Customer Reviews

Pachelbel's Canon: Baroque Favorites

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

 

 

This is my favorite classical cd of all time. Perhaps these arrangements are not exactly as they are "supposed to be";however, that is of little consequence. The arrangement of the Canon is the best I have ever heard. I have listened to this cd for the past twelve years and it has become the music of my life. This arrangement of the Canon is the most emotional I've ever come across. It is so moving it has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occaision. The rest of the cd is very good as well, but you should buy this cd for the Canon.

This cd does not demonstrate, as the previous reviewer reports, "how it's supposed to sound", because Leppard's arrangements are just that: ARRANGEMENTS and ADAPTATIONS of many famous baroque pieces. The fact is that Pachelbel's canon is not scored for massed strings with additional viola parts, as found on this disc. Handel's "Sarabande" from his harpsichord suite in d minor is for HARPSICHORD, not a group of strings accompanied by harpsichord. The list could go on, but suffice it to say: For all my criticism, this cd, "Great Performances" is very good, with excellent arrangements and great sound for an old recording. I would suggest it to anyone looking for "familiar" sounding recordings of these pieces, but to those who want an authentic recording of baroque "favorites", you must allow yourself to purchase the cd "Pachelbel Canon" conducted by Christopher Hogwood with the Academy of Ancient Music. Read my review of Hogwood's Cd to learn more.

Although the arrangements are very different from the way these great compositions were originally written, this is still a very enjoyable listen and is a great sampler of the Baroque genre of Classical music for those new to the field. The movie "Ordinary People" introduced the masses to Leppard's version of "Canon" which has since become the most familiar and favorite one.

What's good about this collection is also that you get along with the usual pieces that you'd expect to find on any best of Baroque compilation such as Bach's "Air" and Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" gems such as my favourite piece here, Vivaldi's "Largo" the melody of which is brilliantly played on classical guitar and is probably one of the most emotionally beautiful pieces of classical music you'll ever hear.

Overall, the sound quality is very good too for an undigitally remastered cd and the reason is explained on the back of the cover which says the recordings have been digitally transferred from "newly remixed original session tapes" and seeing as how the oldest material here was recorded in 1975 by which time they had quite decent sound recording technology translates into great sound quality overall.

The problem with most "good" classical music by the giants such as Bernstein and Von Karajan is that they were recorded decades ago and many times before the 50s on terrible equipment and sometimes worse, in mono! and so you'll have to imagine how good they must have sounded live in the concert hall because they sound horrible on disc.

Final verdict: recommended for the surprisingly good sound quality for a classical disc and as a Baroque sampler (albeit quite short playing time) for those curious and new to the idiom.

Could be just that I'm sentimental, but I bought this album on cassette in 1984 and it is finally giving up the ghost. I am ecstatic to find it on CD. The combination of performances on this album is superb and I always go back to this album if I want to hear "how it is supposed to be done"

As for technical quality of the recording, I can't say - I am just thrilled to be upgrading to CD.

I have this for almost 2 weeks now and almost wore it out. What a great collection. The trumpet pieces are the best.

The listener cannot go wrong with this disc. The Canon in D, in particular, is the best arrangement yet.

In listening to many arrangements of Baroque music available in the market today, I have found none better than Great Performances: Baroque Favorites. I first purchased the cassette version almost twenty years ago, and I have worn out the poor thing. I purchased other arrangements of Pachebel's Cannon, and was not satisfied. I am pleased that the CD version of this performance is available and meets high quality audio standards.

This CD album consists of... literally... Baroque favorites... including Pachelbel's timeless Canon, Albinoni's Adagio, and J. S. Bach's Air. Beginner or collector of Classical Music, it's worth part of one's personal music library. Since I'm so accustomed of listening to Baroque music on modern instead of period instruments, this is a perfect CD for me to own.

Although some of the pieces, especially Pachelbel's Canon, were arranged, they are nice arrangements. The more tedious version on the Canonwe're likely to listen has been fancified as if in a modern-day Re-mix. I love the arrangement; kinda gives me another perspective for the piece. The remaining unarranged pieces are performed very well with the orchestra.

Tough luck finding another album with more authentic versions if you're not fond of arranged versions.

I grew up not really appreciating classical music...and now in my early twenties I figured "hell, I should try out a new road". I found this cd...because I used to have a midi track of canon that came with my old computer and I remember listening to it in the 7th grade. I found the version on here to be more moving then any of the other adaptations on any other disc. I find this record to be like a neil young record. Very bare. I know some might say that these peices in their raw form were much more bare...considering they were written with less or any strings. Or some would think that it's crazy talk to compare neil young with anything "classical"...but I don't think so.

Buy this strictly for canon...the other peices are strong as well...but I think there's probably other composers that do the bach and vivaldi better. The handel is also most enjoyable.

BUY!!!!