3 Favorite Classical Pieces

[obscbyclouds]

Hi All,

Don't know whose a fan of classical, but I figure this is a good way to find new/good music that others like.

For Me:
Dvorak- Symphony #9 "The New World"
Mozart- Symphony #41- "Jupiter"
Bach Brandenburg Concertos

 

[Pheaton]

Hi,
Here are some of my classical favorites;

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Copland: Fanfare for a common man, Rodeo, El Salon mexico
Holst: The planests
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scherazade
Stravinsky: Firebird Suite, Rite of Spring
Tchaikovsky: Symphony #4, Capriccio italien
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Beethoven: The 9th symphony
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition
Orff: Carmina Burana

Pheaton

 

[John S]

Hello!

For me:

Mozart: Everything
Beethoven: Anything
Mahler: Symphony No. 2
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
Brahms: All 4 Symphonies
Bach: Goldberg Variations
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
Strauss: Death And Transfiguration
Debussy: La Mer

Many others....(sorry, can't limit to just three!)

 

[pzaur]

I'll add my two cents (or dollars):

Prokofiev: Scythian Suite (look for Abbado w/ Chicago)
Lt. Kije Suite (same disc)
Shostakovich: Symph 15 and all others...
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe
Brahms Symph 2 & 4
Shostakovich Jazz Suites
Stravinsky anything
Beethoven 7
Dvorak 7
Mahler any symphony
Barber Adagio for Strings
Dopper Symphonies
Zemlinsky Symphonies
Copland
Gershwin Porgy and Bess Suite
Respighi Church Windows
Michael Brecker
Dave Brubeck ... wait a minute those last two aren't classical...

All the links are pretty much to the album I like (and own) the best for each of the listed pieces.

Great place to pickup overrun classical albums:
Berkshire Record Outlet: http://www.broinc.com/
Many of these are probably available on SACD, also.
I'd check out http://www.sa-cd.net/

If you like brassy orchestral recordings - look for Abbado, Levine, or Solti w/Chicago

-pat

 

[Pat D]

Ah, another "X" number of favorite classical music pieces question. There are so many to choose from and I always have to ask whether it's favorites now, or favorites in the past number months or years. Trying to choose gives me existential angst! But lately I think these have gotten a little more play than a lot of others:

Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 4, 6, 8, and 9.

Beethoven Violin Concerto.

Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Ravel)--Pictures at an Exhibition

But here's some more:

Bach, 6 Brandenburg Concertos, Magnificat, various Cantatas, 4 Orchestral Suites, and for organ, 4 Great Toccatas and Fugues, Passacaglia, Schuebler Chorales.

Haydn--Paris and London Symphonies, also Nos. 22, 24, and 77, String Quartets

Handel--Messiah, Water Music, Fireworks Music

Kraus-Symphonies

Vanhal--Symphonies

Mozart--Symphonies 35 and 41, 6 Quartets dedicated to Haydn, Piano Concertos Nos. 17 and 21, Clarinet Concerto, Clarinet Quintet, Requiem, Overtures

Beethoven--9 Symphonies, String Quartets, Violin Concerto, Piano Concertos, Piano Sonatas, Overtures

Schubert--Symphonies 8 and 9, numerous songs, Trout Quintet, Late String Quartets

Rossini--Overtures

Berlioz--Harold in Italy, Overtures

Mendelssohn--Symphony No. 3, Hebrides Overture

Chopin--Etudes, Nocturnes, Waltzes, Ballades, Sonata No. 2, etc.

Schumann--4 Symphonies, Piano Concerto, Kinderscenen

Berwald--Symphonies 3 and 4, Septet

Grieg--Peer Gynt Suites, Piano Concerto

Von Suppe--Overtures

Tchaikowski--Nutcracker, Symphony No. 5, Mozartiana

Brahms--4 Symphonies, Violin Concerto, 2 Piano Concertos, Clarinet Quintet, 3 Quartets, Serenade No. 1, German Requiem

