Customer Rating: 
Summary: A fresh voice for a time-honored tune
Comment: I am a avid classical musician who likes to listen to all sorts of traditional music. I ran across this CD in grandma's house as a teenager. This performance preserves the mood and spirit of the original while infusing a distinctly modern flavor. It made me appreciate what contemporary compositional styles and instrumentations can add to traditional music. The standard orchestral interpretation can get dull sometimes. The synthesis of old and new elements of style make for an interesting and entertaining hearing. This is an excellent buy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Comment: I have heard many versions of the Nutcracker and felt the Narada version was the best yet. In fact, I play it year-round when I feel stressed. It helps me relax.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great arrangements, performance & engineering! A Gem!
Comment: I have a very large Holiday CD collection and this is by far one of the best in the collection. The arrangement and performance are excellent and the recording engineering is superb! This CD will show you just how good a stereo system you have. You'll hear all the great nuances of the arrangement which is "fanciful and fun" as it should be. The playing is "bright" and "crisp". The overall feeling is uplifting, joyful, playful and fun. It does what I think music should do but often fails to, it moves you, it makes you "feel", it creates a vision. This CD passes with flying colors! The producers chose just the right number of musicians and instruments to give this a more light and fanciful feeling than it usually gets with a full orchestra. I listen to this one all year round. This CD is in keeping with a long line of outstanding CDs from Narada. I have given this CD as a gift over and over and it has become a favorite in every collection. Recommending this CD is a "no brainer". Give yourself a holiday gift ~ buy this one!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice newer rendition of NutCraker!!
Comment: As a listener of traditional classical music, I'm usually a bit aprehensive about buying "new age" recreations of a reliable old staple. With the Narada series, i've found that this version is an enjoyable fresh approach to this particular suite of music, even though i still enjoy the listening to the older versions. But for some reason, i keep coming back to this one.I think there are enough subtle touches here to really add some style to the pieces, without ruining the feeling that an old classic has been tampered with. The versions of Pine Forest and Pas De Deux, in my opinion really encapsulate the feeling of the story, without loosing the emotion. The piano in Pine Forest can best be explained by being enchanting and melodic. In all, this recording is a staple in my play list during the holidays.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not enough
Comment: I got this CD for Christmas last year. It was a change to P.T.'s classic, that's for sure! This record is missing tracks, like the fight scene and the Parent & Grandfather dance. If you're sick of regular Nutcracker, this is great. If not, save your money!
