There's a scene in the original version of the film Bedazzled where
Dudley Moore's character is trying to impress and seduce Eleanor Bron by pretending to be an intellectual. He puts on a record of
Brahms, which they try to discuss, and he points out to her that it is actually a French horn, not a flute, they are hearing. Apparently, that is the exact situation and audience for which this series of "Love Notes" CDs from RCA was planned. The Bedroom Bliss With Beethoven CD contains excerpts from those works familiar to even the most casual of classical listeners, such as the "Moonlight" Sonata and the Symphony No. 5. The selections were made, according to the comic book-like liner notes, "to maximize every stage of your romantic pleasure"; hence the parental warning printed on the cover. It might take some imagination for most people to think of them as appropriate to a romantic evening because they are so familiar from movies, commercials, or from other experiences. Didn't everyone play Für Elise when they were ten, being forced to practice piano when they really wanted to be watching TV? The performance of the finale to the Choral Symphony is a New Year's tradition in Japan. The best things about this disc are the performances by
Vladimir Horowitz,
Sviatoslav Richter, the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
Fritz Reiner, and others. Although the sound quality varies from performance to performance, and it's only a movement or two of each work, the CD is worth hearing for those alone.