clasical music(its growing on me)

[carter]

hi after getting into home cinema and ending up buying a two chanel power amp. in stereo my system is starting to sound pretty good.and its got me back into music witch is great.and latley ive started listening to bits of clasical music that i really like but i no nothing about it.

so i went into hmv today to pick up an album and i had no clue what to get thay had loads of albums .

can any one recomend an album to get me into it also thay had alot of albums with like 3 discs and 60 tracks are these likley to be low qualaty recordings.

any help would be great.

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look at

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classical-BRITs-Winners-2009/lm/R304EE3E1J5LJ8/ref=amb_link_18189865_8?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=left-2&pf_rd_r=0T0691AFR1DNMQVA8PT5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=468058213&pf_rd_i=229816

monster link, but it gives a reasonable starting point for current classical releases. If not that, just Google 'Deutsche Gramaphon' and anything on the Linn label. Have fun!

 

[carter]

thats great and i get to listen before i buy. thanks tobester!

 

[Anonymous]

In my opinion the worse thing you can do is get a compilation album. Classical music asks things of the listener (concentration for 30 mins and upwards) that popular music doesn't. I always think its a shame when people plug for compilations that has excerpts from slow movements (adagios) divorced from their context. I think its better just to dive in there and start having a proper listen.

Give Parsifal a go. Listen to it a few times without reading the libretto just to get a feel for it.

Don't be intimidated thats the main thing and don't always go for the obvious. Beethoven's ninth, as Stravinsky points out, is very boring in parts. Talking of Stravinsky The Rites of Spring is a good starting point for 20th century classical music.

"classical music" is an 18th century phenomena but we don't need to get into that.

Varese is someone who is easy to like from the 20th century. Its not all eine kleine bl****** nachtmusik and Rach 2s.

Stay away from boring tedious gimmicks like Asian violinists in short skirts and the Classic FM brigade.

 

[Kevin Stephens]

listen to Radio 3, and Classic FM through your sky reciever. Sound qualiy should be as good as CD, look out for programmes like "Building a Library"

 

[matthewpiano]

I'd make three suggestions...

1. Pick up BBC Music Magazine each month. The free cover discs are mostly superb and you will quickly build up a library of full works. Also worth buying Gramophone which has extracts from the month's new releases on the cover disc (and an audio section edited by our own Mr E).

2. Using the radio, as suggested above, is a great idea. The Proms season is nearly upon us and they are all broadcast on Radio 3. Some also appear on BBC 4 TV. A chance to discover some new music for free!!

3. Buy Bernard Haitink's Beethoven Symphony cycle on the LSO Live label. It will only cost you about £25 for all 9 symphonies. The performances and recordings are stunning and, as a cycle, it forms the backbone of symphonic development and will lead on to discovery of all the other great classical and romantic symphonies that influenced, and were influenced by, Beethoven.

For more 'modern' works Stravinsky is a great starting point. 'The Rite of Spring' is wonderful and very rhythmic, and anything by Benjamin Britten is worth a go.

Once the bug bites you'll never look back. There is huge swathes of incredible music out there, some well known and some of it well off the radar, and its huge fun discovering new pieces and then building up a relationship with them.

Enjoy.

 

[Anonymous]

My current fav is Khachaturians "Sparticus" And most of beethovens old joanna concertos are enjoyable.........as you can tell im a classicle music buffoon but i do listen to a little ooohh Prokofiev's romeo and juliet is good too

 

[Anonymous]

Hilary Hahn - Betthoven's violin concerto + plays Bach (stunning)

Du Pr‚ - Elgarÿ

Yo Yo Ma - Dvorak Cello Concerto

Juliet Fischer - Brahms Violin Concertoÿ

Abbado - Prokfiev's Romeo and Juliet

Orff's Carmina Burana (play loud to find out how good you system is)

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks (you'll need a break)ÿ

 

[chebby]

BBC Radio 3 and Gramophone magazine. (Nice CD full of ideas every month). Somebody already mentioned the BBC magazine.

Give Classic FM a very wide berth.

Some compilations are OK (I have the complete sleeved 8 CD set of Decca's 'Your Hundred Best Tunes' picked up from ebay in unused condition for £18 and it has some nice historic performances.)

Once you have some ideas of what you might like then dive in with full performances.

If you like simple vocal (not opera) material you may like the Tallis Scholars work or 'The Sixteen' or the 'Hilliard Ensemble'. Look for composers like Byrd, Tallis, Palestrina, Hildegaard Von Bingen.

Anything with the names... Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Mozart (or Handel or Bach) on the same CD label always does it for me.

