Reddit mentions: The best classical forms & genres music

Hi, I've both won professional auditions and have been on audition committees. If it's not behind a screen, dress well.

You've got a Bb Scale and 3 excerpts. The Bb Scale has to be in tune, with a good tone, in a tempo. Galamian and Flesch have great scale patterns to use.
The excerpt should also be in tune, have accurate rhythm, and be close to a normal tempo. It sounds like you're auditioning for a community orchestra of sorts. That should do it. Too simple? Bad rhythm, intonation, tempo, and sound quality are the most common red flags that disqualify players. Do the indicated dynamics and articulations. Nobody's looking for a groundbreaking interpretation, unfortunately, though you should phrase well. Avoid red flags.
I'm reading a bit on this thread about the "broader picture." There's a lot of truth to that, but major red flags will absolutely disqualify you.

My impression from your writing is that you will have to practice more and practice better to do well at an audition. You want to be at peak performance. Start asking yourself what that really takes. What are your weaknesses? What are your strengths? Develop yourself daily on your own. If you've done Schradieck, Kreutzer (or other difficult etudes), Galamian, or Flesch scales, it's worth selecting meaningful sections to rework or new sections to master. If you're not sure, consider taking lessons again with an orchestral musician. At 23, it might be time to search out some interesting building material like Massart's packet on how to really practice Kreutzer (available on some archive sites...), Ricci's book on left hand technique, or at least Galamian's Art of violin playing and teaching.

If nerves are a problem, you should absolutely address that issue. For some, that means organizing well, having a light breakfast the day of, playing in public a lot, life coaching, or beta-blockers. I've never taken beta-blockers. If I prepare well (many hours and good planning), I feel more confident. Mental imaging (what will it look like? how will I feel? what's the plan on audition day) helps me a lot too. Very few people sound better at an audition than they did in their practice room.

In an audition for a full-time, professional symphony (an ICSOM orchestra), there are usually 10 or more excerpts, a Mozart concerto mov, and a Romantic concerto movement. You have more opportunity for expression, for rubato, vibrato, glissandi, in solo pieces. It's expected that you play with great phrasing, in an appropriate style. It's expected that you've listened to recordings, studied full scores, and can play the material flawlessly. A mistake or two MIGHT not disqualify you, especially if it's not indicative of a broader problem. It helps to play for people who know the excerpts. If you don't have it yet, Bill Preucil has a tremendous audition excerpt CD. No Tchaik 4, but most of the standard pieces.

In terms of feel and style, there's a lot of overlap between All Things Must Pass and Drake's music, though I feel that the actual content of their music diverges in an important way. They both deal very much thematically with impermanence, but I feel like Harrison's portrayal of impermanence is one of comfort and ease, while Drake's is one of the fleeting nature of the meaningful in life. There's a definite sense of resignation and withdrawal in Nick Drake's music that he expressed in such beautiful and gentle songs far more sophisticated than any other music I've ever heard about dealing with depression. Both George and Nick can make me feel better, but it's definitely in different ways and definitely depend on my mood.

Now in Tom Waits and Scott Walker, you have two amazing artists whose discographies are huge and have made music so stylistically diverse, that you can always find something to hit the spot. I really like early Scott Walker with the Brel covers and large arrangements.

Spanish guitar is wonderfully relaxing and fascinating and Andres Segovia was the first person to legitimize the instrument as fit for performing solo classical works, not just accompanying singing and dancing. Unfortunately, even though he rose to prominence in the 20th century, there was a major dearth in classical literature for the guitar and he was limited to the very few Spanish composers who wrote for the instrument and transcriptions of famous works for other instruments, such as Bach's preludes and fugues. Since then, several great composers of guitar music have emerged, such as Villa-Lobos and Rodrigo (my favorite.) If you've never heard this, it's one of the best CDs (I know, I know, this is /r/vinyl) I've ever owned across all genres. And John Williams (the guitarist, not the composer) is sick nasty.

And no one should ever be too sure about what's next--there's no terminus in this endeavor!

Martha Argerich Rach 3 and Tchaikovsky - A classic. First rendition of Rach 3 I heard. Not the most technically perfect (e.g. compare with Kissin) but just so powerful and exhilarating.

