Editorial Reviews

For those into one-stop shopping and who want a disc of all the most-often-used classical works in movies and TV commercials, then this double-disc package is a decent choice. It falls short of being a good choice for a number of reasons. The performances are good, although the sound quality varies from track to track since they are culled from the vaults of Deutsche Grammophon. There are some lively and sharp performances, such as the "Comedians Galop" by the Royal Philharmonic and Stanley Black, but there's a brightness missing from the Eastman-Rochester Pops Orchestra's "Russian Sailors' Dance." The first disc has a good balance of soloist, vocal, non-orchestral, and orchestral works, but on the second, all but the last two tracks are orchestral. Also on the first disc are transcriptions; in other words, these are not necessarily the versions on which the works' success was based. Two glaring examples of this are Canteloube's "Baïlèro," which is famous for its sweeping orchestral accompaniment, here reduced to a piano; and Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5," which is presented here with a string orchestra accompanying both soloists, cellist Lynn Harrell and soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, rather than the original soprano and cello ensemble version. Listeners won't really learn anything about these composers from this disc or its notes. Pachelbel certainly wasn't know for his "Canon" before the 1970s, but for his fugues, and Albinoni didn't write that famous "Adagio." And listeners will have to read all the notes to learn that Mouret did not originally entitle his piece "Masterpiece Theater Theme." This album is more for the movie and TV fan than it is for even a casual classical music listener. Patsy Morita, All Music Guide

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