 

[John Duncan]

FolsomBlues:violinists in short skirts

As Calvin would say "Gee, I thought classical music was boring!"

 

[Anonymous]

Carmina Burana is to classical music what Shakin Stevens is to rock n roll

 

[manicm]

FolsomBlues:

In my opinion the worse thing you can do is get a compilation album. Classical music asks things of the listener (concentration for 30 mins and upwards) that popular music doesn't. I always think its a shame when people plug for compilations that has excerpts from slow movements (adagios) divorced from their context. I think its better just to dive in there and start having a proper listen.

Give Parsifal a go. Listen to it a few times without reading the libretto just to get a feel for it.

Don't be intimidated thats the main thing and don't always go for the obvious. Beethoven's ninth, as Stravinsky points out, is very boring in parts. Talking of Stravinsky The Rites of Spring is a good starting point for 20th century classical music.

"classical music" is an 18th century phenomena but we don't need to get into that.

Varese is someone who is easy to like from the 20th century. Its not all eine kleine bl****** nachtmusik and Rach 2s.

Stay away from boring tedious gimmicks like Asian violinists in short skirts and the Classic FM brigade.

Beethoven's Ninth boring in parts?? Which parts?? You're probably the only one who disagrees that this is a staggeringly beautiful piece of work, and I'm not a big opera fan (at home) so I skip the opera at the end - regardless this is a brilliant piece of work.

The Ninth can only be dull on a dull hifi - in fact I would say it needs a slightly bright system to hear it at its best.

And if one really wants to hear it - get Karajan's sixties version (won't get into debate about his amorality etc etc).

 

[survivor]

Don`t forget to add in a dash of Wagner. It`s the rock `n` roll of the classical world!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, Think someone may have mentioned it, but Beethoven's (only) violin concerto is one of the most moving pieces of music you will ever hear. Itzack Pearlman version is particularly fine.

 

[Anonymous]

Well then, it's obvious Stravinsky is an idiot. Try all of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. Berliner Philharmonic would be a good choice. Imo, Beethoven was what the Beatles were to music fans today. Go see the soloist with Robert D Junior and Jamie Fox. Good movie. Forgot to add H von Karajan and the BPO. 70,s cd,s Karajan collection on Deutshe Grammaphone is good. It has the overtures on it too.

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:Give Classic FM a very wide berth.

Why, just because it focuses on the lighter side of classical and play Karl Jenkins? It would be a great (free) introduction to the classical world.

Also worth considering are some of the movie soundtracks, particularly Zimmer's Dark Knight, Hannibal, Da Vinci Code, Gladiator.

British is best in my opinion - Ralph Vaughan Williams, Holst, Elgar, Delius. Also Richard Strauss, Grieg, Beethoven and you can't go wrong.

It's a great feeling finding a whole new genre of music, isn't it? The mulitple sub genres within classical are a joy.

Enjoy.

 

[the record spot]

There is such a wide range of music within the confines of the "classical" moniker, it's difficult to say what you could start off with. Equally, it does no harm to listen to popular classical as an entry into what could become a deeper appreciation.

I don't mean - as others have suggested - the "pop" classic CDs (Vanessa Mae, Bond, etc.) - no offence ladies, but there are better performances of those pieces elsewhere.

I'm really thinking of pieces I started off on, you probably still hear those on Classic FM, but that doesn't devalue them one jot IMO. Pachelbel's "Canon" is a piece I heard years ago, but it's still one of the loveliest and emotional classical works I've clapped ears on.

Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary....plenty in there. I rather like a mix - the more minimalist style of John Adams alongside the epic scale of Wagner. The music of Bach, Taverner, Arvo Part, and others, all fit in somewhere along the line. It's a fun ride and a fascinating one. My wife studied music for her degree whilst her father was a music teacher for many years, so I have a pretty good resource on hand too!

 

[carter]

wow thanx guys ive had a quick scan at all the posts gonna make a coffee and have a proper read

i should be able to find somthing now.

thankyou all

 

[matthewpiano]

Interesting to see Karajan mentioned here. I'm not a fan of his Beethoven, or his conducting in general actually. His interpretations tend to be rather self indulgent, overly glossy and cloying. There are much better recordings of Beethoven's great symphonies.

If you want a modern version on modern instruments the Haitink recordings I recommended before are hard to beat on LSO Live. For a recent recording on period instruments look out for John Eliot Gardiner's superly incisive cycle on Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv.

For older recordings of Beethoven, Otto Klemperer was an absolute master conductor in this repertoire, and his recordings on EMI are well worth seeking out.

