Streetwise is the debut studio album by American classical pianist Richard Kastle, released on March 5, 1991 by Virgin Records. The album has a warning label that reads: "Parental Advisory: This album contains classical music, no lyrics whatsoever." The musicians debut album was also a part of a larger scheme by Virgin Records to seek out and develop a new and younger audience for classical music. Record companies, in the early 1990s, used innovative and hip marketing techniques in an effort to attract younger audiences to classical music.
Inception of the album
Kastle did not want to record an album of short works, mostly for the piano. He insisted that his first album feature the 25 minute "Royce Concerto" with an orchestra. The record company maintained that Kastle's first album needed to break even, at least, and offered to guarantee a second release if he recorded shorter works for the first album, split evenly between classics and newer Kastle compositions.
Track listing
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - Franz Liszt
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Johann Sebastian Bach
Batcave at Dusk - Richard Kastle
Piano Concerto No. 4, ii - Richard Kastle
Fantasy in F# - Richard Kastle
Sonata in A - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata Pathetique ii - Ludwig van Beethoven
Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
Atlantis - Richard Kastle
Credits
Executive Producer: Roger Holdredge
Produced by Steve Barnett
Engineered by Preston Smith
Orchestrated by Richard Kastle
Conducted by Steve Barnett
Art Direction: Melanie Nissen
Design: Steve J. Gerdes
Photography: Daniel Peebles
String Players: Romuald Teco (Concert Master), Julie Ayer, Carolyn Daws, Henley Daws, Roger Frisch, Thomas Kornacker(Principal Second Violin), Frank Lee, Carl Nashan, John Tartaglia (Principal Viola), Tamas Strasser, Peter Howard (Principal Cello), Joshua Koestenbaum.