[Bolt San]

I want to get more into classical, all I have is like, the four seasons.
Thanks in advance.

 

[mxs1030]

Not to derail the thread, but I have a similar question(s)

I'm looking for something that sounds similar to "Princess Mononoke: Symphonic Suite" and I'll probably branch off from there. I don't have many CDs in the classic category but I have a growing urge to listen to more.

I'm also looking for piano albums ( doesn't have to be solo piano ) similar to "Ryuichi Sakamoto - BTTB" / Joe Hisaishi-ish. I've listened to Erik Satie, but after a couple tracks it just bores me to tears.

edit: Gonna look into FF piano series, but ouch! imports are expensive.

 

[hciman77]

Bach:
Brandenburg Concertos

Beethoven:
Piano Concerto No 5 (Alfred Brendel/James Levine/Chicago Symhony Orch)
Symphonies 3,5,7,9 (billions of choices)
(unlike Start Trek movies its the odd numbers that are better

)

Dvorak
Symphony No 9
Slavonic Dances

Schubert:
String Quintet
Naxos
Villa Musica Ensemble


Mozart:
Piano Concerto No 21

Its all pretty approachable stuff. Of the above the most interesting (IMHO) is the Schubert

Good luck and welcome to a wonderful world

 

[some1x]

If you like the 4 seasons a lot, then try some more baroque. Along those lines, I recommend Bach Brandenburg Concertos.

Also, try Beethoven's String Quartets, they really grow on you the more you listen to them.
(I never post any recommendation without a plug for Beethoven!)

 

[KR...]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bolt San I want to get more into classical, all I have is like, the four seasons. Thanks in advance.

why not try more from Antonio Vivaldi?

http://www.classical-composers.org/c...i?comp=vivaldi

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KR... why not try more from Antonio Vivaldi? http://www.classical-composers.org/c...i?comp=vivaldi

I bought (or rather my Wife bought for me for christmas) the Brilliant Classics 40CD set of Vivaldi Masterworks which I am slowly working my way through. I believe it was about $50 plus shipping. I have a Bach and Mozart set as well.

If you are patient you should be able to get this set for about $60 on eBay - these are imports and the Dollar is weak against the Euro so they are a bit pricier right now. My Bach was $73 shipped from Holland($22 shipping - slow) and my Mozart was $78 shipped from Holland($29 shipping - faster).

The recording quality is sometimes a bit patchy (my Bach Brandenburgs are very low volume) and the pressings are similarly hit or miss (my Mozart requiem has several small blips) but they frequently relicense good performances with decent setups and they are pretty good value overall - and no, I dont work for them

Of course it is a lot of money to shell out at once and more to the point a lot of Vivaldi..........

Probably not such a good idea after all

Putting this in context the Da Capo catalogue of "Classical" music runs to 1300+ pages of small print (and it only covers 132 composers) at I guess about 40 entries per page, so unless you are very young and very wealthy you might want to be a bit selective.

 

[Bolt San]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mxs1030 Not to derail the thread, but I have a similar question(s) I'm looking for something that sounds similar to "Princess Mononoke: Symphonic Suite" and I'll probably branch off from there. I don't have many CDs in the classic category but I have a growing urge to listen to more. I'm also looking for piano albums ( doesn't have to be solo piano ) similar to "Ryuichi Sakamoto - BTTB" / Joe Hisaishi-ish. I've listened to Erik Satie, but after a couple tracks it just bores me to tears. edit: Gonna look into FF piano series, but ouch! imports are expensive.

Have you heard the Spirited Away soundtrack?
I like it a lot more than the Princess Mononoke one, it's bloody amazing.

 

[Figo]

I have a pretty large classical collection, and the most important thing is to not get sucked into cheap prices - research what to buy first. Inferior recordings/performances will make classical unlistenable. Good labels to start with: Deutch Grammophon, Sony(used to be Columbia), RCA Victor, Telarc. Most of the offerings of these labels will be good to very good recordings and solid to fantastic performances.

generally, for a beginner I would recommend trying out performances from the bernstein century collection on sony. great recordings, great performances: fairly cheap at $12 each or so.


I just ordered
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...892008-3255146


should be pretty good

 

[rsaavedra]

Speaking of Vivaldi, there is a recently release CD called "Stravaganza" which I believe received some high awards, maybe Gramophone?. This CD got the highest rankings, sort of a 10 out of 10, both music and recording wise in a very recent, if not lattest HiFi+ magazine issue.

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bolt San Have you heard the Spirited Away soundtrack?

I have that one, it is great indeed. I want to get the Princess Mononoke one though, it's supposed to be great as well.

Another one to look out for in the anime soundtrack genre: Ghost in the shell.

 

[KR...]

Some nice recommendations :

RR-2101 HDCD -- BAROQUE FAVORITES
Disk One
TAFELMUSIK Baroque Orchestra Jean Lamon, Music Director
HANDEL: Entrance of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon; PACHELBEL: Canon and Gigue; HANDEL: Selections from Water Music, Suite No. 1; BACH: Air from Suite No. 3 in D; PURCELL: Incidental music to Ablelazar, or The Moor’s Revenge; VIVALDI: Concerto op. 10 #2, La Notte; TELEMANN: Suite from Tafelmusik, Book III (TT 47:19)
Disk Two
THE HELICON ENSEMBLE Albert Fuller, Music Director
VIVALDI: Sinfonia in C, RV 116; Trio Sonata in G minor; Concerto in E-flat, RV 515 for two violins
BACH: Prelude in C, WTC Book 1; Trio Sonata in C, BWV 1037; Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043 for two violins (TT 56:47)(Originally RR-13 and RR-23, re-released 2001)

Two audiophile CDs for the price of one and right up your alley.

 

[earful]

i'm not a fan of vivaldi or yo-yo ma (though i keep buying his recordings trying to figure out why he is so highly praised), but i do have to recommend "vivaldi's cello". i find myself listening to it more often than i would have expected.

 

[mxs1030]

Already got Spirited Away OST, amazing soundtrack by the man himself, Joe Hisaishi. Princess Mononoke is one of Joe Hisaishi's best works, and if you liked the original OST the Symphonic Suite will blow you away."

edit: not to mention that princess mononoke ost is a HDCD!!

 

[TonyTripleA]

I recommend the edit: Encore (not Legends) series from EMI. A lot depends on your tastes but they had a sampler album that was so good I went to buy one only to be told it was not a commercial release. But in this series I recommend the Debussy. Earlier this year they gave them away when you bought an album.

Also recommend: Legends - Prokofiev: Violin Conertos - Suites Ricci - Suisse Romande - Ansermet.

TonyAAA

 

[saint.panda]

Just to add a few recommendations:

Beethoven Symphony #6 (very good although it's an even number

, especially the 5th movement)

Chopin Piano Ballade #1 (one of the most amazing piano pieces ever)

Chopin Piano Etudes (you can get them all on one cd, I recommend Rubinstein)

Bach st. matthew's passion (deep)

Dvorak Symphony #8 (in my opinion not as good as #9 but still very high-class)

There's a lot more but I can't think of anything else out of the top of my head