Be My Valentine: Music for Two

• Booklet languages: English
• Time: 155:54
• Release Date: 2006

Review

If you're already in the mood for love, then you probably won't need Be My Valentine: Music for Two, a double-disc compilation of vocal and instrumental duets pulled from Deutsche Grammophon's vaults. However, if you'd like to set a romantic mood for your sweetheart or just get into a warm and fuzzy space by yourself, this collection provides more than a little romance in 34 of its 37 tracks. Opera is featured on the first disc, with celebrated numbers from Puccini's La bohème, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman, Verdi's La traviata, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and several other selections from the most famous operas; the second disc is devoted to romantic chamber works and arrangements for solo instruments with piano accompaniment. True to Deutsche Grammophon's high standards, the recordings sound marvelous, with little variability in volume levels, textures, or clarity, and the performances by the label's leading artists are never less than fine. Yet if there is one nit to pick with this twofer, then it has to be the odd inclusion of the Cambridge Buskers in the final three tracks, playing eccentric arrangements for flute and accordion that break the sentimental mood of the rest of the album. Still, aside from these peculiar offerings, which can be skipped without qualm, this is a good collection to give on Valentine's Day, and at the mid-range price, a more cost-effective present than a box of chocolates. ~ Blair Sanderson, Rovi

Performances

Composer	Title	Time
Giacomo Puccini	La bohème, opera (O soave fanciulla)	4:30
Jacques Offenbach	Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts (Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour)	3:52
Leonard Bernstein	West Side Story, musical (Maria)	2:55
Leonard Bernstein	West Side Story, musical (Tonight)	5:32
Giuseppe Verdi	La Traviata, opera (Parigi, o cara, noi lasceremo)	3:19
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 (Là ci darem la mano)	3:36
Giacomo Puccini	Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), opera (Viene la sera)	4:35
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky	Eugene Onegin, opera, Op. 24 (Slikhali l vi za roschei glas nochoi)	5:09
Charles Gounod	Faust, opera (Il se fait tard, adieu)	8:55
Franz Lehár	Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), operetta (Lippen schweigen)	2:31
Gaetano Donizetti	Lucia di Lammermoor, opera (Sulla tomba che rinserra - Verranno a te sull'aure)	10:57
Claudio Monteverdi	L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308 (Pur ti miro)	4:08
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620 (Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen)	3:38
Richard Strauss	Der Rosenkavalier, opera, Op. 59 (TrV 227) (Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren)	7:00
Giacomo Puccini	Tosca, opera (Ah, quegli occhi! - Qual occhio al mondo)	5:28
Giuseppe Verdi	Aida, opera (O terra, addio)	4:38
Antonin Dvorák	Humoresque No. 7 for piano in G flat major, B. 187/7 (Op. 101/7)	3:36
Jules Massenet	Thaïs, opera in 3 acts (Méditation)	5:11
Felix Mendelssohn	Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (On Wings of Song), song for voice & piano, Op. 34/2	3:17
Gabriel Fauré	Après un rêve ("Dans un sommeil"), song for voice & piano, Op. 7/1	3:25
Fritz Kreisler	Liebesfreud (Love's Joy), for violin & piano	3:29
Fritz Kreisler	Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow), for violin & piano	3:41
Sergey Rachmaninov	Vocalise, transcription for piano, Op. 34/14	6:13
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky	None but the lonely heart, song for voice & piano, Op. 6/6	2:54
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Sadko, opera in 3 (or 5) acts (Hindu Song)	3:37
Robert Schumann	Kinderszenen No. 7 ("Träumerei"), for piano, Op. 15/7	2:39
Frédéric Chopin	Nocturne for piano No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9/2, CT. 109	4:14
Camille Saint-Saëns	The Swan (from "Carnival of the Animals"), original (for 2 pianos & ensemble) and arrangements	2:55
Pablo de Sarasate	Romanza Andaluza, for violin & piano, Op. 22/1	4:21
Franz Schubert	Ellens Gesang III ("Ave Maria"), song for voice & piano, D. 839 (Op. 52/6)	5:23
Robert Schumann	Phantasiestück (Zart und mit Ausdruck) for clarinet (or cello or violin) & piano, Op 73/1	2:56
Igor Stravinsky	Pulcinella, suite for orchestra (Suite italienne: Introduzione)	2:13
Igor Stravinsky	Mavra, opera buffa in 1 act (Chanson russe)	3:32
Astor Piazzolla	Tango Suite for 2 guitars (Tango No. 2)	5:19
Giuseppe Verdi	Rigoletto, opera (La donna è mobile)	2:02
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 (Deh, vieni alla finestra)	1:53
Georges Bizet	Carmen, opera (Chanson bohème)	2:21

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