Classical Listening

Hi Zach J.--"Classical" music is a term that covers a pretty wide array of styles and types of music, so you should try listening to an array of things to see what speaks most to your personal taste. If you go through this thread, you'll find lots of links to different kinds of classical music that people have shared here, so this may be a good place to start.

I don't know that there's any special mindset you need, though it helps to listen with some attention to music you're experiencing for the first time in a quite space where you can really hear what's going on and both feel and think about what effect it has on you.

A few well known favorites of mine that come to mind to get you started:

Beethoven's 9th symphony, which is amazing from start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE-sS_1JQZI to finish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAqB...eature=related and everywhere in between

Brahms' Ein Deutches Requiem--heart wrenchingly beautiful throughout, but I'll post the second movement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOJua...eature=related

and the 5th: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtC2L...eature=related

Bach's cello suites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwHpDOWhkGk

Vivaldi's "Four Seasons": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSw7CcAXPWk

Mozart...how does one chose?..perhaps an adagio from the "dissonance" quartet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc1v2...eature=related

and an aria from the "Marriage of Figaro": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gw9K...eature=related

Which brings us to opera. Puccini's famous "nessun dorma": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdTBm...eature=related

or an excerpt from Verdi's Traviata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcKdnkGBSgA

Or there's always Wagner, who is best known for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU

but wrote some other great stuff as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGbmjX7AYyU

I could post many more pieces, but as I say, this thread is full of good stuff to explore. Feel free to post any thoughts or questions you have, and any good music you discover!

St. Luke's--Thanks again for sharing the Couperin. It's made me realize that French baroque music has been almost entirely off my radar. I really don't know much of it at all. I also like the "Tic Toc Hip Hop" video. Baroque music needs more cool music videos.

My latest musical find has been Offenbach's suites for two cellos, after my cello teacher loaned me the recording by Roland Pidoux and Etienne Peclard (which appears to be almost the only one). The quality of the youtube version is vastly inferior to that of the cd, but appears to be the only online version of these little gems:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_ZRY...eature=related

Which seems like an appropriate note on which to go seek some rest. :sleep:

My advice is to start with a Bach chorale or a chorus. To find yourself impatient with it. Then to listen to everything else. And finally to return to it as one returns to a good parent. Then to marvel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC35G...eature=related

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Originally Posted by Zach J.

What would you suggest to a new listener of classical music? I'd like to get into it, but I'm not sure where to start. Who are some standard favorites? Is there a certain mindset that needs to be cultivated?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zach J.

What would you suggest to a new listener of classical music? I'd like to get into it, but I'm not sure where to start. Who are some standard favorites? Is there a certain mindset that needs to be cultivated?

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If you are a newcomer to classical music. I would suggest avoiding the classical composers. i.e. those before Beethoven and go for the romantics who are more melodious. I would not start on large scale works such as symphonies and concerto's until later but concentrate on smaller pieces such as overtures and ballet music: in this regard Tchaikovsky is the first I would go for as he is probably the most melodious composer of all time although there are plenty of others. Many people are put off classical music because they hear a symphony and it is too long and complex for an untrained ear.
For example, I like Gustav Mahler's symphonies but if you had asked me to listen when I was just beginning with classical music, I would have said it was an excessively long and formless noise.
There is no particular mindset to be cultivated, anyone with a heart can enjoy great music. You will find plenty of modern music around today that is written solely for the brain but you can forget it, if it doesn't go to the heart it aint music.

These are the kind of things I think someone starting out with classical music
would find enjoyable;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sU4mgkGtrs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvm2ZsRv3C8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QROR4LioU-8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E10K73GvCKU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrbIUDOEvp0

Thanks for all the suggestions!

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Originally Posted by Brian Bean

I would suggest avoiding the classical composers.

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To the contrary, my interest in classical sprung from Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" and a Reader's Digest set of classical symphonies, of which Hadyn's "Surprise", Mozart's No. 40 and, the not so classical, Mendelssohn's "Italian" impressed most.

A love for baroque soon followed but, for a decade, I found Bach impenetrable and still find almost anything after Schumann so.

I made a couple of new genre stations on Pandora for both Symphonic Classical and Symphonic Romantic music. I've found that I've enjoyed the Romantic stuff a bit more right now. I like Beethoven a lot. I've only been listening to his symphonies, but as I do I feel there's something to them that's very intriguing. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it definitely draws me in.

