# Classical Music and Opera lovers in here please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457 "2001-11-20T19:56:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/1 "2001-11-20T19:56:12Z")
Hello all! O.k., I am a lover of all kinds of music (except country/western), but I can only consider myself a dabbler in the clasical and opera fields. However, I do really like them. As such I have a basic knowledge of the popular composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, the opera _Carmen_, etc), but I am looking to expand on this. If anyone can come up with some others you personally like I’d be glad to check them out. Either the composer or the piece would be great. I can say i’m not a bigger fan of the lovey-_Romeo and Juliet_-type works… i’m just looking to expand. thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/2 "2001-11-20T20:22:36Z")
You rang? Hoo boy, a very big subject, and very subjective too (my favs depend on the mood I am in at the moment). Search on ‘classical music’ and ‘opera’ in Cafe Society, MPSIMS, and IMHO, and you’ll find lots of wildly varying opinions.\*\* That said, my current favs (typing off the top of my head, forgive the spelling errors) Hindemith - _Mathis der Maler_ Gustav Mahler - anything except _Kindertotenlieder_ (really sad and depressing) - _Symphony #4_ with the soprano solo is quite fun Kurt Weill - _Der Dreigroschenoper_ Ralph Vaughan Williams - _Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis_ (always in my top 5) Offenbach - _Les Contes de Hoffmann_ J.S. Bach - most of the organ works (really into organ music right now). Bernstein - _Candide_ Copland - _Appalachian Spring_ …and for a laugh, pick up some P.D.Q. Bach, particularly, the one with a sports-announcer commentary on Beethoven’s _Fifth Symphony_, as well as Anna Russell’s explanation of Wagner’s _Ring Cycle_ - 20 hours of opera in 20 minutes. Glad to have you on the bandwagon (so to speak)! \*\*[sub]And yes, I know you know how to search. My pain medication is interfering with both my clarity valve and my tact filter.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/3 "2001-11-20T20:30:11Z")
I’m strictly a duffer, but _Tosca_ and _Il Trovatore_ deserve a listen. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/4 "2001-11-20T20:40:35Z")
YMMV wildly, but you can to go http:\[www.mp3.com](http://www.mp3.com) and listen to their classical music selections. Like any other place where they categorize music, their definition of “classical” leaves a lot to be desired (everything from Gregorian Chants to stuff composed last month is “classical” so long as it isn’t R&B, jazz, country/western, rock or folk… recognizably). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/5 "2001-11-20T20:52:08Z")
Richard Wagner. The perfect German opera. Everyone who counts, dies. The Ring is kinda long, but very cool. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/6 "2001-11-21T04:27:58Z")
I like classical music too. I listen to Zappa, Varese, Stravinsky, Ravel, and Debussy. ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/7 "2001-11-21T05:35:38Z")
Well I’m one, and I’m lucky. Here in Melbourne, Oz we have two “fine” music FM channels, so that whenever I’m in my car I have good music. One is a public access/subscription station, the other part of our public broadcasting service. So Bergonzi, Scarlatti, Mahler, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, Puccini and Verdi float with me all day. Yesterday however there waas a problem. Both stations had a contemporary composers program at the same time. [insert horrified smiley] Thank God I had the Ella and Louis cassette at the ready! Redboss ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/8 "2001-11-21T05:55:15Z")
I have really been getting into classical the last few years and there a few pieces to me that really stand out. My Favorites Beethoven 5th Symphony (all it’s cracked up to be and more, I truly love the fourth movement) 9th Symphony (even more than it’s cracked up to be, a truly fantastic piece, it’s what started me on my road to the classics) Pachelbel Canon in D (one of the quintessential classical pieces, incredible) Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture Piano Concerto No. 1 Vivaldi The Four Seasons Any of his Cello Concertos Bach Air (on a G String) Violin Concerto in A Minor BWV 1041 Brandenburg Concertos (all of 'em) Handel Water Music Music For The Royal Fireworks Holst The Planets and probably a million others I’ve forgotten. As far as Opera, I’ve only just started listening to it. I saw a performance of Wagner’s Die Walkure, and it was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/9 "2001-11-21T05:55:23Z")
