3 comments about Ballet Class Music from New York City: Music from Company Class, Vol. 2.

1. Listening to this CD is like being in class in New York. It is excellent for teaching an intermediate or advanced class and it is also great for giving oneself a class.



2. I have danced professionaly and taught ballet for over ten years. This is one of the best Ballet CDs I have ever used. Schultz understands dancers and what they need. The tempos and musicality are perfect. This CD compliments Music from Company Class, Vol. 1; it is wonderful to have two volumes of professional music to choose from. It is a delight to have ballet music that is enjoyable to listen to whether you are teaching or giving yourself class. I always have all of Schultz's CDs in my ballet bag.



3. Doug Shultz has put together a really fine CD. It is a good mixture of classic and contemporary pieces with many original compositions of his own. I particularly appreciate the consistent rhythm he maintains for each excercise. Because I teach ballet basics to gymnasts, the strong tempos are helpful. However, I think any dance teacher would enjoy using this CD. Thanks Doug!

2 comments about Mozart Collection: 100 Masterpieces (Box Set).

1. You can tell the music is well performed and there is the sense of passion from the performers. No complaints in that aspect. The problem is these do not sound like CDs. They sound like tape re-recorded to CD. Those that remember the underlying static that was on almost all cassette tapes. That is on these CDs. And as you turn the music up to fully enjoy it the distrubance comes through even more. I have tried these on 3 different systems, and all have the same results.
   
   Going to try to clean it up by converting to MP3 and back again. I know you lose some quality but it may make the overall enjoyment better.
   
   Please don't get me wrong, the performance on these CD's is exceptional. And it is truley a shame that there is this issue. If you have a way to cancel noise then by all means this should be a good buy. If you play it softly then you will not notice noise on the recording. At the price I am not upset at this but I am a bit disappointed at it.



2. I am so impressed and moved by the music, the selection, the quality of the recordings. An incredible collection at an unbelievable price. I can not imagine a better overall set of this magnitude and quality. If you need Mozart, want to know Mozart, have never listened to Mozart, you need this set. Happy 250th!

5 comments about Copland conducts Copland.

1. .....alone makes this cd worth the price. This may say more about me than I like, but I own several versions of Appalachian Spring. It was worth adding one more to the collection just so I could get my hands on Henry Fonda's reading of the Lincoln Portrait. I've listened to almost all of them but this one best captures Lincoln's decency and moral stature. Fonda reads it with great emotion and warmth. When you really want to understand the best of American values this is the place to start.



2. This was my first exposure to Copland. Copland is the quintessential American composer. His compositions are some of my favorites. As for this verson, Henry Fonda is by far the best orator for The Lincoln Portrait. James Earl Jones comes a close second. If you enjoy good music, you will enjoy this album.



3. I can appreciate the previous reviewer who felt that Henry Fonda's interpretation of the Lincoln Portrait was a bit bland. I respectfully disagree.
   
   We know from research that Abraham Lincoln was a soft spoken man with a thin reedy voice. His delivery, it has been speculated, would have been firm but with a bit of a down home quality. I believe the late Henry Fonda has the best reading of this text. The versions by Charlton Heston, James Earl Jones and William Warfield are excellent but they all have a dramatic quality that is very unlike Lincoln the man.
   
   I will agree that the mixing on the this recording could have been better, but I still prefer that restrained yet confident sound of Henry Fonda. To me it has the same quality as his "I'll be there" speech at the conclusion of The Grapes of Wrath.
   
   Very moving.



4. If I had to choose one Copland album over all others in my collection, this would be the one!
   When I purchased this cd many years ago, I hadn't realized at the time that this was the original, longer version of "Appalachian Spring" for chamber orchestra until I first played it, and it totally took me by surprise - what a revelation! It's become both my favorite version and recording of this piece.

   The orchestration in "A Lincoln Portrait" is superb, and although the late Henry Fonda's reading does have a certain, peculiar quality to it, it's a vast improvement over the sound of the vinyl.

   The "Billy the Kid" suite is absolutely thunderous and intensely psychotic, the BEST version ever recorded, IMHO, with the opening tympani beats guaranteed to shake your speakers and sub-woofers and the house along with it.




5. This version of Appalachian Spring is truly the original version. If you are looking for the true American spirit in Copland's music, by all means, buy this cd. Appalachian Spring is already such a simply beautiful piece of music, but when Copland conducts, you can really hear how Copland feels about the piece. I find the simple elegance of this piece inspiring, and this cd has helped me form a good idea of the style Copland would want for when I perform this piece with an orchestra.

