven's Wig is an orchestral treasure with a sense of humor as old or as new as its listeners (and the fun questions that run throughout the CD's liner notes are almost as entertaining as the zany musical interludes). Highly recommended. --Martin Keller

 

  Appalachian Journey

 
Appalachian Journey under The Classical Store
Price: $11.98
Sale: $6.98
 
Manufacturer: Sony
 
Description: With the help of some friends (James Taylor and Alison Krauss lend some vocal support), the trio of Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor have created yet another fascinating hybrid of chamber music and bluegrass. This follow-up to 1996's Appalachia Waltz is filled with highly lyrical string passages, a homage or two to Copland, and plenty of tracks where Meyer's bass vamps with the best of them. This is reflective (and relaxing) music, lacking the intricate structure of classical music and the rough edges of folk. But, boy, is it catchy! Yo-Yo Ma fans may be disappointed to hear that--aside from the gorgeous "Duet for Cello and Bass"--the cellist takes more of a supportive role on this disc. Still, this is fun music, more intimate than Short Trip Home (Meyer's other crossover project for Sony), but still lively (just check out "1B" or "Caprice for Three"). --Jason Verlinde

 

  The Essential Yo-Yo Ma

 
The Essential Yo-Yo Ma under The Classical Store
Price: $19.97
Sale: $10.74
 
Manufacturer: Sony
 
Description: Here are three dozen pieces of music, all played by Yo-Yo Ma, culled from his extensive discography. Aside from the technical mastery and beautiful tone that are absolutes in all of his playing, one is dazzled by his curiosity and ability to adapt to so many forms and types of music. His Bach and Vivaldi are pellucid and played with non-sentimental crispness, his tango music gritty and rhythmically pungent, his jazz seemingly spontaneous, the "Meditation" from Thais simply ravishing, "Anything Goes" a romp, and the Appalachian music performed with both respect and a great twang, while the traditional Chinese music is fascinating. It's really a matter of how much Ma loves whatever he plays here, how entirely he becomes involved in it, and what a fine partner he invariably is to other musicians. This collection is a doozy--it is truly "essential." --Robert Levine

 

  The #1 Opera Album

 
The #1 Opera Album under The Classical Store
Price: $17.98
Sale: $9.80
 
Manufacturer: Decca
 
Description: The labels that are now gathered under the Universal Classics umbrella have a pretty impressive scorecard in the area of classical compilations. We've seen The Greatest Opera Show on Earth, The Yellow Guide: Classical Music, Best of the Millennium, and now there's The No. 1 Opera Album. But that's no surprise, since Universal has some of the finest interpreters in its catalogue to draw from. This two-CD set (at the price of one), for example, brings together the likes of Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Georg Solti, Herbert von Karajan, and many more. Yet the other key to a successful compilation is canny anthologizing, and here again, you have a nice selection to give you a smattering of opera's heavyweights from the Italian, German, and French repertory (there's even a step outside the standard framework with an aria from Dvorák's lovely Rusalka). Ranging from 1959 to 1997, the choices from back catalogue will doubtless be the entry ticket for many into this grandest of the arts. --Sarah Chin

 

  The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever!

 
The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever! under The Classical Store
Price: $18.98
Sale: $9.49
 
Manufacturer: Angel Records
 
Description: You want relaxing classical music that'll soothe your soul but won't lull you into sleep? Here's a double CD for you. The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World ... Ever! does its best to cover both well-worn classical favorites (Bach's "Air on the G String," Pachelbel's "Cannon," Debussy's "Clair de Lune") and some eclectic left-field choices (an excerpt from Górecki's Symphony No. 3, Jocelyn Pook's "Blow the Wind," and Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. The performances of most of these excerpts are top-notch--artists include Sir Neville Marriner, James Galway, Jacqueline du Pré and the Philadelphia Orchestra--and there's enough variety here for everyone. --Edward Garabedian

 

  Christmas Adagios

 
Christmas Adagios under The Classical Store
Price: $17.98
Sale: $11.44
 
Manufacturer: Decca
 

 

  Voice of the Violin

 
Voice of the Violin under The Classical Store
Price: $18.97
Sale: $12.61
 
Manufacturer: Sony
 
Description: Constantly exhorted to "sing," string players naturally try to emulate that most beautiful musical instrument, the human voice; no wonder they literally want to get their fingers on the treasures of the vocal repertoire. Joshua Bell has appropriated some of its best-loved songs and operatic arias, from Mozart through the romantics to Orff. Slow, sustained, lovely and yes, singing, these beguiling melodies and wide emotional range are eminently well suited to the violin. Credit for most of the arrangements is given to J.A.C. Redford, a well-known film and television composer, and indeed the throbbing strings and jarring modulations typical of sound-tracks invade his orchestrations, in startling contrast to the composers' own. In Debussy's "Beau soir," pianist Frederic Chiu partners Bell so beautifully that one wishes he had supplanted the orchestra in all the songs with piano accompaniment. The violin transcriptions of the vocal line closely follow the originals, except for Redford's compulsive habit of adding octaves in the repeats and jumping from the lowest to the highest register. Of course, Bell is very good at all this, and it's the playing that's really the thing. His tone is ravishingly beautiful, warm on the G-string, radiant up high, and always deeply expressive. His love and innate feeling for the music---its inward simplicity, romantic yearning and passionate ardor---speak straight to the heart. In the only authentic violin part, the obbligato of Richard Strauss' "Morgen!" he is joined by the golden-voiced soprano Anna Netrebko; at first overly intense, she relaxes into a blissful, magical ending. --Edith Eisler

 

  Appalachia Waltz / Ma, Meyer, O'Connor

 
Appalachia Waltz / Ma, Meyer, O'Connor under The Classical Store
Price: $17.98
Sale: $6.99
 
Manufacturer: Sony
 

 

  Orff: Carmina Burana

 
Orff: Carmina Burana under The Classical Store
Price: $6.99
Sale: $5.06
 
Manufacturer: Teldec
 

 

  World's Very Best Opera for Kids... in English!

 
World's Very Best Opera for Kids... in English! under The Classical Store
Price: $13.98
Sale: $10.98
 
Brand: CHILDRENS BOOK STORE DISTRIBUTION
Manufacturer: Children's Group
 

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Displaying records 1 through 10 of 1691