Advantages: Excellent performances in a perfect setting
Disadvantages: Very minor quibbles

...to continue her career... As children, Mozart and Nannerl had toured over Europe under the strict supervision of their father - primarily to show off their skills and hopefully make money from the aristocratic audiences in whose palaces, castles and stately homes they would perform. It was during that period that Mozart composed his first violin sonatas. He would play violin (his small sized child's violin can still be seen in Salzburg) and Nannerl would accompany on the keyboard. However, these early sonatas followed the style at the time - which was for the main musical interest to be almost always in the keyboard part, while the violin merely provided a fairly innocuous accompaniment. Nowadays the early Mozart violin sonatas are considered juvenilia and are rarely to be heard in the concert hall. However, as Mozart grew up and his appeal... Read review

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Advantages: The excitement of a live performance
Disadvantages: a little background noise, but perhaps this adds atmosphere?

...I thought I had all of the available recordings of pianist Wilhelm Kempff, and was very pleased to discover this BBC Legends release of a Queen Elizabeth Hall recital dating from 1969. Kempff, in my opinion, was one of the greatest interpreters of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, and there are also recordings of music by Brahms, Chopin, Liszt and Schumann. His studio recordings are great, but fairly safe interpretations. In concert the readings are much more personal. This BBC Legends disc (BBCL 4045-2) offers some of the finest performances I have heard him give of a selection of music by Bach - Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, Beethoven - Sonata No 22 in F major, Op54, and Schubert - Sonata in F minor D625, Three Pieces D946, and two of the first set of Impromptus (2 and 3). The sound quality is excellent... Read review

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Advantages: You could become a genius
Disadvantages: But then again you might not

...According to a website I visited recently, the illustrious President of the United States, George W. Bush (otherwise known as George W. Gump) has an I.Q. of 91. That may or may not be true – if it is, I didn’t realise it was that high. Mr Bush may be interested to learn (but probably isn’t) that he could increase his intelligence quotient by several points, according to researchers, by the simple expedient of – wait for it – listening to Mozart. There are many websites devoted to what is known as The Mozart Effect, notably http://www.mozarteffect.com and you can check them out for yourself. The basic premise is that anyone exposed regularly to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will benefit by increasing their brain-power. Actually, the music used for the research was his Sonata for Two Pianos, a delightful work that anyone can... Read review

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Advantages: a new take on a familiar warhorse
Disadvantages: is it worth full price?

...It's unlikely that any music lover who has a good recording of Beethoven's violin concerto on CD (say: Perlman, Grumiaux or Szigeti) would ever say to him or herself: 'boy, I wonder what that sounds like on the clarinet'. In fact, the only people who might would be clarinetists, for they tend to feel (mistakenly, as it happens)that there just isn't enough original repertoire written for their instrument. So here, spanking new, is a Deutsche Grammophon CD offering us an original work in Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and an arrangement of the Beethoven prepared by Russian pianist/conductor Mikhail Pletnev. The soloist is Michael Collins, who plays the familiar Mozart on his basset horn with all the joy and panache we expect. The Beethoven is a different cup of tea. It's difficult to listen to the famous melodies without hearing the fiddle (or... Read review

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Advantages: Period drama, the music, the acting, the direction
Disadvantages: Not a true rendition

...Amadeus – Director’s Cut Introduction The film Amadeus is based on Peter Schaffer’s stage play of the same name. The film was originally screened in 1984 and has been released on DVD. This updated version, Amadeus – Director’s Cut, was released in September 24th 2002 by Warner Home Videos certificate 18. This new version runs for 180 minutes in contrast to the original which ran for 160 minutes on DVD. The film is basically about the antagonism that existed between the two composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The updated film reinstates sections originally cut from the film that help to clarify a number of crucial plot developments. The film is available to buy from £7.97. Synopsis The story starts in 1823, when Salieri, old and distrurbed, is admitted to an insane asylum after trying to commit suicide. He... Read review

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Advantages: great fun for scarlett, stimulating, visually bright, aids development
Disadvantages: the novelty will wear of, a little flimsy

