Classical Music and You: Share and Discuss your Favorites

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One look at my avatar and username and it's obvious who I am a fan of. Everyone knows the popular pieces of Grieg from In the Hall of the Mountain King to Morning Mood which are both from the Incidental Music set to Peer Gynt along with the Piano Concerto.

I had a friend when I was in the music school grind who was more obsessed with Grieg than I was and he got me into his best compositions (in his view) which are his songs. This is a song cycle (of 8) entitled "Haugtussa" or The Mountain Maid. It was a collection of poems by Norwegian author Arne Garborg that Grieg liked so much he decided to put them to music.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvG212HRqPA
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ggj3QPTZ4
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awdBiP-n_EU
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsCTbv8vBO4
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8YjPxy-f58
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cab3WHhpnec
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoVGpPgokkg
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uxkqqy9xbY

I don't speak Norwegian yet the songs are finely crafted for any ear to enjoy in my opinion! I had to share these compositions as I've recently become obsessed with them.
 
WARCOCK said:
To mozart aficionados, i keep hearing that the academy of saint-martin on the fields do some of the best interpretations of mozart's work. I tried listening to their laudate dominium and it was wayyyy too slow for my tastes :(
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I really like their interpretations, but I only know the late symphonies (I think from 35 onward) and the Mass in C minor, both of which are awesome. (and you can listen to them on Spotify)

I've been listening to a lot of Chopin recently, since I found a compilation album of Pollini's Chopin recordings on Spotify. (http://open.spotify.com/album/1MdYq2WdGGusCxnm2XCy8D) I think his recordings are some of the best there are. I don't like how most pianists play Chopin.. too much pedal and rubato everywhere. One piece in particular I've come to love is the Polonaise-Fantasie in A flat major.
 
perryfarrell said:
One of my favorites is the second movement of Ravel's Concerto in G (a nice mix of traditional, harmonic and slightly dissonant, progressive parts)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcd6rVRTKNg
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Absolutely. My favorite interpretation is by Michelangeli. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftJ-gJ-l5HQ

This movement puts me at peace with the world. I feel the outer movements aren't really at the same level.

Griegite said:
One look at my avatar and username and it's obvious who I am a fan of. Everyone knows the popular pieces of Grieg from In the Hall of the Mountain King to Morning Mood which are both from the Incidental Music set to Peer Gynt along with the Piano Concerto.
Click to expand...
I quite like what I've heard of Grieg (that is to say, not enough). His piano concerto is my favorite in that genre.

His Op27 string quartet is amazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSdGjHO2uMc
 
jchap said:
Yes Cziffra was a Liszt master:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyzzAV9GhHQ
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What the fuck. Liszt is completely insane. Videos don't often convey how hard something is to play, but this does it pretty well. That said, it's a showpiece and probably intended to be as hard as possible, pretty much.

I like Liszt's piano sonata a lot. His transcendental etudes are pretty good too, but I think the piano sonata is really where it's at. There's a lot of great versions of the piece but I really like Zimerman's version.
 
vincent vega said:
weather report - birdland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqashW66D7o

edit: nevermind this is jazz
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just put it into the jazz thread, still awesome.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384488


Llyranor said:
Absolutely. My favorite interpretation is by Michelangeli. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftJ-gJ-l5HQ

This movement puts me at peace with the world. I feel the outer movements aren't really at the same level.
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If you have spotify, there are three michelangeli versions with better sound quality:


http://open.spotify.com/track/0736FaM2AKia3jErzpVE5C
http://open.spotify.com/track/7JyLxFX6gBVgaMzLIQ2TzB
http://open.spotify.com/track/1inTwAZdUZg11PhTtvnrO7
 
I realize this may be preaching to the choir, but this guy has put on his channel some incredible BBC documentary series about some of the great composers which i found incredibly well done(if not a 100 percent accurate) and educational. Check em out if you haven't already.

http://www.youtube.com/user/kaiserkill

Mozart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Jq3sv-Ltk&feature=plcp&context=C38f4d36UDOEgsToPDskIUBNZsNxCbkbytkcdpslLp

