As far as "mood" compilations go, Nocturne: Music for Dreaming is one of the better examples. It avoids the more clichéd selections you might find on such a disc and goes for more unusual and varied fare. There are a few expected staples, but you also have Massenet's The Last Sleep of the Virgin and the Andante from Schubert's "Rosamunde" String Quartet. Instead of the Andante from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 ("Elvira Madigan"), you get the pensive F minor Adagio from the Concerto No. 23. Not all the pieces paint peaceful, drowsy pictures, either. "The Old Castle" from Pictures at an Exhibition, Grieg's The Wounded Heart, and the Adagio from Ravel's Piano Concerto in G give more mysterious and shadowy images. There is also variation in the instrumental colors as well. The second disc begins with Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar; moves on to the Nocturne from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream featuring French horns; Tchaikovsky's Nocturne for cello & orchestra; then The Swan of Tuonela with its stunning English horn solo. Among the sensitive performers found here are pianists Mikhail Pletnev and Leif Ove Andsnes, guitarist Sharon Isbin, cellist and conductor Paul Tortelier with the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Borodin Quartet. Not a bad way to drift off to dreamland. ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi
