Examples...hmmm


film work of John Barry
Adagio For Strings by Barber
Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar & orchestra Adagio by Joaquin Rodrigo
Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 5 by Beethhoven

If I might add my $.02, most of my classical collection is from soundtracks. I love the classics as well, but I like to hear the modern composers as well.

My #1 is the soundtrack to Gattaca. Most of the songs are strings arrangements and the songs are mostly laid back and calm. I love to listen to it when I'm reading or studying.

#2 would be the Soundtrack to Shine. It's mostly piano, but there's some great classics in the mix.

#3 Since I saw that techno was mentioned, then I would have to recommend the soundtrack to K-Pax. It's really laid back and has some elements of classical and techno. Really great stuff. And the violin solo in the song New Mexico give me the chills EVERY time.

Well, there you have it..my list. Hope you check some of them out.

Jason

If you want some well recorded classical music that sounds quite good, AIX records makes outstanding Hires DVD-Audio/Video disks. I bought a few of them to get some classical, and the DVD-Audio 96/24 mixes are beautiful through the Axioms.

The favorites of what I purchased from AIX are Bach/Brandenburgs 3 and 5, and Brahms Piano Concertos. The Stravinsky Firebird/Ravel Bolero disk is also quite good. I believe they all come with DD and DTS options as well if you don't have a DVD-Audio player.

I hear ya Sushi.. There is a lot of junk out there today.. But this collection was actually done quite well.. Laser Light has made a number of fine ADD and DDD recordings.. And for someone not sure what he/she likes, that sampler is a good way to get your feet wet..
By the by, I'm quite fond of trumpet concerto's myself..

Craig, I tend to agree with your period preferences. Although I listen to Bach, Haydn, Mozart etc. my greatest interest begins about 1830 with the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. As sushi and others pointed out, the music tends to have both gentle and vigorous moments within the same composition and I'm not going to honor your "laid-back" specification.

Ravel's music does tend to have more gentle moments, so let me first suggest a Ravel collection including the exquisitely beautiful Ma Mere L'Oye(Mother Goose), with Tortelier and the Ulster Orchestra on Chandos CHA 7102.

Rachmaninoff is one of my real favorites, so I'll suggest a bargain(about$7)CD I've suggested before in replies and PMs: Symphonic Dances, etc., Batiz and the Royal Philharmonic on Naxos NXS 8.550583.

I've got 6 versions of Smetana's Ma Vlast(My Country)and I'll suggest a bargain CD with Berglund and the Dresden State Orchestra on Seraphim SPH 73736.

An old but beautiful collection with Anna Moffo singing and Stokowski conducting the gorgeous Rachmaninoff Vocalise and others on RCA 7831.

A very colorful collection of Respighi's Pines of Rome, etc., in excellent sound with Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony is on London LON 455 290.

A new recording(also on SACD)of Gliere's gigantic Il'Ya Murometz is on Telarc TLC 80609 with Botstein and the London Symphony.

As always, these often have to ordered since they're not in stock, even at big stores. I'll stop here although I could list hundreds more.

Hi SPiffnme:

Some other thoughts for you (maybe check out sample tracks on Amazon)...

- "Evening Adagios" (2 disks, includes some of the adagios mentioned in this thread)
- "The Bach Variations" (Windham Hill sampler)
- Schubert's String Quintet in C Major (I have one with Mstislav Rostropovich)
- Sir Hubert Parry's "English" Symphony--different and interesting

Other stuff:
- Galaxies (Kevin Braheny)--new age--great space music
- Soundtracks: Nell (laid back, sensitive); The Peacemaker (more boomy), Hamlet (Mel Gibson)--a bit of both.

Take care.

Larry

Yes, I have run into the recording problem with the set I got. It has to be played at louder levels (on the volume knob) then anything else I have just to get the same output.

Craig,

Your favorites list somehow triggered me to suggest you some music by British composers of late 19th to 20th century:

Holst - The Planets
Elgar - Enigma Variations
Britten - Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

I think you will like the coloful but not overwhelming orchestral sounds devised in these works. These are also nice introductions on what kind of things an orchestra can do sonically.

I also second John's mention of Rachmaninoff. Among my suggestions in Russian flavors are:

Rachmaninoff - Pioano Concerto No.2 (lots of "mellow" moments)
Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody On A Theme By Paganini (the famous soundtrack of "Somewhere in Time")
Tschaikovski - Ballet Suites - Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty... (generally "easy and laid-back")

Craig, sushi's mention of British composers reminded me of the CD I have of the Ralph Vaughn Williams 3rd Symphony("Pastoral")which is so gentle that a critic likened it to "a cow gazing over a fence". Very nice, and coupled with the much more vigorous 4th Symphony on RCA 60583(Previn, London Symphony). Sushi's mention of Swan Lake is right on and the entire 2 1/2 hours is worthwhile, but the suite of about half the music(Ermler, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Conifer 18811)can be recommended.

But enough of this; run right over to Tower on Sunset and get all these CDs.

Here are a few suggestions:

Mozart - Concerto for Flute
Massenet - Meditation de Thais
Vivaldi - Spring Largo
Bach - Air/Air on a G String
Mahler - Symphony No 5