Classical Dreams: Music to Inspire.Classical Dreams: Music to Inspire. Various artists. Virgin 7243 5 67734 2 4 (2-disc set). Think of the most dreamy, the most tranquil, the most serene musical works you can imagine, put them all together in a two-and-half-hour package, and you'll get some idea of what this album is about. Compilation producer Robert Laporta has collected twenty-seven individual items here from the Virgin Records catalogue, ranging from two to 10 minutes each for a two-disc set. The result is, well, dreamy. There are too many things on the set to name individually, but let me give you some idea of the contents by naming just a few. There's Mahler's Adagietto from Symphony No. 5; Satie's Gymnopedies Nos. 1 and 3; Faure's Pavane pavane Stately court dance introduced from southern Europe into England in the 16th century. The dance, consisting of forward and backward steps to music in duple time, was originally used to open ceremonial balls; later its steps became livelier and it came to be paired ; Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (commonly known by the original French Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune) is a musical composition for orchestra by Claude Debussy, normally lasting about 10 minutes, which was first performed in Paris, on December 22, ; Elgar's Serenade for Strings; Barber's Adagio for Strings "Adagio for Strings" is a work for string orchestra, arranged by the American composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet. It is Barber's most popular piece. Genesis Barber's "Adagio for Strings" originated as part of his String Quartet No. 1, Op. ; Sibelius's Swan of Tuonela; Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on "Greensleeves"; Ravel's Pavane pour une infante in·fan·te n. A son of a Spanish or Portuguese king other than the heir to the throne. [Spanish and Portuguese, both from Latin defunte; Massenet's Meditation; and Rachmaninov's Vocalise. Some of the artists involved are Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Paul Tortelier, Sir Charles Mackerras, Christoph Eschenbach, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Andrew Litton; Richard Hickox, Paavo Jarvi, with ensembles such as the English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra based in London. It has its roots in the Goldsbrough Orchestra, founded in 1948 by Lawrence Leonard and Arnold Goldsbrough. , the Houston Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is Scotland's national chamber orchestra, based in Edinburgh. The SCO was formed in 1974. It performs throughout Scotland, but is based at Edinburgh's Queens Hall. , the Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra based in Liverpool, England, is one of the world's oldest established orchestras. It is part funded by the local authority, and is administered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society (RPLS), a registered charity. , and a host of others. The recordings are drawn from the years 1988-1995, and all of them have a homogeneity of sound that complements one another. Mostly, it's smooth and natural, wide spread, and not very dynamic because it doesn't need to be). I have no idea whether the audio of these pieces was altered in any way to sound so similar, but the result, especially with the works themselves played almost without breaks between them, appears to flow like one continuous stream. This may be the ultimate in music for relaxation. And it's great music well played, too, not New Age stuff unworthy of actually paying attention to. Recommended, even though you've probably got every piece somewhere else in your collection. |
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