Classical Music Anyone?

[callipygias]

Anyone have any preferences or recommendations? It's more difficult to find classical music you might like than most other kinds because there are so few opportunities for exposure.
I fell in love w/classical music thanks to a concert on the Starship Enterprise (the one with Picard). The music stuck in my head so I kept watching re-runs of the show until that episode came up again, and when it did I heard them mention Mozart, so the next day I hunted for Mozart string quartets and found the piece called Dissonance; it's one of my favorites to this day.

[StreetDreamer83]

I took a class on Classical Music last year and it was a lot of fun. The most I got out of it though was having more of an appreciation for Beethoven. His works are unmatched in my opinion.

Matt

[callipygias]

I have a few favorite composers and many, many favorite pieces, but I agree that Beethoven's biggies--especially his symphonies--separate him from everyone else. WAY separate him.

Our local classical station does a countdown at New Years and it's common to find at least 4 Beethoven's in the top 10: Symphonies 5, 6, 7, and 9 (9 is always #1), and Piano concerto #5 is usually there too.

[GodoHell]

Big classical fan. Funny, because I used to give my Mom grief for her easy listening music.

I love Bach for his formality, Mozart for his playfulness, Beethoven for his ego, Schubert for his melodiousness, Wagner for his hyperbole, and Stravinsky for his dissonance.

My favorite classical work is Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, opus 35. The recording with Isaac Stern is particularly good.

[I Reject My Slave-name]

Yes! The Beethoven piece in 'Samson vs the Vampire Women' has long been a fave of mine. I'd also recommend Mozart, Strauss, Chopin, Handel, Allegri.
But I'm awful at remembering classic music titles, and pretty rubbish at remembering the titles of Operas and extracts that I like.

It's long been an area I find it really hard to source exactly what I'm after - cause it all depends on what orchestra is playing, what conductor, the voices, and so forth. So sometimes I'll have the piece title - but there's about 1000 recorded versions and I've no idea which one(s) have the sound I want to hear again.

If you're wanting opera too - then Wagner's Ring Cycle, Carmen, La Wally (which I heard of via the film Diva, which is amazing), and loads by Rossini, Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti.

[callipygias]

irejectmyslavename said:

It's long been an area I find it really hard to source exactly what I'm after - cause it all depends on what orchestra is playing, what conductor, the voices, and so forth. So sometimes I'll have the piece title - but there's about 1000 recorded versions and I've no idea which one(s) have the sound I want to hear again.

Exactly! that's the idea behind this thread. If any of you not only have favorite pieces, but favorite performances to recommend would be great. I have wasted tons of dough trying to find the best performance of a piece. I bought 5 CDs of Beethoven's 9th Symphony before finding this one www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symphony-No-Hans-Sotin/dp/B00000428Q/ref=sr_1_1/104-2146272-4324749?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1182441441&sr=8-1
and finally being satisfied that I'd found the best one for me. If you're ever looking for Beethoven and there are a hundred different discs to choose from, find one conducted by George Solti.

godohell said:

My favorite classical work is Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, opus 35. The recording with Isaac Stern is particularly good.

Perfect example of what I was hoping for, Godo. I heard that concerto years ago on the radio and liked it enough to go buy it, but the performance I bought I apparently didn't care for, 'cause it's sat pretty much forgotten at the bottom of my CD pile since. I'll go to Amazon and try to find it performed by Stern.

[Afgncaap5]

This isn't classical per se, but fans of classical music (especially those with a knowledge of what styles come to be over the course of history) will get a kick out of P. D. Q. Bach.

Find one of his albums and listen to it (P. D. Q. Bach is most heavily studied by Professor Peter Schikele(sp?), so albums under Peter's name are normally interesting as well.)

PDQ Bach's music is hilarious for me. I remember listening to the "1712 Overture" and laughing uproariously when he built a chord that wouldn't even exist until 21st century concert/orchestra music.

And the ballad of Oedipus Tex is worth listening to just for the weird meshing of Greek mythology, Cowboy plots, and opera music.

And what mention of PDQ Bach would be complete without mentioning the fact that he wrote the first rap song ever, two centuries before the modern rap song was first conceived?

Yes, PDQ Bach was truly a man ahead of his time.

[callipygias]

godohell said:

Big classical fan.
My favorite classical work is Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, opus 35. The recording with Isaac Stern is particularly good.

On your recommendation I got a Stern CD with Tchaikovsky's & Mendelssohn's Violin Concertos, but somehow over the weekend I became convinced that you had recommended the Mendelssohn VC. I was going to report that I although I loved it (much, much better than my former copy), the real treat was the recording of the Tchaikovsky VC.
You have great taste, both recordings are so wonderful that I'm going back to Amazon now to order a Stern version of one of my favorites: Brahms' Violin Concerto.

[Katie]

Personally, I'm a Bach fan when it comes to classical, his music always had a really nice flow. I spent a lot of time in chorus, and the Bach pieces I sang we're always complicated but brilliant.

Outiside of chorus stuff, I also really like Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade, it's just a great piece.

[Mr. Atari]

In college, I was a T.A. for the Music Dept. and did some teacing in a variety of classes, including Music History.

I prefer the Romantic period to the Baroque because-- in general-- I prefer passionate music to formulaic. I could listen to piano concertos all day, but have no interest in string quartets. Give me symphonies, keep your chamber music.

Some of my personal favorites-
Any of Beethoven's symphonies (especially the odd numbered ones).
Brahms's "German Requiem"
Any of Mozart's operas-- especially the dark ones

Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" remains my all-time favorite piece because of the memorable themes, and the fun of the whole thing. But, unfortunately, I've yet to find a recording of it that really captures the thing.

[GodoHell]

littlestupid said:

godohell said:

Big classical fan.
My favorite classical work is Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, opus 35. The recording with Isaac Stern is particularly good.

On your recommendation I got a Stern CD with Tchaikovsky's & Mendelssohn's Violin Concertos, but somehow over the weekend I became convinced that you had recommended the Mendelssohn VC. I was going to report that I although I loved it (much, much better than my former copy), the real treat was the recording of the Tchaikovsky VC.
You have great taste, both recordings are so wonderful that I'm going back to Amazon now to order a Stern version of one of my favorites: Brahms' Violin Concerto.

Wise choice. Stern's playing was alway so lyrical & playful.

Let me know how the Brahms works out. I may have to get a copy myself!

[Chuck]

I've gotten into classical vocal during the past 10 years. And I have become an opera fan, as well. We have quite a library of classical instrumental and classical vocal.

On the web, some very good webradio stations from around the world can be found here:

www.classicalwebcast.com/

And one of my favorite stations is #40 in the Europe menu: Radio Swiss Classics.

There's also a listing for weekly opera programs:

www.operacast.com/thissun.htm

We find that it's not always reliable. Especially Argentina. But 9 out of 10 times, it's right.