Solti Mahler 8 in Vienna - Perfect soloists, perfect sound, perfect interpretation. Completely different league with respect to any other recording in terms of the soloists and Part 1.

Solti Brahms cycle - Great cycle. Either I love CSO/Solti recordings or I can't stand them. This is one of the former probably because Brahms is more in line with Solti's type of conducting. The fourth is particularily strong.

Mahler 2 Bernstein - Another classic. Not your everyday Mahler 2 but then again you don't listen to Mahler 2 every day. Pushing the score to its romantic limits as one reviewer put. Spiritual listening experience of death and transfiguration for the listener.

Eugene Ablulescu's Hammerklavier - Very interesting academic performance (not as slow or heartfelt as Solomon in the adagio for example). Rigid adherence to marked tempi. No idea why it isn't more well known.

Also I totally second the Gilels/Jochum Brahms concertos.

I have listened to Vladamir Askenazy's and Georg Solti's Beethoven: The Piano Concertos a lot. I mean like 200 times or more. I love the whole thing.

I also really enjoy Nelson Freire & Riccardo Chailly with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig playing Brahms Piano Concertos. I realize the hallmark for Brahms 1st Piano Concerto is the Clifford Curzon and George Szell recording but for some reason this recording is the one I go back to. Again I have listened to this Nelson Freire & Riccardo Chailly recording a ton of times.

Another album I have been listening to recently and obsessively is Paul Badura-Skoda's Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas Played on Period Instruments. I really love how Schubert's Sonatas sound on period fortepianos making it so that you have to play it faster since the strings cannot sustain the notes as long as modern pianos. Badura-Skoda also tried to tie fragment pieces into sonatas and extended some of the unfinished fragments like combining the F-sharp Minor D.571 fragment with D. 604 and two movements from D.570 to make "Sonata no. 8" as well as tacking on the C Major Allegretto D.346 onto the end of the C Major D.279 Sonata. While controversial to purists, I have quite enjoyed these additions especially C Major Allegretto D.346 which makes a unique use of the fagotto lever that gives a shocking power to the piece that I have never heard before. I will admit there are times where the playing is muddled which I think is attributed to both the artist and the instrument but for some reason I really like the sonatas like this plus I really love Schubert's piano music. This doesn't mean I love Kempff, Brendel or Richter's playing less but I really appreciate what this album does.

I like some of Zimmer's scores, but he does tend to use electronics symphonically, whereas I prefer scores played by actual orchestras with no synthesized sounds mixed in.

Aside from Beethoven's 9 Symphonies, his 5 Piano Concertos are my second favourite, following by his 32 Piano Sonatas, and 16 String Quartets are great. I really love all 5 piano concertos.

Among the 32 piano sonatas, this one is my favourite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAFjOcOv868

Here is Beethoven's Piano Concerto 1. The stunning first movement cadenza starts at 13:05.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywv0JwoTuk

Another performance of it I enjoy watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf2xPDmzkYg

The most famous of the 5 is probably number 5, known as The Emperor Concerto. Here is the great Pollini playing it quite recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTLOQGF-c1E

My personal favourite of the 5 piano concertos is number 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXq2Dq0W5lY

If you want a CD recommendation for the Beethoven Piano Concertos:

https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Piano-Concertos-Ludwig-von/dp/B0000041K9/ref=sr_1_1

or a video recommendation, here's an old but awesome performance

https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Piano-Concertos-DVD-Video/dp/B000V9B7PW/ref=sr_1_1_twi_dvd_1

The one complaint I have about this is that many of these pieces deserve to be listened to in their entirety. I don't generally like Germanic operas - and listening to the entire Ring Series from Wagner would take something like 9 hours - and even then there are relatively few songs that stand out to me. With that in mind, I'd like to first thank you for putting this up and add just a bit to what you've already listed. I've tried to find some of the best recordings I can, which are often very cheap from Amazon if you buy them used.

Carmen is one of the very best operas, but that's for another discussion. You really can't go wrong with anything from Bizet.

Also Sprach Zarathustria is an entire work. The piece most commonly known from 2001: A Space Odyssey is merely the first piece.

