American Classics: Imaginary Landscapes - Great American Masters

This is a very beautiful box set with nicely designed covers for the cds.There is a booklet with a short essay and a detailed track list.The sound is really good but not as good as the sound of Decca or DG, in my opinion . Maybe I am wrong butit seems to me that EMI cds sound somehow artificial, as if they filtered out too much of the original recordings.I listened to "Rhapsody in Blue", for example, from Decca and EMI. I prefer the performance from Decca's cd but, apart from that,the sound is clearly better in Decca's cd. It has more "body and soul", I would say.A second thing that I didn't like about this box set is its uneven distribution of composers. Gershwin has four cds,Copland three and Barber also three. So, 10 out of 20 cds are of three composers whilst Philip Glass, for example, has to "share" acd with Steve Reich, as both have only "half" cd each.The box has excellent pieces but also some quite bizarre things such as the sound of a bell ringing in John Cage"s "Credo in Us", a composition written in 1942 to accompany a choreography of Merce Cunningham. It was experimental all right but it reminds me of a class of introduction to music that I followed back in my College times. We did things just like that and we were not even music students... The music probably works just fine with dance but, listening to the music on its own I really don't feel inspired by a piece that makes me wonder if I should go and open the door of my house.Incidentally, the very beginning of the piece sounds pretty much like the very beginning of "Jaws". And they never credited John Cage...It is interesting that many of the compositions in this box, no matter the composer, are very filmic.Despite its faults, this is a really beautiful and unique box set that makes very easy to browse through the history of American Classical music. I think that "Imaginary Landscapes" is one of the most interesting boxes of cds launched in the past years and, as far as I know, the first one to put together Sousa, Joplin, Ives, Gershwin, Copland, Barber, Cage, Bernstein, Glass, Reich, Adamsand others. I would paste here a complete list of the trackings but it is just far too long so I will paste part of what is included in the box set:Adams, J:Grand Pianola MusicShaker LoopsThe Chairman DancesShort Ride in a Fast MachineBarber, S:Adagio for Strings, Op. 11Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24Violin Concerto, Op. 14Dover Beach, Op. 3Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 1Bernstein:Candide - OvertureWest Side Story: Symphonic DancesPrelude, Fugue & Riffs for Solo Clarinet and Jazz EnsembleCarter, E:Three Occasions for OrchestraViolin ConcertoConcerto for OrchestraCopland:Clarinet ConcertoFanfare for the Common ManAppalachian SpringSymphony No. 3Dance SymphonyQuiet CityOld American Songs: excerptsGershwin:An American in Paris, tone poemRhapsody in BlueGlass, P:CompanyFaçadesGrofe:Grand Canyon SuiteMississippi SuiteDeath Valley SuiteReich:Four OrgansEight Lines

At £20.00 quid a pop, you really can't complain. Although as said, some composers have too much space here while there are obvious omissions. A good starting point for the exploration of American music. Now, where is volume 2?