Classical Music With Contemporary Flair
Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* | CA USA | 12/07/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For fans of classical music who welcome non-traditional arrangements and interpretations of classical pieces for a change, "Grooving Classics" is the perfect album to listen to. It's such a novelty listening to these classical pieces with contemporary flair. Harold Farberman, the ingenious maestro, did extraordinary charts on the arrangements and orchestrations on all tracks and conducted the Colorado Strings Quartet, Ethos Percussion Group and Northwest Sinfonietta. This is one recording that I can truly vouch the sound quality which is above par where you could hear the strings and percussions clearly. There's nothing to whine about as to the sound quality. It simply sounds perfect.
My choicest cuts include Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," "Habanera Fantasia" from George Bizet's opera "Carmen," "Can Can" from Les Contes d'Hoffman by Jacques Offenbach, "Adagio" from the New World Symphony and Peter Tchaikovsky's "Dances from the Nutcracker."
The only non-classical piece is a traditional song "Red River Valley," but it is a welcome addition to this collection. This is also one of the highlights where Harold Farberman arranged it in a creative fashion by infusing snippets of the tune "Home On The Range." It is absolutely an extraordinary piece.
This is the most unusual classical recording I've ever come across in my listening journey, but I did enjoy it.
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