Pachelbel Greatest Hits

Johann Pachelbel (Composer), Tomaso Albinoni (Composer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), George Frederick Handel (Composer), Antonio Vivaldi (Composer), Charles Theodore Pachelbel (Composer), Henry Purcell (Composer), Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Composer), Berlin Philharmonic Brass Ensemble (Performer), Canadian Brass (Performer), Washington Chamber Soloists (Performer), Budapest Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra (Performer), Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra (Performer), English Chamber Orchestra (Performer), Columbia Chamber Symphony (Performer), Middle German Radio Chamber Philharmonic (Performer), Anthony Newman (Performer), Raymond Leppard (Performer), Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Orchestra), Gustav Leonhardt (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Berlin Philharmonic Brass Ensemble, Canadian Brass, Washington Chamber Soloists, Budapest Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, et al.
• Orchestra: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
• Composer: Johann Pachelbel, Tomaso Albinoni, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, et al.
• Audio CD (October 29, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000029SV
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,573 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great assortment of classical masterpieces., June 26, 2001

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irmita "irmita" (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pachelbel Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

This is definitely a fabulous cd to add to one's classical collection, especially due to the fact that it contains one of the best versions of Pachelbel's well-known "Canon" in addition to some of his other works. Various historic composers of classical music are well represented here, from Bach and his Brandenburg Concerto to Antonio Vivaldi's "Autumn" from the Four Seasons. Many of the pieces are played by string instruments, such as the "Canon," which is professionally performed by a string quartet. Overall, the Baroque period of classical period tends to be the main concentration of this cd. This cd offers listeners the valuable opportunity to be introduced to classical music that has been played for centuries throughout the world.

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't quite live up to its title, September 13, 2009

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D. Levy "djlwcs" (Buffalo, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pachelbel Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

The title of this CD, Pachelbel - Greatest Hits, is a misnomer. First, less than a third of the selections are by Johann Pachelbel, the German organist and composer of about a generation-and-a-half before J.S. Bach, whose Canon for strings and continuo was a mega runaway hit when it was reintroduced to the world in the early 1970s in the recording made by the Paillard Chamber Orchestra (still the reference performance in my opinion). The album might be better called Pachelbel and His Successors, as it contains works by Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, among others. Most of the works are baroque chestnuts that are familiar to anyone previously exposed to classical music. Many are excerpts from larger works, which begs the question: Why this compilation? Frankly, I cannot give you an answer. This collection, while including selections from such well-known works as Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and the Fireworks Music, Water Music and Messiah of Handel, also contains a lot of music that is as obscure as the composers who wrote it. What's more, the versions presented here aren't orthodox: Pachelbel's now famous Canon is performed not by a string ensemble but the Canadian Brass; the Hallelujah Chorus is sung in German, rather than in the English of the original Messiah. These quirks render this assemblage of interest only to those who are already familiar with these pieces and won't mind listening to them again but in different clothing. For the uninitiated, there are better collections of baroque hits. For those interested in the masterworks from which excerpts are packaged here, they would be best advised to seek recordings of the complete Brandenburgs or Goldberg Variations or Four Seasons. As for poor Pachelbel, his greatest hits really boil down to just one work: that Canon. Not that his music isn't worth investigating, but he is, in the final analysis, a minor figure, known to us today (aside from professional organists) only because of the accident of the Paillard recording and the music's use in the film Ordinary People. I bought this CD in a rush because I needed it for a podcast [...] in which I wanted to include Bach's Sinfonia to Cantata No. 29. For my own interest, if I had not been in such a panic, I would have preferred to have bought a recording of the entire cantata. With those caveats, Pachelbel - Greatest Hits is pleasant if unusual listening. The performances, all taken from the Columbia/Sony Classical archives, are good and the recorded sound decent. I would recommend this CD only to those who are already very familiar with the more famous among these works and wouldn't mind listening to different versions during, say, Sunday brunch.

5.0 out of 5 stars great collection, March 14, 2005

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G. Koerber (BALTIMORE, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pachelbel Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

This is a great collection of classics that are wonderfully executed. A nice addition to any classical library.