4 comments about Chopin: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1.

1. Idil Biret's first recording in this Naxos series looks pretty promising: the four Ballades, the Berceuse, the Fantasy Op. 49 and even the BI 130 etudes. This choice of selections is even more unusual with the addition of the Marche funebre in C minor, and three other rare pieces from Chopin: Galop Marquis, Largo in E flat major, and the Cantabile in B flat major.
   
   Having heard so many pianists play the Ballades, I'm afraid Biret is not in the top tier of interpreters here. Her rendition of the first Ballade is occasionally dramatic, but she fails to deliver the songful aspect that I've heard so many pianists accomplish. Even in the passionate and loud sections she displays technique but no melding of the passagework; she makes a choppy onslaught instead of a fiery stream. Fortunately, she makes up for it with the second Ballade in F major. Biret creates equal force in both the sudden outbursts and the fragile soft moments. However, in the third Ballade, Biret is rather average. The virtuosic sections sound dry in her hands; all the rubato in the world won't save this piece without a perfect legato touch. At least Biret is really "on" in the fourth Ballade. She manages to bring out the expressive qualities and lyricism of this fine music while also emphasizing the raw drama.
   
   Astonishingly, Biret makes a better case for her pianism and musicality in the rest of the pieces here. The Berceuse is an angelic lullaby through Biret's delicious and tasteful representation. The first BI 130 etude receives stellar phrasing and is played with perfect poetic feeling. The gorgeous second etude is similarly effective because Biret has such a handle on Chopin's improvisatory sound. So I'm really scratching my head at her earlier lackluster spectacle in the first and third Ballade. Biret's major triumph, though, is the monumental Fantasy in F minor Op. 49. Combined with the poise and exquisite rubato this work requires, Biret's meditative mood and muscular attack makes this rendering outstanding. Her dynamic control is breathtaking: her lilting melancholy (3:15-3:25) and explosive passion (3:47-3:57) is incredible. Where is this warm legato, spirit and vitality in her Ballades? It's so odd that she made a milestone with the Fantasy but couldn't quite make it in the Ballades.
   
   The last works to mention are the rarities. The Galop Marquis, a short piece barely under a minute, contains a charming little theme, but doesn't really go anywhere. It's like someone plucked a single theme out of a longer work and played it once; it doesn't even feel like there's an agreeable cadence at the end. On the other hand, the Largo in E flat major is a wondrous little piece, presenting some fine bars of exalted melancholy. I wish I could say the same of the Cantabile in B flat major, but there is not enough substance here. The flawless diamond in this sea of flawed gems is the magisterial and dark Marche funebre in C minor. One wonders how this phenomenally potent funeral march could be so neglected. In fact, this is the first time I've heard it. I must tell the curious Chopin cohorts out there that this is made of high quality stuff: a gloomy and powerful funeral march forms the outer shells of a profound and sorrowful trio section. It's a first-rate Chopin work and deserves greater fame.
   
   Bottom line: I've heard much better realizations of the Ballades. Although I advise those who are interested in hearing superb interpretations of the Ballades to continue their search, I feel this CD shouldn't even be bought for the Ballades. Biret is at her best in the BI 130 etudes, the Fantasie Op. 49 and the Marche funebre. Considering that these pieces are rather obscure, I think this CD is invaluable for offering them at such a low price.



2. First, I must say Idil Biret has a sense of the beauty contained within Chopin's repetoire as few others do. Her playing of the slower pieces (as well as most of the faster ones)is astonishingly touching and artistically of the highest order.
   However, when the technical demands become greatest, especially in the etudes (which are maddeningly difficult)and the Polonaises, there are some very blatant note errors. (To be fair, most recordings are edited nowadays, this one is not.)
   If you care more about art for art's sake and less about a note-perfect performance for the sake of pianistic athleticism (e.g. Maurizio Pollini) you will be moved and delighted. If you are searching for technical perfection (which is really not the point of Chopin's music) you will not find it here.
   My rating is more accurately: musicality-4.9 technique-3.0



3. This is the first in a series of fifteen CDs by the Turkish pianist Idel Biret of the complete piano works of Chopin. And what a CD it is! Biret studied with Boulanger, Corot, and Kempff and yet remains too little known as a pianist. Her Naxos recordings of Chopin's complete piano music received the Grand Prix du Disque in 1995 and sell at a budget price.
   
