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 ...
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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...
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