...of the mobile being still. This means that the mobile has an interesting motion to look at. The movement is really slow, gentle and rhythmic. Scarlett particularly likes it when we hold the mobile directly above her and it brushes her face as the creatures swirl around, she is able to reach out and grab the figures which must be good for her development. MUSIC There are three different pieces of classical music that can be activated from pressing the composer’s name on the control panel. They are Mozart Andante Grazioso from Piano Sonata K.331 in A major. Beethoven second movement from Piano Sonata in E major and Bach Prelude in C major from Das Wohltempierte. According to the instruction booklet these pieces of music were picked for specific purposes by professional musicologists. Mozart to aid cognitive development because in the piece Mozart... Read review

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Advantages: Music of astonishing perfection; performances that are breathtaking and up to the task.
Disadvantages: Cheesy cover art.

...Certain compositions stand out in history as the quintessence, the ne plus ultra of their form. Think: Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations,’ ‘Mass in B Minor,’ and ‘Art of Fugue,’ Mozart’s ‘Requiem,’ and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Piano Sonatas, Opus 109-111. Among this company, Beethoven’s late string quartets, two of which are featured on this Philips archival reissue, easily join the ranks of some of the loftiest creations of mankind. There is a touch of absurdity in “rating” such works; they have been universally acknowledged as among the greatest in the Western canon. They are absolutely essential listening for any classical music devotee, and for anyone and all with a yen for discovering greatness in human achievements. The rating (I must remind myself) is for the recording and performances. Happily, these are also the ne plus ultra... Read review

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Advantages: Relaxing, lovely instrumental album, no vocals.
Disadvantages: only 4 tracks

...) Poems- Composed by Constant Lambert Performed by Nash Ensemble with Philip Langridge Conducted by Lionel Friend ~ My favourite track on the album, is fairly long and has a lovely collection of lutes and wind orcestral instruments. With several rises and falls, accompanied by the odd clashing of symbals it's a wonderful track to chill to on the sofa with cup of hot chocolate. 10/10 3. Sonata for Piano Composed by Constant Lambert with Ian Brown ~ As you may have guessed from the title, it's a track where the piano is definately in the spotlight. Beautiful tempo and range of speeds used in this track, make it very easy to loose thoughts on everyday life. A true bliss for an escapism from stressful living. 8/10 4. Mr Bear Squash-you-all-flat Composed by Constant Lambert Performed by Nash Ensemble Conducted by Lionel Friend ~ A rather... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to begin with - a huge choice of music written for clarinet
Disadvantages: can be confusing when transposing to concert pitch.

...easy to get past the intermediate stage of clarinet playing to the advanced. The clarinet has a particularly large range of notes - over three octaves. There are many techniques to learn, and getting out the highest notes on a clarinet with any control and clarity can prove extremely challenging for many players. There are many well known pieces of music written especially for clarinets - Mozart's clarinet concerto, and Brahms' two sonatas are very popular. There are also two clarinets in the average orchestra, and plenty of opportunities for playing clarinet in wind and jazz bands. Possibly the main problem that comes with playing the clarinet is the confusion of pitch. Most players begin on a Bb clarinet - and here's the complicated bit! Playing the note C on the clarinet is not the same as the note C on the piano, or violin, which... Read review

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Advantages: Wide range of little-know music played live by world-class pianists
Disadvantages: None for those who enjoy classical Piano Solo music

...). Sauer is better known as an editor of piano works by Liszt, but he wrote sonatas, a large number of concert studies, and other works in a fairly conservative style, showing little influence of Liszt. Here Marshev plays two concert studies with a beautiful light wispy touch, amply fulfilling the titles of the works, "Sighing Breezes" and "Rustling Leaves". Marshev ends with an encore by Rodion Shchedrin, "A la Albeniz". Shchedrin is a twentieth century Russian composer whose music is enjoyable to listen to, and does not have the harshness and angularity of other modern composers, such as some works by Prokofiev. A la Albeniz is a lively, rhythmic work, written in homage to the Spanish composer, Isaac Albeniz. Marshev plays this work with verve, bringing out the Spanish melodies and rhythms with a Russian tinge. Piers Lane Piers Lane... Read review

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