Classical music

I listen to Scala Radio when I WFH, which is usually once/twice a week but obviously all the time at the moment.

I find it gives me the constant background noise I crave without getting distracted as I do with other music. Definitely increases my productivity
 
Rather partial to a bit of opera myself - absolute favourite is La Traviata. I know it's regarded as lightweight but I dont care. Also love Wagner's Ring Cycle which I first saw when the BBC showed it over several Saturdays (about 35 years ago?) Syymphonies it's Beethoven's 7th but for a real cracker from the modern age (1976) try Gorecki's 3rd (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) - inspired by a Polish girl's poem inscribed on her prison cell wall in 1944.. It starts slow, but get to the end without a tear in your eye and you ain't human.

 
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backwoodsman said:
Rather partial to a bit of opera myself - absolute favourite is La Traviata. I know it's regarded as lightweight but I dont care. Also love Wagner's Ring Cycle which I first saw when the BBC showed it over several Saturdays (about 35 years ago?) Syymphonies it's Beethoven's 7th but for a real cracker from the modern age (1976) try Gorecki's 3rd (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) - inspired by a Polish girl's poem inscribed on her prison cell wall in 1944.. It starts slow, but get to the end without a tear in your eye and you ain't human.

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3 out of 4 aint bad :) Love Traviata, Beethoven 7 and Gorecki's 3rd but can't get my head round Wagner.

Good thing we're all different !
 
IanG said:
3 out of 4 aint bad :) Love Traviata, Beethoven 7 and Gorecki's 3rd but can't get my head round Wagner.

Good thing we're all different !
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Different 3 for me. Beethoven's 7th, Gorecki's 3rd, which I actually have on now, and Wagner.
 
I love classical music , always have done since 14 yrs old.
Then I met a colleague with same likes and we set off on th hi fi trail.
'Twas expensive, but oh my, what a ride it's been.
There are still new discoveries, but every time I hear Mahler 2 or 8, I have to say I feel sorry for those who go through life without experiencing those two symphonies. .?
 
I've gone to Boston's Symphony Hall several times,
listened to the BSO with my wife and our friends,
not have a goddamned clue what I was listening to,
and still enjoyed myself immensely.

Lots of hot Asian chicks in the strings, and I try hard to discern how the C trumpets sound different than the Bb trumpets played in jump blues.
I can see that they're C trumpets because they have just a little less plumbing to them.
They just sound like trumpets to me--maybe slightly bright cornets--but I always have a good time anyway.

If I got the BBC Proms, I'd probably enjoy listening to them as well.
What are the BBC Proms, by the way?
I remember reading about them when they reviewed FM tuners in the old hi fi magazines back in the day.
I used to love those. Kids are content to stream music on their phones, now.
 
Well, Nessun Dorma by Pavarotti, courtesy of Italia 90, is a personal, if a little cliched, favourite.

Not sure if this is strictly classical but it is spellbinding:

 
IanG said:
3 out of 4 aint bad :) Love Traviata, Beethoven 7 and Gorecki's 3rd but can't get my head round Wagner.

Good thing we're all different !
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Persist dear boy. Persist! (Ok, his politics were somewhat suspect but the music!)

I think I'm a bit unusual in that The Ring Cycle was the first ever opera I'd seen or heard - but just fell in love with it straight away.
 
So much but 2 faves come to mind -

Bach cello suite thingy up to 2:45, simple stripped down but stunning -

Offenbachs Tales of Hoffman bacarolle thingy, you just cant beat a great melody!
 
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I don't know if this is true but when has that mattered in the internet. Apparently when NASA were making a selection of music to put on a deep space probe which might get picked up in the future by some alien civilisation, someone asked Carl Sagan why they had not just put the complete works of Bach on there. Sagen replied along the lines of 'Well, that would just be showing off '. :)
 
Ye Olde Boomer said:
I've gone to Boston's Symphony Hall several times,
listened to the BSO with my wife and our friends,
not have a goddamned clue what I was listening to,
and still enjoyed myself immensely.

Lots of hot Asian chicks in the strings, and I try hard to discern how the C trumpets sound different than the Bb trumpets played in jump blues.
I can see that they're C trumpets because they have just a little less plumbing to them.
They just sound like trumpets to me--maybe slightly bright cornets--but I always have a good time anyway.

