Customer Reviews

Classical Carols

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Biegel displays great artistry & sensitivity in his performance of these Christmas Carols merged with classical pieces. If you enjoy classical piano & songs of the season then this wonderful CD would be well worth your purchase. Selections range from soft & mellow to wildly exuberant & Mr. Biegel is equally a Master of both extremes! This CD comes highly recommended by me. In fact I've ordered 2 more to give as gifts:)

The classicals and carols are so intermingled-one fits right into the other. I play the CD many times and have also bought both books that Carolyne Taylor wrote from which Jeffrey Biegel plays so magnificently.

This album took my breath away, how intricately and masterfully Biegel weaved the classical piece with the Christmas carol. At points it is so surprising and insanely beautiful that it made me laugh out loud! The only con is the recording ... I bought the instant download CD and transferred it to my ipod. I listened to it in the car (and the car is new) and with some songs I had to turn the volume up to max and still had a hard time hearing. Not sure what was going on there...whether it's the recording or the digital album quality. I do highly recommend this album.

Music that will put you into the Christmas spirit. It is now my Christmas favorite. Wonderfully done and a perfect gift for the holidays.

I have several hundred piano Christmas cd's, and as soon as I heard this one, it immediately jumped to my "Top 10 Favorites" storage section. The combination of classical music and carols is fantastic. I would highly recommend this cd.

Four stars: Classical Carols is a lovely CD which blends familiar classical pieces with equally familiar traditional Christmas carols. Carolyne Taylor has chosen the pieces with obvious care and an exquisitely fine ear for the music. Sometimes gentle and lyrical, sometimes dramatic and soaring, the classical pieces segue seamlessly in and out of the carols. I actually found it a bit disconcerting at first, as I know most of these pieces very well and expected the next bar to follow as memory dictates. But now that I "know" the pieces as Taylor arranged them, they are becoming as familiar and pleasing as their standard counterparts.

Jeffrey Biegel renders the works beautifully, and the whole effect is one of effortless grace and musical mastery. You can check out excerpts of his other works at [..] and his website [...]

Now for the zero: I cannot recommend buying the CD, solely on the basis of the mechanical problems I've experienced. My first copy was prone to skipping. I returned it, but the replacement has the same flaw. Neither copy would play on my computer using the iTunes player (although Windows Media Player seemed to have no problems). With iTunes, the first 2 tracks played -- but nothing after that. When I tried to advance the tracks manually, the program stopped responding and had to be closed using Task Manager. Apparently iTunes couldn't read the CD. I've never heard of the Koch label and I wonder about the quality of manufacture. I'd be curious to know if others have experienced similar problems.

Classical Carols

Updated Oct. 22, 2010

It remains a mystery as to why my CD player could not play either the original CD or its replacement without skipping, or why iTunes on my PC couldn't "read" it. I burned a copy for myself (keeping the original as a master) and it does play with fewer glitches.

Happily, no one else seems to have this problem. The CD I purchased and gave as a gift played flawlessly. The comments below also indicate no problems with either this particular disc or the Koch label. Therefore, I'm updating my review to a well-deserved four stars to reflect the fact that this is a lovely CD, well worth adding to anyone's collection of classical and/or Christmas music.

Jeffery Biegel is recording under a new label - Steinway & Sons. His latest release is "Bach on a Steinway." Bach on a Steinway I've heard the preview and I'm definitely looking forward to adding that CD to my collection.