Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #41)

I'm afraid a lotta of better stuff might go this route...not liking it!!

 

Dunno about that!
I've been watching sales of CD's and if the price is right they sell fast.
Not many are selling @ full price.....economy sucks....sales reflect that.
Lotta people out of work and price of gas.

Same thing here .....economy sucks....this has reflected that for quite some time. To go see these venues even in a small town is pretty costly.
Average person just can't do it these days.

 

As for the new forum.....
I have liked this one for almost 3yrs now change won't be easy.
Hope it doesn't go to strictly pay or I'm out.

 

Jim, why do you say that? Was there a mention of having to pay for the new forum?

 

No mention at all. It's a software change, with attendant change of "look and feel," because we'd outgrown what we were using. Jim, you really should have a look at the announcement page that I linked a few posts back, as it in turn will link you to a full explanation of what's going on. Alternatively, just go to the head of the first page of the Music Forums thread list, where that announcement and a couple of other related items can be found as stickies.

 

we have a thread discussing the new forum

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=296544

 

Thanks George for this tip. I just ordered this 16 disc set for $26.87, including shipping across the big pond!!

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/EMI/2175002

 

The upside of all this: every time I go to a yard sale or thrift store there's a sea of classical CDs for $2.50 or less out there - if I had the money I could have bought 20 amazing London cds from the late eighties just this afternoon.

 

I know, I have found great classical cds and sacds in my local Newbury comics and the Goodwill store for pennies.

 

Although not directly a cause, I think the current state of contemporary classical music may have something do with this.

Don't get me wrong, I've not one of those (premature) old fogeys who thinks there has been no good music anywhere for at least 25 years, but there just isn't this buzz surrounding new classical music as there was even as recently as last century, let alone 40-50 years ago when great living composers like Britten, Shostakovich and even Tippett were easily filling out concert halls. Composers can't repeat the ideas of the distant past, no matter how much beloved music that has generated as it will sound watered-down and out-of-touch, but they are finding increasingly hard to say anything that hasn't been done before even in the last century, and their choice is either to write something super-accessible that risks critical ridicule or something ultra-modern that will alienate most of their potential audience, and rarely an ideal median.

That, combined with the constant dominance of popular music as the people's choice of listening and increasing propensity towards downloads, with classical remaining just about the only form of music where the physical medium is valued by the majority of its fans (mainly of the older, Western, well-to-do demographic), means that it's not surprising the classical music industry seems to be on its last legs.

 

Awesome!

 

That's a pretty eclectic selection - something for every lover of 20th classical music there!

Pleased to see Ades' Asyla deservedly being included - he went to the same school as me and my brother (though not at the same time in my case) and I've been following his rise since his teens from prodigiously gifted concert pianist (which he was better known as for some years) to internationally renowned composer, conductor, performer and educator with great interest.

 

Agreed.
Here's something else that has to do with modern performers. I know a lot of young musicians who study classical music and it saddens me when I realize that all emphasis today is on technique and much less on creativity.
I mean, you listen to recordings of the old masters and you hear mistakes. Is that such a bad thing? It does not matter to me as long as there is an individual expressiveness in the playing that makes the performance unique.
Too many players today, and I don't want to generalize, sound like perfect playing machines without soul.

 

I just looked at the listings of this collection and I saw that includes one of my favorite modern classical compositions, John Tavener's The Protecting Veil. Nice!

 

So true.

Have you heard Kemal Gekic? He's an example of a modern pianist who plays in the older, creative style. Fazil Say is another. Say's Beethoven is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

 

Unfortunately, no, I have not heard either of them. Thanks for the recommendation George!

 

Just placed an order on the following CD's, though not at $1 per CD ...

 

My pleasure!

Say can be "sampled" in an ultra-cheap 3CD set for under $12 new: http://www.amazon.com/Fazil-Say-Box...UTF8&qid=1350434483&sr=8-1&keywords=Fazil+Say

This is the ultimate Gekic CD: http://www.amazon.com/Kemal-Gekic-L...8&qid=1350434575&sr=1-20&keywords=Gekic+Kemal

and this one is a close second: http://www.amazon.com/Etudes-DExecu...8&qid=1350434611&sr=1-16&keywords=Gekic+Kemal

They aren't cheap, but they are worth it.

 

Cool, thanks!

 

But that isn't the case. Ironically it was the case 50 years ago.

All else being equal yes. Mistakes are bad things in classical music.

To be quite frank I think that is not just a hasty generalization but it simply is not true. There is no shortage of passion and soul with today's musicians. They may not work for you for whatever reasons but they are every bit as individualistic and expressive as any other generation of musicians.

 

Let's just agree to disagree Scott.

 

Just can't agree to that.

 

Now listening to this one for the first time.

 

I ordered the same set

 

No No.....just gun shy!
I have been on a coupla forums that upgraded in the past then limited ya to death unless you paid.
One of em I'm on now you hafta pay to sell stuff on it....which is is kinda crappy!
I can see if your a dealer but common joe citizen? Baloney.