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General Category => Off Topic => Topic started by: Kevin on November 18, 2010, 12:26:38 PM
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Hi all,
I have been enjoying classical music for many years. I listen to everything from Bach to Brahms. I'm now looking for music by Gustav Mahler. But where do I start? Can anyone recommend a symphony that isn't too astringent, bombastic or atonal?
Kevin
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Antonio Vivaldi is too pretentious maybe? :D
I've been on a Tchaikovsky cycle lately.... 'tis the season, I guess. Meh.
I don't know much about Mahler (but I'll start looking too, now). People seem to dig his "Das Lied von der Erde"...?
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Okay... I finally got a chance to sample some Mahler. "Das Lied von der Erde" is a bit rambunctious for me, personally.
If you like light and melodic... more mellow "sweet" stuff; Frédéric Chopin?
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I found a recording of Das Leid Von Der Erde at the library and listened to the first half of it and decided it just isn't for me. I will go back to Brahms. I can't find any symphonies by Chopin.
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Try steppen outside your box< try a lttle Tom Waits Leonard Cohen, Mary Gauthier, Greg Brown, or John Martyn.
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In no particular order:
- Enrico Caruso
- Jussi Björling
- Mario Lanza
"Nessun Dorma" by Pucinni to get started...
Tim...
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Okay... I finally got a chance to sample some Mahler. "Das Lied von der Erde" is a bit rambunctious for me, personally.
If you like light and melodic... more mellow "sweet" stuff; Frédéric Chopin?
"Das Lied von der Erde" is a masterpiece. Probably Mahler's greatest work. But for Kevin who is still living in the nineteenth century musically I
suggest Symphony #1 or #4. Both are less radical then most of his works.
I found a recording of Das Leid Von Der Erde at the library and listened to the first half of it and decided it just isn't for me. I will go back to Brahms. I can't find any symphonies by Chopin.
You won't find any symphonies by Chopin. He didn't write any.
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In no particular order:
- Enrico Caruso
- Jussi Björling
- Mario Lanza
"Nessun Dorma" by Pucinni to get started...
Tim...
Now were talkin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Is tupac outta the question on this one?
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Is tupac outta the question on this one?
I dunno, but he's got something in common with most of the others: He's dead!
Brent
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Is tupac outta the question on this one?
I like his music but maybe someone should start a new thread for that kind of music.
Try steppen outside your box< try a lttle Tom Waits Leonard Cohen, Mary Gauthier, Greg Brown, or John Martyn.
Same with Tom Waits.
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In no particular order:
- Enrico Caruso
- Jussi Björling
- Mario Lanza
"Nessun Dorma" by Pucinni to get started...
Tim...
And now for the Sopranos, check out recordings by
Licia Albanese (Puccini)
Renato Tebaldi (Verdi & Puccini)
Maria Callas (various composers)
Mirella Freni (Puccini)
And perhaps my favorite, with the voice of an angel over a two octave range Victoria de los Angeles (Puccini)
For currently active sopranos I recommend Fiorenza Cedolins and Sondra Radvanovsky. Both have excelled in Verdi and Puccini.
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HBO got it wrong, it should have been named "The Tenors"
Thanks for introducing me to some one other than Edith Piaf!
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Excellent taste, Tony, especially Renato Tebaldi and Victoria de los Angeles.
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not sure if this thread is still really going, but I LOVE Mahler...any chance I have to hear his symphonies live, I go. a few years ago, I heard the berlin phil do #1 (mariss jansons conducting), and february I got to hear #6 at the musikverein and the vienna phil (semyon bychkov conducting). 4 and 5 have been somewhere in my concert experiences as well...I've also been fortunate enough to perform the first two symphonies (I play cello).
if it's all seeming too bombastic, I think the recommendation of #1 is a good choice; a little more 'restrained' than some of the later symphonies. give it some time; it may grow on you. in the mean time, do some richard strauss tone poems - alpine symphony, till eulenspiegel, don juan (not necessarily less bombastic, but a little more light-hearted)...or debussy la mer, ravel daphnis et chloe, prokofiev symphonies, bartok concerto for orchestra, copland #3...and the list goes on. I'm a big fan of late romantic and 20th century music...if you're interested in going atonal, just say the word :)
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Mahler 1 is an excellent suggestion. The third movement is fun for anyone that knows the nursery melody, Frère Jacques. It's presented as a funeral march. The movement also includes a Klezmer band. Great fun.
Are you still playing? (I am a trumpet player - still performing, and I do some work recording on-location classical concerts.)
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Wow, what an amazingly musical bunch here. My own (somewhat neglected) passion is the piano, even though I play strictly as an amateur for home consumption. I sure admire those who play in an orchestra or other (semi-)professional capacity.
Even though it seems that the OP has withdrawn from the conversation -- maybe still shellshocked from Das Lied von der Erde? -- I would second the recommendation to let things develop over time. And I personally find getting acquainted with "new" music much easier in a life performance than from a recording. That's particularly true with the large symphonic orchestras we are talking about here.
Also, as to symphonic works, I'd look to include some of the less popular contemporariers, like Bruch, Bruckner, or Saint-Saëns. Everyone has their individual style, but they are part of a development that may be worthwhile to follow along if Mahler initially appears too intimidating.
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elk - I was playing pretty regularly until last year, when I took my current job which requires a reasonable amount of travel. I would love to find somewhere I can play on occasion; but I need to do some practicing first :)
perhaps we should have a motorcycle night at the orchestra, seeing there are a few fans of classical music...
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There are a number of community orchestras which are always looking for competent strings. For example, the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra is quite good. (I record their concerts).
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cool - thanks for the suggestion. and also cool that you record their concerts! I have a good friend who is a recording engineer and it's something I've admired for a while :)
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Hi all,
Thanks for the suggestions. I tried some Mahler again but it is just too modern for me. Maybe
it will grow on me over time or maybe I just need to see one of his symphonies performed
in concert.
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I have never considered Mahler "modern," but I think I know what you mean.
Perhaps you would enjoy Bruckner. Big like the other composers you like, but more straight forward than Mahler.
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I have never considered Mahler "modern," but I think I know what you mean.
Perhaps you would enjoy Bruckner. Big like the other composers you like, but more straight forward than Mahler.
I found the last 6 symphonies of Bruckner at the library. They are long and monumental but not as spikey as Mahler's symphonies. I know I will be buying the 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th.
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Cool. I am glad my suggestion was a good one.
Do you know Shostakovich's 5th Symphony? Many "non-classical" types like it a lot. Here is the Finale: 2010 BBC Proms - Shostakovich's 5th Symphony (No. 5), 4th Movement (part 1 of 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpiYonXSmaY#) Dramatic, semi-modern but approachable.
Even more immediately appealing and fun is his Festive Overture (one of the pieces I recorded live this very afternoon). Shostakovich : Festive Overture (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7o_3aBIeyU#noexternalembed)
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Any Shostakovich is new to me. I have no recordings of his music.
Interesting you should mention the 5th Symphany. The MN orchestra
is performing it Nov 12 and I have tickets :)
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Excellent!
Let us know what you think. It's big and emotional.
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Hi all,
Yes the symphony was big at 45 minutes. Very emotional too. There was more brass than I like but I found the symphony more approachable than the symphonies of Mahler. I still find I prefer Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Dvorak.
This performance we attended was the first time I have seen our orchestra split the violins left and right European style.
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new music? here ya go, and you can't say it's bad until you've seen it!
LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyx6JDQCslE#ws)