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Baa?21242 Posts
On August 28 2009 09:24 ero wrote: [*]Explanations of why Beethoven's 14th sonata is good, but not his best
The third movement just might be the best single movement in the history of piano works though. It definitely is in my book xD
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On August 28 2009 08:44 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: /me supports the idea for a thread. Just start it with something by Beethoven haha, nice and basic. Or we can go the opposite route and start it out with something most people haven't of I guess. Either one.
@ Saracen: I guess you're kinda right. But I still don't see why you dislike symphonies, since so many of them embody the spirit of romanticism so well. It's not that I dislike symphonies - it's that I'm inherently biased against them because I hated them when I was little. Sure, there are plenty of awesome symphonies, but I'd much rather prefer a concerto, probably because I just haven't had much exposure to symphonies (and I don't care all that much for classical music at the moment to be actively seeking to broaden those horizons). That being said, Beethoven violin concerto, please. Probably one of the more underrated violin concertos, and my personal favorite.
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On August 28 2009 10:35 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:The third movement just might be the best single movement in the history of piano works though. It definitely is in my book xD
I thought so too when I first heard it. Now that I can play it I've grown a bit tired of it. Still great, just doesn't give me the chills it used to. Appassionata on the other hand still sends a chill down my spine every time, and I doubt I'll ever grow tired of it.
Beethoven himself was a bit jaded by Moonlight.
Moonlight is to Beethoven as Prelude in C# Minor is to Rachmaninoff. (OK not that bad, but you get the point).
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Baa?21242 Posts
No one ever hears anything but the first movement though :[
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True, but in the pianist community the Presto Agitato movement is certainly well known and fairly overplayed. I personally never even bothered learning the first two movements lol. You get a better response from the girls if you play the third 
Still I don't think it rivals some of Chopin's, Rach's, Prokofiev, or even Alkan's better works.
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On August 28 2009 06:02 Aesop wrote:here's my draft for an op: + Show Spoiler [OP?] +Classical Music and Recordings ThreadThis forum has seen in total - 7 threads on the general forum named only Classical Music, mostly asking for recommendations. (1) ,(2) ,(3) ,(4) ,(5) ,(6) ,(7)
- 9 threads related to it and various subcategories: (1) , (2) , (3) , (4) , (5) , (6) , (7) , (8) , (Rap music fan sentenced to classical music anyone?):
- 2 recent blogs: (1), (2)
So if you are looking for general recommendations (pieces) and youtube links, those threads will benefit you for sure, or just search for "Classical Music". However, in the most recent addition we also began discussing the different recordings of famous pieces. So let's use this thread for that purpose! This means: Less youtube links (spoiler them at least to reduce load!) and more attention towards the recordings themselves! What piece we want to start discussing about? I can put it into the OP too. Mmm, I thought about this as well, but I didn't know how many afcianados were here in TL. I still don't think we have enough manpower to write exhaustively on the topic of classical music, but a good introductory guide, with recommendations, perhaps coupled with samples of the piece will be a good idea. Additionally, another thread could be created to discuss further; so one thread which will essentially be a guide, and another to be a discussion forum.
However, I think the latter thread will be severly limited by lack of organization, as it cannot function as effectively as site (forum-design) dedicated to discussion, with categories of era, composers, etc.
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On August 28 2009 11:04 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: No one ever hears anything but the first movement though :[
I think I heard a couple in Korean dramas or commercials, or something. I instantly recognized it ironically due to it's scarcity.
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16953 Posts
I can't believe no one has mentioned the finale of Mozart's last symphony?
It's absolutely one of my favorite classical pieces ever written.
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On August 28 2009 10:35 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On August 28 2009 09:24 ero wrote: [*]Explanations of why Beethoven's 14th sonata is good, but not his best
The third movement just might be the best single movement in the history of piano works though. It definitely is in my book xD Listen to Gilels' Moscow 1961 recording of the Appassionata finale (PM if you need a link).
On August 28 2009 10:39 Saracen wrote: That being said, Beethoven violin concerto, please. Probably one of the more underrated violin concertos, and my personal favorite. Funny, that's the romantic concerto I probably like Heifetz least in.
