[fredpb]

Quote:

Originally posted by ArChaos One of the most beautiful pieces for violin, performed as encores by many violinists - just to name a few: Elman, Heifetz, Perlman, Mullova... and Stern-which I like best - SARASATE-TZIGEUNERWEISEN

One fabulous performance by MULLOVA is Paganinni Violin Concerto #1 on the Philips label. Not available in USA anymore. Had to get mine special order from AMAZON.COM.UK

 

[stuartr]

I have to agree on Britten's cello suites...of course Bach's as well, to call them cliche is blasphemy, but they are more common...
Rachmaninov's Vespers...also fabulous. I recommend the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir edition...I have heard three different recordings, and I speak Russian (and a wee bit of church slavonic), so I can tell when the non-Russian choirs have weird intonation, which bugs me, so I too recommend a russian version. The basses tend to be deeper too...If you really like the vespers, then by all means try Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and even better: Bach's B-minor mass and St. John's Passion.

Otherwise, I recommend Zoltan Kodaly's sonata for cello solo played by Janos Starker...get the cd with the duo for cello and violin on it as well...it is Delos, and it is phenomenal.

For more laid back stuff, try buying a collection of Andreas Segovia's guitar work. His Bach collection and his Baroque collection (separate parts of his collected works) are fantastic.
Try also Dvorak's Dumky Trio, Milhaud's string quartets, Arvo Part and of course, the man, the myth, my avatar -- Shostakovich. I am one for his preludes and fugues, string quartets and string concertos.....but that's just me.
So much to recommend!
Please enjoy...

 

[DarkAngel]

Lets see, little known classical pieces worth exploring.

Let me mention Haydn was very prolific and has over 100 symphonies, the later Paris and London sets are often played but the previous 80 are well worth getting. Dorati/London had all symphonies recorded and worth searching for, many other conductors have various early symphonies recorded. Especially worth getting the 40-60 period (sturm and drang)

Also Mozart has 40 symphonies and we are familiar with 35-40 but the earlier ones are also well worth getting, many choices here for conductors. Especially worth getting 20-32. Same holds true of his many early piano concertos 9-19

The Strauss brothers were extremely prolific waltz kings and they have hundreds of works besides the famous waltzes we all know, and I get as many of these as possible, Bokovsky/London
has a nice 4 CD set to give you a taste of whats out there.

While in Vienna I also like the incidential operetta music and overtures buy composers like Suppe, Offenbach, Strauss etc Lots of good stuff here not often heard.

Also Jarvi/Chandos has a very good 2CD set of Shostakovich ballet music, which is a surprise to many people.

 

[redshifter]

another good jarvi/chandos is the prokofiev 4th symphony. it is the classical equivalent of a volcano erupting. it also has some great waltzes at the end.

 

[recephasan]

Mozart:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...lance&n=507846

also:
Mozart: Divertimento, K334 (2nd movement)
Requiem (duh!)

Brahms Piano Concerto 1

Beethoven Piano Sonatas (8, 14, 15)

 

[fredpb]

Some other good stuff, orchestral works...

Tchaikovsky...
Romeo and Juliet
Francesca da Rimini

R. Strauss.....
Salome
Don Juan
Til Eulenspiegal

Balakirev...
Islamy-Oriental Fantasy

Griffes.....
The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan

Powerful chamber works....

Schubert.....
Trout Quintet
Rosamunde Quartet
Death and the Maiden Quartet

Brahms....
Piano Quintet

Mozart.....
Clarinet Quartets

 

[shivohum]

Try the recording of Vivaldi Arias by Cecilia Bartoli. She is an extremely enthusiastic and charming singer, and really brings out the verve of these short standalone pieces.

 

[ronin74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pr0crastin8r /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not that any classical music is truly cliche... but you know, some pieces are just heard too often, on television, the radio, etc. I'm talking about Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and anything else really that sounds uncomfortably familiar. Once in awhile one is bound to stumble upon a classical treasure--something that sounds intriguingly depthful, sonically pleasing, and makes you want to come back for more WITHOUT laying eggs in your brain that take drastic measures (bad rock and roll) to remove. I guess what I'm looking for is something not very happy, but kind of medieval or sweet or enchanting that will stand out from the other classical music that I'm so used to hearing. Any ideas?

Some good music has already been listed but there's still more, like 300 years worth.

How about:
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for String Orchestra in C major
Edvard Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites
J.S. Bach : Cello Suites

Anyone else care to dust this one off?

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

- Tchaikovsky 6th symphony (Mravinsky conducting is awesome)
- Mendelssohn violin concerto
- Brahms Fourth Symphony (conducted by Barbirolli... )
- Mahler 2nd and 3rd Symphonies
- Elgar cello concerto.
- Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition the piano solo version. Night at the Bold Mountain.
- Shostakovich string quartets.
- Kalinnikov 1st symphony
- R. Strauss - Tone Poems (Zarathoustra, Don Juan, A hero's life...)
- Joaquín Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez
- Rachmaninov - Piano concertos
- Walton - Cello concerto

Some of those have appeared in part as movies soundtrack (like Zarathoustra), but the beauty is in the whole piece, not just the "known" part.

Rgrds

 

[bassoprofundo]

Man... I love vocal Classical music and could go on forever here, but here are a few of my favorites (besides the Rachmaninoff Vespers as someone beat me to it

) that would align with what you're requesting ("something not very happy, but kind of medieval or sweet or enchanting that will stand out from the other classical music that I'm so used to hearing").

Durufle Requiem- Link

Tallis: Spem in Alium- Link

Allegri Miserere- Link

Those should get you a nice start along with all of the other great music mentioned here, but for good measure, I'll throw in a few more recordings I'm currently investigating/enjoying:

Canticum Chorum (Les Voix Baroque)- Link

Oh Flanders Free: Music of the Flemish Renaissance- Link

Praetorius Magnificat- Link

Enjoy...

 

[DavidMahler]

Mahler's 9th Symphony
Liszt's Piano Sonata
Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 2

 

[Punnisher]

Rachmaninov, Piano concertos 1,2,3,4
Ravel, daphnis and chloe
Mahler symphony no 2, 3, 4

 

[Aimless1]

Lesser known, hmmm, how about:

Moldau Bartered Bride, Slavonic Dances
Aaron Copland American Images
Samuel Barber The Music of Samuel Barber

Ditto on Holst/the planets and Mussorgorsky/pictures at an exhibition.

 

[aaron313]

And nobody is going to mention that this thread was resurrected after 5.5 years!!?

 

[Punnisher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron313 /img/forum/go_quote.gif And nobody is going to mention that this thread was resurrected after 5.5 years!!?

Oh wow, thats one hell of a resurrection.

That's ok, classical music is timeless.