Beethoven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_nqi06Dl3c&feature=plcp&context=C3f74972UDOEgsToPDskLCk-d8LOEzaLwJlY4QxZ0W
 
ronito said:
I have to say that having played in professional orchestras has sorta taken a lot of the magic out of it for me. Sitting with the pit and seeing most players just reading magazines and all that and then stopping briefly to play their part and then continue reading really took a lot of the magic away :(
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I knooooow! Hell, during some of my older pit jobs I would sit there and play FFTA. I just think it's so funny watching people get hyped up about the musicians, because if you've ever been a professional like that, you know how the whole thing goes and how it's mostly just another gig for you, heh.
ronito said:
Hearing Schoenberg in the same sentence as beloved Messiaen still makes my hair brissel.
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Way late coming back to this, but yeah I know what you mean. Pierrot is still totally awesome though, but only if it's live. It totally sucks if it's from a recording. The main reason I mentioned Pierrot and Messiaen was because I saw a group called Nonsemble 6 perform both pieces back-to-back in a concert once. It took forever to recover from the sheer awesome and holy shit nature of sitting through a concert like that.

vincent vega said:
weather report - birdland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqashW66D7o

edit: nevermind this is jazz
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If you're gonna post that, at leaaaaassst post some Maynard Ferguson! I got to play in a visiting gig with him about 3 months before he died. It was a ton of fun.

_dementia said:
if I ever decide to learn Piano, this is the first song I want to play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llni1Dn-f4U
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If you end up needing the technique badly, that'll take years to play it like the recording. Hell, I can barely play that and i've only been playing for 5 years now (but everyone on piano comes into their own depending on the brains in your hands, heh).
 
i can't find a youtube version of this recording, sorry.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3cOKMG3igu25DRRxJu6EKH

(herbie hancock and chick corea - la fiesta)

since someone posted birdland, I thought is a nice example of whether the lines start to get blurred between genres. certainly jazz, but also with romantic latin elements like in lecuona's malaguena.

EDIT: Also this. I thought La Mer took the cake for romantic picturesque seafaring but Ravel does as much with one piano as debussy does with a symphony. Never ceases to amaze.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTYUyDjVCRU
 
Didn´t see this thread at all! I think it´s a great idea. I was about to open a thread strictly devoted to piano but since I don´t have the means to do banners and collect infos, I thought I´d better let it be.

Anyway, well, I love all kinds of composers and styles, I think there are no "A Tier" or "B Tier" composers, instead I jugde their work on a piece by piece basis. Chopin can be AAAAA Tier in a couple of works and it can be C or D in others and the same applies to everyone.

If GAF doesn´t mind, I´ll share one video of me playing, here is the 1st movement of Schubert´s Wanderer Fantasy, that was a while ago.
 
sphinx said:
Didn´t see this thread at all! I think it´s a great idea. I was about to open a thread strictly devoted to piano but since I don´t have the means to do banners and collect infos, I thought I´d better let it be.

Anyway, well, I love all kinds of composers and styles, I think there are no "A Tier" or "B Tier" composers, instead I jugde their work on a piece by piece basis. Chopin can be AAAAA Tier in a couple of works and it can be C or D in others and the same applies to everyone.

If GAF doesn´t mind, I´ll share one video of me playing, here is the 1st movement of Schubert´s Wanderer Fantasy, that was a while ago.
Click to expand...

That was great. Although I recognize you from before I had no idea you were Mexican, are you from Matamoros or just played there in the video?
 
FireCloud said:
Very nice! What is your favorite piece to perform?

I'll checkout your other performance vids when I have a chance.
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well, some are a blast to perform, others are just a hassle, I mean I love everything I learn and play but the outcome, once you bring a piece to a performance and actually play it in front of people, sometimes I think " well that.. kind of.. worked" (meaning, it really didn´t hehehe). As for composers or pieces, I think... I like to play Scriabin´s 4th Sonata, its hard but I somehow get through the intricacies and the music inside, woah, it's a pleasure to play it.

Thanks a lot for taking time to listen to them, I don´t like to promote my videos, first of all, because I constantly change my mind on whether I should be showing them or not... one day I listen randomly to a couple of the videos and think " Fuck, that´s so goddamn awful, it takes balls to put them there in youtube" and the next day I think " Well´that´s decent enough"... Don´t know, I guess that´s just never going to change.

jbueno said:
That was great. Although I recognize you from before I had no idea you were Mexican, are you from Matamoros or just played there in the video?
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I am Mexican from Monterrey, living in Germany now for the last 2 years, I play often in Matamoros and in the northeast as a whole, but actually pretty rarely, I try to stay in touch with stage performance and work on 1 or 2 differents projects per year, which for a fulltime concert pianist is nothing. I am happy and grateful to have the chance to play here and there and if I ever get "discoevered" then be it but I don´t stress myself over that.
 
