The Classical Music Guide Forums

Corlyss is right: not having finished what we already have is no justification for failing to ask Santa to offer us more possibilities. Santa was very kind to me, including: DVDs: "The Little Drummer Boy" (Bernstein, commenting on Mahler) M 5 by Abbado Netrebko and Villazon, singing La Traviata and ...

I believe Harold may have been thinking of Mahler's music as a sort of spiritually healing force. I realize this leaves me wide open to attacks, as spiritual matters are not usually something for the world of science. Yet, as we all know, music is merely relayed vibratory sensations from our eardrum...

Same goes for me--thanks for the suggestion.

Strauss is right up there with my favorites: Mahler, Wagner, Puccini, and Bruckner. Why Strauss? Der Rosenkavalier has some of the most ethereal music ever written, as well as an all-encompassing Weltanschauung, and the "presentation of the rose" scene is the best musical equivalent to Shakespeare's...

Oh, and thank you Johnshade for posting photos from the production!

Although I watched it on regular (not HD) tv, I think that was good, as it keeps me from getting carried away with the optical show. I had no idea what to expect, so here are my impressions. Perhaps others will have their own perspectives. I was very glad to see a Magic Flute in English. It's hard e...

I will watch Traymor's edition tonight at 9:00 on PBS, but I would love to hear what you think of it!

What do you think of the Metropolitan's live HD broadcasts? Tonight (Weds. Jan. 24) PBS is broadcasting the earlier live broadcast of Julie Taymor's English language production of Mozart's Magic Flute. At first glance, it seems to me a good thing, that will perhaps attract more people to give opera ...

The demise of the local music store is like the death of the "Mom & Pop" stores. It's simply a question of extinction through evolution. The internet offers, at reasonable prices, access to things our local music stores could never do. It would have been extremely unfair of me to expect my local mus...

Kudos to Ralph for his usual, straight-to-the-point explanation of the issue, AND for providing links to further reading on the topic.

SOCIETAL EXIGENCIES Another perspective on Strauss' membership in the Nazi Party is simply to think of it as wanting to vote in a Primary Election. You must designate a party affiliation in order to vote choices on their slate. In Nazi Germany, if you wanted to practice music, you had to be an offic...

In accord with Ralph, I find each Mahler symphony provides something new each time we hear it. If anyone would like to "be a kid again," then, in the spirit of this Halloween season, why not listen, (as a kid) to the spooky sounds of Mahler's Third, I believe the third movement subtitled, "what the ...

It would have been such fun to hear Anna's comments on her death: Something like, (and imagine this in her voice): "Well, Dear, I simply HAD to die! God look how old I was getting!" We will all miss her wit and her endeavors to keep us Wagnerites from "getting too uppity." I hope Lance does a progra...

Lance, I could certainly live happily ever after with your favorites for heart-churning music. Along with Mahler's 3rd (my favorite) you might revisit the contralto's voice in M2. I find it especially touching in the Urlicht movement, where the angel tries to turn him aside (from heaven or an afterl...

Karl wrote:
It would be something like a wine-tasting, where we somehow expect fifty individuals to describe the same wine in exactly the same way.[/quote]Cheers,
~Karl

Exceptionally apt analogy, Karl!

[quote="val"]When I say that the slow movement of Beethoven Quartet opus 132 gives me a sense of transcendence, I know I am not expressing the feelings I have when I listen to it. I am just trying to find in the world of the concept some pattern that can be understood by someone else: but the point ...

[quote="Brendan"]Words are not the only things that convey meaning, Well said, Brendan. We probably should not worry too much about categorizing one art form with the descriptives used by another. Yet there is a natural curiosity to ask our neighbors, "Did you hear that?" It's part of wanting to bet...

When referring to Die Walkure, perhaps the word "redemption" relied too much on the text. Yet, I think that even without any awareness of the text, one hearing the melody accompanying that portion of the libretto, would have to notice that the music was expressing some sort of heavenly embrace or re...

After reading the many and varied responses to the topic of what music we find most emotionally moving, I had several additional thoughts. For many of us "emotionally moving" meant bringing tears to our eyes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that response. Several went on to express other respo...

This topic is probably as diverse as all of us posters.
Although many different pieces can move me, I simply cannot get through either of these two, without tears:

1. Wagner's Tannhauser: Wolfram's song to the Evening Star
2. Mahler's 2nd Sym: "Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott!"

Of course it's likely that most of you have seen the DVD of Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas in Pagliacci. I had put it away, but recently revisited it. The single DVD is an apt pairing of Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana, both short works that deal with the destructive power of jealousy. These ...

Others have already raised excellent ideas regarding the "perfect" performance. I can only add that perhaps "perfect" should not be applied to a piece of music anymore than we should decide what makes up a "perfect life." Could it not be that music, like life, is continuously changing. "Perfect" may...

Has anyone seen the new DVD of Mahler's 2nd Symphony, produced by Brigham Young? I thought it was quite good, and the soloists, Jennie Litster, soprano, and Francesca Forsyth, contralto, were especially good. With many hundreds of performers, this was an ambitious undertaking, even for those accusto...

Did everyone notice the wonderful posting by MaestroDJS, on the subject of musically-inspired names? In case you don't want to scroll back for it, here it is again: Ah yes, Dans Micawber was the younger brother of Wilkins Micawber, of David Copperfield fame. Other persons whose names have inspired m...

[quote="dirkronk"]Saturday mornings in the late 1950s and early 1960s: background music in Bugs Bunny cartoons and the Lone Ranger. Couple this with a music/choir teacher in elementary school who took us to a kid's concert--prepping us for it by playing Danse Macabre and emphasizing the imagery sugg...

I just want to thank all the kind people who shared what first led them to enjoy classical music.

Come on, other people out there in cyberspace: don't be shy! Share with us your best idea of what or who it was that first caused you to discover classical music.

I think it might be interesting for some of us to share how they first became interested in classical music. For instance, I'd guess that my first appreciation for classical music came when I was in the high school marching band. Although I was not much of a musician, and totally uncoordinated as a ...

Cyril Ignatious and Agnes are quite correct about the many errors in Alma Mahler's writings. Having just finished reading her diaries, I am amazed at how often she confuses his symphonies. When one reads her diaries, it is with a regularity of almost day by day that she alternately expresses love an...

Ralph, jBuck919, Agnes, Teresa, CharmNewton, pizza, jserraglio" Thank you all so much for sharing such diverse insights into Mahler's religiosity. You truly overwhelmed me by the extent of your erudition and your willingness to share it with others. What a wonderful world this is, to be able to lear...

Many are critical of composer Gustav Mahler for his renunciation of Judaism to pave the way for his advancement in a Europe that preferred to specify the religion of its conductors. I wonder if it occurred to them that formal religion was simply not an important issue to Mahler, and thus it was not ...