Was Liszt Reborn As Jerry Lee Lewis

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By Newsweek Editors

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THERE'S SOME Classical music that you may never need to hear again: Beethoven's Fifth, Pachelbel's Canon, ""Fur Elise.'' Then there's the music McDonald's hasn't discovered yet -- favorites of people who like to show off what they know about classical when they don't know much. That's what you'll hear on London's Exile on Classical Street. The pitch: rock stars not only select their classical faves but discuss them.

Michael Stipe calls the suicidally depressing ""Adagio for Strings'' by Samuel Barber ""great morning music.'' Bono says Bosnia reminds him of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8. Steven Tyler thinks long and hard about Manuel de Falla's ""Ritual Fire Dance'': ""It's the overtones dancing between the notes that create its life force and spirituality.''

The liner notes justify this exercise in high-low culture by suggesting that Franz Liszt was reincarnated as Jerry Lee Lewis. After all, they both played so fast and were so popular with the ladies. As a matter of fact, the music's good. Give London credit for finding a cheap way to popularize some gems -- Sir Georg Solti and Cecilia Bartoli always deserve space on the shelf. Maybe somewhere between ""Baroque at Bath Time'' and ""Debussy for Daydreaming.''

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