   Chopin's four Ballades are among the greatest of his works, as is the Fantasia in F minor also included on this disk. The Ballades were composed between 1835 and 1843 and are generally believed to be based upon works by the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. Regardless of that, this is music in the style of the medieval troubador, with singing lyrical sections alternating with music of wild passions, big chords, chromatic passages, and virtuosic runs. Whether the music calls to mind some epochal military encounter or a quiet scene by a lake it is wonderfully evocative. The first and fourth ballades, in G minor and F minor, tend to be more stormy and passionate while the second and third, in F major and A flat major are more reflective and lyrical. Biret gives a beautiful rendition of this music with beautiful, free rhythm, attention to dynamics and phrasing, and a full use of the resources of the piano. She captures magnificently the wild, virtuosic concluding passages in the first and fourth ballades.
   
   Chopin's Berceuse in D flat major, op. 57, is a miniature but one of his most beautiful compositions. It features a simple rocking theme in the left hand with feathery runs and filigree in the upper reaches of the piano in the right hand. I enjoyed playing this recording of the Berceuse for my newborn granddaughter together with a collection of lullabies.
   
   The final major work on this CD is the Fantasie in F minor, opus 49, regarded by some as Chopin's greatest composition. This work opens with a slow march-like theme in F minor and progresses gradually to a more triumphal march in A flat. The music is kaleidoscopic in character with varying moods and themes woven together. Ms. Biret's playing matches the music in its shifts of theme and mood.
   
   The CD also includes a number of Chopin's lesser-known works including the posthumously published "three new etudes", a funeral march (not to be confused with the funeral march in the second piano sonata) and three other short works.
   
   Although there is a great deal of competition on CDs of Chopin's Ballades, Fantasia and Berceuse, this recording will stand with the best. Please don't be skeptical of this CD as a result of its budget price or of the relative unfamiliarity of Idel Biret. This CD and its companions are an ideal way of getting to know Chopin.
   
   Robin Friedman



4. As the title says Biret = Chopin.Actually it tells evrything... Listen and understand what I mean.The Ballades are more beautiful from her hands.The price is very cheap for this album too.

5 comments about Chopin: Mazurkas.

1. I love Chopin, but I am not a musician myself. I was really shocked to discover that there is a really different sound when one pianist or another plays the exact same piece. This fellow W Kappell has a very disctinct style, very clanging and harsh i thought. Im afraid i dont like it at all, but like i said, im no musician. I much prefer the Favourite Chopin 2cd set i just found at the library featuring pianist: Vladimir Ashkenazy.



2. One of the best performances of Mazurkas I have ever heard.
   Everybody who loves Chopin and his simple masterworks should have this CD. It is just perfect playing!
   Tiroui



3. Chopin's Mazurkas have always proven an especially challenging collection for pianists. Over the last century three pianists came to be associated with them - Iganz Friedman, Arthur Rubinstein and William Kapell. Kapell, who died tragically at the age of 31 in a plane crash in 1953 had recorded a considerable number, and these are what make up this selection. Along with the two mentioned artists Kapell was instinctively at home with these highly complex short works. Where most pianists, even the very best ones could struggle a bit in these works' pitfalls, Kapell made it sound all so effortless. He was just at home in the Mazurka's tangled voices as a rabbit in a briar patch.
   If you are familiar with some of Kapell's other performances and fear he might be too aggressive or push too hard here, fear not, this is really a very different Kapell then the driven concert performer.
   The sound is perfectly acceptable and I highly urge you to consider this CD along with the performances of the Mazurkas by Friedman and Rubinstein. You will have a marvelous collection with some of the most intriquing and personal music Chopin ever composed.



4. Kapell's piano was imposing in mass and these Mazurcas selection are played with élan, full of delicacy , and rounded at all dynamics levels performed with aristocratic elegance and aristocratic mien .
   Kapell was always a passionate man and in the search for the rightful tone , the precise articulation to get what he wanted literally signed for the eternity these piano works loaded with that intimacy hard to find in concert halls .
   Fifty years ago in that absurd accident William Kapell the most prominent pianist of his generation died , leaving behind him a meteoric career a fevered pianism of the highest level .
   And in this special and painful day I share with my intimate friends and music lovers and meet them to pay a more than deserved homage to his memory .
   Several generations of pianists have emerged with undeniable virtues and amazing technique but most of them are not capable to state such level of commitment with the music beyond the score .
   That is why his throne still keeps empty .



