CD 1 bewegt sich mit Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn,
Schubert, Brahms, Chopin und Liszt im traditionell-klassischen Bereich.
CD 2 wagt sich mit Rakhmaninov, Skryabin, Leoš Janáček, Debussy, Prokofiev,
Milhaud und Messiaen in die Moderne des 20. Jahrhunderts.
Doch immer sind es die leisen Töne, die in die Stille führen.
the project
Classical music is hot. In fact, it is probably the
biggest story of the l990s in the recording industry. Classical
crossover
hits like
Nigel Kennedy's recording of
Vivaldi's
The Four Seasons,
Henryk Gorecki's
Symphony
no. 3, the Gregorian Chant album by the monks of Silo, and
Michael Nyman's score for the
Jane Campion
film
The Pianoto name just a fewhave broken
out of classical music's traditional bounds and hit the pop charts.
Suddenly, a classical recording that sells 10,000 units is no longer
pushing the envelope; today's top classical releases are reaching
sales heights formerly reserved for pop icons like
Madonna
and the
Rolling Stones.
This stunning turnaround in classical music's marketing
power did not come out of nowhere, though. Celestial Harmonies helped
set the stage for it with its Adagio (Complete Edition) (19908-2)
series. Since 1981, long before the current interest in classical
music began, Celestial Harmonies' compilations have been used worldwide
for relaxation, meditation and even music therapy. And in a stunning
reversal of music industry rules, absolutely no advertising or promotion
was needed to achieve substantial sales figures. And while the rest
of the classical world scurries around looking for the next big hit,
Celestial Harmonies has released an updated digital version of an
already proven winner: The Adagio series, a total
of seven doubleCDs. With sales of over 300,000 units in the
past decade, the reason for the series' success is no mystery. As
modern life has become increasingly complex and stressful, listeners
have turned to music as a source of reliefespecially the timeless,
contemplative sounds of classical music. It seems that as the pace
of our lives gets progressively faster, the music that many listeners
are seeking is increasingly slow. The Adagio series,
presents over seventeen hours of the world's finest slow music, making
it the largest such collection anywhere.
the instrumental music
Classical music enthusiasts will be delighted to find
impressionist, atmospheric excerpts from Federico Mompou's
Impresiones Intimas and Leoš Janáček's
On the Overgrown Path in the Largo compilations;
but even classical music newcomers will be able to hum along to Debussy's
Clair de lune and Chopin's Nocturne
in B Flat Minor. Largo I is slightly more impressionist
or atmospheric, featuring works by Debussy, Ravel,
and Skryabin. Largo II (14058-2)
contains some of the beautifully distilled, elegant classicism of
Erik Satie, Chopin, and Beethoven.
the musicians
These compilations were put together by Celestial
Harmonies' President,
Eckart Rahn, and
Sister
Marie Therese Levey, RSJ, of Australia. They drew upon a
vast repertoire of classical and sacred music recordings, from some
of the most talented orchestras, chamber ensembles, and soloists in
Europe. The
Largo compilations feature the worldclass
talents of
Jenő Jandó,
Peter Nagy,
and
Idil Biret. Several of these groups and soloists are among
the most widely recorded artists in the classical music world.
tracklist
|
Disk 1: |
|
1 |
Aria from Goldberg Variations
BWV 988 by Johann Sebastian Bach |
3'15" |
2 |
Adagio cantabile from
Sonata No. 8 in C Minor Op. 13 (Pathétique) by Ludwig
van Beethoven |
4'42" |
3 |
Impromptu No. 2 in A Flat Major
Op. 142 by Franz Schubert |
7'14" |
4 |
Consolation No. 3 in D Flat
Major by Franz Liszt |
3'25" |
5 |
Andante cantabile con espressione
from Sonata in A Minor KV 310 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
|
9'38" |
6 |
Intermezzo in A Minor from
Fantasias Op. 116 by Johannes Brahms |
3'19" |
7 |
Nuages gris by Franz Liszt |
3'15" |
8 |
Andante from Sonata No.
25 in G Major Op. 79 by Ludwig van Beethoven |
2'08" |
9 |
Die Friedeker Muttergottes from
On the Overgrown Path by Leoš Janáček |
3'15" |
10 |
Lob der Tränen (arr. Liszt)
by Franz Schubert |
3'17" |
11 |
Impromptu No. 3 in G Flat Major
Op. 90 by Franz Schubert |
4'57" |
12 |
Etude in E Major Op. 10 No.
3 (Tristesse) by Frederic Chopin |
4'31" |
13 |
La lugubre gondola (First version)
by Franz Liszt |
3'47" |
14 |
Et la lune descend sur le temple
qui fut from Images Vol. 2 by Claude Debussy |
4'30" |
15 |
On Wings of Song Op. 34 No.
2 (arr. Liszt) by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy |
4'35" |
|
Total Time: |
77'04" |
|
Disk 2: |
|
1 |
Andante cantabile from
Poème No. 1 Op. 32 by Alexander Skyrabin |
2'48" |
2 |
Pajaro triste from Impresiones
Intimas by Frederico Mompou |
3'11" |
3 |
In Tränen from
On the Overgrown Path by Leoš Janáček |
2'38" |
4 |
Clair de lune from Suite
bergamasque by Claude Debussy |
4'13" |
5 |
Un sospiro from Etude
de Concert No. 3 in D Flat Major by Franz Liszt |
5'02" |
6 |
Nocturne in C Minor Op. 48 No.
1 by Frederic Chopin |
5'02" |
7 |
Les Larmes from Fantasie
tableaux Suite No. 1 Op. 5 by Sergey Rakhmaninov |
5'32" |
8 |
Pagodes from Estampes
by Claude Debussy |
4'24" |
9 |
Prélude in C Sharp Minor
from Morceaux de fantasie Op. 3 by Sergey Rakhmaninov |
4'39" |
10 |
Adagio from Sonata for
Piano (From the Street) by Leoš Janáček |
9'39" |
11 |
Andante sognando from
Piano Sonata No. 8 in B Flat Major Op. 84 by Sergey Prokofiev |
4'24" |
12 |
Träumerei from Kinderszenen
Op. 15 by Robert Schumann |
3'11" |
13 |
Modéré from
Scaramouche Op. 165 b by Darius Milhaud |
3'39" |
14 |
Oiseaux tristes from
Miroirs by Maurice Ravel |
3'10" |
15 |
Voiles from Préludes
Vol. 1 by Claude Debussy |
4'35" |
16 |
Regard du silence from
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus by Olivier Messiaen
|
5'58" |
|
Total Time: |
73'34" |
the series
Adagio I: A Special 2 ½
Hour Collection of Orchestral Classics |
(14050-2) |
Adagio II: A Special 2 ½ Hour Collection
of Orchestral Classics |
(14052-2) |
Andante: A Special 2 ½ Hour Collection
of Chamber Music Classics |
(14054-2) |
Largo I: A Special 2 ½
Hour Collection of Piano Classics |
(14056-2) |
Largo II: A Special 2 ½ Hour Collection
of Piano Classics |
(14058-2) |
Magnum Mysterium I: A Special 2 ½ Hour
Collection of Sacred Music Classics |
(14060-2) |
Magnum Mysterium II: A Special 2 ½
Hour Collection of Sacred Music Classics |
(14062-2) |