Classical composers. Who for you are the best?

"Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky is one of my very favourite operas. That's one that I have no intention of growing out of. Heart-stopping moments.

Plus I love his ballet music (not so much Nutcracker though).

And the Violin Concerto.

Although Tchaikovsky wasn't in my top five, his String Quartet No.1, Op. 11, especially the second movement, Andante Cantabile, would be one of my favourite works. You can find it on youtube.

Well, at least that got us all talking about Tchaikovsky, even if he wasn't in anyone's list!

Some of the popular classics that get dismissed as easy-listening and for immature tastes are often perfectly brilliant pieces of composition and we forget how wonderful they are. I am thinking of the Planet Suite for instance - a superb piece of orchestration and very evocative; or the Carnival of the Animlas - so clever!; or Grieg's piano concerto - worth listening to with a new ear.

I have slightly esoteric tastes as well - Finzi being a huge favourite, along with many of the other 20th century English composers - but come back to the old favourites sometimes to find something new in them.

There is a wonderful double CD of English music from Nimbus records which I return to over and over again. Full of truly wonderful music. And another favourite CD of mine is Bryn Terfel singing songs from Finzi and other English composers - his interpretations are wonderful.

What would we do without music? I could not bear it if I went deaf - it is a great dread of mine.

I like Bryn Terfel, but only have two of his CDs. One has the lovely piece by Tchaikovsky 'None but the Lonely Heart', and the other has him singing Arthur Somervell's music for the poem, 'A Shropshire Lad'. There is a song called 'The lads in their hundreds' about Ludlow Fair, and the young men who went to the first world war and never came back. It's very poignant and I always play it at this time of year.

That's the one artygran - what stylish singing! An absolute joy. His interpretation of the Finzi settings of Shakespeare are wonderful. His CD of songs from the shows is also terrific - very versatile chap.

I've heard him live a couple of times and he has great audience communication.

Blimey! I can't get away from him now! Just been out for a meal (it's my birthday tommorrow!), put the radio on in the car and ...... Romeo and Juliet! Adverts....1812 overture! Tchaikovsky's shade must have read my thread and come to teach me a lesson.

I love Handel, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Offenbach and Donizetti.

I have a soft spot for counter tenors and love opera. We don't often go to any live performances, but we did see Welsh National Opera perform Handel's Jephtha in Southampton a few nights ago. Fantastic!

Can I pls just flag up how lucky here in the UK we are to have Radio 3.

Both the SO and I, when we've kipped together and in our separate gaffs (TMI!), love waking slowly and drowsily with Radio 3 on the bedside radio. It's always varied, lively and the highest standard. Most of the DJs don't talk to much and we both of us are always hearing something new.

Of course I/we prefer some programmes and presenters to others. I avoid the jazz; the SO tends to avoid world music, opera and early music; loves any chamber music at any time! But that's just life.

A joy.

Let's cherish it and support it. Don't get it wrong, all of the BBC is very seriously under threat. I know of what I speak, I used to work there and have many friends who still do.

Dresden can I just say that around the time you posted that you have a soft spot for counter tenors, I sent away for the CD "Dowland - Campion: English Folksongs and Lute Songs" sung by the very talented young Swiss counter-tenor Andreas Scholl. Can I please recommend it? Every track is exquisite and it's hard to believe he is not a native English speaker. You can hear samples on the Amazon site. The lute playing is excellent too. imo.

Not classical music really. Though a recent Composer of the week on Radio 3 was someone called "Big Bands"! What is the world coming to? I'm much enjoying an inexpensive triple CD I bought recently (yes, I do buy a lot of CDs, we all have our little vices ) called "Chansons Françaises" No KBOX3277A, B, C.

Am disappointed that there's no Jacques Brel (I think his family keep an iron grip on his back catalogue) but there's lots of Charles Trenet, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Tino Rossi, Jean Sablon, Maurice Chevalier, Yves Montand (heart-throb!) Yvette Guilbert and more more more. In fact 20 tracks in well cleaned-up sound quality on each of the 3 CDs.

I've been amusing myself by downloading the lyrics (from all over the web) and translating them. Using Google Translate at first then working on them a bit. Many of them are real poetry. Some not! Some are in pretty dense Parisian slang which I just have to guess at.

