I've decided to offer some recommendations on the classical music that I have in my library. I will only write about the music I actually am familiar with and own myself.

1812 Overture, Capriccio Italien, Cossack Dance (from Mazeppa).

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Erich Kunzel Conductor
Telarc Digital CD-80041

This is probably the most thunderous piece of classical music ever written. Tchaikovsky wrote it to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon and actually incorporated real cannons as instruments in his overture. There is speculation that he used Beethoven's Wellington's victory composition as an inspiration when he wrote the 1812. When I bought the vinyl edition of this album years ago, the label had a warning written in large script about being careful with this recording it could damage your system if played to loud. When I played it the first time I was very careful indeed, but when I knew the limitations of my system and found the perfect volume level the results were hilarious. When I played it and the cannons started firing my two neighbors came rushing over to the house to see if we had a gas explosion or something catastrophic. When I took them downstairs and played the passage again they were both literally blown away. The music from this piece has been played in movies and even Bugs Bunny and other cartoons have borrowed from it. A great place to start if you are new to classical music and want to have some fun.

Capriccio Italien is a good complementary follow up to the 1812, basically a tribute to Italy as the title suggests. A nice lighthearted composition that he composed literally by listening to the music of Italy wherever he went and adding the various themes into this piece.

Cossack Dance from Mazeppa, pretty much the only surviving part of a failed 3 part opera(Mazeppa) that is played today. Basically a nice fiery dance piece that ends this album perfectly.

So if you have around 35 minutes of spare time you could listen to this great CD and maybe find a place in your heart for one of my favorite composers and one of the greatest of all time as well.

I would rate this CD at 9/10. It is simply a great album.

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Though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death,

I will fear no evil, cause I'm the biggest son of a b***ch in the Valley

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Time for another great work from my classical hoard.

Pictures at an Exhibition and Night On Bald Mountain

Modesto Moussorgsky
The Cleveland Orchestra
Lorin Maazel Conductor
Telarc Digital CD-80042

Another one of my Russian treasures Pictures at an Exhibition was written by Moussorgsky to honor his friend architect/artist Victor Hartmann. From over 400 Hartmann drawings Moussorgsky selected 10 that he wrote tone poems for, and this masterpiece is the result. Originally written as a solo piano composition it was adapted for orchestra by Maurice Ravel and this is the most famous version.(I have the solo piano version and I love it too, but it is an acquired taste.) In fact no one really appreciated Moussorgsky's genius until much later after his death, and Pictures... never amounted to much until Ravel transcribed the piece for full orchestra. Thank you Maurice for the marvelous orchestral version of his work, it is a classic and has been used in many films and even Emerson Lake & Palmer did a progressive rock version of it.

Night on Bald Mountain was another tone poem which was derided by critics when it was first released, called the most hideous thing we have ever heard and an orgy of ugliness and abomination hopefully never to be heard again! Kind of makes me laugh now, we think we take music seriously but all we would say these days is "Man that sucked!"...lol. However after Rimsky-Korsakov corrected the numerous errors common to Moussorgsky's work and added a main background theme that Modesto wrote earlier this is the result of that collaboration. If you watched Fantasia from Walt Disney, then you already know this piece.

If you have around 40 minutes of spare time then give this work a listen, I have owned this on vinyl and CD for 30 years now and I still love it.

I would rate this album 9/10 as well, simply a great recording.

__________________

Though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death,

I will fear no evil, cause I'm the biggest son of a b***ch in the Valley

__________________
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