If I got the BBC Proms, I'd probably enjoy listening to them as well.
What are the BBC Proms, by the way?
I remember reading about them when they reviewed FM tuners in the old hi fi magazines back in the day.
I used to love those. Kids are content to stream music on their phones, now.
Click to expand...

A great British institution:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms
 
backwoodsman said:
Rather partial to a bit of opera myself - absolute favourite is La Traviata. I know it's regarded as lightweight but I dont care. Also love Wagner's Ring Cycle which I first saw when the BBC showed it over several Saturdays (about 35 years ago?) Syymphonies it's Beethoven's 7th but for a real cracker from the modern age (1976) try Gorecki's 3rd (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) - inspired by a Polish girl's poem inscribed on her prison cell wall in 1944.. It starts slow, but get to the end without a tear in your eye and you ain't human.

Click to expand...


I bought Gorecki's 3rd (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) when it came out but it is something I rarely listen to it now because of the feelings it brings up in me, reminds me of a time in my life I would rather forget.
 
Maninblack4612 said:
Dives & Lazarus too. Sounds typically English, bu I can't explain why.
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I listened to this tonight and I realised I have heard it before on the radio.

The reason you may think it sounds typically English may be (I did a bit of research)-
Dives and Lazarus is Child ballad 56 and a Christmas carol. Francis James Child collected two variants in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.
 
In complete contrast to Gorecki , try this for something rather uplifting. Not quite your traditional "classical music" but Mozart's Magic Flute like you've never it heard before. Performed by a South African ensemble, sung in English & Xhosa, and played entirely on marimba and drums (with a bit of township percussion). The best praise one can give it is that Mozart himself (being an innovative sort) would have loved it?. The only performance I've ever been to where I left my seat at the end and went straight to the box office to buy another ticket. Been keeping my eyes open for years for a copy the full performance to come online - sorry about the Portuguese (?) subtitles
 
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jim8flog said:
I listened to this tonight and I realised I have heard it before on the radio.

The reason you may think it sounds typically English may be (I did a bit of research)-
Dives and Lazarus is Child ballad 56 and a Christmas carol. Francis James Child collected two variants in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.
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That's interesting. I'm a big fan of traditional music & I know that RVW borrowed a lot from English folk music, there are a couple of tunes where I've got the classical & folk version of the same song.
 
Ye Olde Boomer said:
I've gone to Boston's Symphony Hall several times,
listened to the BSO with my wife and our friends,
not have a goddamned clue what I was listening to,
and still enjoyed myself immensely.


If I got the BBC Proms, I'd probably enjoy listening to them as well.
What are the BBC Proms, by the way?
I remember reading about them when they reviewed FM tuners in the old hi fi magazines back in the day.
I used to love those. Kids are content to stream music on their phones, now.
Click to expand...
rosecott said:
A great British institution:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms
Click to expand...
For once, I think wikipedia may be the more useful link
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Proms
 
Hobbit said:
...

My first album purchase was a huge shock to my dad. He expected Slade. It was Gustav Holst's, The Planet Suite...

Everyone's tastes change and broaden. I'm just as happy with Genesis, Gun 'n' Roses, Adele or whatever. My music collection is as big as it is wide.
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You and me also Bri...

My first ever record was a birthday present from an aunt and uncle - Greig's Piano Concerto in A minor, plus Peer Gynt Suite. It's now 48yrs old and I still play it as one of my favourites.

My second - same aunt and uncle 4 months later for Christmas - Beethoven Piano Concerto #5 (Emperor); and yet again still a favourite, and before I could buy anything myself from them again - Sibelius Finlandia and Karelia Suite.

At that point I decided I should buy something myself - and so I bought a little Fidelity UA4 Music Master stereo - and loving the sound a year or so later I went progressive and bought Genesis Selling England by the Pound...(wait until G elsewhere perhaps?)

My parents hadn't listened to classical music really at all. And so when I turned the volume up on Greig, Beethoven or Sibelius on my little stereo - they would moan - too loud - turn it down. My response was always that some passages (I would have called them 'bits') were supposed to be LOUD :) They weren't convinced.
 
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maxfli65 said:
So much but 2 faves come to mind -

Bach cello suite thingy up to 2:45, simple stripped down but stunning -

Offenbachs Tales of Hoffman bacarolle thingy, you just cant beat a great melody!
Click to expand...
If you like Offenbach, listen to his Cello Concerto. I play it for people & say that they'll never guess who wrote it but won't be surprised when they find out. Actually, there's a clue a few bars in, typical Offenbach.
 
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