Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Edward Elgar :: Midnight Adagios

Enjoyable - but not beddy-bye music

E. A. Lovitt | Gladwin, MI USA | 06/07/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Midnight Adagios" advertises itself as featuring "over two-and-a-half hours of the world's most relaxing music" and while it is beautiful music it is not particularly relaxing. The dynamic changes from track to track--something I find in all musical compilations from disparate sources--are too great. I constantly have to fiddle with the volume control when going from track to track. For instance, on CD 2 of this two-CD set, if I get the volume just right for track 1, Bach's "Air on a G String," then track 2 (Debussy's "Clair de Lune") is almost completely inaudible.'Adagio' means 'at ease' or 'slow'--somewhere in between 'largo' and 'andante'--but it doesn't necessarily mean 'soft.' There are a few forte movements on both CDs that seem to occur just as I am finally drifting off to sleep. That's why I wouldn't recommend this album to those who are looking for music to lull them to sleep."Cello for Relaxation," "Celtic Lullaby," and "Soothing Harp" are all very soporific CDs if sleep is what you're searching for.Other than the above caveats, "Midnight Adagios" is wonderful music to paint by or cook by (when I'm not fiddling with the volume control). There are a total of twenty-nine tracks interpreted by such artists and ensembles as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Pilar Lorengar, Kiri Te Kanawa, The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, etc. etc.CD 1 begins with Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" (how could it not?), the andante movement (oops, what happened to adagio?), and ends with Satie's "Gymnopedie No.1." CD2 begins with Bach's "Air on a G String" and ends with Offenbach's "Barcarolle.You've probably heard all of the musical offerings before except, perhaps, for the Marcello "Oboe Concerto." So if you can be lulled by the familiar, serene in the knowledge that the music won't send any adrenaline racing through YOUR bloodstream, then maybe you will find "Midnight Adagios" to be a truly relaxing experience."