The Classical Music Recommendation Thread

[Melange 446]

Purcell was insane.

Certainly was. Caravaggio of Music, in a way.

[media=]

.I wasn't familiar with the piece. Wonderful .

Glad you liked it.

[MrJosh 824]

I need to get to know Purcell better myself.

[Marian Schedenig 7,559]

Certainly was. Caravaggio of Music, in a way.

[media=]

I thought only Mozart wrote that kind of thing.

[Brónach 1,280]

I have been listening to this tirelessly for two days. Can't unhear. Maybe I'm overplaying it...

[media=]

[MSM 116]

Doens't do much for me. But then, I've never been a big Berlioz fan.

[Brónach 1,280]

To each his own.

Currently listening:

[media=]

Some gorgeous moments in there.

[Brónach 1,280]

[crocodile 7,733]

Now listening to Rachmaninov's (Rachmaninoff's, I you prefer this version) third symphony.

What a divine music.

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,250]

How have I not seen this thread?

Any fans of Max Richter or Ludovico Einaudi? Contemporary classical composers.

[Muad'Dib 1,773]

I'm not familiar with them, but I'd love to hear some of his works! Could you post some links of what you is representative of them?

[indy4 154]

How have I not seen this thread?

Any fans of Max Richter or Ludovico Einaudi? Contemporary classical composers.

I started a thread about Richter a few days ago: http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22547

[KK 3,292]

Not "classical" but I've been curious about this in the past few days.

Eric Whitacre wrote a different bridge for his concert band arrangement of Lux Aurumque at 1:50.

It reminds of something, like a film score. But I can't quite put my finger on it. Anyone else feel the same way, or am I just going crazy?

[indy4 154]

Sounds like pure Whitacre to me. Reminds me of his "October." And a little bit like Steven Bryant's "Dusk."

[KK 3,292]

It does sound very Whitacre, but that specific passage just reminded me of something else...maybe it just reminded of the same piece (since the last time I really heard was quite a while ago ).

I can't say I'm Whitacre's biggest fan (I think he's a bit overrated), but October is sublime.

[indy4 154]

I'm not incredibly familiar with his works. I know a few of the instrumental ones, all of which I've enjoyed quite a bit. "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!" is another great one.

[KK 3,292]

Godzilla is really entertaining to watch (especially when bands really stage the piece up), but a bit uninteresting when played. Ghost Train is a fun piece.

[Muad'Dib 1,773]

Could anybody recommend me more stuff that goes in the vein of Stravinsky's Firebird? The whole work is phenomenal, and its been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, and now for whatever reason, relistening to it, I feel like I want more of that.

I found two good influences that are Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Scriabin, but the latter is a little too complex for me. What I like about Firebird is how simple it feels. It's by no means an easy piece, but everything seems so well put together and so effortestly. It feels natural, real, sincere.

Here are two pieces by Korsakov and Scriabin that I really like, in case you're not familiar with them, and that remind me of Stravinsky:

I really like that sort of neo-romantic sound, but in Stravinsky's hands it feels like perfection. Anything you guys can recommend?

[Brónach 1,280]

Now listening to Rachmaninov's (Rachmaninoff's, I you prefer this version) third symphony.

What a divine music.

Рахма́нинов!

Nice, something to listen to tonight.

[TownerFan 4,981]

Could anybody recommend me more stuff that goes in the vein of Stravinsky's Firebird?

Check out some of Prokofiev's ballet scores, if you haven't already. The Scythian Suite is kind of close relative to Stravinsky's Firebird:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wPD48CcxVo

(this is a stellar performance, check it out!)

Also, two of his most famous: Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella

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

[Marian Schedenig 7,559]

Romeo and Juliet is a fantastic work. It's basically a silent film score with lots of leitmotifs and mickey mousing.

[Romão 2,244]

Indeed. I can't recommend it enough

[Koray Savas 2,250]

I'm not familiar with them, but I'd love to hear some of his works! Could you post some links of what you is representative of them?

How have I not seen this thread?

