AMG Review of Anyone for Mozart, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi?

Bruce Eder
All Music Guide

This 16-track, 63-minute CD is compiled from the best material off of the Swingle Singers' classic mid-'60s LPs. The sound is excellent (and offers a serious edge over the original LPs which, unlike later Philips classical releases, were pressed here in America and were usually fairly noisy), and the repertory is chosen perfectly. Among the highlights is the group's version of "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," featuring their version of the closing "Rondo," which became the closing theme of #The Clay Cole Show (a cooler version of #American Bandstand, out of New York) for at least a year after its 1965 release. Among the singers featured here is soprano Christianne LeGrand, who subsequently sang on Procol Harum's Grand Hotel album.