CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
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 2
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Time Life Presents: Classical Thunder

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
from: Time Life Records

Release Date April 26, 2005
Every selection on this CD is wonderful. I can't get enough of it. My 22 year old son loves it, too, so I bought another copy just for him.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Most Romantic Classical Music in the Universe

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
by: Francisco Tarrega, Gabriel Faure, Felix Mendelssohn, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Fryderyk Chopin, Franz Liszt, Erik Satie, Robert Schumann, Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Mahler, Sergey Rachmaninov, Leos Janacek, Cesar Franck, George Frideric Handel, Jules Massenet, Sergey Prokofiev, Catalan Traditional, Various Artists

Release Date January 13, 2004
I bought this CD to play while I am putting my infant son to bed. Every night I give him his bottle, read him a story and like to have soothing music playing in the background. This was a great choice! It makes for a great alternative to lullaby CD's. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a nice relaxing blend of classical music.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

The Ultimate Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
from: Denon Records

Release Date February 27, 2007
I bought this CD to play while I am putting my infant son to bed. Every night I give him his bottle, read him a story and like to have soothing music playing in the background. This was a great choice! It makes for a great alternative to lullaby CD's. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a nice relaxing blend of classical music.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

HOMAGE: The Age of the Diva

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
from: Decca

Release Date October 17, 2006
Voices don't come much more rapturous, powerful, creamy and expressive than this. Renee Fleming is now at her absolute peak; her voice retains its tonal beauty but has acquired more edge and vibrancy, too, to counteract the old accusations that it was all bland beauty and no feeling. If some of her embellishments and apparent liberties with the score - for example, particularly at the end of the "Vissi d'arte" - seem a little mannered or excessive, there is no doubting her desire to communicate a true depth of emotion and re-invent what can sometimes seem, by repetition in recital albums, rather hackneyed arias, such as "Tacea la notte". I don't think that the inclusion of the Gounod aria was a wise choice, despite her accomplishment; the voice ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

50TH Anniversary Harmonia Mundi

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
from: Harmonia Mundi Fr.

Release Date October 09, 2007
Let me state upfront that I did not buy this set as such. I received it as a gift when I recently made a pledge to my local classical music station (WGUC here in Cincinnati) during their pledge drive. Imagine my good fortune, and surprise, when this arrievd at my house!

"Harmonia Mundi 50" (29 CDs, plus 1 CD-Rom; about 36 hours of music) is so massive and overwhelming that I will admist I haven't yet listened to every single piece of music yet. I have been picking out and listening to CDs that immediately appealed to me, either because of the composer, or the orchestra/artist playing it, or the venue where it was recorded (there are several CDs that have a Belgian connection, and I am from Belgium originally). But rest assured, I will ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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Masters of the Trumpet

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date August 09, 2005
This is a superb compilation of classical trumpet compositions, and features many of the world's best performers.The liner notes are well written and informative.

CD-Charts Position 8
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Janacek: Sinfonietta/Glagolitic Mass - Felicity Palmer, Malcolm King, Sir Simon Rattle, Philharmonia Orchestra

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
by: Leos Janácek, Simon Rattle, Felicity Palmer, Malcolm King, John Mitchinson, Ameral Gunson, Jane Parker-Smith, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra

Release Date September 14, 1999
Critics have wondered why Leos Janacek, an avowed atheist, wrote a Mass at all, let alone one of his grandest and most original symphonic works, from his late-blooming apotheosis as one of the 20th Century's greatest composers. And why did he choose the Glagolitic language, a form of Old Church Slavic unintelligible by ear to modern Czechs and Slovaks except by way of familiarity with ritual? I have no authority for my impressions, but to me this Mass sounds thoroughly pagan, a celebration of some orgiastic pre-Christian rite involving springtime and vistory over the Huns and much consumption of barley brew and barbequed horse-flesh. If that's too subjective, then just get ready for exultant choruses, frenzied instrumental complexities, and ecstatic ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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Janácek: Piano Works (Complete)

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
from: Brilliant Classics

Release Date May 31, 2005
I am amazed that Janacek could produce such delicate music, after listening to his operatic output. Where others find variety, I find repetitiveness; However, the effect is never less than beautiful. Autsbo is an excellent performer and the set is well worth its price. But for rippling fireworks, Smetana!

CD-Charts Position 10
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Janácek: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

CD-Charts > Music > ( J )
from: Naxos

Release Date May 26, 1998
This was my first serious venture into Janacek and I wasn't disappointed. Impressive as Dvorak and Smetana's quartets are, frankly Janacek packs more intensity and white heat into his music, and also manages to "push the bounds" of music a little bit more. The Second String Quartet ("Intimate Letters", 1928) was one of his last compositions and represents the full development of his art. Its genesis was tied to his obsessive love affair with the singer Kamila Stosslova, and thus had great personal meaning for him, although unfortunately he died before he could ever hear it performed. As he wrote to her, "I have succeeded in writing a piece in which the earth begins to tremble. Here I can find a place for my most beautiful melodies." Likewise, the ravagingly beautiful ... Read More: