Fantasia 2000: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Without the gorgeous visuals, the soundtrack toFantasia/2000is nothing more than a collection of some of classical music's greatest moments. But what moments they are! Conductor James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra provide new (though hardly groundbreaking) arrangements for these classical music warhorses. Piano virtuoso Yefim Bronfman joins in to record the Allegro section of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 (if you like this track, check out Bronfman playing the entire piece onhis 1999 disc with the Los Angeles Philharmonic), and soprano Kathleen Battle lends a high note to the climax of Elgar'sPomp and Circumstance. We also get the classicSorcerer's Apprenticefrom the original (and now out-of-print)Fantasiasoundtrack. Performed by Philharmonia Orchestra, the Paul Dukas composition still steals the show. The original movie may have been a flop, but with any luckFantasia/2000will turn some young minds on to classical music, especially with such inspired choices as Respighi'sPines of Rome. Like what you hear? Remember, these are just excerpts and you really owe it to yourself to hear the works in their entirety--slow movements and all. That said, whether you're a Disney fan, an IMAX aficionado, or just a classical-lover-to-be, you can't go wrong with this disc.--Jason Verlinde