5. William Kappell was, in a way, the Dennis Brain of the piano. Brain had a meteoric career playing the French horn, which was cut short by his early death -- and cognoscenti have been seeking out his old monaural records and CD's for decades. Kappell also had a tragically short career which accounts for the only deficiency of this CD. It was recorded with old monaural equipment. I predict that you won't notice that at all, because the genius of William Kappell shines through in these pieces. I think I would describe his Mazurkas as both very 'clean' and also 'lush.' He is playing carefully and bringing out the subtle beauty of these odd little dances. Chopin's Mazurkas always seem to have a "sweet and sour" character, often with a lyrical major theme at the start and finish, and a discordant minor gypsy-style theme in the middle. In Kappell's hands you hear other layers, and some of the pieces even have a sort of tango-like feel. Anyway, it's hard to describe what is so good about this CD, but buy it. You will listen to it again and again.

1 comments about Balakirev and Mussorgsky: Piano Music.

1. .
   The main course here is Mussorgsky's Pictures. Well!--here nicely done. Richter is fine, but Béroff is clean and clear, not excessive.
   
   Nice little pieces by Mussorgsky--an echt-Russian type!
   
   Bonus Balakirev--also an echt-Russian type. See too: Balakirev: Piano Music (Complete) [Box Set].
   .

4 comments about Music for Quiet Listening.

1. The reviewer Mr. Fitzwilliam captured what I have felt when listening to "For Katherine in April." He said -- "Most people can remember, with joy, and longing, and perhaps regret for what might have been, the first time they were ever in love. This is that feeling, expressed in music." Ron Nelson has had a distinguished career as a composer, but this piece, written in his youth, I think is his best. The rest of the music is calming, but with a rapturous quality about it. The sound is good -- but is the only weak link in the album. There is a lack of bloom in the recording at times. I wish some smart music executive would redo this with a world class orchestra. However, Howard Hanson conducts here, and he excels. I doubt anyone could exceed his fine work. (But I'd like to see someone try.) Most of these pieces should be concert hall staples. I sometimes wonder about the breadth of knowledge of our major orchestra directors and managers. Why isn't the Nelson work as famous as, e.g., Rachmaninov's Vocalise? It's that good. Most highly recommended.



2. The music on this CD has been a part of my life in so many different ways I almost don't know where to begin. It is probably the most treasured CD I own. This is a collection of music of Eastman (School of Music) composers. Two of my favorite music teachers in high school, husband and wife, had both of their children study at the Eastman School. So, one day one of these teachers of mine plays me a bit of this album -- when it still WAS an "album", that is, the Mercury LP -- and I fell in love with it literally from the first minute. I could not obtain my own copy, however, as the LP had long been out of print.
   
   A few years later, I attended the Eastman School of Music myself. The bookstore often had rare Eastman recordings, including some of the Mercury LPs, for sale -- but NEVER this one. (Everyone wanted it, you see!) However, pursuing leads, I learned that one of the deans of the school had a secret personal stash of brand-new, unopened, Mercury LPs of which he might sell you one if you asked him REALLY nicely. For me, getting my hands on that LP copy of Music For Quiet Listening still in its shrink wrap was like finding a gold double eagle in your loose change.
   
   Fast-forward a few decades, and finally, the Mercury Living Presence LPs are being re-issued on CD! But Music For Quiet Listening never seemed to be in stock. Finally a record store clerk, who knew the CD himself, took pity on me and found a copy that had been mis-shelved. Again, it was like finding the Holy Grail.
   
   What really captivated me about this recording on first hearing all those years ago was the very first piece, Ron Nelson's "For Katherine In April", a beautiful melody in the strings, with lush harmony and heart-wrenching counterlines in the inner voices. Later, after a more melancholy passage in the english horn and oboe, the sun bursts forth, and there is an almost unbearably beautiful climax with the full orchestra, strings still most prominent, with some ecstatic birdcalls from the flutes running through it all. The only description I can come up with is: Most people can remember, with joy, and longing, and perhaps regret for what might have been, the first time they were ever in love. This is that feeling, expressed in music.
   
   And that is just the FIRST FIVE MINUTES of this CD.
   
