Let the Games Begin: The Classical Music Draft, Part I

[Norsk Troll]

My second pick:

"Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune" (1894), DebussyThat's two you've nicked from me, Haole - you are clearly going to be my problem competitor! Actually, Prelude was not a definate choice by me - one of those "this or that, but not both" choices. Well I guess you made that choice for me!

Well, for my 2nd selection, #3 of the 2nd round and #19 overall, I'm still gambling that various of my "must have" picks will be there later, even though I will be extremely disturbed if they are taken!

I could pick several works from this composer to fill up my desert island wish list, but I'll only take one for this top 10 draft - so it has to be the one which grabs me the most. This work doesn't just drip of sensuality and passion, like some simpering sweet love theme. It positively wrenches and twists your heart, just like real love does. It has possibly the most sublime opening and closing of any such work, yet in no way does that diminish what comes between - especially the Act II love scene.

Tristan und Isolde

by Richard Wagner

http://www.wagnermania.com/Mitos/imagenes/30/Waterhouse.jpg

[sardus_pater]

Mozart's Requiem: Pow! The first full choral work chosen (not counting Beethoven's 9th), and it's, shall we say, a humdinger. Awesome pick.

The only problem I have with it is all the different versions there are due to all the different people trying to "complete" it.
I haven't yet found one that's completely satisfying.

No surprise given the level of composing genius all of them had to match.

And I know it's nowhere close to the truth, but is there anything more compelling in film than to watch the dying Amadeus dictate the Requiem to Salieri, as his archrival feverishly scribbles the final notes?


I actually feel bad for Salieri, a skilled musician and a very good teacher (one has just to look at who he teached), who had the "misfortune" to being always compared to one of the giants of all time music and surrounded by myths turning him into some kind of monster.

But yes the "requiem" part of Forman's Amadeus is great.

[sardus_pater]

CRAP!

First the Goldbergs, now you! What is up with my 2nd picks vanishing???

Haole is up.

I think old Johann Sebastian has still something to offer for your pick in his repertoire, actually for all of us. ;)

Now, I would be really sad if someone stealed my next pick cos it's far more irreplaceable.

[Norsk Troll]

OK, Iceblink's 10 hour clock is up. ScottinKC is on the clock until 8:35 pm tonight. I'm sending him a PM.

[scottinkc]

"Oh, sure," I said to myself, "No one will ever take St. Matthew Passion. I can save that until the later rounds."



My choice is:

Handel- Messiah

I like the fact that, unlike the passions, Messiah incorporates both the Christmas and the Passion stories. And in fact goes beyond the passion into Easter. As such, you get a great variety of emotion, not only in the chorus parts, but in the solo arias as well. And the great Halleluja chorus.

[Sachsen]

"Oh, sure," I said to myself, "No one will ever take St. Matthew Passion. I can save that until the later rounds."



My choice is:

Handel- Messiah

I like the fact that, unlike the passions, Messiah incorporates both the Christmas and the Passion stories. And in fact goes beyond the passion into Easter. As such, you get a great variety of emotion, not only in the chorus parts, but in the solo arias as well. And the great Halleluja chorus.

Oh fer cryin out loud. That's it, I give up.

;)

Favorite recording? I have a very interesting version from Naxos, by the Scholars Baroque Ensemble, where they only sing two voices per part. Makes the music really stand out when you don't have the normal "wall of sound" that comes from the huge choirs that normally perform this work.

Karl K is on the clock, and Iceblink can still post at any time.

[scottinkc]

Favorite recording?

I don't much like to chose favorites (unless it's a really great recording, as some of my later choices will be) because everybody has a different taste in what they are looking for with a piece like this. I don't particularly care for period instruments, and I like straightforward solos without a lot of ornamentation, so I would rule out something like Hogwood, whereas others might not like the "wall of sound" approach and would prefer something like your Naxos recording. The closest to a recommendation I would give would be Aldis conducting the London Symphony orchestra and chorus.

[Iceblink]

For my second pick, again, I choose for memory and enjoyment.

I pick the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.