I've been getting back into opera again - I had really only dipped my toe in the water in terms of listening to arias and recitals here and there before - and so I purchased my first opera CDs. I'm very excited about it.

I got Leontyne Price: The Complete Collection of Operatic Recital Albums. I'm going to get Leontyne Price: The Complete Collection of Song and Spiritual Albums later, too. I also want to get several collections of Bjorling, Callas, Sutherland, the 2003 Covent Garden DVD of The Magic Flute with Diana Damrau, and then play it by ear after that.

I don't really know much about baritones or their repertoire, so I might be interested in listening to something by them.

Does anyone else like listening to opera or am I on my lonesome?
 
Mumei said:
I've been getting back into opera again - I had really only dipped my toe in the water in terms of listening to arias and recitals here and there before - and so I purchased my first opera CDs. I'm very excited about it.

I got Leontyne Price: The Complete Collection of Operatic Recital Albums. I'm going to get Leontyne Price: The Complete Collection of Song and Spiritual Albums later, too. I also want to get several collections of Bjorling, Callas, Sutherland, the 2003 Covent Garden DVD of The Magic Flute with Diana Damrau, and then play it by ear after that.

I don't really know much about baritones or their repertoire, so I might be interested in listening to something by them.

Does anyone else like listening to opera or am I on my lonesome?
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I had my opera phase and sorta fell out of it. Though Bjorling, Callas and Sutherland? Sir, you are a man of taste.
 
ronito said:
I had my opera phase and sorta fell out of it. Though Bjorling, Callas and Sutherland? Sir, you are a man of taste.
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Thanks! I have to say, though, right now Leontyne Price is my favorite. Her voice is just so, so beautiful. And versatile!

There was a really great video highlighting just how incredibly technically talented Maria Callas was on Youtube that was unfortunately taken down, but the uploader said he'd be reuploading an improved version in the future. I'm looking forward to that.
 
As a classical guitarist, I'm a big Romance and 20th Century guy, though I do love most of baroque onward for all classical music.

These are probably my favorite pieces right now:
Concierto de Aranjuez: No. 2 Adagio by Joaquin Rodrigo A very beautiful and seductive piece. The recording isn't too great however.

Choros No. 1 by Heitor Villa Lobos

Danza Espanola No. 5 Andaluza by Enrique Granados

and probably my favorite
Suite espanola No. 4 Cadiz by Isaac Albeniz

I'm missing many pieces I'd want to share (like Ponce and Tarrega, other favorites), but I gotta get some sleep. Hopefully there are some fellow classical guitarists here.
 
For all you with Spotify, you must download the new Classify app:

izAJj.png



close to the edge said:
Beethoven's symphonies are a great place to start if you like orchestral music. (it's how I got into Classical at least) They are not that hard to get into and you know, it's Beethoven. You can listen to any of those symphonies and it's a masterpiece. The playlist has 4 different recordings of the 9 symphonies but in the beginning the interpreter doesn't really matter that much. You can just choose any one of those and it'll be at least a solid recording.
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Thank you, I'll save that one. I've discovered a lot new classical music over the last few months, much Beethoven of course.

For any mainstream newbies like me, I found these to be good:
27 world known classical master pieces

50 greatest pieces of classical music by London Philharmonic Orchestra
 
I love classical music, always have it on in the car as it seems to be the only thing that calms my extreme road rage.

After studying Music GCSE and reaching Grade 7 in piano, I stopped listening to it so much, and I pay little attention to composers and pieces names anymore, my knowledge has definitely declined. Still love listening to it though.

Favourites are Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Nyman.

Also really love Adiemus by Karl Jenkins, surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet.

Can we include Film score composers? John Williams is the man.
 
I'm not a big music buff but I really enjoy listening to classical music when I am working. It makes for great background noise and is quite relaxing. I never really know who or what I'm listening to so this thread is going to be great for me with all of these awesome recommendations. Good thread.
 
alazz said:
As a classical guitarist, I'm a big Romance and 20th Century guy, though I do love most of baroque onward for all classical music.

These are probably my favorite pieces right now:
Concierto de Aranjuez: No. 2 Adagio by Joaquin Rodrigo A very beautiful and seductive piece. The recording isn't too great however.

