milos

You have to appreciate early music, this is very authentic, even though a saxaphone is used. Some fun parts, some more spiritual in tone. Very skilled musicians, excellent if you like medieval music.

Born in Salzburg before it was a part of Austria, Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus (translated Gottlieb, or Amadeus) Sigismundus Mozart (1756-1791), is represented on the Naxos edition of "The Best of Mozart," by various recording artists (1998). It features 14 of the composer's more popular pieces, purveying the novice with a glorious snippet of his 626 work oeuvre.

The fidelity of Naxos recordings is uncontested, and at the bargain price of only $8.49, one cannot go wrong. Perhaps that's why some of the lesser known, nevertheless productive, maestros/ensembles, like Andras Ligeti conducting the Concentus Hungaricus with pianist Jeno Jando, are utilized here, in lieu of, say, the more famous Sir Colin Davis directing the English Chamber Orchestra with pianist Alicia De Larrocha.

Swedish born American psychologist, Carl Emil Seashore, Ph.D., LL.D., Sc.D., D.Litt. (1866-1949), penned "Psychology of Music" (1938); a copiously illustrated, 408 page, dated--yet helpful, text on the subject; supplying the peruser with the mental tools required to discern fabulous music.

So, armed with Seashore's book, I wondered just what I should be seeking when I'm immersed in a Mozart score. Bear with me as I describe four of the basic building blocks of music the author delves.

First, there is the most discussed and diverse musicological issue--harmony, and that which is, for Seashore, inextricably interwoven with it--melody. Herein he speaks of consonance--stability, versus dissonance--instability, through the conceiving of specific number and size of intervals in the musical scales employed in a musical score. Track 13 on this CD, the Andante (2nd movement) from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (theme from the 1967 movie, "Elvira Madigan") amply demonstrates his facility for blending perfectly the fusion of strings and woodwinds; and notice, too, the vicissitudinous succession of the right tones that are easily remembered for a catchy tune.

Next, regarding rhythm, Seashore talks about its grouping through intensity and time of sense impressions that recur, offering pleasure to the ear with habitual attention, and feelings of balance, freedom and power. It agitates and yet pacifies; being the backbone of life. This is quite evident on track 6, the Molto allegro (1st movement) from Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor, with the rousing buildup of all the carefully metered changes the orchestra provides.

Finally, timbre or tone colour, as we know, is what differentiates the sound of two different instruments or voices when their loudness and pitch are equal. The author speaks of rich tones commensurate with the number and preponderance of its overtones. I seek what the various colours the instruments selected in a piece, if they are apropos, mentally evoke, in me. Mozart crafted moody soundscapes, as in the disc's 7th selection, the Adagio (2nd movement) from his Clarinet Concerto in A major, wherein one can appreciate the strings, clarinet and other wind instruments with their various, characteristic tone qualities.

And the author speaks of how Schumann, Mozart, Berlioz and Wagner (the latter two, whose "The Best of" Naxos releases, I've reviewed elsewhere) were affected by mental imagery (a term not then in vogue), in a tonal world. Seashore quotes English biographer Edward Holmes, from his volume "The Life of Mozart, Including His Correspondence" (1845), who quoted Mozart, who, regarding how he created a work, said, "'...my subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined...so that I can survey it like a fine picture....the parts...I hear...all at once....'" Therefore, as Seashore declares, "Take out the image from the musical mind and you take out its very essence." True, and further, I believe that, behind it all, for Mozart, et al, "Music is...a play upon feeling with feeling" as the author also states.

For scientific insight, read Carl Seashore's book, "Psychology of Music," but, for the vibrant, emotive picture, purchase the music: the Naxos CD "The Best of Mozart" by various recording artists, where cosmic waterfalls crash against the hush of glazed instruments.

i love this music it gave me chills thats all i can say about mozart! love it love it love it!!!!!!!!!!