   This recording is a collection of pieces from the 1950s by Eastman School of Music composers which were awarded the Benjamin Prize at the school. This was a composition prize founded by a philanthropist who wanted to encourage music that inspired a feeling of quiet beauty in the listener. And "quiet" does NOT mean flat and lifeless, or bland elevator music. These pieces, as you can tell from my description of For Katherine In April, DO have highs and lows in them. And, they have different moods. Some are dark or mysterious, some melancholy, some light and peaceful, but they are all soothing to the mind, and the heart, and the soul.
   
   And as for the quality of the CD itself: ALL re-issues of beloved, classic LPs should be this good. For one thing, the original Mercury studio recordings were captured either on a 35 millimeter film recorder, or on a custom-made three-track Ampex reel-to-reel recorder. For the CD mastering of these Mercury re-issues, they found and restored to original working condition THE VERY SAME RECORDERS from which the LP masters had been made. (You can thank Ros Ritchie, head of the Eastman Recording Services department for many years, for having the foresight to keep that priceless, one-of-a-kind equipment intact.) Thus, the CD has exactly the same timbre and frequency balance as the original LP.
   
   But it gets better! Not only do they give you the original cover art, and the original liner notes, but there are also new, expanded liner notes telling you what the composers went on to do in the years after the original LP was made. This is a really thoughtful, very nice touch.
   
   And, if THAT wasn't enough, since there is more room on a CD than on an LP, there are three bonus tracks on the CD! All were also winners of the Benjamin prize, and all were recorded on the same mastering equipment as the original LP contents. One of the new additions is an early recording of Kent Kennan's "Night Soliloquy", which has become a staple of 20th century flute repertoire.
   
   Well, I have gone on enough. This is a truly special recording, one that has beautified my own quiet, thoughtful moments for years, and the fact that it is available to us on CD in such pristine condition is really fortunate. I hope that it comes to mean as much to you.



3. "Killer" is a household term for music which is so beautiful, so luscious, that it, well, just kills you. I'm a music school graduate, 50 years old, and my partner and I have amassed hundreds and hundreds of LPs, tapes and CDs over the decades. This is one of the handful of albums which gets played repeatedly. The music is sometimes melancholy, sometimes bitter-sweet, but always "accessible" yet spiritually fulfilling. I don't want you to think that it will make you depressed--it won't. But it's great for those times you want something to think by, remember by, mourn by. (I'm buying it for a friend who just lost a close relative). I'm thrilled to see there is a second volume available on CD. Listen to what beautiful music Americans were creating at mid-Century even while the "challenges" of Milton Babbitt and Elliot Carter were the only things being proselytized in music schools. Vindication is sweet and so is this album.



4. Each of these is a lovely work. All range from Romantic to Impressionist. Each is special.

   Hanson takes works by Eastman students and makes up a restful compendium. Rest assured, these aren't current--the original LP came out in the late 50s, so this is an outstanding document of what was going on in composition at Eastman during that period.

   Taken either as history, or strictly as music, this Mercury classic is one every serious lover of American music should have. It's pure, sonic balm.

5 comments about Mozart: Complete Symphonies.

1. If you're looking at this set and wondering if you should buy it, Josef Krips and the Concertgebouw Orchestra are the reason to purchase this set. Krips conducts Symphonies 21-41, or 6 discs worth: 50% of this set of Mozart Symphonies. The Concertgebouw Orchestra plays beautifully, as you would expect, and have the perfect sense of Mozart's style, served so well and warmly by Krips' conducting. Krips' Mozart deserves to stand with the other "greats" in the Mozart later symphonies:
   Bohm/Berlin (DG); Klemperer/Philharmonia (EMI); Szell/Cleveland (Sony); Bruno Walter/Columbia (CBS) or New York Philharmonic (Sony "Bruno Walter Edition"); and Beecham/Royal Philharmonic (EMI: Symphony 41; Sony UK: Symphonies 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41) and London Philharmonic (Dutton). Tempos are never rushed, but Krips is sometimes faster than Bohm or Klemperer in some Allegro movements, but never to the detriment of Mozart's music. One prime example I recall is III of Symphony 26 in E flat Major: Krips is much faster than Bohm in this short movement, but it doesn't destroy the music.
   