Any fans of Max Richter or Ludovico Einaudi? Contemporary classical composers.

I started a thread about Richter a few days ago: http://www.jwfan.com...showtopic=22547

Cool, I'll have to check those clips out soon.

[Joni Wiljami 1,203]

Thomas Newman meets Antonio Vivaldi.

[Koray Savas 2,250]

I don't think a Thomas Newman score has ever been that loud or melodic.

[crocodile 7,733]

Listening to Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances. A very nostalgic piece, I think his final work. It revisits the territory from his first symphony and contains a fantastic finale in which one of the theme from Sergei's own All-Night Vigil choral composition (apparently his own personal favourite) battles the infamous Dies Irae. Splendid stuff! Coincidentally, the LSO Live disc I got got this years Grammy nomination today for the best orchestral performance. It also contains Stravinsky's Symphony In Three Movements, which is great as well. Highly recommended.

Speaking of Rachmaninov, he might be my favourite composers of all. Wonderfully gentle and turbulent at the same time. Pure magic.

Karol

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I love the three-disc set of the complete Rachmaninov symphonies conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy. It also includes Symphonic Dances, Isle of the Dead, and The Bells. Best recording of Symphonic Dances I've heard.

[crocodile 7,733]

I've got a 2-disc version of him conducting the three symphonies. I can imagine these are the same performances, right?

Karol

[KK 3,292]

I've got a 3 disc set with his first 3 symphonies, Symphonic Dances and the Isle of the Dead. Conducted by Jansons and performed by the St. Petersburg Orchestra It was great,

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I've got a 2-disc version of him conducting the three symphonies. I can imagine these are the same performances, right?

Karol

Not sure. This is the version I have (on London, or Decca depending on which country you're in...)

http://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninov-Symphonies-Sergey/dp/B0000042HY/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1354898026&sr=1-2&keywords=rachmaninov+ashkenazy

[crocodile 7,733]

This one.

Karol.

[Marian Schedenig 7,559]

Kempe + Wiener Philharmoniker + Sophiensäle acoustics = one of the most exciting of all opera preludes

[crocodile 7,733]

Just came back from the concert in which they played the sensational second symphony by Jean Sibelius (Kamen's Dead Zone quite notably quotes a theme from the second movement) and also something I've not been familiar with - Elgar's obscure choral piece The Music Makers. The performance was opened Sibelius' lovely tone poem The Bard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii2z5wdBRpw

The Halle orchestra was conducted by Sir Mark Eldar and I really enjoyed myself.

Karol

[Bespin 7,999]

I dive back into the French Suites, English Suites and Partitas, who form a trilogy of suites for keyboard composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.

This musical form which goes back to the baroque period from the XVIth to the XVIIIth century, is no more no less than the ancestor of the sonata.

They are real small jewels of ingenuity and sensibility (yes yes, it is possible with Bach!)

Impossible for example not to be moved by the beauty of the Allemande of the French Suite N° 2...

Suggested version for its "neutrality" and its good taste: Andràs Schiff (piano).

[Bespin 7,999]

I learned recently that John Williams is considered by many as a neo-romantic.

Here is another neo-romantic: Bruckner.

Don't know much about this composer, but love this CD :

Bruckner: Symphony No 4 / Nezet-Seguin, Orchestre Metropolitan

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=640877

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

I'd think that Bruckner would be thought of as just a romantic, since he was writing during that period and not reviving it later. Williams might be something of a neo-romantic in the way he approaches motives (Wagner is the obvious influence) in most of his scores, but his musical language is much more influenced by 20th century composers/jazz, I think.

But who cares how things are classified. Here's some wonderful Bruckner.

[Marian Schedenig 7,559]

That's a fantastic piece. We had that on our choir schedule once, but sadly not for long (never actually had it in a concert).

Mauceri would call Williams a main romantic And Wagner, Bruckner & Co time just the early phase of the romantic era. But in general, Bruckner is definitely a "regular" romantic composer - working largely at the same time as Wagner (save for the last two and a half symphonies) and, more importantly, before Mahler and Strauss (he was Mahler's teacher at one point).

