Classical Music II

[hectorberlioz]

That was lovely. I think that was Delibes...I'm not sure.

[Grey_Wolf]

Indeed, HB! It is the Flower Duet of Lakmé!

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf

Indeed, HB! It is the Flower Duet of Lakmé!

Now HOW did I know that?...at first I thought it was Bizet...but I remembered from my Gramophone guide reading about the "flower duet" in the D section

[Grey_Wolf]

Goodie!

[trolls' bane]

Hmm...
Didn't work.
Maybe I'll try it later with Internet Explorer.

[Grey_Wolf]

Good luck, TB! Its a very nice piece!

[bropous]

Favorite classical....hmmmmmm.....

My favorite symphony is "Symphony Phantastique" du Hector Berlioz.

Additonal favorite composers and pieces:

*Tchaikovsky (CANNOT listen to 4th symphony Pathetique, rips my heart right out of my body) - 1812 Overture, Capriccio Italien, Marche Slav
*Rimsky-Korsakov "Prince Igor", Russian Easter Festival Overture
*Ippolitov Ivanov Caucasian Sketches
*Borodin
*Bizet
*Debussy
*Liszt
*Beethoven
*Mozart
*Albinoni
*Bach
*Dvorak
*Smetana "Ma Vlast"
*Schubert
*Mendelssohn
*SOME Gershwin
*Vivaldi and most other Baroque composers
*Handel

Just a partial list. I really love the Romantic and the Baroque periods, love "Chamber music", all of Mozart's works, love the Strauss stuff, Wagner of course, Rachmaninoff...I've played cello for 31 years (gasp!) but was a lover of classical music long before I rosined a bow. It is a testament to the composers of classical music that their works are still performed today, and even though I have heard thousands of pieces, and played hundreds, there is so much more of the surviving works that are still to be heard.

Folks who don't like classical music, I find, are rather shallow and not really possessing of a rich and deep personality that classical speaks to, and are a little slower on the uptake, in my overblown and non-humble but unwavering opinion.

[bropous]

I also have to confess a very limited love for opera.

I do enjoy the entire Wagner Ring cycle, and some of the Mozart opera, and a very little of the Verdi stuff, but for the most part, opera really doesn't get my blood roiling.

However, as a I grow older, I tend to accept more and more opera, and veer more and more from the utter tripe that is released as "music" these days.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by bropous

Favorite classical....hmmmmmm.....

My favorite symphony is "Symphony Phantastique" du Hector Berlioz.

Berlioz is my absolute fav.


Btw, people: Shosty playing!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zYOpnq6h_...elated&search=

[bropous]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

Because it tells a story...well, lots of music tells stories, but the intent of Symphonic Poems (or Tone Poems) is to tell a story. Kinda like the first film music, except way more original. It was franz Liszt's formal invention, but he got it from Berlioz, whose Symphonie Fantastique could probably be called the first Symphonic Poem...but then there's Beethoven's Sixth, which isn't too far off itself, though the "story" is more general....and then we get into this long discussion about what was truly the first descriptive piece of music blah blah blah.

Much better to go from Berlioz to Liszt, then on forward....

Btw, I recommend these symphonic poems to you:

Dvorak's "The Water Goblin"

Honegger's "Pacific 231" (You'll really love this one...)

Liszt's "Mazeppa"

Richard Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel"

Sibelius' "Night Ride & Sunrise"

You forgot Smetana's "Die Moldau" from "Ma Vlast"......for me, a template for a tone poem. Fluttering from the spring from which it issues forth, growing in size and strength as it rolls through the mountains, through the city of Prague where the strains of waltzes filter down to the water, and then through rapids to the fading of the waters into its final destination...

Also, Ippolitov Ivanov's "Caucasian Sketches" is a great tone poem, as well as Berlioz' "Symphonie Fantastique", as is Tchiakovsky's "1812 Overture".

[hectorberlioz]

So you're not a full-fledged opera guy, but you certainly seem to know your Symphonic poems. I'm a big fan of Dvorak's symphonic poems, and Sibelius'.

Smetana's Ma Vlast is of course awesome, and I wholeheartedly agree: the template for great tone poems.

Have you heard Balakirev's "Islamey" transcribed for Orchestra? Very good piece, on both piano, and for orchestra.

