Editorial Reviews

Classical Legends is an EMI two-disc set that provides a way for non-expert listeners to get a grip on classical music and opera from the artist's, rather than a composer or genre-driven perspective. Its one-track-per-artist program is weighted more to the classical end of the scale as opposed to vocal music, and also included are some performers more readily associated with pop music. Among those included on the disc are singers Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Maria Callas, Sarah Brightman, and Izzy; instrumentalists include violinists Kennedy, Tasmin Little, and Vanessa-Mae and pianists John Ogdon and Cecile Ousset; and conductors Sir Adrian Boult and Simon Rattle. Paul McCartney and Ennio Morricone are the only composers here represented as "artists." There is only one chorus represented, that being the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. There is no track that is badly chosen on Classical Legends and the two-disc set is priced well within the range of most music lovers. As classical music recording concerns continue in a to struggle to find an audience, increasingly more of these types of compilations tend to surface and sometimes it is hard to tell one from the other. Classical Legends is a step in the right direction in that classical performers are the focus of the package, and also that pop-oriented performers who work on the fringes of classical are not excluded from the club of "legends." The only complaint about Classical Legends would be the too-short and confusingly written liner notes. Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

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