Ultimate Classical Collection: 73 Selections from the World's Greatest Music (Piano Solo Songbook) [Paperback] Review

I'm not sure what constitutes "the ultimate" in piano collections beyond the desire of the copywriters to get the cover noticed, but I do think this one is worthy of consideration. Difficulty is moderate to intermediate for the most part and there is a good mixture of pieces originally written for solo piano with arrangements of excerpts from familiar operas, ballets and choral works. Print is nice and clear and staves are generously spaced. There are no fingerings. If I were going on a trip and had room for only one book in my suitcase, this collection would be a very viable candidate.
Since there are a lot of pieces here that appear in many collections of this type (hard to avoid picking up yet another Blue Danube) and there are a lot of duplications with other similar Hal Leonard publications like the World's Great Classical Music series, I'm listing the "Ultimate's" full contents:

Bach: Air on the G String, Jesu joy of man's desiring, Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 Prelude 1, French Suite # 3 Sarabande, Sleepers Awake
Beethoven: Bagatelle Op.119/1, Fur Elise, Sonatinas in F and G, excerpts from Symphonies 5 (1st movt), 6 (1st ovt), 7 (2nd movt), Variations on "Nel cor piu non mi sento", Wellington's Victory,themes
Bizet: Carmen, Seguidilla and Habanera
Brahms: Lullaby, Symphony 1 (4th movt), Symphony 2 (1st movt)
Chopin: Mazurkas Op.68/3 and 67/2, Nocture in c # minor Op.Posth., Prelude Op.28/4, Waltz Op.69/2
Debussy: Clair de lune, Girl with the Flaxen Hair
Dvorak, Humoresque, Symphony 9 (2nd movt)
Ellmenreich: Spinning Song
Flotow: Martha, M'appari
Grieg: Lyric Pieces book 1--Album leaf, Waltz, Elve's Dance
Handel: Water Music--Air, Allegro, Messiah--The Trumpet Shall Sound
Haydn: Symphony 101 (3rd movt)
MacDowell: To a Wild Rose
Mahler: Symphony 5, Adagietto
Mendelssohn: Songs without words--Consolation, Venetian Boat Song no.2
Mozart: Funeral March for Maestro Counterpoint, Serenade 10 for Winds (3rd movt), Symphonies no.38 (1st Movt), 40 (Minuet), 41 (Minuet)
Offenbach: Can-Can
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no.2 (first movt)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Song of India
Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals--The Swan
Schubert: Ave Maria, Moment Musical Op.94/3, Waltzes Op.9/12, Op.33/14, Op.67/15
Schumann: The Happy Farmer, Of Stange Lands and People, Traumerei, The Wild Horseman
Strauss, Johann Jr: The Blue Danube, Vienna Life, Emperor Waltz
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker--Arabian Dance, Sugar Plum Fairy, Waltz of the Flowers; Romeo and Juliet (Theme), Swan Lake (Principal Theme),
Symphony 6 (1st movt theme)
Verdi: Requiem--Lacrimosa; La Traviata--Libiamo
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons--Autumn, Spring
Wagner: Lohengrin--Bridal Chorus

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Product Description:
Delightful piano solo arrangements of beloved classical pieces, including: Air on the G String (Bach) * Fur Elise (Beethoven) * Seguidilla from Carmen (Bizet) * Lullaby (Brahms) * Clair De Lune (Debussy) * The Swan (Saint-Saens) * Ave Maria (Schubert) * Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) * dozens more.

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