Choros No. 1 by Heitor Villa Lobos

Danza Espanola No. 5 Andaluza by Enrique Granados

and probably my favorite
Suite espanola No. 4 Cadiz by Isaac Albeniz

I'm missing many pieces I'd want to share (like Ponce and Tarrega, other favorites), but I gotta get some sleep. Hopefully there are some fellow classical guitarists here.
Click to expand...

Are there?!

www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89748

I've played all those except for the Granados 5. I never got a good appreciation of Ponce, PLEASE post away. (Tarrega, eh, he's been played to death).

But it's nice to see someone else who plays the cursed instrument.
 
My (tiny) opera collection has expanded! I started with the a complete collection of Leontyne Price's operatic recital albums earlier in the month, and I ordered some Bjorling to go with it. I got the EMI Icon set (5 discs of 105 songs) for Bjorling and Jussi Bjorling Rediscovered: Carnegie Hall Recital September 24, 1955, which includes 25 songs performed at that recital performance.

I'm listening to the thirteenth track, a performance of Jules Massenet's The Dream ("Instant charmant: En fermant les yeux" from Manon) which is just achingly beautiful.
 
I just heard of Ernesto Lecuona a few weeks ago. Manuel Barrueco played an arrangement of "Danza Lucumi" (originally piano) and I fell in love with it.

My local public radio late-night classical broadcast is amazing, but it's on at like 1am ;.;
ronito said:
Are there?!

www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89748

I've played all those except for the Granados 5. I never got a good appreciation of Ponce, PLEASE post away. (Tarrega, eh, he's been played to death).

But it's nice to see someone else who plays the cursed instrument.
Click to expand...
Damn, I didn't really think there'd be many, but I expected several at least. :(
It seems as if nobody wants to play with us and nobody wants to play it. I actually switched from violin to guitar, though. It's such a beautiful instrument. I'm actually thinking of getting a
seven-string
guitar. When one plays it judiciously it's absolutely intoxicating. I know many people belittle it and treat it like a gimmick, but it's especially wonderful for transcriptions. Did I just throw out the window my future-reputation by discussing the validity of such a guitar?

Uhhh....yeah, actually I don't listen to much Ponce either. In fact I don't have any of his pieces in my playlist at the moment. But I love his folia variatons, and I have a few pieces for multiple guitars that I never got around to playing but I think they look to sound nice.

I think I mentioned him because most non-classical musicians here probably never heard of him and he's a notable 20th century guitar composer.

Anyway I'm going to jump into that classical guitar thread in a bit, just need to dust mine off. (Recently got back from ten days overseas, and haven't played it yet :P)
 
alazz said:
I just heard of Ernesto Lecuona a few weeks ago. Manuel Barrueco played an arrangement of "Danza Lucumi" (originally piano) and I fell in love with it.

My local public radio late-night classical broadcast is amazing, but it's on at like 1am ;.;

Damn, I didn't really think there'd be many, but I expected several at least. :(
It seems as if nobody wants to play with us and nobody wants to play it. I actually switched from violin to guitar, though. It's such a beautiful instrument. I'm actually thinking of getting a
seven-string
guitar. When one plays it judiciously it's absolutely intoxicating. I know many people belittle it and treat it like a gimmick, but it's especially wonderful for transcriptions. Did I just throw out the window my future-reputation by discussing the validity of such a guitar?

Uhhh....yeah, actually I don't listen to much Ponce either. In fact I don't have any of his pieces in my playlist at the moment. But I love his folia variatons, and I have a few pieces for multiple guitars that I never got around to playing but I think they look to sound nice.

I think I mentioned him because most non-classical musicians here probably never heard of him and he's a notable 20th century guitar composer.

Anyway I'm going to jump into that classical guitar thread in a bit, just need to dust mine off. (Recently got back from ten days overseas, and haven't played it yet :P)
Click to expand...

Malaguena on piano is one of my all time favorites to play. Look for stuff from segovia if you want guitar, and even paco de lucia for performances.

You should check out the live stream from denver's public radio athttp://www.cpr.org/, it's 24/7 classical
 
alazz said:
As a classical guitarist, I'm a big Romance and 20th Century guy, though I do love most of baroque onward for all classical music.

These are probably my favorite pieces right now:
Concierto de Aranjuez: No. 2 Adagio by Joaquin Rodrigo A very beautiful and seductive piece. The recording isn't too great however.