I'm something of an authority on the Symphonie Fantastique, I own six different recordings of it. In fact, for my English class I wrote an essay comparing the Fantastique and Beethoven's Ninth.

[hectorberlioz]

Darn. What is it about Mahler's symphonies? They're just so darn good!

[trolls' bane]

I'm listening to the New World symphony by Dvorak more and more often.

[hectorberlioz]

So why the sarcasm?

TB, if you like his New World Symphony, you'll love ALL his symphonies. IMO, they're all good. But really outstanding for me are Symphonies Nos.3,4,5,6,7,8...

[trolls' bane]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

So why the sarcasm?

TB, if you like his New World Symphony, you'll love ALL his symphonies. IMO, they're all good. But really outstanding for me are Symphonies Nos.3,4,5,6,7,8...

...9,10,11,12?
Okay. I'll look 'em up on my laptop!

Last night I heard Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, or something like that. "The only recording I know of," Jim Svejda said.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by trolls' bane

...9,10,11,12?
Okay. I'll look 'em up on my laptop!

Good idea. Go especially for Nos. 3 & 5.

He only wrote Nine, that magically tragic number...

Last night I heard Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, or something like that. "The only recording I know of," Jim Svejda said.

He's lying.
I haven't heard it, but I know it is a work that incorporates a narrator.

[trolls' bane]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

Good idea. Go especially for Nos. 3 & 5.

He only wrote Nine, that magically tragic number...



He's lying.
I haven't heard it, but I know it is a work that incorporates a narrator.

Is he now? But Jim never lies!

Yes, it does. The one he referenced is one of the people in LotR, I believe.

[hectorberlioz]

Really? Probably Ian Holme or McKellen...

Now narrators for Peter & the Wolf are pretty darn famous. I have a version with Sting narrating, Claudio Abbado conducting the Chamber Orch. of Europe. Awesome.

Let's see, famous narrators: Patrick Stweart, Sean Connery....

[Tessar]

This is from the Happy Thread:

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

How can you not like Marilyn Horne? Have you heard her sing "Vivi Tiranno" from Handel's Rodelinda?
You don't know what you're talking about...


Cecilia Bartoli is great for everything. Definitely my fav singer of all time. You should look into the Salieri Album she released a couple of years ago.


EDIT: Don't forget Magdalena Kozena

I think Marilyn Horne is okay. Huge, fantastic voice, but her diction (or perhaps I should say, LACK of) irritates me to death. TO DEATH! I writhe every time she sings Italian, and worse every time she sings in English. Assuming she ever has sung in English. It's so very difficult to tell .

Well, I'll admit. I do love the recordings of Christmas music she did. And a few of the opera pieces she did (a very few) but the majority of her stuff I simply don't care for. Like Renee, I think a lot of the stuff she did when she was younger were really good, but then later not so much.


I haven't heard Cecila's Salieri album. I'm still stuck on her Opera Proibita album. Oh my GOD... the melizmas are insane. INSANE!!!!!!!! And her high notes are incredible. She puts such a delicate touch on the soft songs, but has so much power on the big songs.

Magdalena Kozena is another soprano I enjoy, although I haven't heard a whole lot about her.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Tessar

I think Marilyn Horne is okay. Huge, fantastic voice, but her diction (or perhaps I should say, LACK of) irritates me to death. TO DEATH! I writhe every time she sings Italian, and worse every time she sings in English. Assuming she ever has sung in English. It's so very difficult to tell .

Well, I'll admit. I do love the recordings of Christmas music she did. And a few of the opera pieces she did (a very few) but the majority of her stuff I simply don't care for. Like Renee, I think a lot of the stuff she did when she was younger were really good, but then later not so much.

Well then, maybe you do know what you're talking about. Thats more than I've listened to.

I think I agree with you, his diction can be pretty sloppy.

I haven't heard Cecila's Salieri album. I'm still stuck on her Opera Proibita album. Oh my GOD... the melizmas are insane. INSANE!!!!!!!! And her high notes are incredible. She puts such a delicate touch on the soft songs, but has so much power on the big songs.

I've been meaning to get that, but everytime I start getting I put it back. It's the cover, my mom would never understand if she saw it...

Magdalena Kozena is another soprano I enjoy, although I haven't heard a whole lot about her.

Neither have I, the only CD being a recording of Handel cantatas.