Here is a special collection of great classics in the romantic vein. The booklet’s introduction, quoted below, is meant to set the stage for a romantic interpretation of the CD’s contents, and to suggest a romantic writer’s view of the program.
Music is an invitation to explore a particular terrain, experience a certain mood or even take part in an adventure. When composers provide programmatic titles for their compositions, that terrain, mood or adventure comes to life perhaps more readily than when the score is without such signposts. We have, therefore, added descriptive titles to some of the works collected here in order to guide the listener along paths that seem to have a common destination: that place in the heart where tenderness and intimacy reside. As you listen to this music you may find yourself swathed in the romantic glow of a rustic fireside. You may find that your emotions are inexplicably mercurial or that your mind has taken rapturous flight. Go, then and perhaps celebrate love along Shakespeare’s riverbank, his words whispering within: “How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here we will sit, and let the sounds of music creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony.”
Chapter One: Sentimental Evening: Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70, Allegro • Chapter Two: Remember: Rachmaninoff: Prelude in E-Flat, Op. 23, No. 6 • Chapter Three: Nocturne: Grieg: Nocturne * Chapter Four: Love’s Reverie: Debussy: Reverie • Chapter Five: Invitation: Saint-Saëns: Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 92, Andante * Chapter Six: Longing: Goldmark: Violin Concerto, Air • Chapter Seven: Intermezzo: Dvorák: Intermezzo (Notturno) • Chapter Eight: The Lover’s Touch: Chopin: Nocturne in E-Flat, Op. 55, No. 2 • Chapter Nine: The Lover’s Voice: Glière: The Red Poppy, Phoenix • Chapter Ten: Rapture: Dohnányi: Konzertstuck, II • Chapter Eleven: Passion by the Fireside: Strauss: Reverie by the Fireside from Intermezzo • Chapter Twelve: Romeo & Juliet: Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, balcony scene
Artists include: Janos Starker, cello • Jian Wang, cello • Carol Rosenberger, piano • John Browning, piano • David Shifrin, clarinet • Nai-Yuan Hu, violin • The Arden Trio • Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Gerard Schwarz, conductor • Seattle Symphony • Zdenek Macal, conductor • New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
