Customer Rating: 
Summary: Essential Guitar...
Comment: Up until this collection, I'd never heard the "Cavatina" played in the Deer Hunter movie. After hearing it, I could play it all day and not tire of it! It moves me that much, considering that it's almost "not" a classical guitar selection. The rest of the music is first rate! Excellent playing, but the "Cavatina..."
Buy it and enjoy!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lives up to its Name!
Comment: If you only bought this double CD set, you'd have a good starter collection of classical guitar music. It includes most of the standards, as well as rarer pieces. In addition to the many solo pieces, there are several excerpts from orchestral works, with Rodrigo's indispensible Adagio from "Concierto de Aranjuez" topping the list. There are also several flamenco numbers included, complete with heel taps and castanets.
The recording quality is uniformly good, even on the tracks by Segovia. I don't know if they were remastered or recorded late in his career, but they're free of the surface noise present in so many of his recordings. The set clocks in at a generous 2 1/2 hours - one of the greatest deals in instrumental music; this is not a "bargain" quality set. Listen to the samples online - great stuff.
My only mild criticism is in the marketing. The advertising features John Williams and Julian Bream. Each contributes exactly one track. I would have enjoyed more pieces by them for stylistic comparison. But the less well-known (at least to guitar music neophytes like me) artists are every bit as good, and I intend to obtain more of their work.
Customer Rating:
Summary: SHUT UP.... now that i've got your attention:
Comment: This is a great compilation, but just that: a compilation. I prefer having music by a single performer, composer, style etc.
that said, it was one of my first classical guitar cds and now i have squillions, so its a great 'starter'.
Parents should buy it for their child just starting the guitar as it has a wide range of inspiring styles and interpretations, and an excellent Pepe Romero Aranjuez Concerto. It also has a John Williams reccording from when he was 17, which i have trouble finding elsewhere.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Masterpieces, played by masters, at a bargain price.
Comment: One wonders how the producers of this two CD set were able to obtain the rights to such outstanding performances, then put the whole thing together and still make money on the product.
Economic issues aside, this is an outstanding collection of guitar pieces by the best performers and composers. Pepe Romero, John Williams, Andres Segovia, Julian Bream have several performances each. Some lesser known but excellent performers appear as well. Paco Pena, the superb Flamenco stylist, does two traditional Spanish tunes. Composers include Rodrigo, Albeniz, Bach, Tarrega, Torroba, Vivaldi, Villa-Lobos, Granados, and many others. Stanley Myers' "Cavatina", the theme to The Deer Hunter, fits in surprisingly well, although not strictly speaking a classical piece.
Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez played by Pepe Romero, with Marriner's Orchestra of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is terrific. I liked it better than the more familiar versions of Julian Bream and John Williams. It seems more "Spanish", perhaps due to Romero's flamenco background, but I am only guessing at that. Marriner's superb orchestra certainly adds to the performance.
The technical quality seems to be excellent.
Highly recommended as an introduction for those new to the classical guitar and a valuable compilation of canonical performances for the aficionado.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Incredible in so many ways.
Comment: I love all kinds of music, but when I can't decide what to listen to, I turn to this CD. Relaxing, interesting, magnificent; the skill is mind blowing. How anyone could manipulate these sounds out of a guitar is beyond me - superlatives don't do justice to an artist like Pepe Romero; but more, the songs are intensely enjoyable to listen to, and easy to appreciate. My favorites are Asturias, Caprice, Cavatina, Noche En Mataga, and La Alcazaba, but there really isn't a bad song on either CD.
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