Classical Cd Views

• Music

Classical downloads now account for less than 10 percent of the total market, with classical CDs down to a woeful 2 percent. And much of those small figures come from pop-fueled classical tld"crossoverrrd" and feature the crooning of dld"American Idollrd" runners-up, and the like. (Free and illegal music sharing might account for more than paid-for music.)

The purpose of this Guide is to provide an overview of many of the considerations and factors associated with building a classical CD collection. This Guide is not meant to be a complete source of information related to performers and recommended releases, but, rather, is designed to provide a common point of reference for finding and using all known resources of data of interest to the CD collector.

The finest classical double-bass player in the world joins the young mandolin phenom for 12 duets that fall somewhere between art music, bluegrass and free-range country. Thile's playing redefines fast, clean and tasteful for mando-philes. Meyer's writing, as ever, jumps genres as quickly and effortlessly as a jackrabbit overtops fences on the lower 40. The writing has Stravinsky's rhythmic jabs with Copland's open harmonies. When they improvise, it seems that one playfully devious mind is controlling both the bass and mandolin. As thrilling as Meyer and Thile are on CD, do whatever it takes to see them in person. Each is insanely busy, but they've taken to playing annual concerts at the Aspen Music Festival. See you there in the summer of 2009.

Most frequently asked question in the 22-year history of Performance Today: Did Mozart write the PT theme? Nope, it was written for the show by trombonist and composer James Pugh. Pugh is the eclectic's eclectic: He played with the Woody Herman Big Band, he's recorded classical music with Yo-Yo Ma and electric jazz with Chick Corea, he tours with Steely Dan, he's a first-call player for film-soundtrack sessions and he teaches at the University of Illinois. This CD features three jazzy concertos for trombone and orchestra including Pugh's own trombone romp from 1992.

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