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LISTEN
WRTI's Valentine to You
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The Most Romantic Music: | Bob Perkins: Nancy Wilson's But Beautiful is just about the "creme de la creme" of all romantic CDs! Her reading of the 13 love ballads lend credence to the name of the disc. If this album doesn't give your significant other (or the one on your wish list) heart trouble of a positive kind--you'd best check their pulse. |
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| Jill Pasternak: John Rutter: Distant Land - The Orchestral Collection Composer John Rutter re-worked several Beatles standards into a Rachmaninoff-esque Concerto for Two Pianos admirably played by duo pianists Peter Rostal and Paul Schafer. Maestro Rutter conducts the London Philharmonic. You'll also find 16 orchestral arrangements of familiar Rutter choral pieces - all simply wonderful.  Listen: Rutter's Beatles Concerto, second movement, "Here, There, and Everywhere" |
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| Kile Smith: When I think of romance, I think of the English folk song arrangements of Ralph Vaughan Williams. There's "Loch Lomond," "Greensleeves," and my favorite, the Robert Burns poem to his bonnie dearie, "Ca' the yowes tae the knowes" (Drive the ewes to the knolls), which crescendos to "While waters wimple tae the sea, While day blinks in the lift sae hie, Till clay-cauld death shall blin' my e'e, Ye shall be my dearie!" They're all here on Vaughan Williams, Holst: Choral Folksong Arrangements, and more. But you could just give me those folk songs, and that would be enough. |
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| Maureen Malloy: Etta Jones: Don't Go To Strangers is a giant hug. Etta's expressive, buttery voice highlights the super-romantic lyrics and the all-star band featuring Richard Wyands, Skeeter Best, George Duvivier, Frank Wess and Roy Haynes. From the title track, to the classic "All the Way," the vocal stylings of this 1960 record is the perfect companion to any romantic occasion, or pity party. Listen: Etta Jones sings "Don't Go To Strangers" |
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| Jack Moore: There's something about a string orchestra that provides that romantic mood, and this collection - String Serenades: The London Chamber Orchestra/Christopher Warren-Green has all you'll need. Included are string serenades by Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, and the under-rated and under-heard serenade by Josef Suk, along with Vaughan Williams' lovely The Lark Ascending, Tallis Variations, and Fantasia on "Greensleeves," plus music by Elgar. |
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| Rolf Charlston: It's all in the family. My favorite Valentine is my jazzy daughter, Rondi Charleston, and her latest CD - Who Knows Where the Time Goes - recorded in Tony Bennett's New Jersey studio. Included are four songs with lyrics by Rondi and music by pianist Lynne Arriale. New York jazz critic Will Friedwald writes that "Rondi Charleston is an outstanding contemporary jazz singer and an even better songwriter. In Who Knows Where the Time Goes, Rondi has combined traditional standards, originals, and thoughtful treatments of a wide range of material, and created one of the better vocal albums you're likely to hear right now." |
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| Dave Conant: Romeo & Juliet, one of Tchaikovsky's most familiar orchestral works and the only one that he never had anything negative to say about, has three musical themes. The symphonic poem opens with a very calm Friar Lawrence. Next comes the Capulet and Montague fight followed by the lush, famous love theme of the unfortunate young couple. You don't even need to see the play to follow the action and the emotion. Part of a four-disc set, it is paired with the Fantasy based on Dante's Francesca da Rimini, about two other lovers - albeit adulterous ones - in "The Inferno," and three of his most powerful and romantic symphonies, 4, 5, and 6 ("Pathetique"). I recommend this recording: Leonard Bernstein conducts Tchaikovsky. |
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| Bob Craig: Check out The Gentle Side of John Coltrane. Here's a group of recordings culled from some of Trane's early 1960s Impulse label sessions. While this was a very adventurous period in his career, there were moments of inner peace and charm. Featured throughout are tracks from the popular Ballads album, as well as classic sides with Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman. This will create the perfect mood for a slow dance or quiet romance...or both. Listen: John Coltrane performs "My One and Only Love" with Johnny Hartman |
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| Jim Cotter (the Un-Romantic): Not being romantic is the mark of certain men, of a certain age. I never buy flowers on Valentine's Day; I do so whenever I see really nice flowers for sale. This is why Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune," the third movement of his Suite bergamasque, is the perfect piece of music for me and for all fellow un-romantics. A bergamasque is a village dance from Bergamo in Northern Italy. Its defining feature is its lack of grace, if not actual clumsiness. This perfectly encapsulates my own romantic faculties - awkward, ungainly, but occasionally interpreted as a thing of beauty. Read More... |
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