Brahms, Second Serenade, Bernstein/NYPO

http://www.kdb.com/

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Originally Posted by Gladys

To the contrary, my interest in classical sprung from Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" and a Reader's Digest set of classical symphonies, of which Hadyn's "Surprise", Mozart's No. 40 and, the not so classical, Mendelssohn's "Italian" impressed most.

A love for baroque soon followed but, for a decade, I found Bach impenetrable and still find almost anything after Schumann so.

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Well I suppose we make recommendations according to our experience. My interest in great music began when I was about eight or nine years old. The BBC had a programme for children at 5 o'clock each day and there was usually a serialised story which would use orchestral music for the signature tune of each story. I still remember being thrilled by Nicolai's Merry Wives of Windsor overture and Tchaikovsky's overture to Romeo and Juliette. Then I attended a concert of similar pieces by the London Symphony Orchestra about the age of eleven and never looked back. I didn't listen to a symphony until I was 14 it was by Beethoven and I started to listen to all his symphonies and concertos. After which it was Brahms, Sibelius, Schumann etc. I did listen to a good deal of Mozart and some Haydn but I still prefer later composers. I am a very poor piano player but I prefer playing Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze to any other piece in my limited repertoire.

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Originally Posted by Brian Bean

I didn't listen to a symphony until I was 14 it was by Beethoven and I started to listen to all his symphonies and concertos. After which it was Brahms, Sibelius, Schumann etc.

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Likewise, I was 17. :nod:

An early favourite was Brahms' monumental Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - a work of heroic proportions and vision, like Schubert's Great symphony and Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata.

Brahms - Piano concerto n°2. Mov 1 (part1)

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Originally Posted by Gladys

To the contrary, my interest in classical sprung from Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" and a Reader's Digest set of classical symphonies, of which Hadyn's "Surprise", Mozart's No. 40 and, the not so classical, Mendelssohn's "Italian" impressed most.

A love for baroque soon followed but, for a decade, I found Bach impenetrable and still find almost anything after Schumann so.

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And my own introduction to the world of classical music... beyond the exposure to Bach's choral music as sung in the Lutheran churches of my upbringing... would be the music of the Baroque era: Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and Violin and Keyboard concertos, Handel's Water Music, Royal Fireworks Music, Concerti Grossi Op. 3 and 6, and Organ Concertos, and Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Mandolin Concertos. The steady rhythm and usual 4/4 beat of these works were easy to latch onto coming to the classical realm from a mostly pop music background. I usually suggest the beginer explore classical music through a good anthology... where he or she can get a taste of different composers, different eras, and different genre. He or she can then expand outward from that body of music which first interests.

I remember my father blasting Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Copland from before I could speak. Then I was enrolled in piano lessons at five years old and violin lessons by age eleven. I was lucky that my piano teacher was also a theory buff. She sold her own line of music theory books so I got a solid foundation in music theory. My family couldn't afford to attend concerts all the time, so I've only been to a few my whole life. But I remember for my AP theory class, we got to go to the opera and symphony for free. The performances I saw there are still my favorites....Turandot by Puccini and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2.

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Originally Posted by Brian Bean

I am a very poor piano player but I prefer playing Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze to any other piece in my limited repertoire.

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Ditto! It's got such beautiful four-part harmony.

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

And my own introduction to the world of classical music... beyond the exposure to Bach's choral music as sung in the Lutheran churches of my upbringing... would be the music of the Baroque era

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My father and grandfather were choirmasters and pipe organists in the Lutheran church and, predictably, Handel and Bach were favourites. While Handel is consummately accessible, Bach demands more appreciation of polyphony to decode his melodic jumble, an appreciation I happily stumbled upon after a decade and a half of enjoying other classical music.

In particular, I discovered the peerless Bach Cantatas. A decade later, our church in the city began performing them monthly. Indeed, tomorrow morning we have:

Erwunschtes Freudenlicht (BWV 184) for 4 soloists, choir, 2 flutes, strings and continuo
Early Music Studio Baroque Ensemble and Early Voices (dir. Vivien Hamilton)

Hi Gladys,

BWV 11
Lobet Gott in seinen Reiche
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn6wF...eature=related

BWV 9
Es Ist Das Heil Uns Kommen Her
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OktSQ...eature=related

''To strip human nature until its divine attributes are made clear, to inform our ordinary activities with spiritual fervor, to give wings of eternity to that which is most ephemeral; to make divine things accessibly human and human things conscious of the divine; such is Bach, the greatest and purest moment in music of all time''. - PABLO CASALS (1876-1973)

Regards

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Originally Posted by Gladys

My father and grandfather were choirmasters and pipe organists in the Lutheran church and, predictably, Handel and Bach were favourites. While Handel is consummately accessible, Bach demands more appreciation of polyphony to decode his melodic jumble, an appreciation I happily stumbled upon after a decade and a half of enjoying other classical music.

