Customer Reviews

The 5 Browns

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

After I purchased this CD/DVD combo, I brought it yesterday to a church where I go to rehearse for Sunday services. Everybody who saw the DVD portion of this disc was blown away. A friend of mine kept shaking his head and saying, "Where did I go wrong?" He had wanted to learn the piano but found he couldn't. (Fortunately he went on to become an airline pilot for TWA, so he didn't do so badly.) But that left the rest of us scratching our heads over how it is that these kids are so wonderfully talented, and the rest of us aren't. They're so young, and yet any one of them can play a 19th century technical monster with all the aplomb and grace of a Vladimir Ashkenazy or a Marc-Andre Hamelin. What gives with these kids?
Well, for one thing, they are all very devoted to their craft, spending as much as 6 or more hours a day practicing, and that helps. (I don't even spend 6 hours a day watching television except when it snows like today and I can't get out.) For another, they are very much in tune with each other. Now I've heard recordings of so-called monster concerts before (i.e. concerts where 16 pianists are all banging away at once on eight pianos.) Those concerts always sounded like you were really listening to 16 different pianists who were only slightly together. But with the Browns, the sound is so together that it sounds like what I'm listening to is a single pianist who just happens to have ten arms and hands and fifty fingers.
So my best recommendation is that you buy this album and play it for your friends and watch their reactions. Then they'll want to buy their own copies, hopefully, unless they try to steal yours like one of my friends did. You will not be disappointed.

I usually allow myself one gimmicky classical album a year. I usually purchase more than one, but that's another story. When Is aw the cover of the CD for THE FIVE BROWNS: a group of young people who resemble the kid who mows your lawn, the nice young person who waits on you at the coffee shop, or the girl every boy has a crush on-I took a closer look and wondered what type of music would come from five people playing the piano. It may be marketed as gimmicky, but it is anything but a gimmick. These two brothers and three sisters are gifted musicians who are equally as gifted as an ensemble as they are as soloists. While the goal of the album is to entertain, and while entertaining inspire young people to be interested in classical music, people young and old can appreciate the musicianship if these young people. One of the things I appreciated most about this collection is its quality. So often classical collections geared to younger audiences "dumbs down" the music so to speak. It does not respect the intelligence of the young audience and is completely lost on an older audience. The selections are good choices for any audience, and only the liner notes and cover are blatantly geared to a youthful audience.

The music is entertaining and worth the price of the disc alone, but it is a dual disk that has music on one side and a DVD on the other. The DVD contains two selections but also includes an interview with these young people who have personalities that are as engaging as the music. I am willing to bet that we will hear from these young people again, either as soloists or as an ensemble.

It's exciting to be the first to review the CD of such great new artists! The 5 Browns are amazing, not only in their musicianship, but in their personalities as well! The efforts they have put in to reach the point they are at today are incredible, and the true bond between brothers and sisters is what gives their performance the added sense of unity and oneness.

I would recommend this CD to any who are interesed in learning more about classical music, as well as the veteran listener. The fresh, vibrant approach brought by the youthfullness of the performers is refreshing - in a way, the piano becomes "cool" again.

Enjoy the music, and share it with a friend!

The 5 Browns are undeniably terrific pianists! In listening to them play, one can instantly hear that they are communicative artists with lots of enthusiasm and a big heart.

Furthermore, they successfully bring youthful joy and relevancy to classical music -- something often missing in today's classical concerts. Just think -- back when "classical piano recitals" were actually popular (say the 1830s - 1900), this is how music was presented. Chopin, Liszt, Clara Schumann, Thalberg, Tausig, Alkan, and Gottschalk (to hardly name a few) performed and composed music for 2, 3, 4, and even 16 pianos all the time. Anyone who might want to call such a thing, say, a "circus act" ought to reconsider -- it's authentic performance practice, it's engaging, it adds variety to the concert experience (not to mention a great climax), and it generates the palpable excitement of interaction. Kudos to the Browns for the brilliantly executed revival!!

The performances on this CD are excellent. The 5 Browns are amazing. That being said, please be warned before you buy this CD. It's not a standard CD. The CD music side will _not_ play in many CD players. The package itself warns you that the CD does not conform to the compact disc standard. Unfortunately there's no way to know that until you've already bought the CD. DualDiscs are a nice idea, but the copy protection technologies they employ are draconian- this CD will not play in my car or on my computer. Avoid, and wait until they release a real CD.

I purchased this cd after I was intrigued by a television commercial. It is now my favorite cd. I have it always playing in my car as I drive back and forth to work and then bring it into the house to play the dvd portion on my television. The music is brilliant and musicians scintillating. I only hope that the Five Browns debut cd is so successful that there are many more to follow. If you are going to buy one CD this year it should be the Five Browns.

This CD/DVD was incredible! As I listened to the music for the first time, the first thought that came to mind was "what joy and energy [the music was played with]!" Then I watched the DVD and could not help being blown away by the fun, fantasitc, five Browns!

For a young person who enjoys many types of music, this CD was one of the best additions to my classical library! It thrills me every time I listen. For my Dad and brothers it was also a joy, and you know what they say about a thing of beauty... I greatly look forward to another album by the Browns.

NOTE: I had no trouble whatsoever converting the CD tracks into MP3's and burning a copy disc.

BUYER BEWARE! When the CD Cover warns you that the "...audio side of this disc does not conform to CD specifications and therefore not all DVD and CD players will play the audio side of this disc." THEY ARE DEAD SERIOUS. I bought the album, tried it in FIVE different CD and CD/DVD players - NONE of them would play the CD. Fortunately, the retailer who I bought the CD/DVD from was willing to allow me to return it (sounds like they have had similar problems!) The 5 Browns are great artists, however, it is VERY disconcerting that their CD producers/manufacturers are putting these kind of limitations on their product.

The Brown's are simply great!

They have done more for classical music than you can imagine.

This CD-ROM is great.

Excellent music listening for the entire family.

The other reviewers have shared appropriate thoughts regarding this group of very talented musicians. To my untrained ear, their performances left me speachless. This is an amazing disc and wonderful music. I did want to comment on the ingenious DualDisc technology. Since I am a fan of multichannel/high resolution musical releases, I believe DualDisc might be the savior of surround music. I believe any time someone can offer such hybrid technology as DualDisc provides that utilize consumers' existing playback equipment, the more satisfied customers and sales will result. To have a compact disc and a multi-channel sound mix, along with videos is a heavenly combination. Thus far, the DualDiscs have performed flawlessly on every CD and DVD player I own. I suspect only ancient equipment would have problems with these discs.