Really enjoyed this one.

Very meditative music, even soothing. Ashkenazy's piano is incredibly subtle, precise, but rolls like liquid through the pieces.

No jarring changes of tempo or style, but consistent throughout.

The kind of thing you want to have on when you're contemplating your Navy.

(Or plotting world domination in your volcano base :)

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Continuing my further adventures in Classical music, I was pleased to find this one when out on the dig.

It's a real joy to listen to this one, as it's packed with popular classics, of the prom variety, which will appeal to more casual Classical listeners who perhaps like the BBC proms, but aren't into the more demanding stuff (like myself!), or are looking for an easy way into the world of classical music.

Tunes you can recognise, even if you aren't particularly aware of the names of the composers or the works themselves (tunes you can hum too!).

A very bouncy, vigorous "romp", that certainly had me bopping around the room.

A note on the vinyl:

This is another of the "big" labels of classical music... the Powder-Blue/turquoise Columbia label, which signifies the early stereo pressings for this label, and along with the Decca "wide Band" labels (SXL catalogue number prefix), and the HMV White and Gold rimmed "Nipper" labels (ASD prefix - (As with a handful of Columbias also having the ASD prefix, instead of SAX)) represent the very best, and most sought after classical pressings.

(Some of the titles on these labels fetch truly mind melting prices at auction - couple of thousand in a few cases ((this particular title is perhaps one of the cheapest, but can still get upwards of fifty quid in mint))).

...And it's easy to see (and hear!) why... the vinyl of these; Of which I now have an example of each; is incredible.

They can reach places other vinyl cannot touch... deeper, wider, and higher in frequency and range, and deliver unparalleled detail, power, breadth.

Although only an observation of my own, I can discern that this is not because of any special quality in terms of thickness of vinyl, or weight... but the fineness of the vinyl substance itself (a finer grain maybe, or a purity of the plastic). And also the absolute precision of the press or cut... the grooves are razor sharp, and incredibly finely pressed.

This is best seen when you gently roll the vinyl around under a light source, as this fineness of detail in the pressing causes a kind of "oil-slick- rainbow" effect to be visible on the disc... that is: the grooves are so precise, I suppose you'd say they split the reflection of the white light into it's constituent colours of the spectrum (A greater degree of refraction (?)).

Great stuff.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Well worth buying. Excellent performances and quality, out-performing some of the more "popular" orchestras.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is THE album for such pieces. Couldn't be recorded better.
I heard it on Canadian radio in the 1970s, and don't know if there was an English release.
(These instruments are playing in French.)
Part of the Plaisir du Classique series.
It's Johann Sebastian Bach in English. 10 is the so-called Air On The G String. It's from his Orchestral Suite #3 in D, movement 2.
3 is Winter from the Four Seasons.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?