Album

Movie Adagios gathers two discs' worth of adagios, by composers such as Barber, Mozart, and Bach, that have appeared in films ranging from Platoon to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The selections range from pieces that played a large part in the movies in which they were used, such as the Adagio Sostenuto from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which appeared in the biopic Immortal Beloved, to pieces from a specially commissioned score, such as "Gabriel's Oboe" from Ennio Morricone's music for The Mission, to evocative choices like Debussy's Clair de Lune, which appeared in Frankie and Johnny. Since the selections, composers, and performers—which include the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Renata Tebaldi, Kiri Te Kanawa, and the London Symphony Orchestra—are first-rate, Movie Adagios could also work well as a classical music primer in addition to a worthwhile compilation for movie music fans.

© Heather Phares, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 2
Samuel Barber Composer Adagio for Strings (arr. of 2nd mvmt. of String Quartet), Op.11 Work Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, David Zinman Conductor
1	Adagio for Strings (arr. of 2nd mvmt. of String Quartet), Op.11	8:43			$1.49
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Piano Concerto No.21 in C, K.467 ('Elvira Madigan') Work English Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Radu Lupu Piano, Uri Segal Conductor
2	2.Andante ('Theme from Elvira Madigan')	7:15			$1.49
Giacomo Puccini Composer Gianni Schicchi (opera) Work Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra Orchestra, Renata Tebaldi Soprano, Lamberto Gardelli Conductor
3	9.O mio babbino caro	2:09			$0.99
Richard Addinsell Composer Warsaw Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (for the film 'Dangerous Moonlight'/'Suicide Squadron') Work Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Cristina Ortiz Piano, Moshe Atzmon Conductor
4	Warsaw Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (for the film 'Dangerous Moonlight'/'Suicide Squadron')	9:00			$1.49
John Barry Composer Dances with Wolves (film score) Work John Mauceri Conductor, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Orchestra
5	The John Dunbar Theme	2:28			$0.99
Pietro Mascagni Composer Cavalleria rusticana (opera) Work Gianandrea Gavazzeni Conductor, National Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
6	12.Intermezzo Sinfonico	3:11			$0.99
Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov Composer Piano Concerto No.2 in C-, Op.18...Piano Concerto No.2 in C-, Op.18 (excerpts) Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Conductor, Cleveland Orchestra Orchestra
7	2.Adagio sostenuto	3:59			$0.99
Ennio Morricone Composer The Mission, film score Work Prague Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
8	Gabriel's Oboe	3:15			$0.99
Michael Nyman Composer The Piano, film score Work Jean-Yves Thibaudet Piano
9	The heart asks pleasure first	2:11			$0.99
Dmitri Shostakovich Composer The Gadfly, Op.97 Work Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly Conductor, Alexander Kerr Violin
10	3.Youth (Romance)	3:50			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Serenade for Winds in Bb, K.361 ('Gran Partita') Work Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra
11	3.Adagio	5:39			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Così fan tutte, K.588 (opera buffa)...Scene 6 Work Tom Krause Baritone, Brigitte Fassbaender Mezzo-Soprano, Istvan Kertesz Conductor, Vienna Haydn Orchestra Orchestra, Lucia Popp Voice
12	10.Trio: Soave sia il vento	2:38			$0.99
Alfredo Catalani Composer La Wally (dramma musicale)...Act 1 Work London Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Renée Fleming Soprano, Sir Charles Mackerras Conductor
13	6.Ebben?...Ne andrò lontana	5:02			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Keyboard Concerto in F-, BWV1056 Work Andras Schiff Piano, Chamber Orchestra of Europe Orchestra
14	2.Largo	2:56			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.14 in C#-, Op.27, No.2 ('Moonlight') Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Piano
15	1.Adagio sostenuto	6:07			$0.99
Franz Peter Schubert Composer String Quintet in C, D.956, Op.posth.163 Work Weller Quartet String Quartet
16	2.Adagio (excerpt)	5:14			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Lacrimosa, for a cappella chorus, KAnh.21 (spurious, by Eberlin) Work John Alldis Choir Chorus/Choir, BBC Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis Conductor
17	Lacrimosa, for a cappella chorus, KAnh.21 (spurious, by Eberlin)	3:09			$0.99
CD 2 of 2
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Composer The Swan Lake (ballet), Op.20...Act 2 Work Montréal Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Charles Dutoit Conductor
1	1.Scène: Moderato	2:58			$0.99
Jacques Offenbach Composer Les contes d'Hoffmann (opera)...Act 4 (performed as Act 3 in some version) Work Richard Bonynge Conductor, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Orchestra
2	1.Belle nuit, o nuit d'amour ('Barcarolle')	4:00			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Concerto No.5 in Eb, Op.73 ('Emperor') Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Piano, Cleveland Orchestra Orchestra
3	2.Adagio un poco mosso	7:46			$1.49
Sir Edward Elgar Composer Cello Concerto in E-, Op.85 Work Yehudi Menuhin Conductor, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber Cello
4	1.Adagio. Moderato	3:33			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Clarinet Concerto in A, K.622 Work Jack Brymer Clarinet, London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis Conductor
5	2.Adagio	7:18			$1.49
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Double Concerto in D- for 2 Violins, BWV1043 Work Henryk Szeryng Violin, Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra, Maurice Hasson Violin
6	2.Largo ma non tanto	6:28			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Suite Bergamasque, L.75 (includes 'Clair de lune')...Suite Bergamasque, L.75 (arr. orchestra) Work Frederick Fennell Conductor, Eastman-Rochester Pops Orchestra Orchestra
7	3.Clair de lune	4:29			$0.99
Ennio Morricone Composer Cinema Paradiso, film score Work Prague Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
8	Nuovo Cinema Paradiso	3:10			$0.99
Gustav Mahler Composer Symphony No.5 in C#- Work Chicago Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Georg Solti Conductor
9	4.Adagietto. Sehr langsam	9:50			$1.49
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Orchestral Suite No.3 in D, BWV1068 (includes 'Air on the G String') Work Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Karl Munchinger Conductor
10	2.Air ('On the G String')	3:42			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K.492 (opera buffa)...Act 3 Work London Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Kiri Te Kanawa Soprano, Lucia Popp Soprano, Georg Solti Conductor
11	13.Duetto: Che soave zeffiretto (Sull'aria)	2:39			$0.99
Giacomo Puccini Composer Madama Butterfly (opera)...Act 2 Work London Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Renée Fleming Soprano, Sir Charles Mackerras Conductor
12	2.Un bel dì verdremo	4:52			$0.99
Johann Pachelbel Composer Canon and Gigue in D, for 3 violins and continuo ('Pachelbel's Canon'), T.337 Work Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Karl Munchinger Conductor
13	1.Canon	4:31			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Viola da gamba Sonata No.3 in G-, BWV1029 Work György Sebök Piano, Janos Starker Cello
14	2.Adagio	3:11			$0.99
Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov Composer Morceaux de fantaisie, Op.3 (includes famous Prelude in C#-) Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Piano
15	2.Prelude in C#- ('The Bells of Moscow')	4:29			$0.99
John Barry Composer On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film score) Work Prague Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
16	We have all the time in the world	3:21			$0.99