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Classical fans, I need advice

I need a bit of advice. I've been listening to sample classical recordings (from tower records and amazon) for over 3 months trying to find a place to start. My interest began when I first became entranced by Alison Krauss + Union Station and Nickel Creek. I've gained a new appreciation for classical styles and the violin (fiddle?) in particular.

I listened to: Hilary Hahn - Bach: Violin Concertos on Deutsche Grammophon and enjoyed it. It wasn't too pretty, nor too symphonic. It's intimate and large at the same time. Maybe not quite as romantic as I might prefer but I honestly cannot say without hearing more. Keep in mind I'm not describing the performance here just the music. I'm thinking I will take the plunge with this Hybrid SACD.

Based on this can I be "profiled" and perhaps pointed in a direction? I know these works come from the Baroque period. I also read this in an amazon review "Shortly after Bach's time, the structure of a concerto changed from an ensemble piece for chamber musicians to a piece for soloist and full orchestra. Hence many recordings of these pieces are done by 'name' soloists and 'name' orchestras and lose their intimacy in the process. This recording does not; kudos to DG and Hahn for the choice of the thoroughly musical and consummately professional Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for this disc." I really don't know if this is significant to my enjoyment of what i've heard but I thought I should mention it.

A few other notes about myself. Sound quality is of extreme importance to me. I simply cannot enjoy music on poor recordings. Something else, I really like the song from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack titled "Concerning Hobbits" composed by Howard Shore and performed by the New Zealand S.O. Again I'm not sure if this points me to a specific classical style or period but I figured I would mention it.

Any comments are appreciated
Vedric
vedric
pragmatist
336 posts
 
Baroque Era
--Brandenburg Concertos,JS Bach
--Goldberg Variations,JS Bach
Classic Era
--Opus 76 String Quartets,Hayden
--Piano Concertos #21 and #23,Mozart
--Symphonies #5 and #6,Beethoven
Romantic
--Trout Quintet,Schubert
--Preludes,Chopin
--New World Symphony,Davorak
Modern
--Rite of Spring,Stravinsky
--La Mer,Debussy

There's a starter set. The post above about a library is great advice.

Enjoy!
shubertmaniac
348 posts
 
Classical music:

Schubert: late string quartets and cello quintet, perhaps the most sublime, intimate music there is. The Emerson String Quartet CD on DG is a fine recording and a tremendous performance.

Brahms: the two string sextets, and all the quintets, easy on the ears, easy to follow the logic or flow of the music. Raphael String Ensemble for the two string sextets, fantastic recording (Tony Faulkner producer) and superb performances. The quintets, Phillips has a great 2 for 1 CD of the all quintets.

If you like either of the above, then you can move on to Beethoven and Bartok for chamber music. If you can appreciate these two, then you can move onto Webern and Schnittke, both serial and freely atonal.

Speaking of bluegrass/c&w: my favorites are the real old timers like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and the queen of old-time Western, Patsy Montana. The archtype of Western song is," I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweeteart". It was recently in a DVD I saw, but cannot remember the name.

914Nut: I like the Ahn Trio, do you like the bad boy of classical music Nigel Kennedy? And if you like Faure, have you listened to Koechlin yet?
bomarc
501 posts
 
I haven't heard Hilary Hahn's new Bach disk yet, but you should also check out her very first recording, of Bach solo works. Another thing I'd look for is Vivaldi's Op. 3, L'estro armonico, a set of 12 concerti for one, two, or four violins. It was a favorite of Bach's.

I agree with the general suggestion to find ways to listen broadly. I tend to prefer the simple clean sound of a Hilary Hahn to the ornate emotiveness of a Joshua Bell. More generally, I'll take Baroque over 19th century Romantic any day. And like Jim, I spend a lot more time listening to chamber than orchestral. But that's just me, and everyone else's recommendations will be just them. Be venturesome, and you'll find lots of things to like.
elinor's avatar
elinor
271 posts
 
I suggest that if you live in or near a city with a good orchestra, buy a season subscription and go listen to live music. There are too many audiophiles out there who don't have a clue as to what live accoustic music sounds like. How they go about building a satisfying audio system is beyond me. Guess that's why we have Audiogon. By the way, you might find out what kind of music appeals to you as well.

Regards,
Habitual Carnegie Hall & Met Opera Attendee.
newbee
4,093 posts
 
One of the finest small chamber groups on CD's is The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. They are leaderless but you would never know it! They record for DG. Since you seem to like simple, clean line, americana style music, I would suggest theat you listen to their recording of Copland's Applachian Spring (performed in its original version for 13 instruments). Another excellent disc by them is a recording featuring Wagner's Siegfried-Idyll and Sibelius' Valse Triste as well as some other small pieces which they have orchestrated down to chamber level. For somethiung a bit more modern, but along the same line is their recording of music by Kodaly and Suk titled Summer Evening. This is all very assessible music yet never boring. Highly recommended.
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