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On August 27 2009 22:05 ero wrote:There used to be a good DC++ hub that had everything you could imagine for download (and is responsible for my 300+gb collection  ) -- the chat discussions there helped a lot for recommendations, etc. The Musique Classique DC hub is still around.
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Baa?21242 Posts
On August 28 2009 14:42 SonuvBob wrote:Show nested quote +On August 27 2009 22:05 ero wrote:There used to be a good DC++ hub that had everything you could imagine for download (and is responsible for my 300+gb collection  ) -- the chat discussions there helped a lot for recommendations, etc. The Musique Classique DC hub is still around.
Perhaps I should start looking into DC hubs for classical music. That Musique Classique hub looks pretty nice, thanks for the tip.
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16953 Posts
On August 28 2009 14:09 Spinfusor wrote:Show nested quote +On August 28 2009 10:35 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On August 28 2009 09:24 ero wrote: [*]Explanations of why Beethoven's 14th sonata is good, but not his best
The third movement just might be the best single movement in the history of piano works though. It definitely is in my book xD Listen to Gilels' Moscow 1961 recording of the Appassionata finale (PM if you need a link). Show nested quote +On August 28 2009 10:39 Saracen wrote: That being said, Beethoven violin concerto, please. Probably one of the more underrated violin concertos, and my personal favorite. Funny, that's the romantic concerto I probably like Heifetz least in.
Oistrakh has a wonderful recording of the Beethoven violin concerto.
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It seems I can get good deals while in Korea, so I'm asking you guys to give me the most "conventional" recordings of the following pieces
Symphonies
Mahler Tchaikvsky Shostachovich (Mravinsky I guess?) Brahms
Piano Sonatas
Mozart Beethoven For these two, I aquired only Glenn Gould's complete recordings, but his #8 3rd mvmt of Mozart's and 3rd mvmt of Pathetique (especially the latter) seems perfect to me. Fast Moonlight mvmt is refreshing too
Violin Concertos
Beethoven Tachaikovsky Mendelsshon Bruch Dvorak
Think that will be all for now.
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Anything by Dvorak is good, except his New World Symphony*. I was part of a member of a philharmonia that performed his 8th symphony, and I am extremely attached to it.
- Russian Easter Overture (forget the name of the artist) - Anything by Bach - Zirguernerweisen. I played the Double Bass, so I know the intricacies of this particular piece. You will mostly find this being performed on the Violin, but some of the better bassists of the world have performed this as well, and if you understand the drastic difference in difficulty between the Violin and the Bass, you'll like the Bass version more
* People will argue with me on this statement**. It is my opinion, as is the rest of this post. ** No, I don't care.
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If you haven't explored the Rachmaninoff piano concertos (2,3 and his paganini rhapsody), you are definitely in for a treat.
May I also recommend the Nocturnes by Debussy (symphonic suite), something you can probably consider to be an impressionistic spin off the symphonic form. Also, I recommend the Bruckner symphony 8 as a more approachable piece among the more labyrinthine complexities of the late romantic style (Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner) -- and it is surely a masterpiece. Celibidache is a definite standout interpretation for this symphony.
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for the mahler cycle, there was a box set out a while ago with bernstein conducting the symphonies with new york/vienna/the royal concertgebouw orchestra which i think is absolutely fantastic. it was released through deutsche grammophon, i'm not sure if the box set itself is still in print, but the individual recordings are. the recordings with the concertgebouw orchestra in particular are incredible.
for tchaikovsky i would recommend karajan's recordings with berlin ('76 and '77, i think). i consider karajan's interpretations of tchaikovsky to be top notch, about as ideal as you would want the symphonies to be. this was also during the time when berlin was considered the best orchestra in the world, so...
i generally enjoy the recordings of bernstein and karajan moreso than others because they capture the kind of youthful fire, passion, and intensity in every recording and performance i've heard, something that is often absent with other conductors.
as for the brahms symphonies, the solti recording with chicago is highly rated, as are karajan's with berlin and klemperer's with the philharmonia -- they are all quite different.
i didn't see your question about the planets answered earlier, so i'll recommend two, both by karajan (you can tell i'm a huge karajan fan) -- one that he did in the 80's with berlin (impeccable playing, about as technically perfect as you can get) and his earlier recording with vienna, which happened to be the first time vienna had ever played the suite. the jupiter chorale in the latter recording is the best i've ever heard, edging out the huge brass sounds of london and chicago (they use viennese horns in it, though -- it's a noticeably different sound).
