Customer Reviews

Holst: Suite No.1 & 2 / Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks / Bach: Fantasia in G

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It was nearly twenty-five years ago, but I can remember it as if it were yesterday. On a radio program of "new releases," a new recording of George Frederick Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks" was being played. It was a wind band performance, instrumented much as Handel called for originally. Since, as I recall, I was doing some household chores at the time, the music was largely in the background, sounding excellent but otherwise not particularly grabbing my attention.

Then, out of nowhere, THWUMP! A bass drum thwack that grabbed my attention like no other had before (and which my speakers thankfully survived). It took more than normal patience to await the conclusion of the performance to find out that what I had just heard was this premiere Telarc recording, led by an old-time musical hero of this wind ensemble music, Frederick Fennell. I had just been introduced to my first digitally-mastered recording (by stealth, if that matters), and I think I bought the LP the next day. And I know that I bought the CD version the minute I could put my hands on it, some half-dozen years later. Both versions remain in my library to this day.

Much to my delight, the LP turned out to also contain two of my favorite wind ensemble pieces (both of which I had the enjoyment of performing years earlier as a young instrumentalist): the two Suites for Band by Gustav Holst. Fennell had recorded these pieces about two decades earlier on a Mercury Living Presence LP, when he had been in charge of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. The sound on that Mercury LP was outstanding. But this first Telarc digitally-mastered LP was something else again.

Now, nearly a quarter-century later, this Fennell/Cleveland Winds recording still sounds fresh; it can still knock the wind out of those hearing it for the first time. Maestro Fennell keeps on going, recording and giving seminars in his golden years. (He was born in 1914, so you do the math. He's not a young 'un.) Telarc is well-established as one of the very best independent classical-music labels in the industry.

And the Telarc bass drum that "started it all"? Well, perhaps it's apocryphal that one drum was carried from venue to venue, to provide that "THWUMP" when needed. Then again, perhaps not.

Bob Zeidler

I bought this recording 20 years ago, in the fall of 1984. That was the day I bought my first CD player. Being an old "band nerd," I hustled home to hook the player up to my amplifier's auxiliary inputs. Well, what I heard was just miraculous. Terrific wind players and percussionists, playing their hearts out. And all of the sound came blasting at me through my slightly upscale equipment. I had never felt a bass drum whomp in my belly before on a recording. Well, this recording did it for me. The amazing thing is that it sounds as good today as it did in '84, when I was a mere 30 years old and had brown, not gray, hair.

Buy this. It is an historically significant recording. And it is worth five times the asking price.

Although I'm 40 years old now, I spent my musical youth performing the Holst Suites in high school honor bands and in college symphonic band (French horn). The Holst Suites were my all-time favorite pieces, and still are. In fact, this was the first CD I purchased when I bought my first CD player in the late '80s. I've given away, traded, and sold lots of my CDs through the years, but this one stands the test of time. It remains in my collection, and close to my heart. For true band music lovers, this will be the cornerstone of your collection. Wow, the memories this recording of the Holst Suites brings back for me.....

I bought this CD, my first, specifically for the works by Holst.
Telarc's engineering is well known, but I have yet to hear a better rendition of Holst's wind symphony suites then these.
Fennell infuses these works with a crispness and life that stand above the rest. You will never let go of this CD, I promise you.

It is rare these days to hear an ensemble sound as if they actually enjoy what they are playing. This albumn has that sound. This is my favorite recording of Suite in E Flat, my favorite piece of music. There are technically better recordings, but none (that I have heard) with the "musicallity" that Fennell brings out. The horn "rip" in Suite in F positively has a grin on it! These are musicians, not instrumental technicians. Such a wonderful difference.

I too, confess that I was a band geek in my youth. I played euphonium in High School and loved the fact that the Holst suites feature some wonderful parts for euphonium. As soon as I found this recording I snapped it up...and have played it over and over. I put it on my MP3 player and is with me wherever I go walking. This recording encouraged me to buy a euphonium and join my local community band...after 30 years of separation from band! This month we are performing one of these Holst suites in concert, so I've been practicing along with this CD. The recording is A440 tuned so you can do that...of course, IF you can keep up with the virtuoso performance! It is really inspiring! I agree that this would be a bargain at 5-times this price!

I'm not the only reviewer here who spent a musical youth performing this music; Holst's Suites No. 1 and 2 (esp. the latter) were on the program every summer and I never tired of them. Indeed, I became so familiar with them that this CD -- which I never tire of playing now -- serves as a convenient way for me to test stereo stores' sound systems. I also grew up hearing of the reputation of Frederick Fennell, and this album, recorded in Severence Hall's acoustics, is the conjunction of a great composer, a great ensemble, a great recording forum and a great director. A brilliant album, matched only by Fennell's "Stars and Stripes" recording of similar music.

Man what a Bass drum!!!! The CD's worth it just hear Fennell's favorite instrument played with such enthusiasm. A classic every band lover should own.

This is the best CD I've listened to in a long time. Not only does it have the 2 Holst pieces, there is also Handel's Royal Fireworks.

Well, there is quite a story attached to this CD. I got hold of a second hand Lp at a flea market, Frederick Fennell, The Cleveland Symphonic Winds, Macho Marches. It was a knock-out and on reading the cover notes I notice that this Lp, Holst: Suite No. 1 & 2/ Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks / Bach Fantasia in G etc. etc. was regarded by audiophiles to be one of the best pressings ever! So, I had to have it, and now I have. Not on Lp, but on CD. That's OK too I guess. Anyway I cannot be more pleased. Great! Best Regards, Ray