By special request, let’s discuss our favourite Classic Music and why?

I forgot the first movement of Mozart’s piano concerto no 21. Always a favourite.

Growing up I had a lot of exposure to classical music and opera until my parents had one of their Road to Damascus moments and discovered The Beatles and thank God, less of the sopranos coming up through the ceiling into my bedroom and positively shattering my poor immature ear drums and more of what I loved.

Classical music eventually started to become something I wanted to listen to and that opera that I hated then, in particular Puccini is now music that I absolutely adore. I wouldn't claim to be very well up on classical music but know there's much of it I love. Many works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven,Rachmaninoff, Bach and then individual pieces such as The Gadfly Shostakovich, Intemezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni, Pachelbel's Cannon, Vaughan Williams Nimrod, The Pearl Fishers Bizet, Habanera from Carmen, Clair de lune Debussy. Like others introduced to it through the medium of film, Death in Venice, Mahler's 5th Symphony got played a lot after seeing the film.

My father loved Italian opera, but couldn’t listen to purely orchestral music for some strange reason. If I wanted to listen to it, he would go into another room. We were often swapping rooms ( there weren’t that many in our very small house!) as I was not a fan of opera at that time. Now I am, and have seen many live performances. He would be pleased, I’m sure.

Greyduster I love the Monteverdi Vespers. Probably cos it is such a joy to sing, which I have been lucky enough to do several times.

Classical music is my passion and I could go on all day with ideas of beautiful choices. But here goes with a few

Thank you for the list, Luckygirl
How lucky we are to have YouTube and Wikipedia at our fingertips.
When the members of our group have chosen their piece for the month they are invited to say a few words about it but sometimes they decline so I have to fill in to keep the flow going.
Our former group leader was an accomplished organist and choral singer with an encyclopaedic knowledge of classical composers.
Talk about a tough act to follow!! 😕

lixy

For belting out when the neighbours are on holiday:

Finlandia - Sibelius
The Flying Dutchman overture - Wagner

For lifting the mood - any of the Gilbert and Sullivans, though The Pirates of Penzance is my favourite (if light operetta counts?)

DH is an Opera fanatic, He has watched, sung, directed, produced, musically directed, and set designed opera of every kind from G&S to high Italian drama - Rigoletta et al. over 65 years

We were actually at a performance of Welsh Natioanl Opera's production of The Flying Dutchman last night. I am not particulalry enamoured of Wagner, but I hadn't seen the Flying Dutchman before and I was blown away by it, music, and production.

of course light opera counts I have seen many a production of The Merry Widow, Die Fledrmaus etc in my time. My favourite G&S is Yeoman of the Guard, but The Gondoliers I find irritating.

Luckygirl3

I am passionate about classical music, but struggle with Beethoven. Sometimes his music is sublime but then he starts crashing the pots and pans about for no good reason.... I find that annoying ... and a bit formulaic.

...but then he starts crashing the pots and pans about for no good reason...

I do in fact know what you mean.

Because he was 'breaking the rules' of Classicism in music, pushing the boundaries of the balanced conventions of the Classical era, it was inevitable that his rather raw, emotional expression would assault the ear drums somewhat .

... that's how I see - or rather hear him!

I have happy memories of G&S performances at school.
Pirates of Penzance will always be my favourite as I was in the pirate chorus.

My brother played Buttercup in HMS Pinafore at his all boys school!

I always used to think that girls dressing up as men got the better deal. 😂

Monica the Gondoliers was the first G&S operetta I saw, by the D’Oyley Carte at Golders Green Hippodrome in the mid sixties. I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by it too, but a later production of The Mikado was mesmerising. Totally bonkers and huge fun. I’ve seen it performed often and it’s my out and out favourite.

MOnica

They say hearing is the last sense to go and I want o leave this world for whatever..... with the Shepherd's Hyymn caressing my mind.

... here are some lovely visuals to match the Shepherd's Hymn - they capture it so essentially, especially the final scene.

There's no 'mid-way' adverts to disrupt the flow - apart from the inevitable initial one, in this video - I look at it frequently when I'm stressed.

youtu.be/twWjeH81krk?si=-LV3Fp0bXK3FRX9y

Zadok the Priest by Handel. I get goosebumps every time I hear it. The Messiah, of course and I like the Peer Gynt suite by Edward Grieg. We were lucky enough to visit his Bergen home in Norway.