So many kids get pure enjoyment out of this ballet. It's just a lot of fun. So many good pieces within it... so many styles.

I was also blown away by Fantasia when I first saw it... probably 1975, when I was five years old.

http://www.arrowheadballet.org/graphics/links/dover-nutcracker-score.jpg

[DoctorD]

My first selection is J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988.

http://www.music.qub.ac.uk/tomita/bachbib/review/CU4title.jpg

I'm not typically a big fan of the theme and variations form, but there's nothing typical about this one. Few if any pieces combine technical brilliance and lyrical inspiration like the Goldbergs. Individually the thirty variations are masterpieces; together they're a monument. And towering above them all is the immortal Aria that begins and ends the cycle (my favorite thirty-two measures in all music).

The recording to listen to is Glenn Gould (1981).Anyone have the recent Glen Wilson harpsichord version? In the liner notes (published on the net) he argues that Gould and his piano successors have corrupted the original spirit of the composition - that after all was for a 2-manual harpsichord.

[Sachsen]

Anyone have the recent Glen Wilson harpsichord version? In the liner notes (published on the net) he argues that Gould and his piano successors have corrupted the original spirit of the composition - that after all was for a 2-manual harpsichord.

Some misguided people have been arguing that Gould corrupted everything good about music for the last 50+ years. ;)

Haven't heard the one you're referring to, but I own the Goldbergs played by Christophe Rousset - he plays it on a 2-manual harpsichord and it a compelling performance.

[Karl K]

With my second pick, and 12th pick overall, I select my all time favorite piece of fiddle music:

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35.

The story of its composition and debut is well known. He wrote the entire piece in about a month -- actually writing TWO Andantes. The first one he ashcanned, the second one -- probably completed in a single day -- in his view was more fitting with the two outer sections.

The plan was to have it first played by Europe's top fiddler -- the Hungarian Leopold Auer. But Auer declared the concerto, with its incredible technical demands, "unplayable." So it languished for 4 years until it was played in 1881 by a violinist name Adolf Brodsky, with the Vienna Philharmonic. The audience ranged from apopletic to ecstatic. Amidst the whistles and boos when it was over were audience members who rose to their feed for a standing ovation.

The critics went nuts. Negative nuts, that is. One critic said, "The violin is no longer played...it is beaten black and blue...We see wild and vulgar faces, we smell bad brandy."

Well, the critics have been proven wrong, as this piece is considered the apotheosis of late Romantic music. And it is the piece that, if you aspire to be a world class solo fiddle player, you HAVE to master.

I first saw it played in 1989 by a 17-year old Midori with the Chicago Symphony. Simply phenomenal

Im addition to her recording in my collection( with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin) I have versions by Heifetz, with Fritz Reiner and the CSO (a reissue that EVERYONE should own), Pinchas Zukerman, with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic (whose idiosyncratic rendering is not to every one tastes); Nathan Milstein, also with Claudio Abbado and Berlin, and, I have to admit, my favorite, Kyung Wha Chung, with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony.

If you had to get one, get Kyung's version. A fantastic balance of emotional depth and techncial mastery.

[Sachsen]

I must say, I'm a little surprised by how much love Tchaikovsky is getting already. 3 out of the first 23 picks -- tied with Beethoven for the most. Can't really argue with the picks too much, though.

I'll be updating the Big Board after I pick.
EDIT: Big Board updated.

[Sachsen]

I definitely want an opera in my draft, so I better pick my favorite one quick before someone else snatches it.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0000041ZF.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1133175573_.jpg

Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I have a special spot in my heart for this opera -- it was the first one I ever saw live, with my dad as a young teenager, performed in English at the local junior college. Talk about a moving experience! When I was living in Germany for two years, I made a point of seeing it again, this time in the original German. When the Queen of the Night rips loose on her aria; when Papageno toots his flute and pines about trying to find a woman; when Tamino enters the temple to undertake the trials; the Masonic underpinnings... talk about fantasy and comedy and drama all of the highest order!

Mozart's last -- and dare I say it, his best? -- opera, and one that has deservedly earned its immense popularity for the last 200+ years. Beethoven liked this opera so much he composed no less than two sets of variations for instruments-that-shall-remain-nameless based on songs from it.