For further Beethoven, the piano sonatas are wonderful. There are 32 of them in total. Standout recordings include those of Alfred Brendel and the recent live recordings on ECM by Andras Schiff.

In the five piano concertos John Lill's recordings on Classics for Pleasure make a great budget price choice, whilst Claudio Arrau's recordings on Philips or Brendel's with Simon Rattle (also on Philips) are also superb.

Beyond Beethoven other great starting points would include:

Mozart Symphony No.40 (Solti on Decca is excellent)
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (Davis on LSO Live)
Dvorak Symphonies 6-9 (Davis on LSO Live)
Dvorak Cello Concerto (Lynn Harrell on Decca)
Chopin Ballades (Krystian Zimmerman on DG or Rubinstein on RCA)
Mozart Piano Concertos (Geza Anda on DG)
Shostakovich Symphony No.5 (Davis on LSO Live)
Mahler Symphony No.1 (Gergiev on LSO Live)
Bruckner Symphony No.4 (Gunter Wand on RCA)
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra (Fischer on Nimbus)
Debussy Prelude l'Apres Midi D'un Faune (Karajan on DG)
Holst The Planets (Barbirolli on EMI Great Recordings)
Vaughan-Williams A London Symphony (Chandos)
Milhaud - La Creation du Monde (Tortelier on Chandos)
Smetana - Ma Vlast (LSO Live recording)

Listening to these will open up a world of connections to further explorations. All wonderful music.

One further tip. Go to the website for Naxos Records. You can listen to everything in their catalogue on there. A great way to try out different composers and their works, and there is some basic information about the composers and the various historical periods of composition on there as well.

Enjoy!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not that up on classical music; just getting into it myself, but my dad is and i remember him saying that the Naxos label had/has a very good reputaion for good quality (and cheap) recordings.

Having bought Mozarts Requiem (complete with extra 'Grand Choral Classics' bonus disc) for about £6, Holst's planets and Beethoven's Misa Solemnis for about the same i have to agree that its a label to look out for.

 

[matthewpiano]

fast eddie:I'm not that up on classical music; just getting into it myself, but my dad is and i remember him saying that the Naxos label had/has a very good reputaion for good quality (and cheap) recordings.

Having bought Mozarts Requiem (complete with extra 'Grand Choral Classics' bonus disc) for about £6, Holst's planets and Beethoven's Misa Solemnis for about the same i have to agree that its a label to look out for.

Yes, Naxos is an excellent label. Some of their very early recordings were a bit dodgy in both performances and sound quality (Gunzenhauser's Dvorak Symphonies for example), but they quickly improved and have established themselves as a major player. They do some particularly interesting series as well. The English Song Series started out as reissues of a highly regarded series by the now defunct Collins Classics label, but has now been extended with several new recordings, and some of the Britten recordings (again, reissues from Collins) are amongst the finest available.

The Naxos Liszt Piano Music series, still going strong, is of far more interest than Leslie Howards dispassionate performances on Hyperion (and cheaper!), and Peter Donohoe's 'British Piano Concertos' series has unearthed some really interesting repertoire.

That recording of Holst's Planets is very good, and its nice to have Colin Matthews' additional movement, dedicated to Pluto, which hadn't been discovered at the time of Holst's original composition.

 

[Anonymous]

I can relate as I am not a classical music buff, but when I started to get into it, the selection can be overwhelming. I would start with things that are perhaps more approachable such as Joshua Bell - Romance of the Violin as Nocturne for Piano in C Sharp Minor is one of my favourite peices. Even before I dipped my toe into the huge classical music world, I always thought and still do think that Beethoven's Sonata no. 14 'Moonlight' in C# minor is the single most beatiful piece of music ever written throughout history. I have it by a few different performers, but one I particularly like I bought online from the Linn music store and they offer it in 24/96 quality which can sound stunning (Artur Pizarro). I would also start with more well know pieces like Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture or Clair de lune by Debussy. Classical music contains such a huge variety with very different sound - for instance I'm not a huge fan of music done before Beethoven, I just can't get into Mozart or Hayden. Just because music is 'classical' can mean so many things, for instance I don't know if Karl Jenkins can be really included but either way it has classical undertones to me yet is also a little clubby and I like that too so you really should narrow down where you want to begin.

 

[carter]

thats the problem i had no idea my cd collection consists of things like oasis,pulp ocean colour sceene , blur ,eminem ,plan b ,the beatles ,the who jamiroqui,lilly allen ,kema dawson ,mother earth and more recantly adel amy, whinehouse ,duffy and kt tunstal and loads of other stuff.

so i think i have a pretty varied taste but one thing i never even thought of listening to was clasical (i thought it was for old folk)(sorry)

but my mind has been opend up to be honest when listening to some the other day i really enjoyed so much it reminded me of when i was 13 and first heard the stone roses and became completly lost in it.when i was that age music seemed much more magical in a way.

any way ive got loads to go on now you guys have done me proud ive made notes that i will go armed to hmv with tomorrow(and the mags are a great idea)but any more input would be cool so guys dont let me stop you.