First, I find it funny that someone named broccoli would post this: in the old "Odd Couple " series, Felix triued to market a series of opera singer trading cards. The gum included was flavored… broccoli! Second, take a listen to Tschaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. It ain’t exactly “lovey”. 😉 It’s actually quite violent. I am not big into opera, but I am a huge romantic fan. Russian composers are my bag: Tschaikovsky, Prokofieff, Shostakovich. Sometimes I think that if they don’t have more than three syllables in their name I’m not interested. Try Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, or Tschaikovsky’s fourth and fifth. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/10 "2001-11-21T06:12:31Z")
Yes! as **ScreechOwl** says, Vauhgan Williams’ Tallis Fantasia. [Classical Net - Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, A Guide](http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/v-w/tallisfantasia.html) Brilliant. I would add his 3rd and 5th Symphonies, Norfolk Rhapsody, Dives & Lazarus, the Lark Ascending… Could go on. (It’s extremely uncool to like VW, but I do. So there.) **brocolli!** Check this site, especially the “Basic Repertoire” section. It’s got the lot… > **[Classical Net - Classical Music Information & Reviews](http://www.classical.net/)** > > The Classical Net web site offers a comprehensive collection of information and news on classical music subjects including articles and CD reviews, composers and their music, the basic repertoire, recommended recordings and a CD buying guide. The... ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/11 "2001-11-21T06:30:39Z")
“Aida”,“La Boheme”,and “Carmen” are considered to be the a,b,c’s of opera.Houses will always put them on,because of their continued popularity. If you want angst,try Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman”.Actually,I love “Dutchman”.It’s a great opera about loneliness and alienation.Okay,it has a love scene,but it is a tragedy. Verdi’s "Otello"is a good one too. For some really grand stuff,along the lines of **The Bad Astronomer’s** russian tastes,try “Kovanchina” or “Boris Godonov” by Musorgsky.I have seen both,and,well done,they’re spectacular.Russian sensibilities regarding the bass voice are vastly different from the Italians.Russians like the bass,and in russian opera he is usually the lead.Really neat to see that for a change. Grammatical/spelling errors in this post can be attributed to need for sleep. A thousand pardons. \ ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/12 "2001-11-21T06:53:56Z")
**broccoli!** As you can see, we’re happy to provide you with suggestions, though it’s also not a bad idea to dig deeper within the works of the composers you’ve already named. In other words, listen to other pieces that make up the [standard repertoire](http://www.classical.net/music/rep/top.html). But, you said you wanna know what _I_ like? Well, of late I’ve been gravitating towards music from the late Romantic period and the Nationalistic movements. A sampling:[ul][li]Gustav Mahler - Symph. No. 1 is a good start, but his other symphonies are quite nice as well.[/li][li]Richard Strauss - _Also Sprach Zarathustra_ is a wonderful piece as a whole, not just the short intro we all know from the movie _2001_. Great, use of orchestral color in _Ein Heldenleben_ and _Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks_. _Four Last Songs_ is beautiful but may be too lovey-dovey for you.[/li][li]Johannes Brahms - His 4 symphonies. _Variations on a Theme by Haydn_. I just bought a CD of Jascha Heifetz performing the Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concertos and can’t get tired listening to it.[/li][li]Jean Sibelius - It doesn’t get much more nationalistic than _Finlandia_. Also, his symphonies - try 1, 2, 4, and 5.[/li]Antonin Dvorak - The famous 9th (New World) Symphony, of course. 7 & 8 are quite lovely as well. The “American” String Quartet.[/ul]I see upon preview that **Hemlock** beat me to the [http://www.classical.net](http://www.classical.net) suggestion. I shall, therefore, provide [another source](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/2868/ref=m_rec_ln_gsc/103-2118577-9115057). ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/13 "2001-11-21T07:12:30Z")
Hildegard Von Bingham, any of her works will blow you away. Easily acessible too. Others have mentioned Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Life should include frequent listenings. Another of my secret classical pleasures is Vladimir Horowitz’s piano playing. Pick up some of his later CD’s, they are just magical. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/14 "2001-11-21T11:16:49Z")