Choros No. 1 by Heitor Villa Lobos

Danza Espanola No. 5 Andaluza by Enrique Granados

and probably my favorite
Suite espanola No. 4 Cadiz by Isaac Albeniz

I'm missing many pieces I'd want to share (like Ponce and Tarrega, other favorites), but I gotta get some sleep. Hopefully there are some fellow classical guitarists here.
Click to expand...
Why link one of the poorer renditions of Choros No. 1 on YouTube? The best one was removed some time ago and I have been unable to find it again (though I do have an audio rip). Russell's version, though faster than most, is still pretty solid.

Edit: Nevermind. I found it.
 
I'll check that livestream out. I believe my classical station has a archive stream, but I always forgot about the entire program because I so infrequently listen to it.
MuseManMike said:
Why link one of the poorer renditions of Choros No. 1 on YouTube? The best one was removed some time ago and I have been unable to find it again (though I do have an audio rip). Russell's version, though faster than most, is still pretty solid.
Click to expand...

I love David Russel (and he's a really nice guy). I like both recordings, but I prefer Julian Bream's, I think. Though I really dislike the pauses Bream employs, I prefer his tempo and emphasis. (Though on my CDs he doesn't really insert fermatas.)

ronito, yeah, Andrew York is great! His solo compositions were a lot of fun. I haven't played them in a long while, because I lost my book.
 
alazz said:
I just heard of Ernesto Lecuona a few weeks ago. Manuel Barrueco played an arrangement of "Danza Lucumi" (originally piano) and I fell in love with it.

My local public radio late-night classical broadcast is amazing, but it's on at like 1am ;.;

Damn, I didn't really think there'd be many, but I expected several at least. :(
It seems as if nobody wants to play with us and nobody wants to play it. I actually switched from violin to guitar, though. It's such a beautiful instrument. I'm actually thinking of getting a
seven-string
guitar. When one plays it judiciously it's absolutely intoxicating. I know many people belittle it and treat it like a gimmick, but it's especially wonderful for transcriptions. Did I just throw out the window my future-reputation by discussing the validity of such a guitar?

Uhhh....yeah, actually I don't listen to much Ponce either. In fact I don't have any of his pieces in my playlist at the moment. But I love his folia variatons, and I have a few pieces for multiple guitars that I never got around to playing but I think they look to sound nice.

I think I mentioned him because most non-classical musicians here probably never heard of him and he's a notable 20th century guitar composer.

Anyway I'm going to jump into that classical guitar thread in a bit, just need to dust mine off. (Recently got back from ten days overseas, and haven't played it yet :P)
Click to expand...
Funny I've been thinking about getting a 7 string guitar too. I had a master class with John Dearman (of the LAGQ) once and fell in love with the 7 string guitar. Already I favor things with a good bass and had my guitar made to accentuate the bass. The 7th string seems a really good idea.

I also had a master class from a guy who studied with Yepes who had a 10 string guitar. That was too crazy. I could never do it. But 7 I could do.
 
My favourites now (I'm into classical piano music):
Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire

Chopin - Prelude no. 15

Mozart - Piano Sonata in C - First movement

Chopin - Impromptu no. 4 This is really hard to play, I'm trying, but the finger agility you need for this is a level above me.

In Bruges - OST - PrologueThe music for this film fits it perfectly, the sadness and agony is perfectly put together with this musical piece.

My favourite classical music piece: Debussy - Clair de Lune This is an absolute joy to play. It's very peaceful and yet very alive. This is the most fun I've had with classical music on the piano.
 
Martian said:
My favourites now (I'm into classical piano music):
Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire

Chopin - Prelude no. 15

Mozart - Piano Sonata in C - First movement

Chopin - Impromptu no. 4 This is really hard to play, I'm trying, but the finger agility you need for this is a level above me.

In Bruges - OST - PrologueThe music for this film fits it perfectly, the sadness and agony is perfectly put together with this musical piece.

My favourite classical music piece: Debussy - Clair de Lune This is an absolute joy to play. It's very peaceful and yet very alive. This is the most fun I've had with classical music on the piano.
Click to expand...

LOVE debussy. I played arabasque and clair de lune for an audition in college, I've since been brushing up on arabasque and clair de lune is next on my list.

EDIT: Better Rendition IMO
 
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