Search - Paul McCartney, Lawrence Foster, Andrea Quinn :: Paul McCartney: Working Classical

Paul finally gets it right!

Jim Owen | Seattle, WA USA | 12/06/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the hugely disappointing Liverpool Oratorio and moderately disappointing Standing Stone, this is the first McCartney classical CD worth investing in. Most surprisingly, the best tracks are the three longer orchestral pieces. Tunick's and Bennett's orchestrations of these works are appropriately lush, and the pieces are unabashedly romantic and gorgeous. Like Standing Stone, they sound very much like John Williams film scores, but gone are Standing Stone's self-conscious pretensions of being "modern", as Paul relaxes and revels in what he does best. The string quartet pieces are less successful, though still nice. The familiar tunes (My Love, Maybe I'm Amazed, Junk) are lovely as ever, but don't add much to the originals, being pretty faithful transcriptions rather than departure points for new music. Most obviously unfinished is his way-too-short setting of the charming "She's My Baby", a wonderful, criminally neglected tune that a quartet arrangement could have (should have) gone to town with. Gershwin's endlessly inventive piano take-offs of his hit tunes come to mind as examples of a composer who took his own hit tunes and did something fresh with them. That said, I was pleased with Paul's choice of tunes to set, though, as they all rank among my favorites of his.Least successful are his two original quartet pieces, Haymakers and Midwife, the former almost completely devoid of ideas.All in all, expect charming, tuneful, romantic, occasionally familiar. After the first two classical CD's of McCartney's, I was insisting he give it up and go back to rock music, but happily, I can now start to look forward to more of this shamelessly pretty music!"

I have always been a Paul McCartney fan.

Peter Canavan | 01/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll tell you something interesting about this CD. I started listening to it while I worked on my computer. I was familiar with some of the songs in a different form. All of a sudden, I felt very relaxed! I mean, I felt a real sense of relaxation that was significantly different from how I was feeling before! I think these songs are complex, subtle, and I find I like them more the more I listen to them. If you are a McCartney fan, I think you will be pleased and surprised with what you hear on this CD."

Something of a surprise

Tom | Toronto,, Ontario, Canada | 02/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The curious thing about this CD is how so many people, including myself, started out with low expectations only to be pleasantly surprised by this work's staying power. While these pieces may be simplistic compared to classical composers, so what? McCartney isn't exactly without gifts. Few composers this century of any variety possess his way with melody, but, that being said, there is more than just pretty tunes here. While the works seem to have been written as a kind of homage to Linda, there is nothing maudlin about the arrangements. Nor is there much of the bombast and over-reaching that marred McCartney's previous forays into serious music. The music possesses a gentle, even reserved, melancholy some of the time, and a sort of sober whimsy at other times. While I think this is a great artist at some distance dealing with a great loss, a listener doesn't need to know anything about the context to appreciate the musical achievement here."