Chalk me up as another fan of the late Romantics, also the early Moderns, but especially Sibelius (who couldn’t decide which of those he was…). _Finlandia_ has already been mentioned, I will happily plug _En Saga_, _Luonnatar_, the Fifth Symphony, and the _Lemminkainen_ suite. I’m also a big fan of Holst - who bears looking at, and not only for _The Planets_; he was a great experimenter - some of his stuff is heavily influenced by English folk music (for example, the _St. Paul’s Suite_), while others have a strong Eastern influence (for example, the one-act opera _Savitri_). Other favourites: Brahms’ 3rd, Mendelssohn’s 3rd and 4th, Orff’s _Carmina Burana_, Palestrina’s _Missa Papae Marcelli_… _Voice offstage_: I thought you said “late Romantics and early Moderns”, Steve? It’s a good few hundred years since Palestrina was modern. So I’m inconsistent. So sue me. ---
**Author:** ![aegypt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@aegypt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aegypt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/15 "2001-11-21T12:20:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earthling \* > **Antonin Dvorak - The famous 9th (New World) Symphony, of course.** That’s my favorite too! When I was in college I used to play that every time I was preparing for an exam. Rimsky-Korsakov’s _Sheherazade_. Somehow it always gets my imagination going. I love Erik Satie’s piano pieces - doesn’t everyone? Bach’s _Tocata and fugue in D minor_. Dum-dum-dum…dumdumdumdumdumdum! Grieg’s _Peer Gynt_. The “Hall of the Mountain King” part, where he goes to the kingdom of the Trolls! Sometimes I think it ought to be the theme song for the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/16 "2001-11-21T14:53:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > Anna Russell’s explanation of Wagner’s _Ring Cycle_ - 20 hours of opera in 20 minutes. I couldn’t agree more. Anna Russell’s Ring Analysis is absolutely unbelievable! _I’m not making this up, you know!_ ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/17 "2001-11-21T18:50:00Z")
Well, let’s see, my favorite composer is Mozart. And my favorite operas are by… Mozart–_Don Giovanni_ comes to mind immediately. I also really like Vivaldi, preferring choral music over the non-choral orchestral stuff. Vivaldi’s _Gloria_ in particular is near to my heart, especially as I’ve sung it many times. I tend to favor Glorias and Requiems and Magnificats for choral music and many of the best are from our favorite classical masters. Nothing like a good Miserere when you’re feeling down! ---
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/18 "2001-11-21T19:10:08Z")
wow, this has all been great! Keep it coming! 😃 …and for those who thought about the odd couple - I’m the singer and guitarist for a punk band 😉 ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/19 "2001-11-21T20:01:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > I’m also a big fan of Holst - who bears looking at, and not only for _The Planets_; he was a great experimenter - some of his stuff is heavily influenced by English folk music (for example, the _St. Paul’s Suite_)… Gustav Holst’s military band stuff is great, too. His _Suite #1_ & _Suite #2_ are usually paired with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ works, which are also folk song based and worth a listen. **But** if you want to hear folk songs (and you **should** ), Percy Grainger was far and away the best around, IMHO. _Linconshire Posy, Hill Song Suite #2_, and various individual song arrangements (_Shepherd’s Hey, Sussex Mummers’ Christmas Carol, Irish Tune from County Derry_, and _Country Gardens_ come to mind first) cannot be recommended highly enough- he had a way with harmony and counter-melody like no one you’ve ever heard. Hmm, I seem to be gushing. Perhaps I’ll should stop. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457/20 "2001-11-21T20:44:55Z")
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ _English Folksong Suite_ with “I’m Seventeen Come Sunday”. The best. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-and-opera-lovers-in-here-please/94457.md?page=2)