101 Classical Music CDs

One particularly annoying thing about the Rimsky-Korsakov works on this CD is that they are recordings of performances I already own, on a CD that I already wrote about . Granted, these works are still a great pleasure to listen to (uh, again), but I'd prefer that that publishers at least chose another performance of the same work by the same symphony. At least then listeners could compare the two . But of course the publisher can make more money by simply re-copying an already recorded performance, and no one, except a few true classical music nerds, will ever know the difference. ********************** Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Tchaikovsky (1841-1904); Borodin (1833-1887); Rimsky Korsakov (1844-1908) Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture and Marche Slave Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances and In The Steppes of Central Asia Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture and Capriccio Espagnol Deutsche Grammophon, 1990 ********************** However, this ...

The overture will be very loud and noisy, but probably has no artistic merit, as I wrote it without either warmth or love. --Tchaikovsky, writing about the 1812 Overture to his patron Madame von Meck Tchaikovsky wasn't the only critic of his 1812 Overture . There isn't a music pundit anywhere who hasn't said something witheringly condescending about this work ("it is filled with cheap thrills," sneers my trusty Essential Canon of Classical Music). 1812 is the bane of high school bands anywhere and an eye-roll-inducer at summer pops orchestras everywhere. And despite all this, it remains one of the most electrifying works of classical music ever written. ********************** Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Tchaikovsky (1841-1904); Borodin (1833-1887); Rimsky Korsakov (1844-1908) Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture and Marche Slave Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances and In The Steppes of Central Asia Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival O...

Somehow it came and went and I never noticed. But my discussion of Grieg's Lyric Pieces was the 100th post here at this blog. And so I'm going to take this opportunity, belated as it is, to thank you for reading and for sharing in this journey I'm taking through my classical music. I'm so grateful for this blog, because it's taught me an important lesson beyond the composers, the history and the music. It has taught me that there is amazing beauty and joy in life right in front of our noses--if we would just take the time to look, listen and pay attention. But because I was too busy with life, all of the amazing classical music I owned just sat there, in a corner of our living room, dusty, forgotten and ignored. Those 101 classical music CDs were a metaphor for how I failed to appreciate the truly important things in life--and now they've become a metaphor for how I'm beginning to get it right. Okay. Enough sentimentality. As some of you have noticed, I too...

I am a composer in search of oblivion, and I'm always slightly ashamed that I compose. -- Alexander Borodin Today we're going to listen to two works by Alexander Borodin: the lesser-known In the Steppes of Central Asia , and the popular and well-known Polovtsian Dances . ********************** Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Tchaikovsky (1841-1904); Borodin (1833-1887); Rimsky Korsakov (1844-1908) Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture and Marche Slave Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances and In The Steppes of Central Asia Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture and Capriccio Espagnol Deutsche Grammophon, 1990 ********************** Borodin never gets top billing in symphony concerts or on classical music CDs, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he's on the undercard on today's CD. Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, a work well-known to the point of parody, gets to be the headliner . It shouldn't be this way. If you take the time to have on...