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Superb

Richard M. Rollo Jr. | Montebello, CA USA | 10/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Last summer I had several nights of terrible insomnia. I turned on the FM classical music station; something I don't do very often. They played several selections from this CD. Both the compositions and the performances were unforgettable. After receiving and listening to the cd, all of these are excellent compositions well performed.



This is a collection of Fritz Kreisler recordings going as far back as 1910. 1910! You might call those recordings Lucky to Have Any Fidelity. Yet you can hear performances that almost certainly don't exist in any other form.



So these do indeed sound like 78 rpm records played on a 78 record player. The transfer engineers disclaim any attempt to use "Radical methods to eliminate all surface noise...." My own experience with using equalizers is that it is usually better to "leave it flat" or as is.



Some of the comments indicate that people are bothered by it; I suppose young people who have only listened to digital recordings. If you only listen to perfect recordings, you will miss 90 per cent of the best music performances ever recorded, no matter the category. Just imagine people in the 1920's buying their first record player and hearing Kreisler's Liebesfreud while sitting on their sofa and thinking: could life be any better than this?"

Virtuoso fiddle player

David A. Landes | Ballwin, Missouri United States | 03/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Probably the most definitive collection of Kreisler's music put on cd. Remarkably good sound quality considering the era in which these recordings were made (early 20th Century). Kreisler was maybe the greatest violinist since Nicolo Paganini. The power of Kreisler's fiddle even pacified the sinister Ty Cobb (the most feared baseball player during that period, who sharpened his spikes before games to run down and shred the flesh of opposing players). Yes Cobb hauled around a phonograph on road trips, and spent endless hours alone being entertained by Fritz Kreisler in hotel rooms. A small but marvelous treasure for anyone who appreciates the majestic energy of music. All is well."