Any classical music fans out there...?

adamraoadamrao
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Are any of my fellow AppleInsider forum members classical music fans? I got hooked onto classical music by Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto almost 10 years ago. Stephen Hough just released a new 2CD recording of the Rachmaninov piano concertos that got some pretty good reviews. (Check http://www.classicstoday.com/) Let me keep this brief... it's expensive, I have a limited budget and there aren't any store around me that will let me listen to classical CDs before I buy. Anyone know of where I can listen online to this CD (particularly the 2nd concerto)? I went to Hyperion's website and they have some of the 3rd concerto and some of the Paganini Rhapsody online, but nothing else. I've checked the iTunes music store to no avail. I'm stuck for the time being. I'd love to just buy and enjoy, but I really would like to listen to it first. Any ideas? Thanks!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    crazychestercrazychester Posts: 1,339member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by adamrao

    Let me keep this brief... it's expensive, I have a limited budget and there aren't any store around me that will let me listen to classical CDs before I buy. Anyone know of where I can listen online to this CD (particularly the 2nd concerto)?



    No but you may find this site useful.



    This is why I started using P2P. I'll be damned if I'm going to buy the music industry's expensive product sight unseen - or heard unseen as the case maybe. I get to check out other products before I buy, why not music? Especially given the control the music industry exercises over radio.



    So this is what I do. I download and listen to stuff via P2P. If I like it and plan to go on listening to it, I go out and buy the CD. This seems to me to be a more than reasonable compromise.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    When I lived in Princeton, there was a little store that stocked a shit load of used, classical CDs. Now, I'm not particular enough to really put a lot of stake in the performer, especially since I don't have speakers good enough to make a difference.



    But that was the best. You walk in with $20, and walk out with 4 CDs. There might be a used record store near you, so it's worth a look.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by adamrao

    Are any of my fellow AppleInsider forum members classical music fans? I got hooked onto classical music by Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto almost 10 years ago. Stephen Hough just released a new 2CD recording of the Rachmaninov piano concertos that got some pretty good reviews. ...



    They are great



    Btw, if you like Rachmaninov, than you pretty much like Shostakovic and Prokofiev too. And Mahler, and Dvorak, ...
  • Reply 4 of 8
    adamraoadamrao Posts: 175member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Vox Barbara

    They are great



    Btw, if you like Rachmaninov, than you pretty much like Shostakovic and Prokofiev too. And Mahler, and Dvorak, ...



    Prokofiev is a favorite composer of mine. Same with Shostakovich. I don't know if you can make the same correlation with Mahler and Dvorak, though. Germans and Czechs tend to write music slightly different from Russian masters of the 20th century. I do like Mahler and Dvorak, though, so perhaps your assumption is correct.



    My profession is music. Wish I could get my hands on those CDs! Any chance that iTunes lets you stream music to other people? (Haven't really explored it yet; I'm still too hooked with material CDs...) If so, would there be any way you could stream them to me... or could you even re-encode them at a much lower bitrate and send them somehow? I really only want the 2nd concerto to listen to. I just want to hear the interpretation to see what I think. If I like that, I will definitely buy the 2 CD set. I might buy it anyway... but my budget is a bit tight, so I'm hoping I could listen first.



    Any chance you can help me out?
  • Reply 5 of 8
    hardheadhardhead Posts: 644member
    There was a fairly extensive thread on this subject not to long ago. There are quite a few classical music lovers here...
  • Reply 6 of 8
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    You can only stream playlists from computers on the same subnet, i.e., in the same house.



    I actually not a fan of pretty much anything after Beethoven, and I don't like anything of his aside from his symphonies. (some exceptions: some Johann Strauss, Dvorak, Stravinski, etc.) I prefer mostly baroque and neo-classical stuff. Among others, I like Vivaldi, Mozart, Hayden, JS Bach, Corelli, Monteverdi, etc. There's some renaissance stuff that's good too, mostly the choral stuff. Not Gregorian chants, and not opera, mind you. Desprez and Dufay are both very good composers from that period.



    iTMS has some OK coverage of the baroque and (proper) classical stuff. Just don't buy the works conducted by people like Bernstein, Stakowski or Kagarian (er, something like that -- Deutch Grammaphone recordings mostly). They sort of try to make these works sound like Wagner with revised orchestration and suppressing secondary melodies and polyphonies. Marriner and Pinoch among others are particularly good at performing these earlier works. I'm forgetting a few others right now.



    I also like more modern stuff, in particular, Arvo Part. the iTMS also lacks there too.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    ... Just don't buy the works conducted by people like Bernstein, Stakowski or Kagarian (er, something like that -- Deutch Grammaphone recordings mostly). They sort of try to make these works sound like Wagner with revised orchestration and suppressing secondary melodies and polyphonies. Marriner and Pinoch among others are particularly good at performing these earlier works.



    Du meinst sicherlich Karajan! Agreed on the subject, he is a bit ...er... egocentric, - but on the other hand he is a great musician. I don't no, if you ever have seen him performing live on stage. He is very uncommon.







    Quote:

    ... I also like more modern stuff, in particular, Arvo Part. the iTMS also lacks there too.



    Wow, A. Part, he is exceptional. Do you know Alban Berg? My master of midnight blues
  • Reply 8 of 8
    hassan i sabbahhassan i sabbah Posts: 3,987member
    Every time this thread threatens I always say the same thing:



    Spem in Aulium by Thomas Tallis.



    Utterly beautiful 40-part motet (like a huge madrigal, all voices) written in the 1500s. If you like Arvo Pärt this'll blow your socks off.
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