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

On 10/6/2013 at 1:40 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

That's a fantastic piece. We had that on our choir schedule once, but sadly not for long (never actually had it in a concert).

That's too bad.  Sounds like it would have been magnificent.

[Bespin 7,999]

A discovery I made few years ago.

 

André Mathieu (1928-1968)

 

The sad fate of the composer from Quebec André Mathieu, is the story of a child who lived the music with the exceptional capacities of a Mozart and dreamed about an ideal that he was not able to embody because of the incomprehension of his contemporaries...

 

Mathieu's style leaned towards the late Romantic school of Rachmaninov, but it's true North American music and it's far nearest from us!

 

Concerto No. 4 in E Minor for Piano and Orchestra (A. Mathieu, Lefèvre, OSQ, Talmi)

 

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

That was a great listen. It's always nice to discover/be introduced to a new composer.

In that same spirit... here's this.

[Melange 446]

Great links here guys, thanks.

Below is one I can't remember if I posted before.

The performance was opened Sibelius' lovely tone poem The Bard.

[Bespin 7,999]

@TheGreyPilgrim
@Melange

 

Thanks for the links guys!

 

Here is another wonderful André Mathieu, I really love this kind of composition even if I'm not usually into "modern" classical music.

 

André Mathieu - Rhapsodie Romantique (Lefèvre, OSM, Bamert)

 

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Giacinto Scelsi - Hymnos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1n-DQonQhs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nhwnX5dv_Q

Utterly sublime.

[Bespin 7,999]

@TheGreyPilgrim

I must admit, I have a crush! Have to discover much of this Albéric Magnard, maybe it will reconciliate me with French music!

Also, the version you've put here is a recommended version on the site arkivmusic.com. Great

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=41933

I will see if I can find this CD somewhere, again thanks!

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

Glad to hear it! But we both owe thanks to the person that posts these "unknown" symphonies on Youtube. There are quite a few to explore.

 

 

[Bespin 7,999]

The organ... not too often...

I'm a big Bach lover... But I must admit, I prefer the piano over the organ and harpsichord.

You surely know this... Symphony N° 3 of Camille Saint-Saens... A Concerto "with organ"... That maybe the best way for me to listen organ!

I bought many RCA Red Seal "Living Stereo" CD few years ago... SACD, even if I'm not equiped to listen them in SACD

They are old classics recordings but in really really really good condition.

Charles Munch was a director I've discovered with that collection.

Great director and Great work!

http://youtu.be/_-KEVlAbyk8

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

Yes, that's a fine piece, and nice to hear this movement instead of the oft-cited bombastic finale.

If you can handle the organ within an orchestral context, I'd recommend this too. Wonderful piece, here's the first movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33zaoSetk2I&feature=share&list=PL6E56C5B5D58E8162

[Muad'Dib 1,773]

This is the most wonderful thing I have heard in a very long time:

[Bespin 7,999]

@Michael

 

Sorry, this kind of music gives me murder desires, have to stop after few seconds!

 

I like calm music, noble music.

 

Talking about noble music, this week I was listening again to and old album on which I always return.

 

I lisetened to several versions of these pieces, historical or newer performances, but this can't beat that classic.

 

Johann Sebastian Bach - Orchestral Suites

Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Marriner

 

 

Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 - Rondeau

 

 

Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 - Sarabande

 

 

Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 - Menuet

 

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

This is the most wonderful thing I have heard in a very long time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMjhEQG75WQ

Agreed, very fine

@Michael

Sorry, this kind of music gives me murder desires, have to stop after few seconds!

I like calm music, noble music.

Yet here you are on a film music message board! Music should be all kinds of things, not just calm and noble. Bach recognized that.

[nightscape94 965]

Enescu isn't all that well known, except for his Romanian Rhapsodies

Here is his Symphony No. 3.

I'll throw a shorter piece in here.

Ravel's "Le jardin féerique" from his Ma mère l'oye (Mother Goose) suite