In particular, I discovered the peerless Bach Cantatas. A decade later, our church in the city began performing them monthly. Indeed, tomorrow morning we have:

Erwunschtes Freudenlicht (BWV 184) for 4 soloists, choir, 2 flutes, strings and continuo
Early Music Studio Baroque Ensemble and Early Voices (dir. Vivien Hamilton)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gladys

Likewise, I was 17. :nod:

An early favourite was Brahms' monumental Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - a work of heroic proportions and vision, like Schubert's Great symphony and Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata.

Brahms - Piano concerto n°2. Mov 1 (part1)

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I agree that Brahm's 2nd Piano Concerto is a monumental work, it had a profound influence on me from the time I first heard it. In fact it is the profundity in Brahms's music that has always attracted me. As a Germanophile I think his music epitomises the greatness of Germany and none more so than his first piano concerto; the last part of which is played here with great insight by Vladimir Ashkenazy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF5IyHls560

My father and grandfather were choirmasters and pipe organists in the Lutheran church and, predictably, Handel and Bach were favourites. While Handel is consummately accessible, Bach demands more appreciation of polyphony to decode his melodic jumble...

I agree that getting a grasp of the complexity of Bach's use of counterpoint demands repeated hearings... and some study of the actual forms involved. But this is true of a lot of music. I did not fully grasp the structure of the classical sonata form until taking a music appreciation course. Beethoven's quartets certainly are every bit as demanding as Bach (to say nothing of Mozart's closing movement to the Symphony no. 41 which was inspired by Bach's use of counterpoint.) The broad and sprawling breadth of the structures of the music of Mahler and Wagner demanded a great deal from me coming off Bach and Handel and Mozart whose structures are crystal clear.

Enjoying the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets as realized by the great French clarinettest Gervase de Peyer with the Melos Ensemble of London, nicely paired on this Seraphim Classics reissue:

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Brahms-...4633152&sr=1-3


It scarcely gets better than this...

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

My father and grandfather were choirmasters and pipe organists in the Lutheran church and, predictably, Handel and Bach were favourites. While Handel is consummately accessible, Bach demands more appreciation of polyphony to decode his melodic jumble...

I agree that getting a grasp of the complexity of Bach's use of counterpoint demands repeated hearings... and some study of the actual forms involved. But this is true of a lot of music. I did not fully grasp the structure of the classical sonata form until taking a music appreciation course. Beethoven's quartets certainly are every bit as demanding as Bach (to say nothing of Mozart's closing movement to the Symphony no. 41 which was inspired by Bach's use of counterpoint.) The broad and sprawling breadth of the structures of the music of Mahler and Wagner demanded a great deal from me coming off Bach and Handel and Mozart whose structures are crystal clear.

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Bach's music illustrates perfectly, Blake's words: "To see a world in a grain of sand." While Wagner and Mahler's works are posited fom the opposite viewpoint.

Hey, I've never been an opera listener(or watcher, or whatever), but I have a recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni which I am eager to listen.
Now dumb question: I have the translated libretto, should I read it as I listen to the recording? What would a normal opera listener do? :nod:

Most librettos come with a synopsis that breaks the narrative down and gives you an overall concept of what to expect. Personally, I don't follow any set method. Sometimes I just listen to the opera all the way through taking in the piece as a work of music. Other times I follow along with the libretto. Perhaps the best method is to see the opera in real life or on DVD. This version is highly regarded:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/...22cb0902_o.jpg

Don Giovanni is certainly one of Mozart's greatest achievements... one of the greatest operas ever. The music and the masterful manner in which Mozart weaves the drama... the great librettos of Lorenzo Da Ponte... with the music was unprecedented. From the very overture, Mozart sets up the drama... and a theme he will return to at the climax. This concept of repeating a theme... a motif... is something Beethoven... and later Wagner... will make brilliant use of.

