Customer Reviews

Barber's Adagio / Munch, Galway, Boston SO Strings

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found this recording while continuing my search for my all-time favorite version of the Adagio.While nothing on this album approaches the perfection of my favorite recording,it is a wonderful collection of the various treatments of Barbers'work.I find the vocal ensemble to be the most satisfying but found that,really the appeal of this cd is the movement from one version to the next.

I have listened to as many versions as I can find of the Adagio and I finally found the version that is Perfect in all aspects of the piece:the 1957 recording by the Philadelphia Orchestra,conducted by Eugene Ormandy.It can only be found on a Sony release entitled"American Masterpieces".It is the definitive recording in my opinion,and I am a hardcore fan of the Adagio!

What a very interesting CD! Barber's Adagio is one of the best-loved pieces of classical music. It embodies passionate yearning, building to an extraordinary climax, and coming back to down to a peaceful resolution. When Barber first created this music as the adagio movement to a string quartet, it took the classical world by storm, and he later created a full orchestral version and a choral version. Setting the choral version to the words of the Agnus Dei: "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us" was an inspired choice. What could better express the pleading, emotional intensity of this music?

Putting together 8 versions of this piece was a very interesting idea. It made me think of a great chef designing a meal in which all of the courses are soup! Each dish may be wonderful, but you'd better like soup! Fortunately, I love soup--er, Barber's Adagio--so it works for me.

Of course, some versions of the dish work better than others. The full orchestal version by the Boston Symphony Orchestra expresses the full emotional power of the piece, and I loved it.

For me, the James Galway flute (with synthesizer?) version just didn't work. While I love James Galway and the flute, the real power of the piece comes from the blend of parts. By separating a solo line for the flute from the rest of the musical lines, the piece just sounds thin and incomplete, with the full complexity of the piece missing.

The Canadian Brass version worked for me because all of the brass blended to provide a full, rich sound.

My favorite version was the choral Agnus Dei by the Choir of Trinity College, a very moving performance with full emotional intensity.

A very interesting version was the Kalmen Opperman Clarinet Choir. Unlike the flute version, performing all parts on clarinet provides a full, smooth sound, due to the darker tone of the clarinet and the interplay of multiple clarinets.

The Tokyo Quartet performs a lovely string version that may be the closest to what Barber originally had in mind.

What more can one say about Barber's Adagio for Strings? Indeed, how much could one say about it before? I cannot find an appropriate way to describe this music. It is as if all of the holiness of Heaven, or of the sacred 'om,' was compressed into a song lasting nary 8 or 9 minutes. It is melancholic without seeming at all sad, like dying without grief or despair. It brings forth tears stemming from an emotion that, like the song itself, defies description.

All that I just wrote is merely language; the only way to know anything about Adagio is to hear it for yourself. This CD holds some of the finest recordings of Barber's famous work. Start off with the first track, and hear the song using its most gut-wrenching arrangement: the string orchestra. Listen to the track in its entirety; you will reach emotional peaks that can't be found with any other song. Then, listen to the choral arrangement. This track alone is worth twice the cost of the CD. I don't think I've ever felt more serene than when I first heard Agnus Dei. It is an absolutely haunting and breathtaking recording which will stay floating in your mind long after you've turned off your CD player.

Even if every other recording on this collection was putrid slop, it would get 5 stars. Luckily, the rest of the tracks are still amazing. I was particularily taken by the Canadian Brass version, though this may be due in part to my bias toward brass ensembles. The string quartet also pulls through with another astounding recording of Adagio. The arrangement for organ had an undeniable human touch to it. It was different, but not really any worse than the others. However, I'd have to say that I wasn't much impressed by the flute & synth version. It was far too shrill and brief to have the same howitzer-like emotional wallop as the other recordings.

Truthfully, though, the most serious complaint I can put against this CD is that some of the tracks were less blindingly awe-inspiring than others. There is nothing here that should keep you from ordering this compilation at this very second. It has many of the best recordings of perhaps the best song ever put to paper. All the rest of the "powerful" music collections will seem rather silly by comparison.

Samuel Barber was inspired by a verse from Virgil's Georgics, about a small stream that becomes a river, and one can mentally picture that image listening to this piece; Barber's Adagio appeals to a wide audience because of its beauty, peace, and glorious melody, and in this CD we get to hear how different instruments and artists can color the basic composition.
It has been a part of many film soundtracks, like "Platoon" and "The Elephant Man", and been played at funerals of historic figures like John F. Kennedy.
The first interpretation is the one we are most familiar with, the traditional string arrangement, played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch, who was musical director of the BSO from 1949-1962.
Next is Irish flutist James Galway, backed by Hiro Fujikake on synthesizers. Sir James has attained international fame as a classical virtuoso, and also for his "crossover" innovations, and this performance could be said to be a bit of both worlds.

