Moments of Peace (In Harmony with Classical Music)

Album review

A part of Berlin Classics' Moods series, Moments of Peace presents nine selections of a soothing, lyrical nature that are intended to induce calmness and reverie. This assortment of primarily Romantic pieces will work reasonably well as background music, if kept at a low volume level, but some listeners still may be distracted by the dramatic sweep and swelling emotions of these performances, which, despite their generally subdued character, have passages that are quite stirring. For instance, Claude Debussy's impressionistic masterpiece Prélude à l'après-midi d'une faune is famous for its soft timbres and gentle ambience, though it does seem a bit overheated in the performance by Georges Sebastian and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; Jean Sibelius' veiled Valse Triste becomes quite agitated toward the end in Kurt Sanderling's rendition with the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester; and the Canzonetta from Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto is nothing if not ardent in the recording by violinist Christian Funke and the Dresden Staatskapelle, under Hans Vonk. And that's just the first three tracks! The remaining pieces and excerpts from larger works by Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler, Georges Bizet, Robert Schumann, and Jules Massenet more or less follow suit, and though most have a sizeable dynamic arc, they are within the realm of "quiet music." However, the closing waltz by Josef Strauss, Transactionen, is a bit too rousing for the stated purpose of this album. Berlin Classics' sound is fairly even and well balanced throughout.

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