I've always had a fond place in my heart for Debussy.
Debussy is my favorite! His music is so surreal. I love Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn, and also La Mer, which my orchestra was supposed to play last year. I got super mad when they changed the program on us. I never even got to look at the music. ;-;
So, we were sitting around our apartment one evening with a dear friend of ours who is a classically trained gamba player. In the middle of bemoaning the lack of interest in classical music by the general public (and yes, we showed her the one buttock TED presentation) and the many misunderstandings regarding said subject, I challenged her by pointing out that in this age of the internet there is no excuse for complaining about such things since the tools of production are truly in the hands of the people.
She now has a blog, it is about classical music, it is hilarious. It is also in Finnish and the abundant wordsmithery makes google translate an exercise in divination (or dadaist poetry). Nonetheless, there are good links to classical music in there so check it out.
What a great thread! So is anyone here an active classical musician? If so what's their favorite music to play?
I play percussion in a chamber orchestra every once in a while. Obviously my favourite sort of classical to play is marches with complex snare parts and pieces that co-opt rhythms from jazz and blues. As much as I love the music, rehearsing a five-minute song with ten bars of auxiliary percussion every week for a couple of months becomes deathly boring.
I recently discovered the "Avant-Cellist" Zoe Keating. She's quite fantastic, by using a mic, her laptop, and a foot pedal she is able to layer various melodies and tones on top of each other. The end result is quite fantastic.
She's quite fantastic, by using a mic, her laptop, and a foot pedal she is able to layer various melodies and tones on top of each other. The end result is quite fantastic.
Quite.
I've been listening to Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble lately. It's a really awesome as an organization; their objective is to bring the musical and cultural traditions of the countries along the Silk Road together, and to promote artistic innovation by doing so, as well as overseeing several educational programs. That attitude really shows in their music.
I highly recommend getting an album; the sound quality in this video doesn't do it justice.
The Phillip Glass sampler on Amazon's mp3 site is really cool, I need to get more of his stuff. Also, for anyone who enjoys the rock/classical fusion thing, check out David Garrett, when he's on it's pretty darn epic. I'll find links later and edit them in.
Saw the 1812 Overture WITH CANNONS last night. So great.
The Best mistake Samara ever made was asking me to handle the pyrotechnics for her orchestra's performance of it as a finale. DA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA NA-NA *snap!KAFUCKINGBOOM*
The recording of Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti in Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème, singing the aria "O Soave Fanciulla:"
Then, the duet "Un di felice, eterea" from Verdi's La Traviata, sung by Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas. (Some guy in 1983 went and turned the opera into a film.)
The famous "Queen of the Night" aria from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte sung by Diana Damrau:
I suppose I'll end with the dramatic "Commendatore Scene" from Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Yeah, I didn't post any Wagner here, but I think the above are a FEW notable ones.
Yesss! Diana Damrau! I love the fire and brimstone she brings to the role. So intense. Lucia Popp is my other favorite Queen of the Night, but her voice is sweeter and less angry.
Speaking of Lucia Popp: So amazing. She is my favorite soprano.
Popp's Der Hölle Rache, for comparison:
Also wonderful, Alfredo Kraus singing Bizet's Pearlfisher Aria: The aria starts at 0:43. *swoon*
I LOVE Lucia Popp's rendition of the Schubert. I was fortunate enough to see Renee Fleming perform it when she visited the Eastman School of Music when I went to visit. It was SO incredible. Kraus has been one of my idols as well. Thanks for sharing this. Bizet's work hasn't been too high on my radar, so it's really nice to hear this.
Comments
Metal.
Schoenberg - Transfigured Night
She now has a blog, it is about classical music, it is hilarious. It is also in Finnish and the abundant wordsmithery makes google translate an exercise in divination (or dadaist poetry). Nonetheless, there are good links to classical music in there so check it out.
Victor Borge.
I've been listening to Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble lately. It's a really awesome as an organization; their objective is to bring the musical and cultural traditions of the countries along the Silk Road together, and to promote artistic innovation by doing so, as well as overseeing several educational programs. That attitude really shows in their music.
I highly recommend getting an album; the sound quality in this video doesn't do it justice.
some of my favorite pieces ... which i'm trying to learn very slowly...
prokofiev -- first violin concerto
bach -- solo violin partita #2 in dm ciaconna
(i'm still working on the first four parts)
saint saens -- introduction and rondo capriccioso
Fuck, I love explosives.
The recording of Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti in Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème, singing the aria "O Soave Fanciulla:"
Then, the duet "Un di felice, eterea" from Verdi's La Traviata, sung by Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas. (Some guy in 1983 went and turned the opera into a film.)
The famous "Queen of the Night" aria from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte sung by Diana Damrau:
I suppose I'll end with the dramatic "Commendatore Scene" from Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Yeah, I didn't post any Wagner here, but I think the above are a FEW notable ones.
Speaking of Lucia Popp:
So amazing. She is my favorite soprano.
Popp's Der Hölle Rache, for comparison:
Also wonderful, Alfredo Kraus singing Bizet's Pearlfisher Aria:
The aria starts at 0:43.
*swoon*
That's the only video of him playing the 3rd movement I could find.
Might as well add some Pearlman
I don't know why the other seasons are more popular than winter.