The Classical Music Thread

**hiroki** · October 24, 2013

How is it possible that there isn't already a classical music thread in this subforum?? (save for a baroque music thread which died after several posts)

Anyway, just curious how many of us here listen to classical music. If you do, let's discuss your favorite composers or musicians (pianists, violinists, etc.)!

I will start with my all-time favorite piano concerto, Rach 3, performed by Berlin RSO & Argerich (my dream is to see her live at least once while she's still alive..):

**relentless** · October 24, 2013

Great piece! I'm partial to Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's 1st.

Lately I have been digging into String Quartets (Beethoven's Late Quartets, Haydn's Emperor Quartets) and Schubert's acclaimed lieder (Winterreise).

I also purchased Dvorak's Symphonies; but have only listened to the 7th, 8th, and 9th.

Have any favorite Composers?

Mine probably are:

Beethoven

Bach

Mozart

Brahms

Wagner

Schubert

Mendelssohn

Sibelius

Paganini

Tchaikovsky

Mahler

and probably one other that I'm forgetting

**Ito** · October 25, 2013

I wish I could say I knew more about classical music. I enjoy some of the stuff I listen to, but I just don't have enough exposure to it. Would anyone recommend a good album to grab (especially with really high recording quality) because I would love to get in to it more.

**hiroki** · October 25, 2013

Nice list of composers. Seems like you prefer concertos and other orchestral works?:

Tchaikovsky's 1st is really a timeless work - I love it too I'm not so familiar with string quartets though.

My favorite composers are mostly from late classical (Beethoven, etc.), romantic (Chopin, Liszt) and early "contemporary" (e.g. Rachmaninov). I also like the French Impressionists like Debussy and Ravel.

Some of my favorite pianists:

Kempff for early Beethoven, Arrau for late Beethoven.

Argerich for more technical stuff like Liszt and Prokofiev. Although Bolet is an amazing Liszt specialist as well.

A couple of Chopin specialists: e.g. Dinu Lapatti, who died tragically young, but whose interpretation of Chopin waltzes are unmatched. Alfred Cortot for his etudes.

Ashkenazy and Richter for the Russian greats, esp Rachmaninov.

Michelangeli's renditions of the Impressionists are impeccable.

It's sad that we no longer have many recordings of the great pianists from the early-mid 20th century

**hiroki** · October 25, 2013

I wish I could say I knew more about classical music. I enjoy some of the stuff I listen to, but I just don't have enough exposure to it. Would anyone recommend a good album to grab (especially with really high recording quality) because I would love to get in to it more.

Nice to hear that you're interested

It's really difficult to make recommendations because there are simply too many "periods" in classical, and then you have different contemporary pianists' vastly different interpretations of works from the same period. And then there's the question of orchestral/chamber music, or solo instrumentals.

It's probably better to start with a variety. You might want to take a look at:

Tchaikovky's 1st Piano Concerto:

Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata, 3rd movement:

Debussy's Images I, "Reflets dans l'eau":

Liszt's 4th Transcendental Etude, "Mazeppa":

Rachmaninov's "Vocalise":

Vivaldi's Four Seasons, "Winter":

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

Knowing what kind of stuff you like will help me (and others) to give better recommendations

My main interest is in solo piano so I'll try to say something more about that. If you have around 2 hours you can start by watching this:

Some time ago Philips released a gigantic box set (200 CDs) called "Great Pianists of the 20th Century". I think it serves as a good "expansive" coverage of the best stuff we've got left behind by the amazing pianists. But listening to everything would be an overkill for someone with a casual interest. I would personally recommend that you become somewhat familiar with the works of composers before exploring the various (and sometimes competing) interpretations of the works.

Lastly, there's always the danger of people lapsing into obscure technicality when discussing or dealing with classical music (more so than pop music at least). The most important thing is still to kick back and enjoy

**relentless** · October 25, 2013

Ito, I would suggest:

Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. Especially the recording of the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir. Colin Davis. It's a rather popular recording, so you may not have much trouble finding it. It's truly top notch.

There's also an amazing recording of Mozart's 40th and 41st Symphony by the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra under Karl Bohm. It's another popular recording, so that should be rather easy as well.

**relentless** · October 20, 2014

Resurrecting this thread with 3 solo keyboard works by Franz Schubert, his last Sonatas:

Piano Sonata No.19 in C Minor, D.958

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqHavx8FpqM

Piano Sonata No.20 in A major, D.959

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

Piano Sonata No.21 in B-flat major, D.960

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAtqP8esPQ

**hiroki** · October 20, 2014

wow i've totally forgotten about this thread XD

@relentless, i don't think i've ever heard Brendel's interpretation of Schubert (i like his Beethoven though). i'll give them a go

**relentless** · October 20, 2014

They're very good! The only downside is that Brendel doesn't play some of the repeats that were added later; but other than that his performance on all three sonatas are worth checking out.

**relentless** · December 2, 2014

To get people into the Holiday mood:

Bach's Christmas Oratorio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFnW_CrPUlA

Handel's Messiah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqJm0ioLCso

**relentless** · December 22, 2014

I sense more Papa Haydn is needed in this thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WNykhWtn1I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImxwlZ37N2g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyEtugA3iK0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVl8E3PHUMA

And some Mozart:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyNFElawfTg

**relentless** · December 23, 2014

And then Beethoven showed up and ruined everything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iacDzYv7YCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOjSho99uC4

**hiroki** · December 23, 2014

Waldstein is arguably my favorite of the various Beethoven late sonatas (Appassionata is a very close second). I like Gilel's rendition that you shared, as well as some by other very capable pianists, although I must say no one can quite give me the same feel as Arrau's rendition:

i know many people have criticized Arrau for being needlessly ponderous and overly deliberate with his playing, yet there's something about his introspective attitude that i feel squares really well with Beethoven later (i.e. his more 'romantic') sonatas. i remember one of my music teachers telling me a long time ago that the hardest thing to do is not just to play through the difficult passages, but to do so while not letting the technicality of those passages disclose itself, and i think it's precisely that Arrau is amazing at. (for instance, it's astounding how sweet and elegant he makes the technically insane Prestissimo passages at the end of the 3rd movement..)

of course, the funny thing is that Arrau used to be one of the most technically flamboyant pianists when he was younger (his early recordings of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes were even more explosive than Cziffra's lol), but i guess yeah, that's what the death of someone who's really close can do to you.

