The #1 Adagios Album
Facts
 
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| Studio | Umvd Labels |
| Release Date | August 12, 2003 |
| UPC Code | 602498075012 |
| Buy this item | $17.98 at Amazon.com As of Aug 30 2:34 EDT (details) 2 Audio CD, Usually ships in 24 hours, |
Tracks
Disc 1- Air - Academy Of St Martin In The Fields
- Gymnopedie No.1/Gymnopedie No.3 - The Montreal Symphony Orchestra
- Cavalleria Rusticana - The National Philharmonic Orchestra
- Largo - Igor Kipnis
- Cantata BWV 156 - Julian Lloyd Webber
- Claire De Lune - Eastman Rochester 'Pops' Orchestra
- Andante - I Musici
- Vocalise - Academy Of St Martin In The Fields
- Affettuoso - Jean-Pierre Rampal
- Adagio Un Poco Mosso - Cleveland Orchestra
- Thais - Nigel Kennedy
- Andante - Radu Lupu
- Adagio For Strings - Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
- Variation 18 - Jean-Yves Thibaudet
- Carnival Of Animals - Jascha Silberstein
- Adagio - Franklin Cohen
- Largo - Eduardo Fernandez
- Sleepers Awake, BWV 645 (Excerpt) - The New Symphony Orchestra Of London
- Intermezzo - Montreal Symphony Orchestra
- Menuet. Allegro Moderato - Ralph Gomberg
- Romance - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
- Nocturne - Julian Lloyd Webber
- Reverie - Julian Lloyd Webber
- Adagio - Heinz Holliger
- Andantino - Irena Grafenauer
- Pavane For A Dead Princess - Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
- Adagio In G Minor For Strings And Organ - I Musici
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User Reviews
Average user review:
(1 reviews)| |  | The # 1 Adagios Album? No! But a good collection/compilation |  |
So, I ordered this after having seen the tracks listed and the composers and artists. I honestly expected to be blown away. I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the album is good, but some of the recordings are flat with bad mixing or bad arrangements.
Perfect example: "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy; one of my all time favorite composers, compositions (for piano or orchestra); I honestly didn't think I could hear a professional performance of this song and be let down, but the arrangement on this album is poor, leaning far too heavily on the strings, almost ignoring the rest of the orchestra, and falling flat on the overall performance.
Another example: "The Swan" by Camille Saint-Saens; another of my all time favorite composers; again, just somehow flat. The arrangement was good, but the performance just lacked that certain something, that passion that is obtained by some orchestras.
Overall, the album is decent; highlights include "Air on a G String" by Bach, the "Gymnopedie" by Satie (arranged by Debussy) is perfect, "Vocalise" and "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini" by Rachmaninoff are both breathtaking, "Adagio for Strings" by Barber is hauntingly excellent, "Reverie" by Debussy (again with strings, but this time well done) is beautiful, "Pavane for a Dead Princess" by Ravel is as good a recording as I have heard of the piece.
I would still recommend this album for its wonderful assortment of composition styles and composers, but some of the songs are just a little off. It is really hard to explain.
The best explanation I can think of to explain the difference between this and a truly great recording is to say that this is lacking that certain "je ne sais quoi".
Still, for anyone that is looking for a large compilation of Adagios, the good outweighs the bad and even the bad isn't horrible. July 7, 2007
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