Wyllow3
’Yuja Wang is scheduled to perform Samuel Barber's Piano Concerto" (at last night of proms

Seriously?
Oh Dear! 😫
I suppose. The Canzone Moderato’s not too bad but it reminds me of an episode of Foyles War where a woman is mistakenly abducted and tortured by being forced to listen to what sounds just like the first and third movements.

I want to leave this world with “Lark Ascending”

But for me it is Mozart of choice. But it really does depend on my mood.

I always thought I would have ‘Coronation Scot’ (“the train now leaving platform 3….”) but now it has to be Mozart’s “Soave sia il vento”. May the wind be gentle and the wave be calm. As I’m not planning to go just yet, I may change my mind again😁!

Or Elgar’s “Where Corals Lie” sung by Dame Janet Baker. Bliss.

The Gadfly by Shostakovich is sublime. It is soothing to the soul as it swoops and soars like the gadfly. It always relaxes me and I marvel at the composer’s brilliance. Listen to it on YouTube.

merlotgran

Wyllow3
’Yuja Wang is scheduled to perform Samuel Barber's Piano Concerto" (at last night of proms

Seriously?
Oh Dear! 😫
I suppose. The Canzone Moderato’s not too bad but it reminds me of an episode of Foyles War where a woman is mistakenly abducted and tortured by being forced to listen to what sounds just like the first and third movements.

I know! I listened to it a bit and its ...well no appeal at all, just admirable technically if you ask me.

Even the great and the good find some music shall we say “a bit much” sometimes. Sir Adrian Boult refused to conduct a second performance of Walton’s First Symphony because he said he “couldn’t face all that malice a second time!” It is full of angst, for sure, but the first movement is an absolute cracker.

paddyann54

Madam Butterfly and La Boheme were amongst the opera albums my dad played LOUD on Saturday mornings.He flung open all the windows (that got us out of bed) and played mainly opera while he did the one household chore he did
He vacuumed the house on all three levels and the music had to be loud so he could hear it from top to bottom.
Only time he varied his play list was when he was learning the lyrics to some aria for a charity concert .
He didn’t speak Italian so he learned them phonetically ,we ,his four daughters used to write the lyrics down for him to practice as he hoovered.
Music was and still is a huge part of my life.

Would love to have met your Dad …he sounds wonderful!

I was brought up listening to classical pieces on our old 78 records on our record player, Richard Tauber, Caruso Tito Gobbi etc. lots of Chopin and other classical pieces… as the times changed so did the record player and my sister and I played various LPs and EPs of the day… she bought Elvis, I bought Shostakovich! I enjoyed both. We always went to the Theatre and to local musicals, but It was however only later in my 20s after I had left home that I had my first visit to an Opera! Loved it and queued up to get in the ‘gods’, the cheap seats, immediately after work twice a year when the Welsh National Opera came to town!
So anything Verdi, Mozart, Puccini are my favourites, but I have also enjoyed many other Operas.
It’s the emotion that the music brings …not only Opera, Max Bruch’s double concerto is a favourite… that I revel in …so many more I could list all day. Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Eugene Oregon, Dvorak, etc etc.
Of all Verdi’s operas , I think Don Carlos is my Favourite. Aida of course, but also I am a big fan of the musical Aida written by Elton John and Tim Rice … which I saw in New York. Not really known much over here.
Wonderful music. I always get annoyed at Quizzes that almost always have pop questions but almost never on Classical Music.
It’s called CLASSICAL for a reason!

Just asked Alexa to play this- very relaxing😎

I love Rachmaninov's cello concerto.
Also John Rutter's The Blessing preferably sung by The Cambridge Singers. We had it played for my mum's funeral and it was sublime.

I have loved the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams ever since I first discovered it while still at school. It's just so quintessentially English. My particular favourite is Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.

I too was brought up on only classical music, pop was for much later, when the wireless was traded for a transistor! I love the exquisite emotions, the complicated entwined tunes, the cascade of voices. I absolutely love church music of the baroque period, the the romantic period.

So, in no particular orders: -
Just about anything by JS Bach
Spem in Alium; Dido’s lament - Thomas Tallis
Rachmaninov - vespers; piano concerto no. 2
Eternal light of Love Divine - GF Handel
Piano concerto no. 2 - Stravinsky
Piano concerto no. 1 - Maurice Ravel

That’s for starters…

I am a fan of early music anything from Gregorian chants to Baroque but especially love Italian Baroque viz Corelli, Vivaldi et all any of this is soothing to my soul or cheers me up in dark moments. I do not generally enjoy 19th Century music, and only a few select 20th Century composers such as Holst or Vaughan Williams