Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Invest elsewhere, October 13, 2004
If 'fraudulent' weren't such a strong word, and couldn't possibly be construed as libelous, then I'd use it in connection with this product and its packaging. But is, and it can, so I won't.
In all honesty, if one is a Virgil Fox fan (as is the person for whom I bought this DVD as a present), then one would most likely be happy with the playing, which is good, accurate, well articulated and all those other things one associates with good organ playing. The organ, naturally, has a fabulous sound, and the general sound quality is also fine, except that the commentary spoken by the performer (or whoever contributed it) on the CD is practically inaudible.
But the packaging -- which includes the DVD for which I bought the thing in the first place -- is really too bad. You'd do a whole lot better do go out and buy a kid's kaleidoscope at a 5-and-10-cent-store for under a dollar, and settle for the CD, because that's what this packaging boils down to. The entire DVD is occupied by this roiling kaleidoscope of color, with the organ playing background music. I thought it was a terrible waste of time, energy, and, I'm sorry to say, my money.
I've never yet bought an unsatisfactory product through AMAZON.COM, having been led up the garden path by the advertising... but I guess there has to be a first time for everything. And I will probably never learn that some of the respondents who write critiques on the AMAZON site just don't know what they're talking about. The person who commented favorably on this product sounded well informed, but unfortunately that critique was just as misleading as the blurb on the product.
This merchandise is an insult to the memory of a gifted (if eccentric) performer. If you're in the CD, video and DVD collecting game for the enjoyment of the music, get another recording of these pieces. This one doesn't cut it, and the advertising is, to say the very least, suspect.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great CD! Not so good DVD., January 17, 2008
The performances are fun, full of energy, and fresh. This recording of the Reubke Sonata is one of THE BEST! The audio quality is very good during the music, but not so great during the spoken introductions. It's shame too, because the Richard Morris's intro's are funny and witty.
The DVD in this set is a waist. It's the same music as in on the CD minus the spoken intro's. What makes it really bad is the cheap kaleidoscope imagery. It would have been far more interesting to just show a video of the concert.
The organ here (Spivey Hall, outside Atlanta, GA) is of the best Ruffatti organs ever built. Solo voices sound rich, but the ensembles tend to have metallic quality that's typical of this organ builder.
The track listing on the CD:
1) Fantasy in f minor K608, Mozart
2) Claire de lune, Vierne
3) Sonata in c minor (Pslam 94), Reubke
4) Londonderry Air, Hebble
5) Grande Piece Symphonique, Franck
The album would be worth 5 stars if they wouldn't have included the horrible DVD. Get this for the CD and throw the DVD away.
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