As an added bonus, one is also treated to Liszt's Mephisto Waltz in symphonic form (rather than piano alone), which is not easy to find.


Great for deadlines!   February 24, 2000
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is the CD I listen to when I need to get a lot of work done in a short period of time. When I listen to "Night on Bald Mountain," I feel like I can destroy the pile of work. This CD contains many songs that are familiar even if you've never really listened to classical music. If you're ever-so-slightly evil, this CD could become the soundtrack for your life.


Great classical Halloween music!   June 30, 2001
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This has been a favorite of mine for years - in fact I've worn out my old cassette copy! Every Halloween this gets me in the mood. Contains the best rendition of Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D I've heard. Love it!


Great combination of dark music   March 29, 2004
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I'm just starting to amass a classical music cd collection and this is definitely one of my most enjoyable cd's. Every piece is very moving and well done.


The Perfect Halloween-Themed Classical Album   October 17, 2005
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

What better way to celebrate Halloween than by throwing a party and popping this recording on the stereo. This is classical music with a Halloween theme. Conductors Eugene Ormandy and George Pretre (whom I would have never believed did this kind of stuff) conducts classical music with a dark and Gothic twist. The cover is attrative- a cartoon drawing of the Phantom of the Opera playing on his organ. The first track is Bach's Toccata and Fugue for organ in D minor. It is genuinely considered a Halloween piece, and has been associated with such films as Dracula. The malevolent sound of the Toccata (the opening chords) are especially memorable. Danse Macabre was Saint Saen's ode to Halloween and it is a devilish waltz for violin. Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette became famous for the theme to Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky was used in Disney's Fantasia, in the last segment and is very frightening and brisk. Lisz's Mephisto Waltzes are piano pieces that evoke a wild frenzy but I find nothing dark about it. It is difficult music to play however. The music of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique utilizes many horror themes. In the Romantic Era, Gothic lore spread and such figures as Mary Shelley and Bram Stroker would write novels of Gothic horror -Frankenstein and Dracula. In the Symphony Fantastique, a young man falls in love with an elusive woman. He imagines she is unfaithful to him and then has a disturbing dream in which she is a witch in a coven. Then he is marched to a scaffold and beheaded. The music is very compelling and dark. All the music here is great to listen to on Halloween and the conductors and orchestra play them well. A must have.