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On September 01 2009 14:28 VorcePA wrote: Anything by Dvorak is good, except his New World Symphony*. I was part of a member of a philharmonia that performed his 8th symphony, and I am extremely attached to it.
- Russian Easter Overture (forget the name of the artist) - Anything by Bach - Zirguernerweisen. I played the Double Bass, so I know the intricacies of this particular piece. You will mostly find this being performed on the Violin, but some of the better bassists of the world have performed this as well, and if you understand the drastic difference in difficulty between the Violin and the Bass, you'll like the Bass version more
* People will argue with me on this statement**. It is my opinion, as is the rest of this post. ** No, I don't care.
dvorak's 8th and 9th are masterpieces, as are his concertos (particularly the cello concerto). a good live performance of the 2nd movement of his 9th is just... something else.
the russian easter overture is by rimsky-korsakov, another great great russian composer -- his music (apart from scheherazade) isn't too deep or difficult to grasp, but his melodies and orchestration are fantastic. check out his symphonies, capriccio espagnol, and scheherazade (he also wrote the flight of the bumblebees... heh). generally if you go russian, you can't go wrong . tchaikovsky, shostakovich, mussourgsky, korsakov, STRAVINSKY (please listen to the ballets... the b major at the end of the firebird is so epic if done well).
also, consider checking out bernstein's 1989 recording (in berlin) of beethoven's 9th. the last movement is epic, even moreso if you consider the venue and circumstances surrounding the performance.
edit: left out rachmaninov. everyone talks about his piano concertos, but listen to all 3 of the symphonies as well as his symphonic dances. genius.
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Seems most people addressed the pieces I didn't ask for yet, but I still thank you for your contributions (genuinely).
I have a copy of Zirguernerweisen with Heifetz, which I like very much, and it contains other pieces that were introduced to me. I'll explore those pieces at a later time.
I haven't touched Bruckener yet, but I will soon enough. It seems a lot of you are recommending Russian composers (Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov), so I'll add a few more to the list.
I have heard of Scheherazade (I don't know how to pronounce this lol) and I love it very muhc. Any recommendations?
And since TheMusiC mentioned ballets, I only heard of The Nutcracker Suite and the famous melody from Swan Lake. But I already am aware of Stravinsky's Firebird and his rather infamous Rite of Spring, so any recommendations are welcome.
And yeah, TheMusiC, you are a huge fan of Karajan it seems 
Oh I will search for good Dvorak pieces later.
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
I'm a huge fan of Liszt. The man was a ridiculous virtuoso, but damn his pieces are ridiculously insane. If you've got less than like an 11 key span, then you might as well give up on most of his pieces.
That being said, I really love La Campanella. Such a refreshingly beautiful piece, and a pretty hard one too.
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for scheherazade -- fritz reiner's recording with chicago (i think it was done in 1960) is classic, the standard for the piece.
there are few ballets that are performed in an orchestral setting -- the most notable of these are those of tchaikovsky (the nutcracker and swan lake), stravinsky (the firebird, petrushka, and the rite of spring), and possibly several others by shostakovich, aaron copland, and maybe berstein (ravel too?). i'm a huge fan of copland's ballets because they're very different, but very cool (rodeo, billy the kid, appalachian spring).
when looking for recordings of german/austrian composers (beethoven, brahms, bruckner etc) try to stick with german/austrian orchestras because they generally do it best -- there's a certain pride that these orchestras take to those composers and you can tell that the extra effort and passion is there. the exception to this is mahler, for several historical reasons.
also, i left out paul hindemith, who is one of my favorite composers. his sound is just so unique and compelling.
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