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| The Bells of St. Genevieve and Other Baroque Delights | 
 enlarge | Creators: Johann Sebastian Bach, Jeremiah Clarke, George Frederick Handel, Dick Hyman, Marin Marais, Johann Pachelbel, Antonio Vivaldi, Donald Fraser, Ettore Stratta, James Galway, James Levine, Rudolf Baumgartner, Canadian Brass, Chamber Orchestra Of Europe, English Chamber Orchestra, I Solisti Di Zagreb, Lucerne Festival Strings, Moscow Virtuosi, Musica Sacra
Label: RCA
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $3.39
You Save: $10.59 (76%)
Buy New/Used from $3.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  (11 reviews)
Sales Rank: 43072
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 61002
UPC: 090266100224
EAN: 0090266100224
ASIN: B000003F8U
Release Date: January 28, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | The Bells Of St. Genevieve | | • | Concerto For Violin, BMV 1042: Allegro | | • | Concerto For Flute No. 3, Op. 10: Allegro | | • | 'The Four Seasons': Summer: Presto | | • | The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba | | • | Canon | | • | Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047: Allegro Assai | | • | Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068: Air On The G String | | • | Concerto For Violin (Transcribed From BWV 1056): Largo | | • | Guitar Concerto, R. 93: Adagio | | • | Orchestral Suite No. 2 BWV 1067: Minuet & Badinerie | | • | Concerto For Violin, BWV 1042: Allegro assai | | • | Trumpet Voluntary | | • | Messiah: Overture | | • | Brandeburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048: Allegro | | • | Rondeau |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Best CD I own! May 8, 2008
The Bells of St. Genevieve CD is a great addition to any collector of great Baroque Music. Treat yourself!!!
One of my all-time classical favorites December 12, 2005
I reach for this CD time and again. It is both relaxing and upbeat. I like every recording on this CD...even if they are selections and not the complete works. You cannot go wrong this this purchase!!
 The Bells! The Bells! October 12, 2005
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
I give this album an average rating as it does what it sets out to do which is give the average listener of classical music various average samples of average performances of great classical compositions. Albums such as these are always a great way to explore various or specific classical music styles with pieces that are usually not too intrusive to the common ear. The only downside of these albums is that they unfortunately, more often than not, introduce a new listner to only the most elementary of performances and leave them believing that all others sound as the ones they just heard when such differences in most cases are huge ones. I chose to review this particular album after hearing the Sonnerie "Bells" de Ste Genevieve on this album (originally composed by the unfortunately obscure Marin Marais) as it is a perfect example of what I am trying to convey.
Although some but few classical chamber pieces can be played well by pretty much any average group, some pieces such as "The Bells" require a certain expertise in instrument and style that very few musicians can properly apply to bring out all of the desired qualities of the piece. The interpretation on this album is a perfect example. Marin Marais was a French Baroque composer who was one of several royal court composers for King Louis XIV in the 17th-18th centuries. He was a soloist prodigy in the viola da gamba which actually sound as if they're being played by cellos here instead. Aside from any change in instruments, they are played with such deficiency in terms of quality, interpretation, and execution,here that it is rather sad that this would be included in an album such as this one. The viola is an instrument with a lot of range as it has more strings and is larger than the cello and the notation is made for the range of such instruments. In particular, there are literally less than five musicians today who are anywhere near proficient with this type of music and those playing here aren't anywhere near the top contenders. All of these things take out an enormous aspect of the full potential of this piece in terms of how it is supposed to sound and performances such as the one here are literally mutilations instead of transcriptions or interpretations. Such performances in many ways cheat the curious listener who is exploring this music as to the music's real potential as intended by its genius source. I recommend to those who may have heard a sample of the 'Bells' here and liked it to then compare it to the performance of this piece by Jordi Savall and Le Concert Des Nations in the soundtrack for 'All The Mornings of the World" available on Amazon. You will hear what I mean and understand how there's simply no comparison. Jordi Savall is the undisputed master in performing on authentic violas that have completely different acoustics than their modern counterparts. Savall is also an established conductor of French Baroque music unlike those here who completely misinterpret the piece as a result. Buying classical music is not as simple as just buying a certain piece by any performer thinking it's great. Unless you really don't care too much and just want to use it as background muscac in your life, classical music requires fine tuning just like playing the instruments themselves as the musicians are in a sense the instruments of the composer and the conductor's interpretatation. Don't settle for second best because the catastrophic results such a choice entails is similar to the range on the Richter scale: the difference between a No. 1 and a No. 4 best performance is exponential as the difference with the 'Bells' version I have mentioned perfectly illustrates. There are differences between symphonic and chamber groups, conductors, soloists, instruments, specialities of technique, production, etc. All of these things fine tune the performance and make the difference between epic and atrocious.
In sum then, although this album is a great source of introductory material as to the range of classical styles and in some cases has reputed perfomers, it is certainly not a sample of the best performances around. These types of albums always require a closer look because you never know what you're gonna get anyway unless you know what you're looking for. Trusting record labels to find stuff for you is not always a good idea. More often than not, this is the place where mediocre professionals can make some form of living without having to wait for a major deal that's never gonna come. If you feel you like the style of music here once you've heard it, expand your horizons in terms of performances as many on this album and similar ones are often simply mediocre in one form or another and there's stuff that's so much better out there for your listening enjoyment of a particular composition and/or style. Hope this helps! Good luck!
GREAT WORK MUSIC September 16, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Great work music, great travel music. Wonderful upbeat and get-you-going music for all things you do. Even NAXOS brand CDs don't come close to matching the preformances on this disc. Like the Masterpeice Theater theme song? Brandenburg Concerto by Bach is done PEFECTLY on this album. All songs are absolutely brilliant and masterfully done. This is a MUST HAVE CD no matter what kind of music you enjoy. Surely to inspire YOU!
 Quite a nice little compilation. March 21, 2002
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
"The Bells of St. Genevieve" is a compilation of Baroque pieces that would serve as an excellent introduction for someone who would like to hear more of the Baroque style beyond "Spring" from "The Four Seasons" or "Canon" by Pachelbel. Granted, this cd does contain "Canon" (what Baroque compilation could resist including it), but it doesn't stop there.I'm not an expert when it comes to Baroque music, but I am something beyond a beginner; I guess I'd consider myself a moderately knowledgable amateur. However, before purchasing this album, I had never heard the title piece, "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba," or track # 10 "Guitar Concerto" by Vivaldi. Some of the other tracks were familiar but not well-known to me. I was also pleased to see the inclusion of the turbulent Presto from "Summer" instead of the ubiquitous "Spring." Compilations are often quite useful in helping neophytes get a better understanding and appreciation for classical music (I know they've helped me over the years). Not all compilations are a good mix or contain decent recordings; many seem like carbon copies of each other. This one, however, has good sound quality and great recordings from the likes of James Galway, Pinchas Zukerman, Canadian Brass, and James Levine. I recommend this album to anyone wishing to branch out a bit in Baroque music but who is not sure where to start. I've discovered new favorites from listening to this album.
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