101 Classical Music CDs

These are two familiar and highly recognizable Mozart symphonies that are an absolute pleasure to listen to, even if you're a retired trumpet player who resents all of the crappy parts he had to play in Mozart symphonies in high school orchestra. ********************** James Levine and the Wiener Philharmoniker Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Symphony #40 and Symphony #41 (1788) Deutsche Grammophon, 1990 ********************** Both of these symphonies have what I consider a more typical symphonic structure (compared to, say, last week's Elgar Symphony #2 ). For example, listen to the opening melody in Symphony #40, and then hear how Mozart massages that melody into various keys, forms and variations throughout the movement. What's so fascinating about Mozart is his ability to toy with a simple melody--literally to wrap it around his finger and mess with it in ways you'd never imagine--and yet the music still seems so flawless, logical and beautiful. Four brief fin...

Anyone who made it to their high school graduation will instantly recognize Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March #1, which features possibly one of the most memorable classical music melodies of the 20th century. But I wouldn't bother making today's recording, Elgar's Symphony #2, a building block of your classical music collection. ********************** Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Symphony #2 (1911) EMI Classics, 1991 (0riginal recording 1976) ********************** The symphony seemed both shapeless and plotless to me, even after two close listens. That would be fine if the music were in any way arresting or beautiful (see Debussy or Vaughan Williams, both of whom composed shapeless, plotless beautiful music), but I found I had zero emotional involvement in this symphony throughout. In fact, if anybody would like my copy of this CD, just shoot me a quick email with your snail-mail address (see my profile for my ema...

Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, unlike most everything else he composed, was actually met with acclaim and enthusiasm when it was premiered. We've already discussed how Bruckner was a misfit in his world and suffered during his life . Today, I'd like to talk about Bruckner's personal self-doubt. ********************** Daniel Barenboim and the Berliner Philharmoniker Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) Symphony #7 Teldec Classics, 1993 ********************** Classical music is rife with composers with enormous egos (e.g. Beethoven, whose enormous ego was thoroughly justified ) as well as composers with enormous insecurities (e.g. Brahms, whose enormous self-doubts were thoroughly un justified). Many 19th Century composers suffered the bad luck of living in the shadow of Beethoven, who wrote music so nearly perfect and with such gravity that people during this era thought his works were the ultimate last word in symphonic music. Composers like Bruckner had it worse still: they labore...

Brahms' First Symphony, which we listened to in February , was reportedly the product of at least 14 years of work (some sources will say two decades), as he felt the heavy burden of attempting to compose a symphony with sufficient "gravitas" in the post-Beethoven era. In contrast, he wrote his Second Symphony in less than a year. ********************** Bernard Haitink and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Brahms: Symphony No. 2 Philips, 1991 ********************** It's interesting how a genius like Brahms puts so much pressure on himself writing one symphony that it takes him so many years and so much suffering to get it done. But in the next year , he quickly pounds out another symphony--one that's just as beautiful by the way--without putting any evident pressure on himself at all. In both symphonies he came up with the goods. But how can the composition of one work be so seemingly effortless while the other needed to be dragged kicking ...

Surprisingly little is known about Bach's Cello Suites. It's unclear when Bach composed them and there isn't even a definitive manuscript. ********************** Jian Wang, cello Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750 ) Six Cello Suites Deutsche Grammophon, 2005 ********************** In fact, the popularity of these amazing works is due to the singular coincidence of famous Catalan cellist Pau Casals finding an edition of the suites in a thrift shop . Casals probably did more than anyone else towards popularizing these works (he made the first complete recording of the cello suites in the mid 1930s), and today the cello suites are seen by many as the greatest works ever composed for a solo instrument. These suites sound profoundly difficult to play (of course I'm saying this with zero knowledge of how to play a cello), but the music doesn't have the many-layered complexity of what you'd typically expect from a Bach composition. The pieces are simple and elegant, an...

In today's post, we'll take yet another short break from symphonic works , and a return to some more beautiful works of chamber music. ********************** Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Piano Trio in D major, "Ghost" Piano Trio in B flat major, "Archduke" The Geister Trio Deutsche Grammophon, 1970 ********************** Beethoven's symphonies certainly get the bulk of attention from listeners, in part because in many peoples' view, he brought the symphonic composition to a point of utter perfection (although some might say ponderous im perfection). But his chamber music is considered equally as important from an artistic standpoint--and quite frankly, it's quite a bit more relaxing to listen to. Today's musical selections are piano trios, which consist of a violin, a cello and a piano. Or more accurately stated, a fortepiano , which was the a predecessor to the modern piano, and was the instrument in use in Beethoven's day. Beethove...