This version includes a bit of the opening scene... unfortunately without translation... but I feel it offers the best sounding overture available on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SotSKAYTyDw

Here is the inimitable Fritz Wunderlich... (one of the greatest singers ever... who died tragically young as the result of a freak accident) singing Il mio Tesoro... one of the more lovely arias from the opera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GbTm...eature=related

And here is another exquisite aria... Non mi dir bell' idol mio... sung by the marvelous Gundula Janowitz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXG6z...eature=related

To my mind, the greatest moment in the entire opera is the climactic scene with the Commendatore. Don Giovanni in the opening scene has broken into the home of Donna Anna in an attempt to seduce her. She yells for help and her father, the great military figure... the Commendatore challenges him to a duel. Don Giovanni kills him and flees. Donna Anna and her fiance, Don Octavio are horrified and swear vengeance. Much of the opera follows their attempt to discover the Commendatore's murderer.

Later in the opera Don Giovanni and his servant, Leoporello are in a graveyard when they imagine they hear the voice of a statue... one of the tomb markers. The voice of the statue warns Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "I'm waiting for revenge against my murderer." The servant trembles, but the unabashed Giovanni orders him to invite the statue to dinner, threatening to kill him if he does not. (Duet: "Oh, statua gentilissima – Oh most noble statue"). Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner but for fear cannot complete the task. It falls upon Don Giovanni himself to complete the invitation thereby sealing his own doom. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.

Later, Don Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal and musical entertainment (during which the orchestra plays then-contemporary late 18th century music. During this meal he taunts Donna Elvira... the woman who loves him... until she leaves hurt and angered. Suddenly we hear her scream. Leoporello goes to see what the commotion is and runs back terrified that the statue of the dead Commendatore has made good on his promise to join Don Giovanni for what will be his final meal:

I've yet to see a better Commendatore than the great Kurt Moll as he offers the unrepentant Giovanni a final chance to avoid his fate in Hell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK1_v...eature=related

Yes, watching the DVD after reading the synopsis seems to be the best idea for starting. I also think that reading the libretto simultaneously might disract from music too(for the first time listener at least). Now I have the Carlo Maria Giulini recording -many people say it's among the best- but I think I'll go with the DVD and listen to that later..Thanks :nod:

edit: oh and thanks for the details too, I'm gonna read them after my initial viewing =)

This is the famous ending to Giordano's opera Andrea Chenier with a truly amazing finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I4QYgRpAtQ

Dimitri Shostakovitch
Symphony 15
Finale

Perhaps the most defiant, overwhelmingly victorious symphonic finale of them all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DJY8...x=5&playnext=1

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Originally Posted by Musicology

Dimitri Shostakovitch
Symphony 15
Finale

Perhaps the most defiant, overwhelmingly victorious symphonic finale of them all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DJY8...x=5&playnext=1

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In musical terms, Shostakovitch is the historian of the Soviet Union, which is why he came close to being killed by the soviet system. His ability to parody the Soviet Union and ostensibly praise it at the same time is shown with his 5th symphony. He went on to compose a number of symphonies post Stalin, unlike Prokofiev, who died the same day as the Soviet dictator.

Now I have the Carlo Maria Giulini recording -many people say it's among the best- but I think I'll go with the DVD and listen to that later..Thanks

Yes... the Giulini may just be the single best non-HIP* version of Don Giovanni.


* HIP= Historically Informed Performance and refers to current practices in performing older works upon instruments appropriate to the era, orchestras appropriate to those used by the composer, and performance techniques appropriate to the time based upon the latest musicological studies.

In musical terms, Shostakovitch is the historian of the Soviet Union, which is why he came close to being killed by the soviet system. His ability to parody the Soviet Union and ostensibly praise it at the same time is shown with his 5th symphony. He went on to compose a number of symphonies post Stalin, unlike Prokofiev, who died the same day as the Soviet dictator.

