VA — Best Of The Millennium: Top 40 Classical Hits (1999)

FLAC(tracks, cue, log) | Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, Modern | 2h 34 min | 668 MB

For those who want the most remembered passages of classical music\’s best-loved works, here\’s a package for you. On this bargain priced double-CD, you\’ll find music from 40 different classical composers; for the most part, the recordings excerpted here are some of the very best. Of course, you only get one Bach sampling (Jesu, Joy of Man\’s Desiring, played by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) and one Mozart (A Little Night Music conducted by Herbert von Karajan), but this is still a nice collection—perhaps the starting point for a budding collection of classical music. This set\’s downfall Unfortunately, though the liner notes discuss the evolution of classical music chronologically, the tracks are programmed in alphabetical order by composer\’s last name. This makes for some startling transitions! Emil Gilels\’s reflective performance of the Adagio from Beethoven\’s \»Moonlight\» sonata is followed by the crashing cymbals and bombast of Carmen\’s \»March of the Toreadors,\» a recipe for a heart attack if there ever was one. Still, there\’s something here for everyone and the liner notes even explain what movies this music can be found in. A nice touch. —Jason Verlinde
CD1
[6:53] 01. Lucerne Festival Strings — Giazotto: Adagio in G Minor
[3:24] 02. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra — Jesu, Joy Of Man\’s Desiring
[6:08] 03. Emil Gilels — Moonlight Sonata — Adagio Sostenuto
[2:20] 04. Berliner Philharmoniker — March Of The Toreadors
[3:25] 05. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra — Celebrated Minuet
[3:53] 06. Berliner Philharmoniker — Polovstian Dance No. 1 (Prince Igor)
[1:55] 07. Bengt Forsberg — Cradle Song
[1:40] 08. Tamás Vásáry — \’Minute\’ Waltz
[5:05] 09. Alexis Weissenberg — Clair De Lune (Suite Bergamasque)
[2:56] 10. Berliner Philharmoniker — Largo (\’New World\’ Symphony)
[5:56] 11. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra — Pomp & Circumstance March No.1
[5:40] 12. Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Rhapsody In Blue — Andante & Finale
[4:00] 13. Berliner Philharmoniker — Morning (Peer Gynt Suite)
[3:59] 14. The English Concert — Hallelujah Chorus (Messiah)
[4:35] 15. Daniel Barenboim — Liebesträum
[3:31] 16. Berliner Philharmoniker — Intermezzo (Cavalleria Rusticana)
[4:30] 17. Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Wedding March (A Midsummer Night\’s Dream)
[1:57] 18. Hannes Wolfgang — Rondeau (First Symphonic Suite) (\’Masterpiece Theater\’ Theme)
[5:57] 19. Berliner Philharmoniker — The Great Gate Of Kiev (Pictures At An Exhibition)
CD2
[5:21] 01. Berliner Philharmoniker — Eine Kleine Nachmusik — Allegro
[2:16] 02. Berliner Philharmoniker — Cancan (Orpheus In The Underworld)
[2:43] 03. Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Caa Burana — O Fortuna
[4:12] 04. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra — Canon In D
[2:46] 05. Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Lieutenant Kijé Suite — Troika
[3:26] 06. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra — Nessun Dorma (Turandot)
[3:15] 07. London Symphony Orchestra — Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini — 18th Variation
[2:07] 08. London Symphony Orchestra — Bolero — Conclusion
[1:13] 09. Violin Ensemble Of Bolshoi Theater — Flight Of The Bumblebee (The Tale Of Czar Sultan)
[3:16] 10. Berliner Philharmoniker — William Tell Overture — Finale
[3:54] 11. Orchestre de Paris — The Swan (Carnival Of The Animals)
[3:05] 12. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra — Gymnopédie No. 3
[5:40] 13. London Symphony Orchestra — Ave Maria
[10:08] 14. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra — Blue Danube Waltz
[1:51] 15. Berliner Philharmoniker — Thus Spake Zarathustra — Sunrise
[3:16] 16. Russian National Orchestra — Firebird Suite — Finale
[3:48] 17. Berliner Philharmoniker — 1812 Overture — Finale
[4:29] 18. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra — Fantasia On \’Greensleeves\’
[2:57] 19. Orchestra Of The National Academy Of St. Cecilia — Anvil Chorus (Il Travatore)
[2:19] 20. Berliner Philharmoniker — The Four Seasons — Largo From \’Winter\’
[4:53] 21. Orchestre de Paris — Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walküre)