# The Greatest Hits of Classical Music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412 "2009-05-14T15:01:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412/21 "2009-05-16T11:24:48Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > I have a recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. I was young and dumb and forgot to write down the artist and recording details, but I know I believe it was a recording pre-1960s Leon Fleisher recorded the 4th in 1959. Schnabel recorded it twice (in 1945 with Sargent and also earlier in '37 I believe). If you post the duration of all 3 movements, maybe I can help figure the details out. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412/22 "2009-05-16T11:56:10Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > [Check it out](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=433796) > I love The Symphonie Fantastique (I probably mangled the spelling, sorry) by Berlioz and I was surprised by how much I really loved La Mer by Debussey. > > Get some Beethoven (almost anything) and Motzart Symphony’s #38, #40, #41. > > I found that I liked Late Romantic and post Romantic stuff a lot, and I really like some Baroque, but I don’t actually care for the Classical period all that much. Too formalized for my taste. So I focused on finding composers from the era’s I liked and then finding out who those composers liked and who they inspired etc etc. > > . Totally agree about Symp.Fantastique(Especially The March to the Scaffold OH yeah !) and Baroque, but apart from Ode to Joy totally loathe Beethoven. He composed like a deaf man for gods sake! Also like Bruckner. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412/23 "2009-05-16T12:11:01Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > You can often find CD collections of Classical in bargain bins, but remember one thing: > > **Never EVER buy any Classical CD that isn’t a full digital recording (look for the DDD in a rectangle)** > > Classical music CDs that are not full digital (ADD or AAD) sound terrible. > > All CDs made in probably the last 15 years are full digital. But when CD players first came out they and their discs were expensive, and rich people like Classical, so a lot of the first discs made were of Classical music. So much so that there are still bargain bins full of them. Hell, if you really care about the sound quality, don’t buy a CD at all - get a good set up and listen to the LP. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412/24 "2009-05-16T12:33:53Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > You can often find CD collections of Classical in bargain bins, but remember one thing: > > **Never EVER buy any Classical CD that isn’t a full digital recording (look for the DDD in a rectangle)** > > Classical music CDs that are not full digital (ADD or AAD) sound terrible. I too want to call BS on this. If this were true, there wouldn’t be so many ADD discs getting high recommendations from the guidebooks and magazines that review classical CDs. If a CD sounds terrible, it’s because a poor job was done in the recording, engineering, or remastering, and that can happen whether or not it’s a full digital recording. Or if it’s a _really_ old recording—say, not just before the digital era but before the stereo era. But there are some ADD recordings that, at least to a non-audiophile, sound just as good as DDD; and many others that sound imperfect, but not enough so to really detract from your enjoyment. Also, whether or not a CD is full digital has very little to do with whether or not it was in the “bargain bin.” Many bargain-bin CDs are full-digital recordings made by “no-name” performers or orchestras (often from Eastern Europe); and the performances and sound quality could be anywhere from crappy to every bit as good as the famous-name, full-price recordings. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412/25 "2009-05-16T13:05:50Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > You can often find CD collections of Classical in bargain bins, but remember one thing: > > **Never EVER buy any Classical CD that isn’t a full digital recording (look for the DDD in a rectangle)** > > Classical music CDs that are not full digital (ADD or AAD) sound terrible. > > All CDs made in probably the last 15 years are full digital. But when CD players first came out they and their discs were expensive, and rich people like Classical, so a lot of the first discs made were of Classical music. So much so that there are still bargain bins full of them. This is the worst possible advice. Most of the great conductors and great orchestras at their peak were recorded pre-DDD. And the digital recordings in bargain bins are there for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412/26 "2009-05-18T07:18:22Z")
> [@II\_Gyan\_II](#): > > Leon Fleisher recorded the 4th in 1959. Schnabel recorded it twice (in 1945 with Sargent and also earlier in '37 I believe). > > If you post the duration of all 3 movements, maybe I can help figure the details out. Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4 I - Allegro (19:13) II - Andante (5:40) III - Rondo (10:27) Never thought about checking via run time, but a quick Google and Amazon search still didn’t yield anything. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-hits-of-classical-music/496412.md?page=1)