The above recording is the one I own, and I think it's pretty darn good. Solti lived and breathed this opera; I think he recorded it three different times!

[NGV]

Anyone have the recent Glen Wilson harpsichord version? In the liner notes (published on the net) he argues that Gould and his piano successors have corrupted the original spirit of the composition - that after all was for a 2-manual harpsichord.
I haven't read that one, but people have been making that general sort of argument for decades.

Personally, I think it's baloney. There's no way of knowing how Bach might have wanted the music to sound if he'd had access to more modern keyboard instruments. And beyond the piano's general advantages, the articulation and dynamic variation it enables are specifically helpful for bringing out the separate voices in contrapuntal music - why throw away that capability just because Bach and his contemporaries didn't have it?

And even if Bach wouldn't have liked Gould's version- who cares?

The quality of any performance is a matter of taste, and there are plenty of reasons that someone might dislike Gould's interpretation. However, I find arguments about the "authenticity" of different performances to be pretty pointless.

[Smiley321]

If I was drafting no. 1, I would have also picked The Rite of Spring. However, getting this one makes me feel like I haven't been cheated:

J.S. Bach, Mass in B-Minor. I'm not religious, but this is about as good a reason to attend a mass as anything. One of the great masterpieces of all time, I love to listen to it, great value (over 100 minutes). Sardus Pater was right, J.S. Bach could fill up round 1 by himself. In fact, there's no shortage in classical music of first-rounders, we'll be taking first rounders in round 10.

This is the recording I've got
http://www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=31107

[Iceblink]

When the Queen of the Night rips loose on her aria

One of the few picks so far that I would have loved to grab. Blows me away every time. I'd like to know which recording of this is the best. I have one that I don't like so much.

[Norsk Troll]

Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I have a special spot in my heart for this opera -- it was the first one I ever saw live, with my dad as a young teenager, My 6 year old even likes it, though he's only seen the first parts on TV. But he can recognise "the birdcatcher's" music.

Oh, by the way ... not to say "I told you so", or anything, but all those people still waiting to make their second round picks would be able to go now, under my proposed rules. ;)


(Don't mind me - I had 2 beers and 3 (shared) bottles of wine tonight ... I'm feeling very fine right now)

[Haole]

I haven't read that one, but people have been making that general sort of argument for decades.

Personally, I think it's baloney. There's no way of knowing how Bach might have wanted the music to sound if he'd had access to more modern keyboard instruments. And beyond the piano's general advantages, the articulation and dynamic variation it enables are specifically helpful for bringing out the separate voices in contrapuntal music - why throw away that capability just because Bach and his contemporaries didn't have it?

And even if Bach wouldn't have liked Gould's version- who cares?

The quality of any performance is a matter of taste, and there are plenty of reasons that someone might dislike Gould's interpretation. However, I find arguments about the "authenticity" of different performances to be pretty pointless.


I think 'period instruments' are ok in some situations but, as you note, who cares and how would we be able to discern what Bach actually intended?

Boston has a number of cool 'intimate' performance spaces for the purists to enjoy their music in the smaller confines that can capture and, not dilute, the sounds of gut strings and less robust instruments. In the modern concert hall too much of the 'feel' of an old instrument is lost in the relatively cavernous space of a big hall.

I enjoy lute performance and had a great time listening to Julian Bream in Symphony Hall. He played a varied program of Dowland and Bach etc. and damn if anyone cared if he rocked our world doing Dowland on a big, booming Baroque lute - it worked and was great music.

[Haole]

I must say, I'm a little surprised by how much love Tchaikovsky is getting already.

Simply the most Russian of them all, probably the best as Stravinsky admitted himself - no small feat for Igor.

[Sachsen]

J.S. Bach could fill up round 1 by himself.

Absolutely correct. The old master is my favorite. The only reason I haven't picked anything by him yet is because the Goldbergs and the Matthew Passion got stolen out from under my nose. But it's OK, there are hundreds more to choose from, luckily.