CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Romance of the Violin

by: Claude Debussy, Fryderyk Chopin, Camille Saint-Saens, Franz Schubert, Vincenzo Bellini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Alexander Borodin, Antonin Dvorak, Claudio Monteverdi, Jules Massenet, Robert Schumann, Michael Stern, Craig Ogden, Gregory Knowles, John Constable, Jacob Heringman, Stephen Orton

Release Date October 28, 2003
a trained violinist, to me he does not feel the music, therefore, his playing is not inspiring.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe

by: Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Frideric Handel, Gustav Holst, Samuel Barber, Edvard Grieg, Jean Sibelius, Antonin Dvorak, Franz Liszt, Charles Gounod, Fryderyk Chopin, Alexander Borodin, Maurice Ravel, Antonio Vivaldi, Erik Satie, Various Artists

Release Date April 08, 2003
Title...The Most Relaxing Music in the Universe (not Feminine Mystique(?). Music is beautiful, very relaxing yet energizing.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever!

by: Johann Sebastian Bach, Léo Delibes, Gabriel Fauré, Erik Satie, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Edvard Grieg, Johann Pachelbel, Claude Debussy, Felix Mendelssohn, Camille Saint-Saens, Henryk Gorecki, Antonio Vivaldi, Edward Elgar, Jocelyn Pook, Sergey Rachmaninov, Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Luigi Boccherini, Jules Massenet, Ludwig van Beethoven, Jacques Offenbach, Pietro Mascagni, Antonin Dvorak, Giacomo Puccini, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Alexander Borodin, Joaquin Rodrigo, Samuel Barber

Release Date March 30, 1999
If you are looking for a soothing, beautiful collection of well-known classical music, this is the one. This purchse was for a gift to my sister, who heard my album and "Had to have it."

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, A Night on Bald Mountain, and Other Russian Showpieces [Hybrid SACD]

by: Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Alexander Borodin, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Mikhail Glinka, Fritz Reiner

Release Date September 14, 2004
Conductor Fritz Reiner is unbelievably precise with the baton with just enough emotional fervor, energy, and commitment to rouse the phenomenal Chicago players of the late 1950's to one of the greatest compilations of a colorful Russian showcase. The Pictures is one of the finest I have ever heard and the Colas Breugnon and Borodin pieces are exceptionally delightful treats. The mastering is spectacular in all three specialized CD formats and the compatibility is extraordinary.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

The Power & The Majesty: Essential Choral Classics

by: Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Choruses

Release Date January 24, 1995
A wonderful album. I have several copies of Handel's Messiah, but the performance of the Hallelujah Chorus by Robert Shaw's singers is exceptional, outstanding. I was inspired to have my young son listen to this album: Verdi's "Dies Irae", Orff's "O Fortuna", and Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus".

Notice that there are 3 versions of "Dies Irae" on this album. It's nice to hear others. I am not normally a fan of Requiems. I will say that I do like Bach's Mass in B Minor and the Kyrie Eleison excerpted here is beautiful.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

from: RCA

Release Date March 15, 1994
It is difficult to put into words how much I enjoy this music. While I realized that this had been recorded in the 50's and I was prepared for some background noise, what I received instead was a kind of majesty and purpose that is difficult to find today in an orchestra or its conductor. There is no doubt about the glorious interpretation of this music and the orchestra is likewise single minded.
I freely admit that I purchased this CD realizing that my only copy on digital vinyl left me tied to my listening room at home. I also freely admit that I purchased this with the intent on revenge against the Mustangs playing what passes for music these days, a cacophony of filthy lyrics and vulgar pounding. I have to say that the result is both worthwhile ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Borodin: String Quartet No. 1 in A Major; String Quartet No. 2 in D Major

from: EMI Classics / Melodiya

Release Date October 25, 1990

This is probably Borodin Qt's greatest recording, even greater than their Shostakovich cycle. In both no.1 & 2, they achieve near-miracle performance with amazing technical perfection and warm autumanal tone. The famous Nocturne in the 2nd quartet is undescribably beautiful and even Borodin Qt's own later versions fall far short of sheer sublimity of the music making. Rarely performed Quartet No.1 is even greater work in many ways, and here Borodin Qt captures the rustic beauty of the music like no other ensemble could. Buy this one while availalbe (EMI has notorious habit of deleting great recordings while reissuing inferior recordings as Great Recordings of the Century!), you shall never regret.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Borodin: Symphony No.2/In The Steppes Of Central Asia/Prince Igor

from: RCA

Release Date April 05, 1991

Borodin's Prince Igor with choir is my favourite music, having once sung myself in Chesterton Choir Cambridge, and I've been searching for definitive recording. Most of recommended recordings hurry the music along spoiling the beautiful melody and intricate harmony. Solti's Formula One rendition is the worst one even though highly recommended by Penguin Guide.

I picked up this CD in a second-hand shop in London simply because it was cheap, and got a nice surprise. This unkown conductor paces each section of the music wisely and manages to bring best out of the music, achieving both nostalgic beauty of the female chorus and excitement of the fast sections. Male chorus blends beautifully with orchestra and female chorus. This might not be definitive ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

The Complete EMI Recordings 1946-1984, Vol. 1: Orchestral [Box Set]

from: EMI Classics

Release Date April 01, 2008
Not only is this conductor first class, the recordings are of good quality. The cost is less than $2 per hour of music.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

The Ultimate Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe

from: Denon Records

Release Date February 27, 2007
Not only is this conductor first class, the recordings are of good quality. The cost is less than $2 per hour of music.