Search - Johann Pachelbel, George Frederick Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach :: Pachelbel's Canon: Baroque Favorites

Not bad for an "excerpt" cd

B. Fullerton | 04/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This cd does not demonstrate, as the previous reviewer reports, "how it's supposed to sound", because Leppard's arrangements are just that: ARRANGEMENTS and ADAPTATIONS of many famous baroque pieces. The fact is that Pachelbel's canon is not scored for massed strings with additional viola parts, as found on this disc. Handel's "Sarabande" from his harpsichord suite in d minor is for HARPSICHORD, not a group of strings accompanied by harpsichord. The list could go on, but suffice it to say: For all my criticism, this cd, "Great Performances" is very good, with excellent arrangements and great sound for an old recording. I would suggest it to anyone looking for "familiar" sounding recordings of these pieces, but to those who want an authentic recording of baroque "favorites", you must allow yourself to purchase the cd "Pachelbel Canon" conducted by Christopher Hogwood with the Academy of Ancient Music. Read my review of Hogwood's Cd to learn more."

Extremely Short But Good Sound Quality!

Frederick Baptist | Singapore | 05/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although the arrangements are very different from the way these great compositions were originally written, this is still a very enjoyable listen and is a great sampler of the Baroque genre of Classical music for those new to the field. The movie "Ordinary People" introduced the masses to Leppard's version of "Canon" which has since become the most familiar and favorite one.



What's good about this collection is also that you get along with the usual pieces that you'd expect to find on any best of Baroque compilation such as Bach's "Air" and Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" gems such as my favourite piece here, Vivaldi's "Largo" the melody of which is brilliantly played on classical guitar and is probably one of the most emotionally beautiful pieces of classical music you'll ever hear.



Overall, the sound quality is very good too for an undigitally remastered cd and the reason is explained on the back of the cover which says the recordings have been digitally transferred from "newly remixed original session tapes" and seeing as how the oldest material here was recorded in 1975 by which time they had quite decent sound recording technology translates into great sound quality overall.



The problem with most "good" classical music by the giants such as Bernstein and Von Karajan is that they were recorded decades ago and many times before the 50s on terrible equipment and sometimes worse, in mono! and so you'll have to imagine how good they must have sounded live in the concert hall because they sound horrible on disc.



Final verdict: recommended for the surprisingly good sound quality for a classical disc and as a Baroque sampler (albeit quite short playing time) for those curious and new to the idiom."

My Favorite Baroque CD

Mother of Five | Alexandria, VA United States | 02/28/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Could be just that I'm sentimental, but I bought this album on cassette in 1984 and it is finally giving up the ghost. I am ecstatic to find it on CD. The combination of performances on this album is superb and I always go back to this album if I want to hear "how it is supposed to be done"As for technical quality of the recording, I can't say - I am just thrilled to be upgrading to CD."