**relentless** · December 23, 2014

Elegant is the perfect word for Arrau's playing, especially on the outer movements. I tend to be very laid-back when it comes to individual interpretations, and even though I have my preferences, I tend to only draw an issue when something is clearly messed up like on Karajan's ancient recording of Brahm's German Requiem (chorus enters on the wrong note) or if the chosen tempo is painfully slow. The slower sections of Arrau or Schiff don't bother me, the playing compliments those sections really well; but when someone like Daniel Barenboim extends the third movement of the Hammerklavier to over 20 minutes(!), then it starts to get a bit excessive for me. And then there's the aforementioned Schiff who took that movement and gave it the quickest interpretation I've heard (15 minutes), which is admittedly my favorite. Speaking of Schiff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRWd-kzKoBw

This DVD performance of the English Suites is amazing. Schiff's latest recordings of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations are among my favorite, and I wish at this rate he would record the English Suites again with this level of energy.

Full performance:

Schiff's Beethoven interpretations, as well as his hour long lectures on each of them, are worth listening to.

**hiroki** · December 23, 2014

admittedly i haven't heard much of Schiff's playing before, but i like what i'm hearing above. i recall the days where I had sworn to get away from Bach as far as possible (a natural consequence of being 'forced' to practice nothing but his third Partita lol), but on hindsight i wished i had spent more time on Bach.

on the topic of interpretation, i tend to agree with you. although i must say one of my pet peeves is playing too fast, and by that i mean being ridiculously off-tempo - a case in point being Lang Lang's rather infamous performance of the second of Rachmaninoff's Op.23 preludes:

i have no idea what on earth he's thinking...? which is unfortunate, since that's incidentally my favorite Rach prelude (a piece with some fond memories of my teacher).

i believe Ashkenazy's recording is one of those that does it justice, as is usually the case with the other pieces of the Russian greats. somehow he has a knack for evoking the grandeur but simultaneously managing the details of pieces like that.

there is however just one exception i will grant. and that's when the ostensibly messed-up tempo results not from overzealousness or lack of control or anything of that sort, but something internal to the interpretation itself. i can't describe this very well, but exemplary of what i mean is probably Dinu Lipatti's timeless recording of Chopin's C#m waltz: the quality of recording notwithstanding (after all it was from 1950), no other recording of this piece even comes close to matching his gradation of textures, the subtlety in control, and just the general sense of how natural the entire waltz feels and flows from one section to the next despite his rather radical tempo changes. it was a great loss that he died really young at 33 and couldn't leave more of his wonderful recordings for us :<

finally, i'm not sure if you've seen this - i found it hilarious haha.

**relentless** · December 24, 2014

Damn, I need to listen to more Chopin. I have a bunch of works by him; but never took the time to dig into them outside of the Nocturnes, Ballades, and Scherzi.

For me, my love of Bach comes from his Cantatas and various sacred works:

Cantatas for Christmas:

**relentless** · December 29, 2014

Move over, Mozart's C minor Mass, time to make way for the greatest setting of the Mass in the classical period -- Beethoven's Mass in D, "Missa Solemnis"

**Karma’s Hat** · December 30, 2014

I spent the bulk of this year listening to 20th century works, Scriabin and Schönberg being the most frequently spun as all time favorites. Dabbled a lot into recent compositions early in the year but I struggle to recall a lot of them and certainly deleting my last.fm again doesn't help things. I'm already old enough for years to blend in together and 2013 and 2014 are badly interjected in my memory.

Mozart's Mass and some Mahler symphony I saw in performance this year. Latter wasn't all that with the queer acoustics of the new Music Centre they built in Helsinki and I have fonder memories of the dinner I had earlier even though I do like Mahler. Later in the year I went back a century for a while and I even took some Haydn to my parents house for Christmas, but as always with Haydn I couldn't be arsed to listen to it.

Instead I heard the same tape of my Grandfather's church musics over and over since mother insisted on having it as background music at every single meal and from what I heard through the questionable audio system it sounded peculiar enough for me to rip and upload so i can get it at home. I think it's the only recording of him we have other than a VHS of Hamlet and that's sad. It's actually disturbing to hear the tone of his talking voice through the operatics lolol.

**Peace Heavy mk II** · December 30, 2014

Live recordings of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus sometimes brings me to tears. Like if you agree

**relentless** · February 11, 2015

Later in the year I went back a century for a while and I even took some Haydn to my parents house for Christmas, but as always with Haydn I couldn't be arsed to listen to it.

Can't quite get into Haydn, huh? He's definitely worth re-listening to if you ever get the chance. His oratorios (Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten) stand alone in the classical style and are often considered to be his best works. Hell, he even created the String Quartet genre by accident, and his contributions there are just as good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYyvpDUBCh0

Also, awesome choice for Schönberg. Lately I've been making a conscious effort to listen to more works from the 20th Century. In some ways it's not entirely different from previous periods of music, it just requires a different kind of focus.