   Neville Marriner leads Symphonies 1-21, plus a number of other symphonies attributed to or by Mozart, but outside the regular numbering system or Kochel numbers, etc. Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields have excellent credentials as Mozart experts, and with good reason: they have made some great Mozart recordings on EMI and Philips. Here, however, Marriner and co. sound boring and routine in some of the earlier symphonies, and the harpsichord clatters away mercilessly; perhaps better phrasing and forward motion would have corrected this impression. But Marriner IS of value here for the Symphonies like 47, 52, etc. which are rarely, if ever recorded elsewhere. If you want to hear Marriner/ASMF in the later Mozart Symphonies, go for their EMI and Seraphim recordings, regularly available through Amazon.com.
   
   This is a valuable set, and I'm glad to have it mostly for the Krips recordings.



2. As usual, the ASMF and Marriner shine through with just the right tempo and expression. Marriner will always be my conductor of choice for Mozart's symphonies, although Jeffrey Tate with the English Chamber Orchestra does rather well too. The problem I had with this set was with the latter half (what are considered Mozart's "late" symphonies). They are disappointing under Krips' hand because Krips' interpretation of Mozart's symphonies is draggy and lack a je ne sais quois that the other Mozartean conductors of our day possess. It would have been better if Krips had done the early symphonies and Marriner, the late, because Mozart was at his peak as a composer with his late symphonies.



3. If a work is to be called the "complete" anything, does it not behoove the artist to tell the truth? Anyone familiar with sonata allegro form knows a symphonic exposition is presented twice before entering development in the first movement. It's basic introduction to music. So how come my very favorite, Number 39, is abbreviated to only one presentation of the exposition? For nearly $... I think I deserve more no matter how good the cd sounds. If it sounds incomplete, then it is incomplete. I bought Beethoven's complete by Solti and the Chicago Symphony and despite the fact that those expositions are by tradition offered only once, Solti's integrity called him to present all 9 as written. I'm no scholar nor am I a stickler. I just know what things should sound like and anything less is unsatifactory.



4. Every phrase ever so beautifully formed and sounded with the help of the group that has that wonderful heavenly tone that could have been made to play Mozart - the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (really only one of the few that deserve such a title), Josef Krips, a man who had devoted his career to the study of Mozart, deliver performances that closest match the achievement of the works themselves. Perhaps not known widely Josef Krips had a uncommon gift of forming and bringing out in his sensitive and loving way (savoring of Bruno Walter) the pictorial elements in the work, and having his roots in the stage, he was especially skilled in overlapping elements in Mozart's operatic work; of drama and humane feeling, and with those of his orchestral output; of philosophical resignation and a powerful otherworldly influence along perfect grace. You will be able to tell, he was a true Mozartean - one of the very few on record. And of his examination of the composer he wrote (included in the booklet of the as excellent Don Giovanni record on Decca): "Mozart is, of all composers, the most difficult to conduct, and I can tell you why: two bars and you are suddenly transported to heaven. It's very hard to keep your bearings when you are there."



5. This IS the definitive performance of Mozart's symphonies!! The music is clear, clean and very crisp, ... absolutely magnificent!! The orchestral timing are discernibly perfect and utterly precise (factors which determine the distinctly robust sound of the performing instrument).

   This undoubtedly has to be one of Sir Neville's best conducting effort, and the orchestra's best performance. They played as though they were playing for GOD.

   Sublime perfection!!

   Like Sir Neville, Josef Krips has demonstrated what it means being a consummate maestro. They set the standard for others to aspire.

   Mozart!! What can one say about genius! His music says it all. It will turn any bad day into a good one!

1 comments about Guitar Heartsongs.

1. I have a number of Steven Pasero recordings. This recording and his Nutcracker Suite recordings are in my opinion his best. If you like good classical guitar you'll enjoy this recording. His later recording labeled "Pasero" in which he tried to branch out, adding voices and additional instrumentation was pretty much odd-ball elevator music. However, I really enjoy and often listen to "Guitar Heartsongs".

3 comments about A Cello Christmas.

1. Daryl Runswick's arrangements are at once classy, wonderfully imaginative and humourous. They range from the contemplative (making masterful use of the 'cello's melancholy sounds) to the downright jazzy. His earlier work in arranging for the King's Singers shines through. This is a 'must-have' in any Christmas collection. But don't wait for Christmas - hey, this stuff is good listening at any time.



2. I love this album! It is a wonderful combination of cellos and voices, old and new music.



3. This is one of my favorite holiday albums. The choice of Christmas music is unusual. The sound of multiple cellos is warm and rich. Great background or foreground for any holiday activity.