The Canadian Brass is a quintet of 2 trumpets, a French horn, a trombone and a tuba, and this a great rendition, with a sparse, simplicity to it.
The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, is a mixed choir of approximately 30 people, and they have added the Agnus Dei words to the piece; it is incredibly serene and lovely.
Richard Stoltzman and the Clarinet Choir give the most unique version. Along with virtuoso Stoltzman, there are 3 additional clarinets, an alto clarinet, a bass clarinet, and a contrabass clarinet. The effect is marvelous, with a very contemporary sound.
The Tokyo String Quartet has received world acclaim since it was founded in 1974, and this a soulful, exquisite interpretation, and one of my two favorites.
David Pizarro plays the organ in this powerful version, and the organ used is the one at the St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, and was recorded in 1996.
The final entry, by the Smithsonian Players, a is group dedicated to performing on historic instruments, and I find this to be an intense, emotional performance, and is my other top pick.
Composed in the late 1930s, this is music that will last until the end of time, and this CD is an example of how it can be heard repeatedly without ceasing to delight and inspire.
The foldout insert only has a play list, overall the sound is quite good, and total time is 55'48.

I have heard Barber's Adagio, and snippets of it, all my life. I never understood his genius until I was able to sit down and listen to it in it's entirety. This CD offers something special. Eight different versions of the same piece of music, and each one is equally amazing. Can you listen to the same piece over and over again without getting bored? YES! The Boston Symphony orchestra version is probably the most familiar sounding, but until you hear this done by The Choir of Trinity College, you haven't really experienced the beauty of Sam Barber's music.

Ever since I played Barber's "Adagio for Strings" in college orchestra, I have adored it. It is the most memorable, beautiful song I have ever played on violin and also ever heard in my life.

Barber has accomplished something so emotional with his song, finding the words to express what I feel is close to impossible. Once you hear this you will be hooked. It is a Journey--the journey being Life. To many it may seem sad but in actuality, to me anyway, it is about getting up and continuing through all the trials of life and discovering Beauty--True, Pure and Unselfish Beauty and Love in it All. How we approach life is our CHOICE; so embrace it and live it! There is so much to Learn and Cherish from each and every experience! This song is my reminder of that.

My favorite tracks here are 1 Boston Symphony, 4 Agnus Dei (The Choir of Trinity College), 6 Tokoyo String Quartet, 7 David Pizarro, organ and 8 Smithsonian Chamber Players. (Tracks 1, 4 and 6 being my most favorite.)

What makes this CD so grand is that it has so many different interpretations of the classic song. Being my favorite song of all-time, this is a dream come true for me. I truly believe that this song, as Steve Vai once said, "Should be played every hour on every radio station."

This ONE song is ALL. I can never express how much "Adagio for Strings" means and Always will mean, to me. It is my ivory tower forever. A MASTERPIECE, truly.

BEAUTY BEYOND THIS WORLD. A universal song that everyone should not only hear, but own and listen to regularly.

Ever since I heard Agnus Dei on the radio several years ago I have been looking for the vocal version of Adagio for Strings but wasn't able to find I got this CD. To me this CD is priceless. All of the tracks are exceedingly beautiful but to best one is the Agnus Dei. That one brings me to tears every time. I don't know whether it is the most sad song or the most heavenly I have ever heard. It cracks my heart open and ache with it's piercing sweetness. If you are like me and beautiful music can bring you to tears don't listen to that song without a box of tissues handy especially if you are at your pc while listening or you will risk shorting out your keyboard!

So much has already been said here about the emotional power of Barber's Adagio, but this album offers more than that: A chance to hear one work interpreted in six dramatically different ways, some breathtaking (Agnus Dei), some interesting but flawed (Galway/Fukikake, Canadian Brass), along with two "normal" arrangements. Listeners can compare choices of instrument, arrangement and tempo to see what effect they have on this American masterpiece.

The Barber Adagio is not supposed to be so incredibly short. Some of the best recordings (including the Baltimore Symphony and the Bernstein) last 10 minutes in length! Unfortunately some of the groups on this CD just tear through the piece (4:52?!) The Boston Symphony Orchestra does a nice job with the piece but they still play it too quickly (just under 8 minutes). This piece requires such control to play and, unfortunately, most of the groups that perform it on this CD do not display that. The choral version of this piece is truly magnificent but listeners would do better to get the CD "Agnus Dei" (Gregorio Allegri) which includes a beautiful version of the Barber along with a wonderful collection of other songs. For an instrumental version of the Barber listeners need go no further than the Thomas Schippers version which is perhaps the most beautiful recording of the piece ever made.

This is a wonderful CD, but listeners should consider the fact that they are going to be hearing the same piece of music over and over again -- eight times. True, each rendition is different. But after listening to the whole CD once, you will need a bit of a break before you can listen to it again. (Listening to it repeatedly could cause madness and delirium to ensue.) I would still recommend the CD -- it is unique, and it's interesting to compare the different versions, up to a point -- but a collection of adagios (including Barber's, of course) by various composers might withstand repeated playing better.