It is a well-known fact among the classical music recording industry that this CD label: Naxos, is a household name. Now celebrating their 20th anniversary, this great BUDGET label is far more than JUST a budget label. Naxos has continued to pump out very many QUALITY recordings. Take it from me, I currently own aprox. 500 classical CDs, of which at least 100 are from this wonderful label. Mozart is my favorite composer, and I currently have over 20 Naxos CDs by the great composer. On this CD you will find many of his more famous and popular works, all performed quite nicely by a wide variety of quality artists. You simply cannot go wrong when you combine the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus with the marvelous Naxos classical label. For a sampling of some of the great Naxos CDs, see my two lists. You will enjoy this one for sure!

If you have ever listened to Goran Bregovic, chances are you are already an addict, in which case this music should be flowing in your veins right now. If you reached this link by a cosmic accident or coincidence, the gods have blessed you and you must buy this album immediately. Totally insane and totally wonderful.

I'm listening to this music for the last week, and I'm like in a fairytale. It's a great music, the performers are quite good.
The language (roma) at which they sing, has been translated in the book in English, to give you idea of the libretto, but even if you don't know it, there's no way to escape the melody. It will chase you, because it's easy to remember, and it's perfect.
Goran has made yet another masterpiece!

I've been listening repeatedly to this regal collection of Imperial Fanfares for two days now. I have to say that I have a strong taste for pomp and regal imperial musical scores, and I love it. Admittedly the recording studio sound quality leaves something to be desired. But the content! Magnifique! Tasteful and wonderful!

Four star rating.

Ken Cybulska

Even though this was recorded just a couple of years ago the sound quality is not that good. It sounds like it was recorded in the 70s and outside with the microphones far away. There is nothing too deep here and all the fanfares are fairly short, just lasting a few seconds it seems. I got tired of this pretty quickly and it doesn't stand up to repeated listenings and to be honest a lot of the stuff on here sounds the same. The performances are ok, but nothing special, they sound kind of flat, and they don't really do anything to make this sound exciting like it should. Maybe if the performance and sound was better I would of enjoyed this more.

This is what you'd have to call a specialty CD. It consists entirely of fanfares--nothing but fanfares--some of them as short as 10 seconds long. An interesting idea for a CD, perhaps, but I would guess it is primarily for directors of costume dramas, period pieces, and ceremonies of various sorts.

There are 76 fanfares on the disc covering composers ranging from Monteverdi to a trio of modern composers, all of the latter associated with the CD itself. They are played by an outfit called 'The Art of the Trumpet,' a coalescence of 24 Austrian trumpeters and a couple of timpanists (and on occasion a single trombone). Some of the fanfares use the whole group, there are others for solo trumpet, and for all combinations in between. They are led by a trumpeter from Vienna named Leonhard Leeb who is not only one of the trumpeters but also one of the composers--the other two modern composers are Leon Bolten and Joel Modart (I almost typed 'Mozart' but no!...).

Other composers include Salieri, Lully, Biber, J.H. Schmelzer, Pezel (often spelled Petzel here in America), Philidor (yes, the chess master of that name), Marc-Antoine Charpentier, and the multi-talented A. Nony Mous.

The performances are appropriately stirring, ceremonial, attention-grabbing, even mournful (one, Bolten's 'Wrapped in Mystery,' was dedicated to the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy of September 11, 2001). I would strongly suggest you not listen to the whole CD at one sitting--actually, it's hard to imagine anyone would--because too much B flat can fry your brain unless you yourself are a brass player or bagpiper.

For what it is, though, this CD is excellent.

Review by Scott Morrison

It's refreshing to see contemporary composers return to writing music with themes and making a conscious effort to search for beauty. If 20th century-music reflected the political and cultural disintegration of European society and its surrender to nihilistic forces of fascism, Nazism and communism, then one can read this composition by a Slovakian composer as a return to serenity and cultural well-being, a positive development.
The composer speaks in the liner notes of performing musical archaeology, delving into the past to come up with new insights. For much of this CD, he succeeds. There are moments of great beauty. The first song in Yiddish I found particularly striking. Soprano Iva Bittova has a voice of rare purity.
Where I feel it still falls a little short is in a certain blandness -- a lack of bite. The Hallelujahs all sound a touch formulaic after a while, not inhabited by the same fervor and religious desperation that inspired the Baroque musicians whose work is being imitated. It's a little too sweet and occasionally borders on the edge of cute. We are tourists with Godar as our guide, visiting an ancient cathedral. He points out the various features and we wonder what it might have been like to worship there.
Still, this is very much worth listening to and I did enjoy it.