In moderation, they're fun! Certainly another world.

crimson Mon 22-Oct-12 23:05:17
It was a golden age of BBC programmes, I think. GBH and A Very Peculiar Practice [filmed, I think, at Salford University where my ex husband did his post grad stuff] spring to mind.

I'm sure the Salford University location idea is wrong, sorry. BBC Midlands (ie Pebble Mill Drama) would never go that far afield unless there was no real alternative. I'd involve overnights, hotel expenses etc etc. BBC Drama in London would have made it out of Manchester if they needed to film on Salford Campus. As a licence payer, isn't that what you'd want?

Note Keele, Birmingham and Staffordshire are all accessible within a working day from Pebble Mill, Birmingham base.

Either way, Andrew Davies has never looked back!

Lowlands University (the fictional institution at which the series was set) was based on the University of East Anglia campus near Norwich. The BBC wanted to feature the UEA campus in the programme's credits but the University refused permission. The locations for the series' pre-filmed sequences were the universities of Keele and Birmingham. Also used for exterior filming was the BT engineer training school in Staffordshire. The selection of UEA by the producers was not unintentional as it was the base for Malcolm Bradbury, to whose development of the British campus novel the series is much indebted. Most of the interiors were shot at BBC Pebble Mill (first series) and in London (second), in the then common combined film/video format. Wikipedia

Beethoven - every time!

Palestrina

isthis I also love counter tenors -will order Andreas Scholl CD today.I heard him at St George's Bristol some time ago .I had a seat on front row of gallery near stage.I hung on every word/note.

jeni I've booked a ticket for Tallis Scholars .I could only get 2nd row gallery so I'll wave to you.

Good choice Maniac Do let us know what you think of it once you've got it.

Got Haydn on very loud. He really is a big favourite whatever my mood. Makes me feel that God is in her heaven. He was profoundly religious.

Anyone see an article in today's Times about how to like modern classical music? It named 5 pieces that are "a way into" modern classical music. One was the Rite of Spring but the list seemed otherwise pretty uninspiring.

Unfortunately the Times website is subscription only so I can't post a link. Did anyone else see it? What was the gist??

I would hardly have called The Rite of Spring "modern" myself. It's like people who want me to explain modern art to them and then I find they are talking about post impressionists who seem practically prehistoric to me.
Spent a lot of yesterday with Don Giovanni on Sky Arts. It really is my favourite opera although I always feel the poor tenor is a bit of a spare part. He goes through the whole opera as a sort of hanger on and doesn't really get the girl at the end. She's a bit vague about whether she really wants him at the end. If I'd been her I'd have run off with Leporello - yesterday's one was a very sexy Italian.

I think of The Rite of Spring as like a Picasso painting; sort of all disjointed but making sense in a pleasant sort of way.

There was a programme ages ago about staging the first performance of The Rite of Spring and the way they had to work out completely new choreography to match the music. I probably shouldn't admit it but I was first put on to Stravinsky by Steptoe and Son - when Harold was so thrilled to find a record of The Firebird. I felt terribly avant garde at the time as I listened to it.

I had that programme on video; I think the one the other day was a repeat...and unfortunately I only recorded part of it as I'd love to see it again. I very much wanted to see the costumes when they were exhibited in London a while ago. A fascinating era; I must get the film that was made about the Ballet Russes; I bought it for someone hoping I could borrow it back to watch but I've lost touch with them.

The costumes did look wonderful, they must have been an enormous shock to an audience used to tutus and men in tights. I really like Nijinsky's l'Apres Midi d'un Faun costume, again it must have been shocking at the time. A bit like Matthew Bourne's Swan lake. (I went to see it with my daughter and she said she would never go again because she couldn't imagine anyone doing anything better- don't think that will last.)

And Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty which I saw last week. Wish I had seen his Swan Lake. Nutcracker was very funny!

For me Beethoven and Ravel, Liszt all are great but I also likeTaverner

isthis sorry I didn't reply to you earlier.Yes I enjoyed the Andreas Scholl and lute CD very much.I shall play it often.Thanks for drawing my attention to it.
Last night I went to a concert by the Tallis Scholars in Bristol.
jeni and her friend were also there.It was absolutely wonderful-I can't find words but it was the highlight of this years music for me.