This sort of arose out of a discussion in the Mahler thread, and I am recapitulating my opinion here, lest the Mahler thread turn into a "postmodern composer" thread: The overall "program" of Boulez, as such, is a historical narrative outlining the disintegration of tone. Because of this...

I am becoming a bit of a fan of Tchaikovsky's 2nd Symphony (The "Little Russian"). I heard the last movement of it one night on public radio, and went out and bought the recently reissued Giulini/Philharmonia EMI set (2nd, 6th, Romeo and Juliet, and some tone poem). This symphony is probably...

It's time. So, let's have it: what are some of your favorite Wagner operas or recordings of operas? Let's keep this concentrated on the operas, conductors, casts, and recordings. We don't necessarily need to get into a discussion of Wagner's personal politics, his history in politics, or...

This idea came up in the Mahler thread, and since I couldn't find anything similar in the archives, I thought I'd post it. If you could conduct any symphony out there, all other things being equal, which one would you conduct? I would probably go with Bruckner's 8th. Quite possibly in...