If you were brought up Catholic, and you like music a little off the beaten path like Gregorian chant, you'll enjoy this album. Probably the best piece is Regina Coeli, powerfully sung by Iva Bittova in Latin. A simple melody, it repeats, yet changes it's harmony, with variations on it's musical theme. Towards the end, Iva's voice explodes in an Alleluia that will take your breath away.

Several of the other songs are in Slovak; and are more moody and sonorous. The composer, Vladimir Godar, explains his music on the CD as the "protagonist who is a Woman-Mother (the Blessed Virgin) who gives Life (Magnificat), shapes (Lullabies), buries and mourns (Stabat Mater) and praises (Regina Coeli). A good summary, I thought.

Beautiful. Contemplative, lovely music. Aside from the staccato violins on track 2 (Magnificat), this is a sublime, ethereal listen.

This album is so beautiful & relaxing. Anyone who can appreciate fine music, will surely appreciate the sometimes haunting but always beautiful melodies in this album.

I heard this on my local NPR affiliate & had to buy it.

ROCK ON!!

If you enjoy the works of Arvo Part, Gorecki or John Tavener, then read no further and simply add this amazing album to your cart. I heard it on the radio and the announcer seemed to know that many people would be calling in for details of this album so he gave all the information needed to purchase it. I ordered my copy immediately. The singer may not have the most gorgeous voice; hers is more suited for pop music or singing folk songs, but the passion in her voice will astonish you. Every track of this album has a meditative, mesmerizing quality, reminiscent of Gorecki's 3rd. However, it is not as minimalist. One track brings to mind Baroque music. Having little knowledge of Godar's work, I was pleasantly surprised by the striking lyricism of his music. If you are searching for modern music with atonal dissonance, then this is probably not something you'd probably enjoy. It's not actually a crossover album either. I would simply place this album in a category all by itself. I don't think there is anything like it out there. The first aspect that will strike you is the simplicity of Bittova's voice. She has an unusual child-like timbre, somewhat smoky. Every track features her singing the compositions with the utmost commitment. The composer/singer collaboration is very evident. This is one of those albums that is immediately accessible and you will listen to it many times. The cover of the CD contains a quote from Rob Cowan, BBC Radio 3, "It's as if Janacek, Gorecki and Monteverdi have settled on a universal language. A wonderful listen." WONDERFUL indeed and quite sublime...

Sabbath's music interpreted by this quartet seems a lot more repetitive and ordinary than I would have thought it would. Maybe another quartet could give it more depth. But what do I know? It's a nice novelty - I recommend buying it if you have been listening to Sabbath as much as I have. But, I have to agree with the fellow who pointed out the hack assembly line quality of this quartet series. Also, I am not sure they picked the more orchestral Sabbath songs to perform (i.e. Killing Yourself to Live, or Spiral Architect).

I have been a Black sabbath fan for a long time. I was in Orchestra for nine years. I was so glad to find this CD on amazon. I haven't bought it yet, but I was wondering if you can buy, the violin score (part) for black sabbath? I would love to be able to play these songs myself.

Pure classical strings: Violin, Cello, Viola, Contrabass. It's suitable for elevator & dentist music. Not bad but the music is lacking body, it feels empty and needs either more instruments or a deeper more pronounced bass. The high pitch strings do tend to get on your nerves after a while. The artist did a decent job on the songs but I don't think Black Sabbath comes out right with strings. The CD has 10 songs of which 9 are Sabbath and 1 is an original composition named Sacrament (short but ok). The CD really needed more songs to give a better incentive to purchase. Paranoid and Sabbath Bloddy Sabbath are my favorites in string.

