[Digitalbath3737]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSmith08 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Shock and horror. Seriously, though, you wouldn't be the first person not to like Mahler. I, however, rank him with Beethoven and Mozart, right beneath Bach and Wagner. The 6th is a difficult piece, though. You might try the 2nd or 4th and then work your way around back to it. Don't give up on Gustav! Even devotees of Mahler have a symphony or song-cycle that doesn't come easily. For me, it's his 8th, but it differs. Wait a while and then come back. The 2nd isn't dark - though it has its moments - but it is glorious.

I'm going to give the 4th a try. I just picked it up tonight. I'll try listening to it when I'm in a lighter mood. I think saying he was boring was wrong on my part. I should have said he collided with my mood. The music sounded good. Although I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.

In other news I found GORECKI Symphony No 3 amazing and glorious. I picked up the 2nd and I can't wait to listen to it! Tonight I'll be listening to Bartok so Goreki will have to wait. I listened to Rostropovich's Bach cello suites last night. I wasn't a fan of the beginning but by the end I was into it. I'll have to revisit that album again, I have a felling it's one of those albums I'll have to get to know better then I'll love it. Oh and I picked up SCHUBERT string quartets as well!

 

[Zarathustra19]

I'll also recommend Chopin, maybe some Haydn. Although for the darker side of things, I'd go with Mozart's Requiem. Its amazing. Its a mix of a bunch of different instruments, but features a nice string section. Its got vocals as well...Its kind of hard to describe since I'm used to referring to metal recordings.

 

[Tyson]

Check the link in my sig, lots and lots of stuff, nicely ordered and linked.

 

[analogbox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digitalbath3737 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I listened to Rostropovich's Bach cello suites last night. I wasn't a fan of the beginning but by the end I was into it. I'll have to revisit that album again, I have a felling it's one of those albums I'll have to get to know better then I'll love it.

It might be that you not feeling the Rostropovich's interpretation to your taste. Try other's interpretations such as Ma, Casal, Fournier, Starker or Isserlis. You don't have to get all of them. Just try them on amazon or itunes. You might find your favorite. My fav is the 2nd suite but to me it feels more emotional when I listen to casal's and starker's.

 

[PSmith08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digitalbath3737 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm going to give the 4th a try. I just picked it up tonight. I'll try listening to it when I'm in a lighter mood. I think saying he was boring was wrong on my part. I should have said he collided with my mood. The music sounded good. Although I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.

You don't have to equivocate. If you don't like Mahler, that's fine. You wouldn't be the first person not to care for Gustav Mahler's symphonies. They can be a bit much if you're not used to them. You also have to remember that Mahler was known as a great conductor in his life, and his music didn't re-achieve popularity until the 1950s and 1960s. Mahler, too, was an older contemporary of fellows like Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer, if that throws some context into the mess.

The M4 is a good starting place, as it is less heavy than the M2, M3, or M5. It is still very Mahler, if his attack on Classical poise and balance. A good one, perhaps my favorite, is Klaus Tennstedt's 1976 SWR Baden-Baden und Freiburg performance on Profil. Tennstedt had a way with Mahler that wasn't immediately to my liking, but - ultimately - is very nice.

 

[eyeresist]

Dark, with strings:

*Beethoven symphonies (classic, exciting),
*Brahms symphonies (serious),
*Bruckner symphonies (monumental),
*Dvorak symphonies (tuneful, accessible),
*Prokofiev symphonies (since you said you enjoyed Shostakovich - offbeat, sometimes beautiful, sometimes harsh),
*Rachmaninov symphonies & piano concertos (Russian romantic),
*Sibelius symphonies (evokes wild Scandinavian landscape),
*Tchaikovsky symphonies (Russian romantic - more intense than his concertos or ballet music),
*Cello concertos by Dvorak and Elgar (beautiful, tragic),
*Elgar 'Enigma Variations' (noble),


Can you tell I like symphonies?

 

[LarryK2]

be sure to listen to Fritz Reiner's recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" http://store.acousticsounds.com/brow...Title_ID=11047 for some of the most amazing orchestral playing and recorded orchestral sound ever produced. Beautiful solo playing by the concertmaster, and all the principal players. This may not be available on CD, but there are many good performances which are.