Dvorak--Cello Concerto, Symphony No. 9, late quartets

Wagner--Ring Cycle, Overtures, Siegfried Idyll

Verdi--Rigoletto, Il Trovatore

Puccini--La Boheme, Tosca

Leoncavallo--Pagliacci

Mascagni--Cavalleria Rusticana

Bruckner--Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7

Mahler--Das Lied von der Erde, Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4

Rachmaninoff--Symphony No. 2, Piano Concerto No. 3, Isle of the Dead

Sibelius--7 Symphonies, 4 Lemminkainen Suites, Karelia Suite, Violin Concerto

Debussy--La Mer, String Quartet

Ravel--Rapsodie Espagnole, String Quartet

Prokofiev--Symphony No. 1 ("Classical Symphony"), Romeo and Juliet, Alexander Nevsky cantata, Peter and the Wolf

Vaughan Williams--Tallis Fantasia

Stravinsky--Firebird Suite

Copland--Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid

Grofe--Grand Canyon Suite

Taylor--Through the Looking Glass

Mayuzumi--Samsara tone poem

Hovhanhess--Symphonies Nos. 2 ("Mysterious Mountain") and 50 ("Mt. St. Helen's")

Takemitsu--At the Edge of a Dream

 

[mfabien]

La Traviatta with beautiful and talented Anna Netrebko:

http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Traviata-Anna-Netrebko/dp/B000F3TAOE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_7/103-5965194-6580628?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1184405619&sr=8-7

And then, if you have an HD DVD player, you can hear Bach in an instrumental rendition with beautiful flower pictures changing every 10 seconds to complete your enjoyment:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_d/103-5965194-6580628?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=Uncommon+Bach+-+Music+Experience+in+3-Dimensional+Sound+Reality+TM+%5BHD+DVD+DTSHD+Surround+Music+Disc%5D&Go.x=4&Go.y=6

 

[fmw]

Mozart - Ein Kleine Nachtmusik
Mozart - Most of the piano concerti
Beethoven - Most of the piano concerti and sonatas

I also like most of the chamber music from the classical era - Haydn, Mozart etc. My favorite live performance was Oscar Peterson playing some Bach fugues and variations during a break at a jazz club in Chicago in 1966. As a youngster, I had a chance to listen to Arturo Rubinstein play Chopin in Portland, Oregon in 1955. I was only 11 years old but I was so impressed it motivated me to begin taking piano lessons. He was one of the great Chopin performers of all time. I wish I could have heard Chopin himself play but, luckily, I'm not that old. Another great live performance was hearing the Chicago Symphony perform Beethoven's Ninth symphony in the late '70's. I forgot the year. Now that was powerful surround sound. Yes, I have over 1000 classical recordings as well. Glad to see there are others that appreciate the old stuff.

 

[no. 5]

Whereas I can recognize a good number of classical pieces, I fail in my ability to name said pieces; but very very few compositions by Beethoven or Mozart have dissatisfied me, if I wanted to name what I could call favorite.

 

[davidtwotrees]

I am jealous of you classical buffs! The sacd library is growing all the time, and I think classical in general has better recordings geared towards audiophiles.
I see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra a couple times each year, and love it!
I try to go on nights when there is a lecture beforehand. The last such being on Shostakovich. Fascinating how his music was influenced by the Russian political scene at the time. I think they played the 5th by shost. and then the 11th. Stunning, and what a contrast there was!!!!!!

 

[John S]

Kraus....
Vanhal...
Berwald...
Dopper...
Zemlinsky...

I've got some homework to do.....

 

[malvado78]

Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos 1,2,3

 

[jostenmeat]

Top three favorite composers:

1. Bach
2. Bach
3. Bach

hehe. I enjoy all of the works for keyboard, perhaps the Welltempered Klavier the most. Perhaps c# minor and b minor from book 1, and f# minor from book 2. ok, I also like a minor from book 1.

A Musical Offering. The Art of Fugue.

I am not crazy about Mozart, except perhaps for his late symphonies. I am not crazy about Beethoven, though I love his 7th symphony. I've been trying to get into his chamber works, but... give me some more time... I need more Haydn.

