[HiGHFLYiN9]

A few months ago I was switching through the radio stations looking for something worth listening to and found a local classical station, which I figured I would listen to even though classical isn't really on my palate of musical interests. I found that I enjoyed what I was listening to and have gained a much greater appreciation for the genre.

About 98% of my listening is to electronic-based music, so I am seeking some classical CDs that would be potentially similar in pacing to this type of music. Unfortunately whenever I hear a song on the radio I really enjoy, the names are long and difficult to commit to memory. I was hoping that I could get some recommendations from my fellow headfiers

Thanks in advance.

 

[Masolino]

This is probably considered by some to be archaeology

.
But when I was in my tender ages there used to be albums
that were called "hooked-on classics" (classical
themes with drum beats and whatnot) and I remember
that they caused a stir. Is any still to be found nowadays?

 

[saint.panda]

A very fast and popular although somewhat overplayed piece is Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Summer's 3rd Movement (Storm). The rest of the Four Seasons is very popular, too, and you've most likely heard it somewhere already (usually played in supermarkets and malls).

For fast-paced piano in concerto, you could check out Martha Argerich with Rachmaninoff piano concerto #3 and Tchaikovsky piano concerto #1 (one CD). For solo piano, some of the Chopin Etudes are extremely fast and virtuoso. Usually you can get all the etudes on one CD.

But you absolutely have to get Beethoven symphonies 5 and 7 conducted by Kleiber (DG Classics). This is the reference recording of the famous 5th. Fast but even more intense and I don't think anybody has been disappointed by this CD yet. Get it today

 

[Masolino]

Fast-paced, fast-paced....yes, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
as performed by Musica Antiqua Koln, Reinhardt Goebel
conducting (DG-Archiv). Among the fastest tempi adopted for these
pieces ever and still amazingly precise in ensemble and
dynamics and intonation on those often difficult-to-manage
period instruments. (I know, because I own and play a
traverso myself.) Another German group called La
Stravaganza Hamburg probably has it just as fast,
(Virgin) but IMO with some rough edges here and there
and therefore not as beautiful as Goebel's renderings.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Thanks for the great posts guys, Four Seasons is incredibly overplayed, and I don't think I could bring myself to listen to it for pleasure. Tchaikovsky piano concerto #1 is very nice sounding, I'll definently have to snag that one. The Chopin Etudes are nice as well although I think I am seeking out something more than just piano. Martha Argerich with Rachmaninoff piano concerto #3 is excellent and I will persue that CD as well. Listening to that first Beethoven track on the 5&7 CD conjures up images of that miserable movie.

The Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are nice and quick, I'm running through the track listing right now on amazon. Searching for La Stravaganza Hamburg didn't net any results but I found Vivaldi: La Stravaganza which sounds very nice and seems like it's right up my alley, however some of the reviewers seem to dislike the recording quality, which is hard to tell listening to it in compressed WMA format.

 

[saint.panda]

Yeah, the Vivaldi is definately overplayed but I still like it a lot.

Perhaps you should also try some violin concerots. Heifetz usually likes to play faster than the competition one most of the pieces. A very famous on is the Mendelsson and Beethoven violin concerto on one CD. Conducted by Munch and released by Living Stereo. The Beethoven is more lyrical and the Mendelsson is faster, especially the third movement. For something slightly less mainstream, there's the Sibelius violin concerto, which Heifetz plays pretty fast but as always with a lot of intensity nonetheless. Both the 1st and 3rd movements start off with a relatively moderate pace and it's gets faster and more virtuoso later on so I don't know how representative the Amazon samples will be. Edit: I just checked the amazon real media samples for the Sibelius and for the first movement they chose the most corny part (although absolutely terrific when put into context). The third movement is more representative although still not the best these tracks have to offer. The Tchaikovsky violin concerto is also great.

Anyway, what kind of characteristics are you looking for except for the pace?

 

[tkam]

It's not exactly fast-paced but I think you'd really like Max Richter's The Blue Notebooks.

 

[thrawn86]

korsakov's capriccio espagnol, the first and last movements

 

[Febs]

Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in Gmin, 4th Movement is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title of this thread.

As a general rule, terms like "allegro" and "presto" generally refer to fast tempos.

 

[Hell_Gopher]

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, finale (if that's what it's called).

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiGHFLYiN9 The Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are nice and quick, I'm running through the track listing right now on amazon. Searching for La Stravaganza Hamburg didn't net any results but I found Vivaldi: La Stravaganza which sounds very nice and seems like it's right up my alley, however some of the reviewers seem to dislike the recording quality, which is hard to tell listening to it in compressed WMA format.

Couldn't find the other Brandenburg set? Here's a link to its page on Amazon:
Brandenburg by La Stravangaza Hamburg image of the cover:

BTW, it looks remarkably similar to the original cover of the Musica Antiqua Koln recording,
both a beautiful table stilllife from the Dutch golden century:

One can also obtain the MAK Brandenburg on the DG panorama Bach with
some other niceties thrown in: the thrilling Vivaldi-Bach concerto for
4 harpsichords, the great harpsichord concerto in d min,
2 Bach solo violin concerti performed by Trevor Pinnock et al.,
not a bad deal....

Really when the MAK Brandenburg first came out,
people were calling it punk rock Bach, a travesty of the music etc., but
it now seems to get re-released more and more, justifiably I say.

Regarding Vivaldi's la Stravaganza concerti, a recent powerhouse recording
by Rachel Podger is available on the Dutch label Channel Classics,
presumably in print in the US (2 discs for the price of 1?):

 

[grawk]

pachelbel's canon

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk pachelbel's canon

Particularly in hands of the inimitable Reinhard Goebel:

 

[Averse]

Lots of works by Philip Glass and Steve Reich go a mile a minute.

 

[pbalcer]

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee is quite fast...