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Romantic Moments
(more) »rank: 81193by: Nino Rota, Franz Lehár, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Fryderyk Chopin, Giacomo Puccini, Irish Traditional, Richard Heuberger, Josef Strauss, Antonin Dvorak, Johann Paul Aegidius Martini, Franz Schubert, Enrico Toselli, Friedrich von Flotow, André Rieu, J. Huijts, Teun Ramaekers, Arthur Cordewener
: :Set the table, open the wine, light some candles. Slip on this disc. Let the gentle sounds of André Rieu's slippery fiddle and fur-tipped orchestra lull you with classical music's most memorable soothers, from 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Plasir D'Amour' to the largo from Dvorák's New World Symphony and Nino Rota's 'A Time for Us,' which opens and closes the collection. Lightweight stuff, yes, but ingenuously arranged and performed, and the ribbon of reverb that surrounds the orchestra will please erstwhile Mantovani fans. --Jed Distler
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Mad About Mad About
(more) »rank: 99609from: Deutsche Grammophon
: :Set the table, open the wine, light some candles. Slip on this disc. Let the gentle sounds of André Rieu's slippery fiddle and fur-tipped orchestra lull you with classical music's most memorable soothers, from 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Plasir D'Amour' to the largo from Dvorák's New World Symphony and Nino Rota's 'A Time for Us,' which opens and closes the collection. Lightweight stuff, yes, but ingenuously arranged and performed, and the ribbon of reverb that surrounds the orchestra will please erstwhile Mantovani fans. --Jed Distler
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Fischer Plays Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Kodály, Mozart
(more) »rank: 152355from: BBC Legends
: :Set the table, open the wine, light some candles. Slip on this disc. Let the gentle sounds of André Rieu's slippery fiddle and fur-tipped orchestra lull you with classical music's most memorable soothers, from 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Plasir D'Amour' to the largo from Dvorák's New World Symphony and Nino Rota's 'A Time for Us,' which opens and closes the collection. Lightweight stuff, yes, but ingenuously arranged and performed, and the ribbon of reverb that surrounds the orchestra will please erstwhile Mantovani fans. --Jed Distler
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Tchaikovsky: 18 Pieces
(more) »rank: 161264from: Deutsche Grammophon
: :Set the table, open the wine, light some candles. Slip on this disc. Let the gentle sounds of André Rieu's slippery fiddle and fur-tipped orchestra lull you with classical music's most memorable soothers, from 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Plasir D'Amour' to the largo from Dvorák's New World Symphony and Nino Rota's 'A Time for Us,' which opens and closes the collection. Lightweight stuff, yes, but ingenuously arranged and performed, and the ribbon of reverb that surrounds the orchestra will please erstwhile Mantovani fans. --Jed Distler
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50 Classical Highlights: Romantic Piano
(more) »rank: 21690from: St. Clair Entertainment
: :Set the table, open the wine, light some candles. Slip on this disc. Let the gentle sounds of André Rieu's slippery fiddle and fur-tipped orchestra lull you with classical music's most memorable soothers, from 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Plasir D'Amour' to the largo from Dvorák's New World Symphony and Nino Rota's 'A Time for Us,' which opens and closes the collection. Lightweight stuff, yes, but ingenuously arranged and performed, and the ribbon of reverb that surrounds the orchestra will please erstwhile Mantovani fans. --Jed Distler
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Claudio Arrau - Great Pianists of the 20th Century II
(more) »rank: 113917from: Philips
: :Set the table, open the wine, light some candles. Slip on this disc. Let the gentle sounds of André Rieu's slippery fiddle and fur-tipped orchestra lull you with classical music's most memorable soothers, from 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Plasir D'Amour' to the largo from Dvorák's New World Symphony and Nino Rota's 'A Time for Us,' which opens and closes the collection. Lightweight stuff, yes, but ingenuously arranged and performed, and the ribbon of reverb that surrounds the orchestra will please erstwhile Mantovani fans. --Jed Distler
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For the Hopeless Romantic
(more) »rank: 31232from: Decca
: :Set the table, open the wine, light some candles. Slip on this disc. Let the gentle sounds of André Rieu's slippery fiddle and fur-tipped orchestra lull you with classical music's most memorable soothers, from 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Plasir D'Amour' to the largo from Dvorák's New World Symphony and Nino Rota's 'A Time for Us,' which opens and closes the collection. Lightweight stuff, yes, but ingenuously arranged and performed, and the ribbon of reverb that surrounds the orchestra will please erstwhile Mantovani fans. --Jed Distler
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Debut
(more) »rank: 67652by: Pablo de Sarasate, Edward Elgar, Niccolo Paganini, Fritz Kreisler, Aram Khachaturian, Fryderyk Chopin, Dmitry Shostakovich, George Gershwin, Franz Liszt, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Sergey Prokofiev, Sarah Chang, Sandra Rivers
: :This miraculous recital was Chang's debut recording, made when she was nine years old. In Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy you can hear some very minor flaws in the technique, which were gone when I heard her play it two years later. There's nothing else to indicate that this is a young violinist, not even the tone Chang draws from a quarter-size violin. While none of these pieces is very heavy in musical content, she shows a wide range of sympathies, from the singing lyricism of Chopin to a very hip-sounding 'It Ain't Necessarily So' from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. --Leslie Gerber
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The Little Record of Calm: Favorite Adagios
(more) »rank: 141440from: Retro Music
: :This miraculous recital was Chang's debut recording, made when she was nine years old. In Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy you can hear some very minor flaws in the technique, which were gone when I heard her play it two years later. There's nothing else to indicate that this is a young violinist, not even the tone Chang draws from a quarter-size violin. While none of these pieces is very heavy in musical content, she shows a wide range of sympathies, from the singing lyricism of Chopin to a very hip-sounding 'It Ain't Necessarily So' from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. --Leslie Gerber
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Chopin: 4 Ballades; Scherzos; Mazurkas
(more) »rank: 91024from: RCA
: : Emanuel Ax here offers a fine selection of Chopin, showcasing every aspect of the great Polish composer. The G Minor Ballade is played as poetically as the Scherzos are played expressively, with some of the more chaotic moments presented in the most melodious way. Ax rarely showboats and is mostly interested in Chopin's long lines. His tone is always warm and never brittle; the argument could be made that some of the music is emotionally thornier than Ax acknowledges, but he nonetheless is always communicative, underlining the harmonic daring of the music this latter trait particularly in the mazurkas. The two CDs ...
