Customer Reviews

Best Relaxing Classics 100

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

 

 

All of the EMI's series are inexpensive and worthwhile. If you don't mind short selections and exerpts, this series is a good,inexpensive way to get into classical music.I have the whole set,or most of them.

Truly this album is a meticulous compilation of centuries of eminent, glorious quiet music in terms of composition, arrangement, performance, as well as recording. The 2007 edition renders all music a consistently smooth, silken sound quality without anything markedly edgy, dynamic, or heavy. The selection covers mostly well-known masterpieces in the repertoire, plus some less familiar yet outstanding compositions, arrangements, and performances, as follows :

Disk One : Many light and warm, elegant Baroque enchantments

Track 6 - a poignant, melodious larghetto from Handel's concerto grosso, with violinist Yehudi Menuhin (1964)
Track 10 - playing Vivaldi concerto in G with two authentic mandolins
Track 12 - a beautiful arrangement of Handel's Aria graciously sung by Izzy, from her 2002 album " New Dawn "
Track 18- what was known as Albinoni's Adagio is also acknowledged in this album as ' realised Giazotto ' - the 20th century musicologist Remo Giazotto who is regarded today as the ' actual ' composer of the famous Adagio.

Disk Two : The most delightful of all disks

Track 6 - one mellifluous movement of Mozart's piano romance (K466) without the familiar stormy mid-section (1960)
Track 7 - an affable soprano duet
Track 8 - an affective performance of the clarinet quintet larghetto (1987)
Track 12 - Beethoven's minuet in G in solo piano - very delightful
Track 13 - The piano adagio of ' Emperor ' in tranquilizing harp
Track 16 - a serenely gorgeous performance and recording of the Pastoral Allegretto (1988)

Disk Three : Many enthralling, sobering film classics adopted from the 17th century onward

Track 2 - Bellini's Casta Diva passionately sung by Maria Callas (1961)
Track 4 - The profoundly haunting ' Miserere ' with the Choir of King's College (1984)
Track 5 - Pergolesi's Stabat Mater in period instruments (2003)
Track 6 - Schubert's string quintet from a 1972 extract
Track 13 - a cinematic piano score (2001) for " American Beauty "
Track 15 - original soundtrack (1987) of " The Mission "
Track 17 - The " Titanic " theme song sung by an orchestra (1998)

Disk Four : Soft, lyric, romantic masterpieces in the 19th century

Track 2 - ' Meditation ' soulfully played by violinist Hans Kalafusz (1987)
Track 3 & 5 - two tender sacred songs from Faure
Track 8 & 11 - two violin concerto excerpts with Yehudi Menuhin (1959)
Track 15 - the evoking ' Nimrod ' from Elgar's ' Enigma Variations ' (1971)

Disk Five : Quietly affective, melodious piano music

Track 2 & 5 - two gracile Berceuses from Faure and Chopin
Track 4 - the heartfelt Liebestraum (Love Dream) of Liszt with pianist John Ogdon (1968)
Track 9 - a short delightful piano piece of Brahm's waltz in A flat
Track 13 - a glistening, passionate piano arrangement of Dalla's Caruso (1999)

Disk Six : Many solemn, evocative music works in the last hundred years

Track 1 - a contemporary hymn taken from the 2001 album " The Armed Man : A Mass for Peace " by Karl Jenkins.
Track 2 - a wistful Aria of Orff, sung expresssively by Janice Watson (1995)
Track 3 - a heartfelt orchestration of Greensleeves (1963)
Track 5 - an affectionate country music (1999 Nashville chamber orchestra)
Track 10 - a haunting piano quartet from Anne Dudley's 2001 album " A Different Light "
Track 13 - a curious piano orchestration of the Beatle's song ' Michelle ' (1979)

Complete details of the album tracks can be found in other websites. This album has been reissued with different cover art. Excellent for a variety of listening purposes.

This could have been one of the better collections in this series of EMI's 100 Best. However, the first CD in this set, Relaxing Baroque' features Izzy (Cooper) - misleadingly classified as a soprano - who quivers some ghastly 'popera' rendition of the great Handel aria from Rinaldo. If you like this singer, fine, but it just does not belong with the rest of the disc, which would have been great otherwise. A huge error on the part of the person or people putting this collection together - goodness knows what they were thinking. Zero marks for competence and decision making.

On another note, the series should be renamed '70 Best ....' because there is so much duplication; not just the works, but the recordings too. So much music out there to choose from, and they still can't avoid all this doubling up.

What a great selection of music, perfect for background, or all day listening. So many familiar tunes, so unobtrusive to have playing while working at home, entertaining, or reading.

What a great set of music for the dollar. I want the whole series.

I've had an Amazon Prime membership for several years and in all that time, I don't believe I've cancelled more than one or two items, until today. I attempted to cancel this order less than 10 minutes after doing so (because a friend bought it for me) and received a message that it was being prepared for sending out and couldn't be cancelled. That's not good business as far as I'm concerned. However, I do have to say that it is a beautiful classical collection and worth every penny! We listen to it frequently.