Sony Classical: Great Performances 1903-1998

Customer Review: Mish Mash
While I like this sort of recording I bought it only because it was quite cheap in the used section. It has some very interesting moments, but of course is little more than a "sampler" if you will, and one that is too stuffed with a variety performers that don't necessarily work well one against the other. To be specific, when Victor put out this sort of thing it would be "The First 100 Years at the Metropolitan Opera", and that traced just that. All the singers from 1903 until the 1983 release date. Its hardly perfect, but at least it has a purpose. EMI did a similar reissue, but it contained one CD at a time, so one could think carefully about that which they wanted to buy. This is one of the rare times I'm going to say there's just too much here, and not always of a good thing. They barely raid the cupboard of older recordings, and I assume Sony has a heck of a lot of them. Two CD sets from each decade could have been a far more intesting and thought provoking A&R decission. Four CDs that are aimed at nothing more than what I mentioned earlier don't really cut it
Customer Review: What I Bought From Sony Companies
Bach, Goldberg Variations, Gould, Haydn, L. Mozart, Hummel, Wynton Marsalis, Leppard, Joseph Haydn, Walter (Japanese), Mozart Piano Concertos & Rondos, Murray Perahia, Mozart Quartets by Ax, Stern, Laredo, and Ma, Mozart Concerto Violin, Zukerman, Chopin, Concertos Piano, Gilels, Ormandy, Watts, Schippers, Bruckner, L'Archibudelli, Johannes Brahms, Gould, Brahms, Stern, Trios and Quartets, Brahms, Ax, Ma, Bizet, Carmen and L'Arlesienne suites, Bernstein, Dvorak, Herbert, Ma, Masur, Faure, Quartets, Ax, Stern, Laredo, Ma, Janacek, String Quartets, Alban Berg, Lyric Suite, Juilliard String Quartet, Copland Collection, Debussy, nocturnes, Upshaw, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Canteloube, John Williams Plays Barrios, Ligeti Edition, Claude Bolling, suites and such Jazz, 4 CDs, Joshua Bell, Bernstein, West Side Story. Albert, Bartok, Bloch, Ma, Zinman, John McLaughlin, Concerto for Guitar, and with Katia Labeque, Kathleen Battle.Wynton Marsalis, Baroque Duet,Kathleen Battle Jean-Pierre Rampal in Concert, Bobby McFerrin paper music, with Yo-Yo Ma in Hush, Katia & Marielle Labeque, Love of Colours, Wynton Marsalis, Baroque Music for Trumpets, and Elliot Goldenthal, Fire Water Paper, A Vietnam Oratorio. I list these because I am trying to figure out what of value is in the Columbia, CBS, and Sony sound legacy in case they come back to the U.S. and revive classical music recording in this country. Duane Crawford


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