[Luminette]

i think, more importantly than specific suggestions, you need to know what to look for, have an idea as to why it's so special, so respected and loved

there's more there than just the readily evident

(composition snobbery/appreciation)

 

[Bigjppop]

Picking up on a similar theme, I'd like to try out some classical music as well but I'd like some specific recommendations on some great recordings/performances to look for. Also if you've got some specific online sites that offer some nice classical recordings that would be much appreciated.

 

[elliot42]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yashicaman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Saint-Seans would be a great start. Try the Symphony in C (for Organ and orchestra). It's a fun listen on headphones.

And it's even more fun to perform, especially with the big f-off organ in Sydney OH

 

[jsaliga]

I think you begin with an inexpensive vinyl setup, and after you get that you hit the Goodwill/Salvation Army Thrift Stores, and local yard sales or flea markets. You should be looking to buy about 50 to 100 LPs by the box for a per-record cost of $1 or less.

CDs are great and I have a lot of classical music on CD, but you can build a very large classical music library on vinyl for a tiny fraction of what it would cost you on CD...

Just a few days ago I bought 210 classical music LPs for $140 (about 67 cents per record). When you can buy that much music for so little money, suggestions of specific composers become less important because with that many records you will have a chance to sample just about every important composer worth noting. The last box of 140 LPs I went through (cost me a whopping $30) had the following: Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Mozart, Hadyn, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Bruckner, Dvorak, etc, etc., from symphonies to chamber music to works for solo piano. You can get an astounding quantity of great music on vinyl for pocket change. And at those prices if you have a bad record or two it won't be a big deal if you have to throw a few in the trash.

--Jerome

 

[MeanWillieGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grayfoot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey Ashy – I only know a few of those groups Tool, Radiohead and of course the Beatles. Maybe someone else is familiar with both classical and the groups that you are listening to now. Based on those groups that I know, several of the suggestions above might appeal: Stravinsky (Rite of Spring), Aaron Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man, and Holst's The Planets.

Ashy,

This is exactly where I was going to go - your musical tastes are more complex, and not necessarily pedestrian or "sweet." As for myself, I majored in music in college for a couple of years, so I have been exposed to a lot of various eras. I think some of what was listed, although great pieces of music, will bore you. You are looking for excitement.

I wholeheartedly agree with The Rite of Spring and The Planets - two pieces I was going to recommend based on your musical tastes. also from Stravinsky, The Firebird. Carl Orff's Carmina Burana - you will recognize a lot of that from popular uses, but it is a heavy piece of music. Barber's Adagio for Strings brings me to tears - almost every time I hear it played. Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov (A Night on Bald Mountain especially) write complex and heavy pieces of music, and I believe you might like them.

I was initially going to recommend the generalist route - Beethoven, Bach, Mozart - as a jumping off point, and that still might be a good way to go. however, I feel with what you mentioned you liked, that you may become bored with some of the "pedestrian" pieces that everyone parades out. That is not to say that I believe Beethoven Symphonies are not awesome, Bach organ works suck, or Mozart is boring - far from it. However, if you have reached the fringes of "popular" music, I believe the pop classical stuff might bore you.

Start off with The Planets and venture into Stravinsky and see if you like the water; if you sign up for emusic, you can download 25 pieces for free, and the have all kinds of genres - "classical" included. Whaddya got to lose with free music?

 

[grayfoot]

Ashy,

"Barber's Adagio for Strings brings me to tears - almost every time I hear it played. "

Hey MeanWillie - That's pretty sneaky - slipping in Barber between Orff and Mussorgsky. Really the music here is a great change of pace. It's like a acoustic guitar song in the middle of a Black Sabbath set. Anyone who isn't moved by the Adagio is dead.

 

[Bigjppop]

No suggestions for some specific, steller performances/recordings?

 

[nghows]

Music, performance or recording??? which is your priority???? Difficult to recommend if we don't know what type of music you're going to like......

Your OP sounded like you wanted to know more about classical music in general hence the advice given so far....

If you just want a couple of cds which are good in all respects regardless of whether you're going to "like" the music or not..... just say so and watch the flood gates open!!! LOL

Haydn string quartets on NAXOS by kodaly quartet... good stuff, whether it's up your street or not.... cheap to boot! believe you can even buy/download it from the NAXOS website.....

 

[nd4speed]

Don't miss out on opera:
Puccini
Verdi
Rossini
Leoncavallo

You could also just follow the sopranos:
Maria Callas
Joan Sutherland
Leontyne Price
Kiri Te Kanawa