Customer Reviews

William Tell & Other Favorite Overtures

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Telarc label does it again. This is the perfect disk for showing off your sound system. Great recordings and great selection of overtures. I've been listening to this CD for about 15 years now and the Orpheus in the Underworld track still sends chills up my spine.

Suppe's Light Calvary and Poet and Peasant Overtures were absolutely grand, as were Daniel-Francois Auber's Fra Diavolo, Herold's Zampa, Reznicek's Donna Diana, Offenbachs Orpheus in the Underworld, and the magnificent William Tell Overture by Rossini. One word of caution: this CD will really test your stereo, the bass actually thunders, and will blow your socks off. Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Orchestra did a fine job, I would recommend this CD to anyone who loves the thunderous music of an orchestra, you cannot go wrong buying this CD, I love it on the car stereo and at home.

In the early 80s, I put together a stereo system that I was quite proud of. A compact disc player was part of the system. The technology was new at the time and quite impressive. The biggest problem was finding programming material that took full advantage of the CD player capabilities. That's when I found Telarc Records. They specialized in turning out digitally recorded CDs with appeal for audiophiles. Most CDs in those days were analog recorded and then remastered and printed on the CD. There was a difference. Oh, yeah! In any case, Telarc offered a variety of digitally recorded CDs, most, but not all, of which were classical. My main listening preferences are not classical. However, the music released by Telarc was quite good and the recordings were absolutely pristine.

I somehow got on a mailing list and Telarc would inform me of their new offerings. Of course, I'd buy up almost anything they would release in that their recordings were the best obtainable and I had become a bit of an audiophile. "William Tell and Other Favorite Overtures" by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra was one of those discs. The music was excellent! The CD contained seven familiar overtures which presented very enjoyable listening in themselves, plus the CD served as a showcase demonstration record for the stereo system. Excellent though it might be, I just don't listen to this type of music very often. But, if visitors come over, and I'm showing off my stereo, and they show interest in overtures of this type, out comes the disc. It just can't be beat, and it's now 20 years old.

So, what do you want? It's a collection of popular and familiar overtures. All are quite wonderfully done, probably as good as you could get, although I'd not be an authority here. Plus, of you want the highest quality sound, These 80s Telarc records are the best you can get.

Gary Peterson

I have owned this disc for several years now and have enjoyed it countless times! The sound of it is so familiar that I use it to test new equipment of all sorts. When I've added something new to my system I'll put this disc on and see how it sounds with the new equipment added. It has never let me down; I can always count on its several bands to give my system a good workout in both dynamics and range of orchestral sound and texture.

The first piece of classical music I can remember ever hearing as a child is the Donna Diana Overture (selection 5 on this disc); when I heard it I was transported, I couldn't believe such beauty existed. I was listening to the radio on a Sunday afternoon and just by chance found a radio broadcast of the New York Philharmonic orchestra, as I recall, playing this music.

I didn't know the name of the music until years later, but the beauty of that music was a life transforming experience. From that day over 70 years ago until today I have continued to love and appreciate classical music; and that was with absolutely no encouragement or support from my family who seemed to be much more inclined toward Country Western.

For any of you that have a love for classical music, this disc is very gratifying; it includes many orchestral favorites by Von Suppe, Auber, Herold, Reznicek, Offenbach, and Rossini. All are well performed by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.

This is a disc one can enjoy year after year, I know I have!

Very enjoyable recording. Good playing all around, with excellent cello solos in 4 of the tracks. This is my only recording of the William Tell overture and I purchased it specifically because I like this version of the cello ensemble introduction. Amazon makes it easy to compare samples, and for once their policy of automatically taking a 30-second cut from early in each track pays off (doesn't work so well with e.g. the Dvorak Cello Concerto, with an introduction so long that the cellist might as well wait in the green room and finish his beer). I leaned toward getting the Reiner recording just on general principle but I didn't care for the old-style fast, narrow vibrato. And on other recordings the tempo in the intro often felt much too slow. This Kunzel recording feels about right, and features a warm, lush cello sound. And of course when the Lone Ranger shows up it's an enjoyable gallop to the end. I also liked the Zampa by Herold- a surprisingly Romantic piece from c. 1820. Recommended.

I own this CD. It was one of the first that I bought. The release date printed here seems to be incorrect. My CD says 1986. Still, it is awesome - one of my favorites.

Couldn't ask for anything more from a CD full of famous overtures. Kunzel and co. rock my world yet again.

To my very untrained ear, the music sounds fabulous. It wakes me up in the morning. It stirs the blood. Not in the least, it reminds me of the great shows of my youth, Sergeant Preston of the Northwest Mounted Police, and Captain Video.

It is a very good and well recorded CD, with a very interesting selection of songs.
And ther is, among other things, the overture Zampa, difficult to find.

The pieces on this disc represent some of the more intersting and dynamc overtures, very suitable for music appreciation classes to point out use of classics and neo-classical music in contemporary culture