Album

Naxos' Classics at the Movies series is really only tangentially linked to the film music it presents, since the majority of each release is actually traditional classical pieces that happened to be used by certain films. For its War installment, the label has chosen music from Chopin, Mozart, and Strauss, from films like G.I. Jane, The Peacemaker, and The Devil's Own. While these films' weight in the entire history of war movies is debatable, the compositions included are performed with appropriate grace and professionalism by an assortment of symphony orchestras, soloists, and choirs. And while it's certainly one of the most recognizable classical pieces on its own, the inclusion of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" here is predictable, yet mandatory, since it's part of the defining image of Apocalypse Now, a war epic if there ever was one. (Or, it's at least more of a war epic than The Peacemaker.)

© Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

CD 1
Richard Wagner Composer Die Walküre (The Valkyrie; opera), WWV 86b...Die Walküre, WWV86b (opera, arr. orchestra) Work Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava Orchestra, Uwe Mund Conductor
1	Act 3: Ride of the Valkyries	5:27			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Adagio and Fugue in C- for String Quartet, K.546 Work Eder Quartet Ensemble
2	Adagio and Fugue in C- for String Quartet, K.546	8:11			$1.49
Giacomo Puccini Composer Gianni Schicchi (opera) Work Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava Orchestra, Luba Orgonasova Vocals, Will Humburg Conductor
3	9.O mio babbino caro	2:25			$0.99
Samuel Barber Composer Adagio for Strings (arr. of 2nd mvmt. of String Quartet), Op.11 Work Capella Istropolitana Ensemble
4	Adagio for Strings (arr. of 2nd mvmt. of String Quartet), Op.11	7:53			$1.49
Frédéric François Chopin Composer Sonata No.2 in Bb-, Op.35 Work Idil Biret Piano
5	3.Marche funèbre: Lento	9:18			$1.49
Stanley Myers Composer The Deer Hunter, film score Work Norbert Kraft Guitar
6	Cavatina, for guitar ('Theme from The Deer Hunter')	3:36			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer Requiem, Op.48 Work Oxford Camerata Chamber Ensemble, Schola Cantorum of Oxford Chorus/Choir, Jeremy Summerly Conductor
7	7.In Paradisum	3:23			$0.99
Johann Strauss II Composer Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring; with voice ad lib), Op.410 Work Strauss Festival Orchestra Orchestra, Ondrej Lenard Conductor
8	Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring; with voice ad lib), Op.410	6:12			$0.99
Frédéric François Chopin Composer 2 Nocturnes, Op.55 Work Idil Biret Piano
9	No.1 in F-	4:50			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Ave verum corpus, for chorus and strings, K.618 (motet) Work Johannes Wildner Conductor, Kosice Teacher's Choir Chorus/Choir, Camerata Cassovia Orchestra
10	Ave verum corpus, for chorus and strings, K.618 (motet)	2:54			$0.99
Remo Giazotto Composer Adagio in G- for Violin, Strings, and Organ (previously attributed to Albinoni) Work Richard Edlinger Conductor, Capella Istropolitana Ensemble
11	Adagio in G- for Violin, Strings, and Organ (previously attributed to Albinoni)	11:31			$1.99