having decided a year or so back that i had to try to understand and be able to appreciate western classical music i finally took the plunge a few months back. under the tutelage of radio announcer mukul (and a copy of 'classical music for idiots), i have started listening to stuff from here and there on my car deck as i am driving and before i sleep while i am reading. i have of course been feeling very guilty about this intermittently for merely hearing and not listening- but what the hell- i am trying!
anyways.. for the record, for the time being the following judgments apply.
bach- brandenburg concertos and orchestral suites- the concertos were very pretty and extremely interesting but the suites i found boring, concerto for two violins and two other violin concertos- all very enjoyable.
beethoven- some piano concerto- 'emperor' or something like that, symphony no 5.. loud loud pompous stuffy, right now i think the classical music equivalent of 'queen'. (blasphemy?) symphony no 9- with the last movement where all those people start to sing- scary
mozart - two symphonies 21, 24 and the requiem- the symphonies did not do anything for me but the requiem plays every night now for the past three
tchaikovsky's violin concerto- love all the distorted tempos and stuff.. it is going round in my head as i type.
mendelssohn - violin concerto- heard it only once so far but was bobbing my head all the way form andheri to borivili
mahler- 1st symphony - the first piece of music that i liked with a strange cuckoo sound and the nursery rhyme refrain.
some schubert too that i dont know enough of
some other things also i heard like some dances by dvorak, 'can-can' by somebody and some vivaldi..cant say anything about all of them cus, i don't know why, i just cant.
meanwhile there is this this opera 'carmen' that has been waiting to be heard near the cd player in my room.. but i am too scared to.. all those strange voices!
2 comments:
A few suggestions:
Bach's "The Goldberg Variations" played by Glenn Gould. One of the finest piano recordings of all time. Legend has it that Gould was so in the grip of the music he couldn't resist softly humming along while playing. Make sure you get the piano and not the organ or some hideous church instrument.
Beethovern's piano sonatas ("Pathetique" is my favorite)
Mozart's "Requiem" -- it was unfinished and later finished by his last student. The last few movements (written by this student) are rather obviously mediocre. More recently, many experts compiled a much better final movement. So try the `new and improved' Requiem.
Beethoven's Ninth is an all time crowd pleaser. My personal favorite recording is by Seiji Ozawa (conducting) of the Boston Symphony.
Also love Debussy. Tried Shostakovich -- want to like him, but he's too much the Joy Division of classical music for me.
Well that's my $0.02. Cheers,
-shankar.
did try the goldberg variations, but cant get used ot the piano yet.. i think i need to push myself a lil harder with it. maybe next week...
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