The Bottom Line
If you are looking for an exciting and fascinating way to learn about the lives of the world's most prolific and profound composers, Classical Genius' twenty-four disk series of narrated biographies will capture your attention and enrich your knowledge of classical composers.
Pros
- A wealth of information
- Fantastic music selection
- Well written biographies of over two dozen composers
- Can buy each disk separately or as a set
Cons
- The names of the pieces performed are not readily available
Description
- Released 2007
- 24 Disks
- Each disk plays for one hour
Guide Review - Classical Genius - Composer Biographies
With each disk of this twenty-four disk set being an hour long, the amount of information packed into each CD can overwhelm almost anyone. Good thing is, you won't have to take a test afterward! Marcia Dangerfield, music scholar at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, is the voice behind the narrator. Dangerfield and her research assistants Jennifer Smull, M.A., Julian Livingston, and James Lowery, Ph.D., meticulously researched and wrote each biography. The biographies are extremely well written and researched, as well as, fun to listen to. Beginning with Bach and the Baroque Period, the entire collection covers many leading composers up to the Twentieth Century.
