Two Words, One Answer.
Sony Classical
 Ultimate Classical Christmas Album of All Time $7.99 It is a beautifully rendered and a varied selection of excellent choices. The best I've heard and I love it! My favorite Christmas album of all time.  Sony Classical: Great Performances 1903-1998 $35.98 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  Serenada Schizophrana $9.99 although most of it was very enjoyable to listen to, it is not Elfman's best. this album is raw Danny Elfman. no film to go with this album, but it is still very good in its own respect. the first 4 tracks are the best in my opinion. |
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