Album

The title is Romantic Adagios II. The description is "Over 2 1/2 hours of the world's most passionate music." What these are, in other words, are two discs of seduction music, which is fine. Using music for seductive purposes is the oldest ploy in the world. From Orpheus up to Ol' Blue Eyes, music hath charms to arouse, inflame, and incite lascivious and lubricious behavior. The whole purpose of this disc is to ensure a successful seduction. It sure isn't because sticking all of these Adagios together doesn't make any sort of musical sense. How could Wagner's "make love and die" Prelude from Tristan possibly be followed by anything except Tristan, much less by the smarmy Rose Adagio from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty? How could Debussy's "imagine naked nymphs" Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune possibly be followed by Grieg's tenderly sentimental Adagio from his piano concerto? And how could Rachmaninov's "song of sweet despair" Vocalise be followed by Vaughan Williams' transcendent Tallis Fantasia? None of this fits and the selected performances don't make any sense. Why couple Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Concertgebouw Orchestra's throbbing Adagio from Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2 with Riccardo Chailly's dreary Crisantemi by Puccini? Why couple Arthur Grumiaux's exquisitely lyrical Romance No. 2 by Beethoven with Jaap Schroder's austere and severe Largo from Bach's double violin concerto? Why couple Clifford Curzon's ethereal Adagio from Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major with Misha Dichter's mundane Libestraum No. 3 by Liszt? Does it work as seduction music? Some of the music can't miss, such as the Rachmaninov Adagio, Wagner's Prelude, and Debussy's Prelude. Some of it seems unlikely to succeed, such as the Elgar Adagio and Brahms' Adagio.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 2
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Orchestral Suite No.3 in D, BWV1068 (includes 'Air on the G String') Work Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra
1	2.Air ('On the G String')	5:20			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Piano Concerto No.23 in A, K.488 Work Istvan Kertesz Conductor, Clifford Curzon Piano, London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
2	2.Adagio	7:02			$1.49
Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov Composer Symphony No.2 in E-, Op.27 Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
3	3.Adagio	14:16			$2.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.8 in C-, Op.13 ('Pathétique') Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Piano
4	2.Adagio cantabile	4:59			$0.99
Giacomo Puccini Composer Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums), elegy for string quartet Work Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly Conductor
5	Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums), elegy for string quartet (arr. string orchestra)	7:08			$1.49
Johannes Brahms Composer Violin Concerto in D, Op.77 Work Cleveland Orchestra Orchestra, Joshua Bell Violin, Christoph von Dohnányi Conductor
6	2.Adagio	9:10			$1.49
Georges Bizet Composer L' Arlésienne Suite No.1 (from the incidental music) Work Montréal Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Charles Dutoit Conductor
7	3.Adagietto	3:10			$0.99
Georges Bizet Composer Carmen Suite No.1 (assembled by Guirard) Work Montréal Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Charles Dutoit Conductor, Robert Langevin Flute, Dorothy Weldon Masella Harp
8	3.Intermezzo (Prelude to Act 3)	2:34			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Concerto No.1 in C, Op.15 Work Radu Lupu Piano, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Zubin Mehta Conductor
9	2.Largo	11:06			$1.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Horn Concerto No.4 in Eb, K.495 Work English Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Barry Tuckwell Horn
10	2.Romanza: Andante cantabile	4:54			$0.99
Frédéric François Chopin Composer 12 Etudes, Op.10 Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Piano
11	No.3: Lento ma non troppo in E ('Tristesse')	4:22			$0.99
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Composer Romeo and Juliet (fantasy overture) Work Herbert von Karajan Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
12	Romeo and Juliet (fantasy overture; excerpt)	3:14			$0.99
CD 2 of 2
Richard Wagner Composer Tristan und Isolde (opera), WWV 90...Act 1 Work Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Georg Solti Conductor
1	1.Sc.1: Prelude	10:36			$1.99
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Composer The Sleeping Beauty (ballet), Op.66...Act 1 Work Richard Bonynge Conductor, National Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
2	9a.Pas d'action: Adagio (Rose Adagio)	6:34			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Romance for Violin and Orchestra No.2 in F, Op.50 Work Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra, Arthur Grumiaux Violin, Bernard Haitink Conductor
3	Romance for Violin and Orchestra No.2 in F, Op.50	7:51			$1.49
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Double Concerto in D- for 2 Violins, BWV1043 Work Jaap Schroder Violin, Academy of Ancient Music Orchestra, Christopher Hirons Violin, Christopher Hogwood Conductor
4	2.Largo ma non tanto	6:41			$0.99
Sir Edward Elgar Composer Cello Concerto in E-, Op.85 Work Yehudi Menuhin Conductor, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber Cello
5	3.Adagio	5:14			$0.99
Franz Liszt Composer Liebestraum, 3 notturnos, S.541 Work Misha Dichter Piano
6	3.O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst	3:57			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, L.86 Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Conductor, Cleveland Orchestra Orchestra, Jeffrey Khaner Flute
7	Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, L.86	10:04			$1.99
Edvard Grieg Composer Piano Concerto in A-, Op.16 Work Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly Conductor, Jorge Bolet Piano
8	2.Adagio	6:38			$0.99
Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov Composer 14 Songs, Op.34 Work Vladimir Ashkenazy Piano, Lynn Harrell Cello
9	14.Vocalise (arr. solo instrument and piano)	6:56			$0.99
Ralph Vaughan Williams Composer Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, for 2 string orchestras Work London Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Roger Norrington Conductor
10	Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, for 2 string orchestras	14:34			$2.49