25 Classical Favorites

• Time: 122:27
• Release Date: 2004

Review

The straightforwardly-named 25 Classical Favorites collects two discs' worth of well-known classical pieces, including Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro Con Brio, Bizet's Carmen Suite No. 1: Les Toréador, Strauss' Thus Spoke Zarathustra -- Prelude, and Rossini's Barber of Seville: Overture, Excerpt. Though the collection focuses on orchestral pieces, choral music is represented by Gounod's Ave Maria (After J. S Bach) and Handel's Hallelujah From Messiah. Other highlights include Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, Tchaikovsky's Excerpts from "The Nutcracker," Ballet Suite Op. 71A: II. March, and Strauss' Beautiful Blue Danube, Waltz Op. 314. Pieces by Chopin, Debussy, Dvorak, Wagner, and Prokofiev, among others, make 25 Classical Favorites a good general collection for casual classical music fans. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

Performances

Composer	Title	Time
Ludwig van Beethoven	Symphony No. 5 in C minor ("Fate"), Op. 67 (I. Allegro con brio)	7:51
Felix Mendelssohn	Symphony No. 4 in A major ("Italian"), Op. 90 (II. Andante con moto)	6:39
Jacques Offenbach	Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts (Barcarole)	3:20
Georges Bizet	Carmen Suite for orchestra No. 1 (assembled by Ernest Guirard) (Les Toréador)	2:18
Antonio Vivaldi	Violin Concerto, for violin, strings & continuo in F major ("L'autunno," The Four Seasons; "Il cimento" No. 3), Op.8/3, RV 293 (Allegro (Ballo e canto villanelli))	4:49
Franz Joseph Haydn	Divertimento in B flat major, H. 2/B3 (in other keys as H. 2/G9, H. C12 Add.) (II. Chorale St. Antoni)	2:44
Johann Sebastian Bach	Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 (I. Allegro)	8:01
Charles Gounod	Ave Maria, for voice & piano (after Bach's Prelude No. 1 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1)	2:54
Edvard Grieg	Peer Gynt Suite for orchestra (or piano or piano, 4 hands) No. 1, Op. 46 (Morning)	3:56
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky	Nutcracker, suite from the ballet, Op. 71a (II. March (excerpts))	2:34
Johann Pachelbel	Canon and gigue, for 3 violins & continuo in D major, T. 337 (Canon in D major)	4:47
George Frederick Handel	Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56 (Hallelujah)	3:37
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 (I. Molto Allegro)	7:48
Richard Strauss	Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zoroaster), tone poem for orchestra, Op. 30 (TrV 176) (Prelude)	1:24
Gioachino Rossini	Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), opera (Overture (excerpt))	5:46
Franz Liszt	Liebesträume, notturno for piano No. 3 in A flat major ("O Lieb, so lang du lieben kannst"), S. 541/3 (LW A103/3)	4:21
Johann Strauss II	An der schönen, blauen Donau (On the Beautiful, Blue Danube), waltz for orchestra (with chorus ad lib), Op. 314 (RV 314)	10:58
Sergey Prokofiev	Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67 (Main Theme (Peter) & Coda)	3:08
Jules Massenet	Thaïs, opera in 3 acts (Meditation)	5:21
Antonin Dvorák	Symphony No. 9 in E minor ("From the New World"), B. 178 (Op. 95) (first published as No. 5) (IV. Allegro con fuoco)	6:20
Claude Debussy	Children's Corner, suite for piano (or orchestra), L. 113 (Golliwogg's Cakewalk)	2:42
Camille Saint-Saëns	Carnival of the Animals, zoological fantasy for 2 pianos & ensemble (The Swan)	2:45
Richard Wagner	Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 (Overture)	9:55
Frédéric Chopin	Etude for piano No. 3 in E major, Op. 10/3, CT. 16	4:00
Franz Schubert	Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, D. 485 (I. Allegro)	4:29

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