 

[Anonymous]

FolsomBlues:
In my opinion the worse thing you can do is get a compilation album. Classical music asks things of the listener (concentration for 30 mins and upwards) that popular music doesn't. I always think its a shame when people plug for compilations that has excerpts from slow movements (adagios) divorced from their context. I think its better just to dive in there and start having a proper listen.

Give Parsifal a go. Listen to it a few times without reading the libretto just to get a feel for it.

Don't be intimidated thats the main thing and don't always go for the obvious. Beethoven's ninth, as Stravinsky points out, is very boring in parts. Talking of Stravinsky The Rites of Spring is a good starting point for 20th century classical music.

"classical music" is an 18th century phenomena but we don't need to get into that.

Varese is someone who is easy to like from the 20th century. Its not all eine kleine bl****** nachtmusik and Rach 2s.

Stay away from boring tedious gimmicks like Asian violinists in short skirts and the Classic FM brigade.

Haven't laughed so much in a while! I agree, don't go for compilation albums. I would say that Parsifal may a bit much for a newbie! (Indeed, I tend to find opera, particularly Wagner, works much better on DVD).

I would suggest listening to some full symphonies, Beethoven would be my starting point as all of them are good works, and at least 5 of them (1,3,5,6,7) being truly great works imho. Mahler & Nielsen are two more symphonists I have a lot of time for.

Stravinsky ballets are great. Rite of Spring is fantastic, but the Firebird and Petrouchka are more approachable.

But to be honest, I'd just pick stuff up, give it a listen, and see whether it floats your boat. Your local library can be a good source of core repertoire, and you have little/no risk as it costs maybe a £1 to borrow a CD.

 

[manicm]

matthewpiano:Interesting to see Karajan mentioned here. I'm not a fan of his Beethoven, or his conducting in general actually. His interpretations tend to be rather self indulgent, overly glossy and cloying. There are much better recordings of Beethoven's great symphonies. If you want a modern version on modern instruments the Haitink recordings I recommended before are hard to beat on LSO Live. For a recent recording on period instruments look out for John Eliot Gardiner's superly incisive cycle on Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv. For older recordings of Beethoven, Otto Klemperer was an absolute master conductor in this repertoire, and his recordings on EMI are well worth seeking out. For further Beethoven, the piano sonatas are wonderful. There are 32 of them in total. Standout recordings include those of Alfred Brendel and the recent live recordings on ECM by Andras Schiff. In the five piano concertos John Lill's recordings on Classics for Pleasure make a great budget price choice, whilst Claudio Arrau's recordings on Philips or Brendel's with Simon Rattle (also on Philips) are also superb. Beyond Beethoven other great starting points would include: Mozart Symphony No.40 (Solti on Decca is excellent) Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (Davis on LSO Live) Dvorak Symphonies 6-9 (Davis on LSO Live) Dvorak Cello Concerto (Lynn Harrell on Decca) Chopin Ballades (Krystian Zimmerman on DG or Rubinstein on RCA) Mozart Piano Concertos (Geza Anda on DG) Shostakovich Symphony No.5 (Davis on LSO Live) Mahler Symphony No.1 (Gergiev on LSO Live) Bruckner Symphony No.4 (Gunter Wand on RCA) Bartok Concerto for Orchestra (Fischer on Nimbus) Debussy Prelude l'Apres Midi D'un Faune (Karajan on DG) Holst The Planets (Barbirolli on EMI Great Recordings) Vaughan-Williams A London Symphony (Chandos) Milhaud - La Creation du Monde (Tortelier on Chandos) Smetana - Ma Vlast (LSO Live recording) Listening to these will open up a world of connections to further explorations. All wonderful music. One further tip. Go to the website for Naxos Records. You can listen to everything in their catalogue on there. A great way to try out different composers and their works, and there is some basic information about the composers and the various historical periods of composition on there as well. Enjoy!

Matthew, with all due respect but isn't that a stock-standard and cliched assessment of Karajan's Beethoven works - that it's glossy, indulgent etc etc?

I agree with you 100% that Otto Klemperer's rendition of the 5th/7th is the best by far. But by ignoring Karajan's 60s DG recordings of the 3rd and 9th is doing yourself and others' a great disservice - these are absolutely, redoubtably stunning.