I love Shostakovich. The piano quintet as played by Richter and the Borodin Quartet is phenomenal. I really enjoyed his 5th symphony played by NY and Bernstein live in Tokyo that I probably lost last millenium. Anyways, I remember the Lento as the saddest piece of art ever, imo, outside of maybe Long Day's Journey into Night written by Eugene O'Neill. I just mention Dmitri cuz he's getting a lot of mention here. Davidtwotrees, you should hear his 9th. I believe Stalin basically made him dedicate it to him, and the opening sounds like circus music. I wonder how he was spared the firing squad. Maybe because Stalin was tone deaf. Who knows...

Oh. You guys should check out Josquin and Ockeghem for unreal choral music. Get a bit funkier, try Gesualdo. Want to make 2001: A Space Oddyssey sound like a Disney movie? Try Gorli. Btw, it REALLY DOES matter who is performing. When I am in doubt, I buy Tallis Scholars.

Anyways, cheers!

 

[dorokusai]

I've never been a big Classical lover but I respect the genre and dynamic range. The demo's I've usually had on Classical have been for "demo purposes" and the aftermarket conductor with the remote control was in that mode as well.

Ken Swauger, THE Polk CS GURU, is a hardcore vinyl and R2R enthusiast, and he's run some Classical tape(Vintage Stellavox R2R) at my house on my old Magnepans. It's was eye opening to say the least. I've never heard tape sound that good and its been an internal benchmark for me since then.

I'd love to get a solid sit down for some listening and perhaps with a bonus of education in the actual media someday. Great thread.

Mark
Polk Audio CS

 

[Starmax]

My favorite classical pieces include

all the usual suspects with the addition of Brahm's numbered symphonies, and is it just me or does Anton Dvorak's "New World Symphony" kick eardrum?

 

[cfrizz]

1812 Overture
William Tell Overture
Pachabel Canon in D
Bach's Fugue in G Major (for organ) Youtube Virgil Fox & look up this piece!

 

[audiofox]

I am jealous of you classical buffs! The sacd library is growing all the time, and I think classical in general has better recordings geared towards audiophiles.
I see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra a couple times each year, and love it!
I try to go on nights when there is a lecture beforehand. The last such being on Shostakovich. Fascinating how his music was influenced by the Russian political scene at the time. I think they played the 5th by shost. and then the 11th. Stunning, and what a contrast there was!!!!!!

I am not familiar with the current orchestra, but Fritz Reiner's tenure at the CSO produced some of the best classical recordings ever made, IMHO.

 

[obscbyclouds]

all the usual suspects with the addition of Brahm's numbered symphonies, and is it just me or does Anton Dvorak's "New World Symphony" kick eardrum?

It sure does, definately one of my favorites!

 

[Starmax]

Rock & Classical

It sure does, definately one of my favorites!

I had a music major for a roomate in college, and he turned me on to classical music. Even though I was a long-haired, dope smoking hippie, I could enjoy Bartok one night and Jerry Garcia the next. For some reason, "New World Symphony" was always my favorite piece of music. I could listen to it over and over again with getting sick of it.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I played in the orchestra (viola) from 5th grade until I graduated high school. This experience was intended to instill a life-long interest in classical music. Instead, it backfired. I have had no desire to listen to classical music since then (I like it in movie soundtracks, but that is all.)

 

[Starmax]

I played in the orchestra (viola) from 5th grade until I graduated high school. This experience was intended to instill a life-long interest in classical music. Instead, it backfired. I have had no desire to listen to classical music since then (I like it in movie soundtracks, but that is all.)

I've found that classical music can reach both extremes...the deadly dull and dorky extreme and the leave you gasping for breath extreme. I believe there's a LOT of really dated, "stuck in its time period" classical music out there that is hard if not impossible to relate to (this applies to every other genre of music too). That's what kills most people's interest in it...you have to know what to listen to, and that's why having a roomate who knew enough to turn me on to the good stuff was such a gift. I'm not exaggerating when I say that certain Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven pieces can rattle my cage every bit as thoroughly as Pink Floyd or Steely Dan can. I've been playing it for my 14 year old son, and even though he's into typical early teen music like emo, etc., he'll stop voluntarily and listen quietly to what I'm playing. He's not being polite. He GETS it!