Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Adagio for Strings, Op.11 - Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chris Hazell, David Zinman, Samuel Barber, Simon Eadon
2. Méditation religieuse - Symphonie - James Mallinson, Nigel Kennedy, Stanley Goodall, The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, Jules Massenet
3. 2. Adagio sostenuto - Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Paul Myers, The Cleveland Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sergey Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov, John Pellowe
4. No.1 - Lent et Grave, No.3 - Lent et douloureux - Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Paul Myers, Charles Dutoit, Stanley Goodall, Erik Satie
5. 2. Adagio - Franklin Cohen, Michael Woolcock, Paul Myers, The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Pellowe, Philip Siney
6. Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia - Erik Smith, Wiener Philharmoniker, Aram Il'yich Khachaturian, James Brown
7. 1. Adagio sostenuto - Andrew Cornall, Vladimir Ashkenazy, John Dunkerley, Ludwig van Beethoven
8. Kol Nidrei, Op.47 - Adagio on Hebrew Melodies for Cello and Orchestra (Adagio ma non troppo) - Lynn Harrell, Paul Myers, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Max Bruch, Stanley Goodall
9. 9. Nimrod (Adagio) - Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti, Ray Minshull, Kenneth Wilkinson, James Lock, Edward Elgar
10. 4. Adagietto (Sehr langsam) - Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti, David Harvey, Gordon Parry, Gustav Mahler

Disc 2:

1. 2. Andante - Radu Lupu, English Chamber Orchestra, Uri Segal, James Mallinson, Kenneth Wilkinson, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2. 2. Andante cantabile - The New Symphony Orchestra Of London, Raymond Agoult, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Kenneth Wilkinson, Michael Williamson
3. 2. Adagio - Kyung Wha Chung, Ray Minshull, James Lock, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe, Max Bruch
4. 2. Largo - The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Antonín Dvorák, Paul Myers, Colin Moorfoot
5. Variation 18 (excerpt) - Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Paul Myers, The Cleveland Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sergey Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov
6. Intermezzo - Michael Woolcock, The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Kenneth Wilkinson, James Lock, John Dunkerley, Pietro Mascagni
7. 3. Clair de lune - Pascal Rogé, Claude Debussy, Richard Beswick, Colin Moorfoot
8. 2. Adagio - Carlos Bonell, Ray Minshull, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit, Joaquin Rodrigo, James Lock
9. Le Cygne - Jascha Silberstein, John Mordler, Marie Goossens, Camille Saint-Saëns, Kenneth Wilkinson
10. 2. Andante - Cristina Ortiz, Paul Myers, John Dunkerley, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dmitri Shostakovich
11. Pavane, Op.50 - for choir and orchestra (1901) - Choeur de l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit, Gabriel Fauré, Paul Myers, John Dunkerley

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24754 in Music
• Released on: 2000-01-31
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 154 minutes

Customer Reviews

Refreshing as well as Romantic
I bought Romantic Adagios a few years ago (my first classical CD), and I'm still listening to it on a regular basis today. The variety of compositions are diverse, with some you may not be so familiar of, but all are true to the word Adagio, which means slowly. My favourite piece of music on the CD has to be Meditation (Thais): Massenet: Meditation (Thais), which is simply amazing to listen to, I couldn't get bored of it. The only disappointment with this purchase for me was The Carnival Of The Animals: Saint-Saens: The Swan, simply because I'd previously heard Jacqueline Du Pré's rendition of the same piece, and I feel she did it more justice. But still, if you are into music that is soothing and relaxing, then you can't go far wrong here.

A great introduction to the adagio - aptly romantic
Adagio is a slow tempo or the slow movement of a piece of music. This 2 CD compilation of romantic adagios was one of the early releases by Decca in 1999, to kick start their Adagio series. It says in the disc sleeves that it is called Romantic adagios or 'adult only music' but I beg to disagree because I know some youth and teenagers who actually appreciate adagios. Music touches something eternal within us, and whether child or adult our spirits can be touched by that which pulls its strings like most of these pieces on these discs do.
The 2 CD disc set have been my favourites for many years because they have some of the most beautiful rendition of some of my all time favourites. A case in point is Lynn Harrell's performance of Kohl Nidrei (this version is also available on the adagio religioso), Elgar's Nimrod from the Enigma variation, Mozart's Clarinet concerto which has been described as one of the most beautiful music ever written, Mascagnani Intermezzo (cavalleria Rusticana). Bruch`s violin concerto in G minor and so many others. In these two discs Decca has tried to include all the popular classics from composers in the Classical /Romantic/ 20th century era, all the composers included fall into this category with the romantic dominating. The composers whose works are covered here include Mozart, Beethoven, Massenet, Barber, Rachmaninov, Satie, Khachaturian, Bruch, Elgar, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Mascagni, Debussy, Rodrigo, Saint-Saens, Shostakovich, and Faure.
I know that some people frown at the fact that with the release of more and more discs in the adagio series that some of same pieces get repeated in other compilations of the series. However each compilation and release is unique, and always has recordings that are not repeated in any other release. It would not hurt to hear your favourites in other CDS other than this one. It takes care of the wear and tear element and serves as back up to a particular recording. That having been said, this is a great set to own and it makes a great gift for friends. Mine is almost worn from repeated use. You can't go wrong with this.

Romance in full bloom
I started collecting the ADAGIO classical series with the purchase of Midnight Adagios some time ago (very good). Recently, I opted to buy a few more, Romantic Adagios I being one of them. I wasn't really disappointed because it does contain the lovely long epic classical pieces you'd want it to - most compilations wouldn't include them altogether because they often err towards quantity, these two discs, though 80 minutes long, only containing 10 and 11 tracks. I suppose I was expecting too much to find some lesser known romantic treasures on an album like this - every single track, though stunners, are all pretty well known; I groaned to myself when The Onedin Line theme tune (Khachaturian) and Rodrigo's Concerto started playing. Obviously that's my fault for buying yet another compilation classical CD. It's also somewhat annoying to find a few of the same tracks as on other discs in this series...for someone who might eventually purchase the entire series, that's a little off-putting. Despite my reservations, a classical lover can't fail but to love this spellbinding collection of music. With the omission of the afore-mentioned tracks it would definitely have earned a full 5 star rating - surely part III of Scheherazade would have been more befitting. (I'm now waiting for the postman to bring me the second Romantic Adagios offering)