This classic disc has been the prime recommendation for Barber's short orchestral pieces since the early 1960s. Remastered onto CD for the first time, and with the addition of some other items conducted by Thomas Schippe... more »rs, it sounds better than ever. All of Barber's music is blessed with the virtues of impeccable craftsmanship, tunefulness, and, above all, brevity. Although a Romantic by temperament, Barber had the gift of being able to fit a lot of emotional impact into a very small space. The famous Adagio for Strings and the Second Essay actually sound much bigger than they are, but they don't go on a second too long--which means you can play them again right away! You'll want to. --David Hurwitz« less
This classic disc has been the prime recommendation for Barber's short orchestral pieces since the early 1960s. Remastered onto CD for the first time, and with the addition of some other items conducted by Thomas Schippers, it sounds better than ever. All of Barber's music is blessed with the virtues of impeccable craftsmanship, tunefulness, and, above all, brevity. Although a Romantic by temperament, Barber had the gift of being able to fit a lot of emotional impact into a very small space. The famous Adagio for Strings and the Second Essay actually sound much bigger than they are, but they don't go on a second too long--which means you can play them again right away! You'll want to. --David Hurwitz
CD Reviews
Best Adagio for Strings Recording
Ioanna Borgos | USA | 02/22/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I personally own every recording released on Barber - well, all most every one. This by far is the most lucid, intense, and true to form version of The Adagio for Strings that is out there. It is not by chance however. This recording was done by Schippers under Barber's direct supervision. Thus, this is the way Barber wanted it to sound. Barber is said to have composed this piece after reading The Georgics, specifically a piece regarding the motion and flow of water. The beauty of this piece of music, especially this version which captures this fluidity, is in its perfect symmetry and simplicity. Like a Fibanocci Series, Barber's piece aescetically spirals in a beautiful set of notes which increasingly grow more intense with each new set. It as if Shippers has caught the feel of a trickle of water becoming a small stream, joining with more water and feeding into a river - then emptying into a delta and merging into the Ocean. One has to cry at the intensity as the peice comes to its climax and there emerges a profound stillness...like entering some private spiritual universe. I've never heard another peice of music that comes close except for Mozart's Don Giovanni."
An extraordinary talent, gone but not forgotten
Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 03/05/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"May we never forget Thomas Schippers. One of the greatest of all American conductors, he graced this earth with his brilliance until 1977, when he died of lung cancer at the age of 47.
This CD, which contains recordings from the early to mid '60's, is a wonderful tribute to him.He championed, and had a great affinity for the music of Samuel Barber, as this disc will prove. His performance of the gorgeous "Adagio for Strings" is sublime, and by far the best I've heard. I also love "Medea's Dance of Vengance" and "The School for Scandal" Overture. "Andromache's Farewell" features Martina Arroyo (early in her career, at age 27), and her powerful soprano is perfect for this piece.On this CD one also gets a short and sprightly Gian Carlo Menotti overture, a terrific (also very short) Berg interlude, and the closing d'Indy composition is slow, peaceful, and dreamy.
The booklet has a fair amount of information, including a piece by Menotti, and photos of Schippers (as handsome as a movie star), and Barber.
The total time is 71:22 and the sound is excellent. This was a surprise gift for which I'm very grateful, and I'll be playing it often...now, and way into the future."
Great Recording Conducted by Thomas Schippers
D. A Wend | Buffalo Grove, IL USA | 08/01/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Thomas Schippers was a talented conductor who died before his time in 1977. He helped found the Spoleto Festival with Gian Carlo Menoti and had a close affinity for the music of Samuel Barber (although they did not like each other much). Too few of Schippers' recordings have been transfered to CD, but some of his best are included on this disc. This is arguably the best recording of Medea's Dance of Vengence and particularly fine recordings of Barber's Adagio and School For Scandal Overture. If you have an interest in the music of Samuel Barber, you can't do better than the recordings presented here."
Probably the best "Adagio" you'll ever hear......
DAVID A. FLETCHER | Richmond, Va United States | 06/09/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All of the earlier reviewers have hit upon the magic of these performances by Schippers of much of Samuel Barber's most memorable music. It's almost become cliche...since Roosevelt's funeral, I suppose...to use the Barber "Adagio for Strings" as an old-reliable underpinning for cinematic sadness. What's not always easy, though, is to get beyond the sheer beauty of the string writing to the heart of the vocal quality that Barber imbues his best scores with; the lines have to breathe and truly "sing", as in Schubert's 8th, the "Unfinished." Schippers accomplished that with his reading of the Barber Adagio. It's almost a reflex...no matter how many times I hear this disc, as soon as his forces are few bars into the opening, the tears start to roll. It's like hearing Schwarzkopf or Norman singing the Strauss "Four Last Songs," or Marriner's reading of the Vaughan Williams "Tallis Fantasia." Schippers just takes you THERE. Like many of the other reviewers, I've lived with the Schippers Barber performances since the LP era. And yes, the balance of his body of recordings for CBS/Sony need to be reissued. Schippers' gift was a marriage of Bernstein-like emotion with a balanced tone not unlike Jochum playing Bruckner. Hard to pull off, yes, but, that was Schippers' gift. With both Bernstein and Schippers in the old Columbia stable of artists, I doubt that he'd have had the chance to do his own Mahler cycle with them; that was Lenny's show. Not even George Szell managed to complete one. Schippers had the musical vision for it, though; had he lived, he just might have signed with another label and.....oh well. We can only just imagine."
Is there anything to add...?
Frank C. Adams | Boston, MA United States | 09/26/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Is there anything to add to the string of glowing reviews of this CD? Perhaps not but I feel an obligation as it has been part of my life since I first bought it in 1967--and wore out several LP versions of it. The combination of composition, interpretation, playing, and engineering of the Barber pieces is unparalleled in my experience; each must be considered as definitive. I particularly favor the Second Essay which comes across as a major work of it era and should appear in concert more often. The contibution by Martina Arroyo is just an extra added attraction in this extended compilation. Legendary!"
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1