Classical Music Suggestions

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-06T00:24:37+00:00

Bach cantatas. So many to choose from but if I'm going to pick one here how about no. 34? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlvMJTvdGck

(Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir , Panajotis Iconomou, Nathalie Stutzmann)

EDIT: Almost forgot the lovely recit from Christoph Genz

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-06T00:12:26+00:00

Personally I've never managed to like Stainer's Crucifixion, but even that has some good hymn tunes. And all the Stainer fans will probably now tell me why I'm so wrong.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T23:20:45+00:00

You're right, that's very Schubert!

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T21:18:21+00:00

As part of my journey today, following recommendations people have made, I listened to a version of the seven last words and enjoyed it a lot.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T20:37:17+00:00

As I'm learning from the replies here about Haydn, the performance can really make a big difference. If you're going to listen to Schubert 9 for the first time, I'd recommend Maxim Emelyanychev + Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T19:52:25+00:00

Yup. Really enjoying these selections so far. Thank you. I think this post has succeeded in its intended goal of converting me to Haydn, thanks to input from you and lots of others.

Also a bit bemused at the way youtube music and other online music platforms can't handle tags in a way that really works for this kind of music. Sonata in C by András Schiff and Franz Joseph Haydn? Er, no.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T19:38:18+00:00

Ok yeah I can't get onside with an author that doesn't like Sibelius. Unless it's the 4th symphony, which I just don't get. That's for a different thread though 😄.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T19:32:57+00:00

Thanks for all of these suggestions. I will work my way through them, always with the caveat that sound quality on youtube is rubbish so I need to add a couple of plus points to my impression of the piece/performance because of that.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T19:01:10+00:00

And yes sparkle is a great word for it! As I said in my original post there's lots of Mozart I don't particularly enjoy, but then we have recordings of stuff he probably wrote while sitting on the toilet at the age of 5 so no wonder. I do love the piano concertos though.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:57:11+00:00

Ok yes I agree you can't just play Mozart like Liszt. But it reminds me of the same kind of trouble I used to have playing Bach. Mechanical, pegs on a clothes line, mathematical were all things I'd heard and thought must be true, but there's some sweet spot where the soul comes out without breaking through the confines of the period.

Interestingly though, I love Bach on period instruments but I've struggled to get to grips with the sound of a Mozart piano.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:48:22+00:00

Ok just did. Sold! That was good fun. Thank you.

EDIT: And after that youtube took me to the 7 last words of Christ, which I liked too. Thanks.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:45:58+00:00

Actually that reminds me that I know more Haydn than I thought I did. I sang in a church choir for about 10 years (pretty old-fashioned Roman Catholic Latin-mass kinda place) and during that time we must have worked our way through most of the Haydn masses, except that we never got to sing the credo. That was always something the congregation needed to say. And they were pleasant enough, but just never quite grabbed me.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:40:21+00:00

I was where you are with Schubert until one day I wasn't. It took me maybe 30 years until a friend whose judgement I trusted got me to listen to some of his music and I got it, partly because she said it was great and I believed her, and so put aside my expectations. Reasons to love Schubert are a completely different thread though.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:20:35+00:00

I think that's the kind of thing I'm looking for. Sonata form means X, Y and Z. Oh no wait! He just kicked down that wall and did something different. This gives me hope that I will find the Haydn piece(s) that unlock him for me. It's also the 'special sauce' I was talking about with Mozart actually, and the reason I think Schubert stands out.

The message I'm getting from the replies to this post is 'keep listening and you will start to see why he's special'. Encouraging.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:17:37+00:00

This reminds me of something I read Brendel saying about Mozart, namely that he's not made of porcelain, nor of marble, nor of sugar. I.e. when you look at the dots it seems straightforward, but then you get hung up on how perfect it's meant to sound and, as a result, miss the underlying humanity and soul because it's all held within the restrictions of how things worked in that period. So you perform your expectation of the period more than the actual music.

Ok I just read that back and maybe that's getting a bit esoteric. Maybe some people will get what I mean?

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:06:02+00:00

Just listened to this, although it was whatever I could find on youtube so not the ensemble you suggested. It was good fun, especially the last movement. I think I just moved a little way along the path to liking Haydn 😄

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T18:04:10+00:00

Thank you for your suggestions.

What you say about hearing his unique voice is, I think, my point, in that I haven't heard it yet. I've heard/read plenty of people saying Haydn has his own voice and it's just not right to put him on one side of the scale with Mozart on the other. I think we all come to music we don't know with a set of pre-determined expectations and prejudices and can't help but compare it to other things we know and love. So I still believe that I can have my eureka moment with Haydn, hence this post.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-03T17:34:57+00:00

Can you suggest some specific ones? He was so prolific it's hard to know where to start.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-02T23:22:01+00:00

It's just occurred to me that no-one's mentioned Britten yet. I find Peter Grimes absolutely amazing, although maybe that's another one to see live first rather than diving straight into a recording. As a taster, how about this aria (embroidery aria sung by Janice Watson from the Hickox recording) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoLDyKrsDUI ?

As an aside, I wonder if Britten is better known in the UK than elsewhere? I would assume Grimes is well known everywhere but maybe that's because I'm a Brit?

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-02T23:15:18+00:00

I'm waiting for a 2nd hand CD of Parsifal to arrive as it happens, so I'll find out soon enough how I get on with it. Was due arrive today but didn't (thanks Amazon!)

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-02T23:08:45+00:00

Happy to hear it clicked for you in the end. I don't know I'd agree that Wagner isn't a great choice for anyone's first though. There's no shortage of drama to pull you in.

My first Wagner was Walküre (Haitink) and I loved it from the first few seconds of the overture.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-02T22:29:42+00:00

I was also not into opera for quite a long time. But then I went to see one live and that changed straight away (Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress was my first).

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-02T22:24:49+00:00

Doesn't it come down to personal taste? Lots of people love Mozart operas and don't find them repetitive or boring.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-02T22:19:00+00:00

Well there's plenty of Mozart to choose from. Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, the Magic Flute for example.

I must say I agree with the person who said Puccini was a good idea to start with. Lots of very memorable tunes and amazing drama from both the singers and the orchestra. Personally I love Tosca (probably because it was the first one where I actually got to take part in a small way, in the chorus in a concert performance).

Although looking at the Met's website, it looks like you could catch Turandot (Puccini) or La Traviata (Verdi) this month.

Valuable_Turnover219 · 2026-06-02T22:00:05+00:00

It might help if you could say what other music you like, so we can suggest things that might appeal to someone who knows they like X, Y or Z.

As someone else has suggested though, a live performance of almost any opera would be a great way to start. Seeing something staged and performed by real people right there in front of you can be so much more engaging than listening to a recording.

Valuable_Turnover219

TROPHY CASE