Customer Reviews

Forbidden Forest: Impressions of George Winston

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

 

 

Like the late 19th century French artists who painstakingly created their postimpressionist works dot by dot, George Winston succeeds admirably here in conjuring a portrait of sheer luminosity.
First-rate keyboard work, sonorous strings, and sometimes minimalist instrumentation richly convey shafts of light striking the forest floor, snowflakes dancing, rustling breeze, portentous clouds, and other natural phenomena. While occasionally formulaic, there are some enchanting melodies, and the overall sensation is thoroughly uplifting.
If you can't take that hike, or need an appropriate companion as you drive through the mountains, this is an excellent - and rejuvenating - CD to have.

I am absolutely in love with this CD. It has many stages of calm and peaceful feeling songs and others that are uplifting, making you feel like you would want to be a composser, waving your arms around to the beat. A great listening experience that you will soon want to repeat again and again.

While I think that the Taliesin Orchestra is a very talented group, I really prefer the Winston originals over the Forbidden Forest interpretations which I find somewhat ersatz and grandiose and lacking Winston's natural simplicity.

Unfortunately, this project wasn't the best idea. I suppose if you have every Winston record, and you want to hear a different-sounding version of the songs, then this might be worth it for you. If you somewhat guiltily listen to Winston, not sure whether it's mindless or special, you might wish to avoid this. The overproduction and synthesized feel of the disc make the work feel less authentic. Starting at the beginning, "Tamarack Pines" is a real failure here, for me. IT's one of my favorite Winston songs, for all of the amazing emotion he gets, from sheer tone. There's none of that here, save for some half-hearted attempts at getting you emotionally interested with string swells. Didn't happen. The piano piece has attack, staccato, you can feel the seasons pass over the tree. There was no staccato here for some reason, and no imagery either.

The rest of the album is less of a failure, if only because I wasn't so personally attached to any of the songs, and wasn't constantly comparing them to the originals. Obviously, it's going to have more variety of sound than the Winston solo piano versions. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not.

i really liked this cd of his my favorite was exerps of moon. this particular song he also did on solo piano on another cd and it wasn't as good as it is with the orchestra. i think you can really capture the feeling of the music better with the orchestra than with out it.

My husband & I first heard this CD in a New Age shop in Cape May NJ on our honeymoon. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to purchase it then. I'm thrilled to find it listed here as I'm buying a back up & one for the office. Its soothing but not sleep-inducing. I always end up feeling upbeat after listening to it run in the 'background' of our home on crazy mornings. I haven't heard the group's other collections - I'm looking forward to the arrival of my purchase!

I bought this album based on the outstanding quality of ORINCCO FLOW by The Taliesin Orchestra. I am not a fan of Winston's music, but took a chance with this album solely based upon Taliesin Orchestra. You cannot compare this music to their ORINCCO FLOW album. This music is meant to be descriptive of visual scenes...much as Richard Rogers was in his famous Victory at Sea albums. This is an album of full-bodied and robust music. On the other hand, if you are a Winston fan, you may feel some of this music afronts the artist. But it is good orchestral music meant to support a visual image.

This CD is powerful and moving. If you've ever listened to George Winston's recordings and found them favorable, BUY this CD. You won't be disappointed.