Customer Reviews

Best of the Millennium: Top 40 Classical Hits

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Most of the tracks were chopped down to 3-4 minutes so some of the best parts of the compositions are missing. I don't know what I was thinking trying to buy 40 classical songs on two CD's. If you really want to enjoy the music you would do better to purchase a CD with fewer, but better quality tracks.

I wanted to select a "best of" classical music compilation and read through Amazon's reviews to make my selection. This CD met my needs perfectly. If the songs are edited, I can't tell. Many are familiar but not "cliche". The version of "Canon in D" included is a little too fast for my tastes, and that is my only dissapointment. Transistion from song to song is smooth with the exception of the sleep-inducing "Moonlight Sonata" being immediately followed by the bombastic "March of the Toreadors".
The use of human voice (opera) is limited, I feel, to those songs which were originally written to include it. (Ex: Halleluja Chorus).

The only good thing I can say is that it includes about 10 songs I personally love.
But I can also say it includes at least 5 songs that are extremely cheesy.
The rest of the songs are in the so-so category :)
But what I find really dissappointing is the volume leveling, its terrible!
Just to mention a few, Monlight Sonata (Beethoven) and Clair De Lune (Debussy) are barely hearable, increasing the volume not only causes white noise but it will break your ears when playing one of the loud songs (like the March Of The Toreadors).

Watch out for the volume leveling mentioned in another review. Surely the compliers could have come up with a better sort order than by composer. The change in tempo/volume between pieces makes it impossible to enjoy. My two CD's ended up in the trash.

Ken

This set is a must have for anyone who enjoys classical music. It is a fabulous collection of many famous classical works. Even those who are not familiar with classical are likely to recognize several of the songs; it is a good introductory to the genre. I recommend it to everyone!

In my years of experience teaching Fine Arts to high school students, I know that the majority, if not all, of the music included on this album is commonly used in collge music appreciation courses. This is an excellent sample of truly all the "greatest hits" of classical music. My students enjoy listening to the music and have later told me when take their required music apreciation courses in college that they "already know it all" because of this CD! The recordings are clear, the selections are passionate, and the listener will gain a familiarity with all of the most commonly heard classical music used in tv commercials, movies, etc.
I recommend this album, along with the boxed set, "Age of the Classics" for anyone who is interested in becoming familiar with the most famous staples of classical music.

As a simple beginning introduction to classical music, this affordable dual CD is a solid sampler.

Taking many easy to recognize pieces, the editors have identified where one may have heard them before. Certainly almost all these works have been heard in several famous and well known films.

I bought it solely to be able to hear a full orchestration of one of Satie's Gymnopodea's. And needless to say the performance of that particular piece is exceptional here.

I have also used this CD and its many selections in my drama classes to provide stimuli for many types of scenes: improvisational and formal alike. It also helps greatly as mood music for rehearsal and preparation. Certainly "Carmina Burana" really makes Shakespeare's "Once More into the Breach" speech from Henry V rock and roll.

Is this an end all and be all collection? Absolutely not. But it is a great place to begin.

I've always been a lover of classical music, but at the age of 16, I didn't have quite the experience with it I wanted. I could sing along with any famous classical piece, but get me to name the title or the composer, and I'd be at a complete loss.

Then this CD came into my life.

I recognized about half of the songs, and they all appealed to me. What to do? Of course I bought it straightaway. ^_^ Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I'd encountered the vast majority of these pieces before, and I liked amost every one. Though some of the songs are not the composers' best in my opinion, and though many of the pieces are not in their complete form, it is a great boost for the beginning classical collector's shelf. =)

This two disc sets is honestly one of the best purchases that I made to add to my classical music collection. From Placido Domingo's rendition of the popular "Nessun Dorma" to Liszt's "Liebestraume," these discs contain some of the greatest classical pieces that have appeared on television and the film arena. The booklet gives brief explanations of where each musical piece can be found. For instance, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries became well known after it was utilized in Apocalypse Now, and Mascagni's Intermezzo was heard in the Godfather movie. This is truly a cd set that you'll be playing over and over.

I bought this cd not expecting to recieve such joy from it. the recordings are flawless and beautiful, and they go very well together on this cd... though i felt it was missing something.
personally, out of openion, these wold not all be on my 40 greatest compositions of the millenium. i was quite surprised that Bach's tacatto in D minor was not featured on this cd. my true feelings for this song are not the greatest, but many have argued it was one of the best compisitions written (i think i'll leave that to personal openion myself).
i read a review of someone saying it was just tired music from comercials... pitiful review i might add. just because something is worn out is not a horrible thing... we must defien what a classic means, and to me, if almost every person who has ever watched television knows this music from comercials, or for any other reason, then i would call it a classic. to tell you the truth, i don't think the world would be quite the same if all this calssic music hadn't been composed, and this cd is just a living reminder of that. Some of these reviews are also just a reminder of how narrow minded some people can be toward true classical music.
i loved the cd, but i only gave it 4 stars for my own personal reasons. i think that no cd should claim it has the best of something, becuase you might be minorly disapointed with the selection (i was, and if that offends any one, i am truely sorry). But it didn't stop me from enjoying this beautiful, ageless, music.