Cheap Debussy: Images; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnole; Borodin: Prince Igor (Music) (Alexander Borodin, Claude Debussy, Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov, Andre Cluytens, Georges Prêtre, Pierre Dervaux, Monte Carlo Conservatory Concert Society Orchestra, Royal P.D.Q. Bach Festival Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) Price

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Customer Reviews of Debussy: Images; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnole; Borodin: Prince Igor

Excellent vintage sound, minimal documentation, low price.
This is one of a large series (at least 50) of European reissues on the "Basic Classics" label put out by T-rax. The performances and recordings are of high quality--I'm listening to the Debussy on this disk as I write, and it is clean and clear, with a very polished performance of at least the quality you would hear on a good night from a major symphony orchestra. The analog recordings on this particular disk appear to come from the EMI back catalog (as do many in the series), but I haven't been able to track down when the recordings were made or the format in which they were originally released. <
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>The minimal liner notes are in German, English, and Spanish (two pages for each language). Oddly, more information is given about the early 20th-century painter Vasily Kandinsky, whose paintings seem to be used on all (or at least most) of the Basic Classics covers, than about the composers or the works on the disks. (The series could almost be an elaborate PR campaign by a gallery representing Kandinsky's heirs.) The notes also include a very brief, half-column biography of Debussy, and another half-column about the works (with the Capriccio Espagnol and Polovtsian Dances given a sentence apiece). Nothing about the performers or the recording, except for the names of the conductors and the orchestras on the track listing. <
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>If you depend on liner notes to enhance your listening experience, these are probably not the disks for you. If, however, you're already a pretty sophisticated listener and don't need the notes, or just want the disks to listen to in the car, or as an inexpensive way of trying out unfamiliar music, they're a great choice. I found mine in a clearance bin for $2.99 each, and I'm going to go back, buy out the bin, and give away small collections of the disks to friends. The series does in fact represent the "basic classics" of western music for the past 300 years (there's even a disk of Gershwin, although the other composers I've found are all European), and most lovers of classical music will find a lot to enjoy with these releases. And you can't beat the value--70 minutes of music for $7 or less. <
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