I've always had mixed feelings about Shostakovitch... but then again, I must admit to not being overly enthralled with Russian music in general. It can be overly "sappy" without the elegance and sophistication of French music or bombastic without the rigorous structure of the Germans. Still I do love Shosty's Cello Concerto, Preludes and Fugues, and most recently... his opera The Nose. Its sad that unlike Prokofiev and Stravinsky he never left the Soviet Union... to the detriment of his music. The audacity of his opera's The Nose and Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk stand along side the boldest works of Stravinsky... but were frowned upon by the state that wanted rousing patriotic music... the Soviet version of most Hollywood composers.:frown2:

‘What is most lovely speaks for itself’ - J.S. Bach

Cantata 42 (Bass Aria)

http://www.mediafire.com/?zuezj2tumzn

Luigi Boccherini
String Quartet
Fandango Espagnol
c.1770

Formality and informality combined

G448/4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y1QtLRSiMM&feature=fvw

Anouar Brahem

Anouar Brahem (أنور ابراهم) was born on October 20, 1957 in the town of Halfouine in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia. He is an oud (a pear-shaped stringed instrument similar to the lute commonly used in Middle Eastern music) player and composer... one of the most innovative in Middle Eastern music. Anouar Brahem is an artist who, while profoundly imbued with his Arab heritage, is unequivocably modern, well anchored in his times and headed towards the future. He is furthermore, an artist unperturbed by the clash of cultures. His music in many ways echoes his home of Tunis, a multi-faceted city, rooted in its Arab-Moslem culture and nourished on its African and Mediterranean, Spanish and French influences. His music is founded upon Arabic classical music, but also reveals elements of folk music (French and Middle-Eastern), jazz, and French classical music (especially Eric Satie).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGbINkei3Ww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkIpe...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_q5J...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzhy3...eature=related

Sorry to interrupt your Brahem posting St Lukes, but this thought just crossed my mind:

I had posted a piece by Van Cliburn in the Sonata thread and realized two things; Van Cliburn would be appropriate here and secondly, to mention the anniversary celebrating “The Texan who conquered Russia”, albeit I’m a couple of months late.
I’m referring to Van Cliburn’s triumph at the first International Tchaikovsky Competition held in Moscow, April 14th, 1958.
Cliburn performed the finale of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.

Link to the Van Cliburn Foundation:
http://www.cliburn.org/index.php?page=van_50th

News report by Dan Rather:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPRNx...eature=related

Van Cliburn playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7MAr...eature=related

Gilliatt

Pablo Sarasate
'Zigunerweisen' (Gypsy Airs)
Jascha Heifetz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMOT-ns2HM8

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Originally Posted by Sebas. Melmoth

Enjoying the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets as realized by the great French clarinettest Gervase de Peyer with the Melos Ensemble of London, nicely paired on this Seraphim Classics reissue:

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Brahms-...4633152&sr=1-3


It scarcely gets better than this...

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Interesting suggestion, in the last few weeks I have listened many times a SACD of these quintets featuring the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin with Karl-Heinz Steffens at the clarinet, nice performances but now I'll try to hear them played by the ensemble you have mentioned.

This piece by Ravel, that most idiomatic of French composers, has been a favourite mine for years. It is easily the best of the available performances on Youtube and, perhaps not surprisingly, the oldest.
There is also a two piano version scored by the composer which is very well played and makes a fascinating comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaEfBWLbte4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4mXMkSlg-o

Gilliat... Van Cliburn is never an "interruption". And his performances... especially of the Tchaikovsky first (recorded immediately after his triumph in Moscow... and with the same Russian conductor: Kiril Kandrashin) are more than of mere historical worth. They are quite wonderful. I need to give that disc a spin again today.

Brian... Ravel is certainly a favorite of mine as well... being as enamored of French music as I am. Just recently I jumped on the grossly inexpensive box sets of Ravel and Debussy conducted by Pierre Boulez. Incredibly, the orchestral works of Ravel performed by the inimitable Jean Martinon are available from EMI for even less (around $12 US for the three disc set)! I have virtually everything by Ravel (he, unfortunately, not being more prolific) so now its a question of seeking out different interpretations.

Today... beside the Tchaikovsky... I'll be listening to Chopin in the never-matched recording of his Nocturnes by Arthur Rubinstein:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRO05WcNDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnFs85pLmj4

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

Gilliat... Van Cliburn is never an "interruption". And his performances... especially of the Tchaikovsky first (recorded immediately after his triumph in Moscow... and with the same Russian conductor: Kiril Kandrashin) are more than of mere historical worth. They are quite wonderful. I need to give that disc a spin again today.

Brian... Ravel is certainly a favorite of mine as well... being as enamored of French music as I am. Just recently I jumped on the grossly inexpensive box sets of Ravel and Debussy conducted by Pierre Boulez. Incredibly, the orchestral works of Ravel performed by the inimitable Jean Martinon are available from EMI for even less (around $12 US for the three disc set)! I have virtually everything by Ravel (he, unfortunately, not being more prolific) so now its a question of seeking out different interpretations.