Black Sabbath's music lends itself so perfectly to this kind of a tribute, you can't help but think maybe Ozzy, Tony, Geezer, and Bill planned this from the beginning. Not likely, but still. This is one of the most natural sounding String Tributes out there. The slow, plodding, doom-like riffs translate amazingly to a string quartet. Check out the sound clips of Electric Funeral and Iron Man for the best examples. Even Paranoid was impressive, and that's not really a song you would expect to translate very well. In all, a great pickup Ozzy & Sabbath fans, both old and new.

This recording is very disappointing as far as adding a new exciting edge to Sabbath's great tunes. I'm 40 years old and have listened to Sabbath since my early teens. This is nothing but elevator music done on an assembly line. The main part of the strings are playing the tune while another one plays out the voice pattern over top.Real tacky and not very original.Once I recieved the CD I found an order form for the String Quartet's other cheesey renditions-Tributes to Queen,Zeppelin, U2, etc not to mention tributes to Bjork and Enya (who the hell are they?).This sound was like listening to castrated Sabbath music.There was no way to build up any dynamics or power using these instruments and they can't even begin to capture the raw emotion that makes Sabbath's music stand out. I love good string work but this left me wanting to reach through the speakers so I could grab those violins and smash them into a million pieces.As a hard core Sabbath fan I would strongly recommend buying the CD by Rondellus called Sabbatum if you want a unique attack on Sabbath music. It is very well done on medieval instruments and sung in Latin .

I wasn't expecting much from this, but it's actually quite fun, providing a refreshingly hummable take on Bowie's biggest hits.

Being an avid Bowie fan and an equally avid classical music fan, how could I resist this cd ? I was extremely disappointed in the sound quality and the musicianship.. it sounded as if the musicians had no style of their own, they were mechanical... The only good thing about this cd is it makes a nice coffee table coaster.

O.K., so I know these quartet tributes are not everybody's idea of a great "tribute", but I love these things. I have several, and this one stands up with the better ones. Obviously, it makes little or no sense to have CD's dedicated to some of these artists( I mean, Matchbox 20?.........Oh well) The Bowie stands up with the Tommy and the Floyd discs as something I could see myself going out to see. I've always taken some of this music very seriously, and it feels good to hear it presented in this format. Not for everybody, but then what really is?

Theodor Fürchtegott Kirchner (1823-1903) was a talented but minor composer of the Schumann/Brahms school whose addiction to gambling and spendthrift habits led him to extreme penury in his later years; indeed, his publisher and friends, including Brahms, took up a collection to pay off his debts. He was universally admired as a marvelous musician -- in fact, he was one of the piano accompanists for rehearsals for the initial production of Wagner's 'Ring', even though he was not an acolyte of the Wagner/Liszt school -- but could never hold a job. Nor could he maintain a marriage. One little gossipy tidbit is that he is thought to have had an affair with Clara Schumann who had been widowed some years earlier. He wrote reams of music, primarily character pieces for piano such as Theodor Kirchner: Fruhlingsgruss, Op. 56 / Adagio quasi Fantasia, Op. 12 / Praludien, Op. 9, Nos. 1-6. He also wrote extensively for piano trio, including piano trio arrangements of the two Brahms string sextets.

The pieces on this CD, played beautifully by the Arcadio Trio, are all rather brief, the longest being around four minutes, but most clocking in at about two minutes. They are all characterized by unfailingly beautiful and memorable melodies, expert counterpoint -- especially in the charming 'Six Pieces in the Form of a Canon' -- and lucid form. They can be lyrical and delicate, humorous and even satirical, and at the worst more than a little sentimental. This is not deathless music, but it is so expert of its kind that it can reward the listener who either half-listens or brings full analytical powers to bear on it. It and the similar piano music mentioned above are among the first music of Kirchner's I recall hearing. I am now determined to hear the Brahms sextet arrangements and some more of his piano music.

If you like the character pieces of Schumann, you will like the music on this CD.

Scott Morrison