Samuel Barber / Thomas Schippers [Original recording remastered]

Samuel Barber (Composer), Alban Berg (Composer), Vincent d' Indy (Composer), Gian Carlo Menotti (Composer), Thomas Schippers (Conductor), Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), New York Philharmonic (Orchestra), Martina Arroyo (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Martina Arroyo
• Orchestra: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic
• Conductor: Thomas Schippers
• Composer: Samuel Barber, Alban Berg, Vincent d' Indy, Gian Carlo Menotti
• Audio CD (January 14, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000029V2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,091 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #98 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Languages > English

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Adagio for Strings Recording, February 22, 2000

By 

I. R. Borgos (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samuel Barber / Thomas Schippers (Audio CD)

I personally own every recording released on Barber - well, all most every one. This by far is the most lucid, intense, and true to form version of The Adagio for Strings that is out there. It is not by chance however. This recording was done by Schippers under Barber's direct supervision. Thus, this is the way Barber wanted it to sound. Barber is said to have composed this piece after reading The Georgics, specifically a piece regarding the motion and flow of water. The beauty of this piece of music, especially this version which captures this fluidity, is in its perfect symmetry and simplicity. Like a Fibanocci Series, Barber's piece aescetically spirals in a beautiful set of notes which increasingly grow more intense with each new set. It as if Shippers has caught the feel of a trickle of water becoming a small stream, joining with more water and feeding into a river - then emptying into a delta and merging into the Ocean. One has to cry at the intensity as the peice comes to its climax and there emerges a profound stillness...like entering some private spiritual universe. I've never heard another peice of music that comes close except for Mozart's Don Giovanni.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an extraordinary talent, gone but not forgotten, March 4, 2002

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Samuel Barber / Thomas Schippers (Audio CD)

May we never forget Thomas Schippers. One of the greatest of all American conductors, he graced this earth with his brilliance until 1977, when he died of lung cancer at the age of 47.
This CD, which contains recordings from the early to mid '60's, is a wonderful tribute to him.

He championed, and had a great affinity for the music of Samuel Barber, as this disc will prove. His performance of the gorgeous "Adagio for Strings" is sublime, and by far the best I've heard. I also love "Medea's Dance of Vengance" and "The School for Scandal" Overture. "Andromache's Farewell" features Martina Arroyo (early in her career, at age 27), and her powerful soprano is perfect for this piece.

On this CD one also gets a short and sprightly Gian Carlo Menotti overture, a terrific (also very short) Berg interlude, and the closing d'Indy composition is slow, peaceful, and dreamy.
The booklet has a fair amount of information, including a piece by Menotti, and photos of Schippers (as handsome as a movie star), and Barber.
The total time is 71:22 and the sound is excellent. This was a surprise gift for which I'm very grateful, and I'll be playing it often...now, and way into the future.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Recording Conducted by Thomas Schippers, August 1, 2001

By 

D. A Wend (Arlington Heights, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samuel Barber / Thomas Schippers (Audio CD)

Thomas Schippers was a talented conductor who died before his time in 1977. He helped found the Spoleto Festival with Gian Carlo Menoti and had a close affinity for the music of Samuel Barber (although they did not like each other much). Too few of Schippers' recordings have been transfered to CD, but some of his best are included on this disc. This is arguably the best recording of Medea's Dance of Vengence and particularly fine recordings of Barber's Adagio and School For Scandal Overture. If you have an interest in the music of Samuel Barber, you can't do better than the recordings presented here.