Today... beside the Tchaikovsky... I'll be listening to Chopin in the never-matched recording of his Nocturnes by Arthur Rubinstein:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRO05WcNDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnFs85pLmj4

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I recently posted part of Ravel's 1st piano concerto by Zimmerman and the Cleaveland Orchestra under Boulez. I think that it matches Michelangeli's recording but doesn't surpass it. Both concertos are 20th century masterworks which I think should be performed in concert more often. I have the Chopin Nocturnes by Rubinstein and also the definitive Van Cliburn performance of the Tchaikovsky. I say definitive because despite it having been played by virtually every concert pianist since it was written, I don't believe that Van Cliburn's performance could ever be bettered where there is a perfect blending of orchestra and piano. One of the truly great recordings in musical reproduction.

Glad to see some love for Van Cliburn. He was the pianist who really lured me into classical music when I was younger. His Tchaikovsky #1 and Rachmaninoff #3 are historical landmarks, but I prefer his recording of Rachmaninoff #2.

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Originally Posted by Wilde woman

Glad to see some love for Van Cliburn. He was the pianist who really lured me into classical music when I was younger. His Tchaikovsky #1 and Rachmaninoff #3 are historical landmarks, but I prefer his recording of Rachmaninoff #2.

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I too first heard the Van Cliburn when I was young and, although I was already familiair with the concerto, it was the most electrifying performance I'd heard to date and also since, despite havng heard many different performances in the interim. The ending is simply spectacular and it's no wonder that the Russians went wild at the concert performance. Unfortunately, he couldn't take the stress of travelling on the world concert circuit and gave up playing for teaching. I have his Brahms 2nd with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra which is another brilliant performance.

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

Anouar Brahem (أنور ابراهم) was born on October 20, 1957 in the town of Halfouine in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia.
...His music in many ways echoes his home of Tunis, a multi-faceted city, rooted in its Arab-Moslem culture and nourished on its African and Mediterranean, Spanish and French influences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGbINkei3Ww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_q5J...eature=related

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Originally Posted by Musicology

Pablo Sarasate
'Zigunerweisen' (Gypsy Airs)
Jascha Heifetz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMOT-ns2HM8

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I'm having trouble trying to keep up with (and learn more about) all of this wonderful music.
I had in fact listened to the Brahem selections and the pablo Sarasate very early (5:30 am) yesterday. The quiet solitude of the morning was a perfect setting for these selections.
I particularly enjoyed the two Brahem selections I kept in the quote above.
You can clearly discern the mixed influences in "le pas du chat noir"

Now I need to cue up Ravel, Chopin,.......

Glad to see some love for Van Cliburn. He was the pianist who really lured me into classical music when I was younger. His Tchaikovsky #1 and Rachmaninoff #3 are historical landmarks, but I prefer his recording of Rachmaninoff #2.

You should be in luck, then. The Tchaikovsky First and Rachmaninoff Second are coupled on the great RCA Living Stereo reissue:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/...cdc7eec7b7.jpg

Ludwig van Beethoven
Festive Overture
'The Consecration of the House'
Op. 124

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtwaD...eature=related

I've been celebrating the Schumann bicentennial.

Just finished the Requiem for Mignon (Abbado) and will be moving on to the great Cello Concerto (du Pre). :)

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Originally Posted by Brian Bean

The ending is simply spectacular and it's no wonder that the Russians went wild at the concert performance. Unfortunately, he couldn't take the stress of travelling on the world concert circuit and gave up playing for teaching.

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Yes, agreed. It always amazes me that this tall Texan went into Russia during the Cold War and convinced all the judges that he was the best pianist. Quite a feat. And when was the last time you heard that a concert pianist got his own ticker tape parade?

It's such a shame that he gave up concert playing. I would've liked to have heard more piano concertos from him. I do love his Beethoven Sonatas and he did a lovely rendition of Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu.

I still follow the Cliburn International Competition every summer because it's just a few minutes away from my hometown in Dallas. The competition is always fierce.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

You should be in luck, then. The Tchaikovsky First and Rachmaninoff Second are coupled on the great RCA Living Stereo reissue

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Yes, that's one of my favorite disks...and the one of my most oft-listened to.