Carmina Burana most certainly belongs in this list, as its signature piece (O Fortuna) is frequently used for a cheap dramatic effect.

I am fairly certain the band name "Modest Mouse" is a direct reference to a classical composer, Modest Moussorgsky.

Numbers listed refer to the track number in the listed album.

Album/Work|Composer|Notable examples

----|:----|:----
Peer Gynt Suite | Edvard Grieg | 1 - Morning Mood, 4 - In the Hall of the Mountain King
The Nutcracker | Tchaikovsky | 3 - March, 19 - Waltz of the Flowers, 22 - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Carmen / L'Arlésienne Suites | Georges Bizet | 1 - Les Toréadors, 2-3 - Prelude / Aragonaise, Habanera
Also Sprach Zarathustria, bonus: The Planets | Richard Stauss, bonus: Holst | 1 - Einleitung or Sonnenaufgang (prelude or sunrise), 10 - Mars, the Bringer of War, 12 - Mercury, the Winged Messenger
Carmina Burana | Carl Orff | 1 & 25 - O Fortuna, 6 - Tanz, 15 - Amor Volat Undique
Pictures at an Exhibition / Night on Bald Mountain | Modest Moussorgsky | 12 - The Great Gate of Kiev, 16 - Night on Bald Mountain (Fantasia version)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Greatest Hits | Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov | 1 - Flight of the Bumblebee, 10 - Procession of the Nobles, 6 - Fandago Asturiano

A good starter list of a few different styles, with links to Amazon to get some samples...

• Barber: Adagio For Strings Op.11 - Slow yet intense string piece.
  
  
• Dvorak: New World Symphony - Good symphony with a wide range, from slow moving parts to more bombastic parts. (at times, you can hear similarities to the score from Star Wars/Imperial March)
  
  
• Rachmaninov: Vespers - One of my personal favorites. Choral music - intense, haunting at times, interesting harmonies founded on that trademark Russian low bass.
  
  
• Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro A very accessible opera, and one of Mozart's most famous, perfect for a beginning opera listener.
  
  
• Beethoven - Symphonies 5 and 9. Easily two of Beethoven's most famous symphonies. Beyond the parts you hear in movies and commercials, very moving and complex pieces. The 9th is incredibly deep, particularly the 4th movement. I literally have over a dozen recordings of this piece alone, and hear something new every time I listen to it.
  
  
• Vivaldi: Four Seasons. You'll recognize this in quite a few places. I'm fond of the Winter suite, especially the third movement.
  
  
• Bach: Brandenburg Concertos. A good example of Bach's counterpoint style in Baroque string music
  
  
• Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #2. Intense and melodic, this piece transitions from sweeping melodic lines building to full frenzy - almost chaotic at times.
  
  
• Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 - Emporer. You could call this a "fancy" piece - several running lines across the piano, including heavy ornamentation and embellishments, particularly in the 1st and 3rd movements. The 2nd movement is more reserved, and it's tranquility bridges the more lively movements.
  
  
• Stravinsky: Rite of Spring. Fascinating, driving intensity - asymmetrical rhythms make this very interesting, unconventional.
  
  
• If you're feeling adventurous and want to delve into a longer piece of a different style, Handel's Messiah or Mendelssohn's Elijah are two great oratorios.

It's a personal taste thing, but I'm very into music and I think there are vast catalogues of music that are enjoyable for both adults and children, and there's no need to compromise.

In my opinion, most "kid-oriented" music is utter bullshit and I find it highly annoying. Luckily my wife agrees and she has excellent taste in music so we're probably okay.

And I'm not saying that all kids music is terrible. Even before we found out we were pregnant, I watched a bit of Yo Gabba Gabba and totally dug it. They do a great job of having great musicians come on and get the kids dancing. Lullatone is another.

Or, for instance, I have this "Amazing Electronic Pop Sounds Of Jean Jacques Perry" LP and put it on yesterday and we danced around. It was super fun and goofy.

I've also been rocking the Tomita album "Snowflakes Are Dancing" of Debussy interpretations on modular synths, it's just the right kind of atmospheric, engaging and weird that feel brain-stimulating to me.

I guess my main issue is with whitewashed, low-imagination music. Not in concept, but in the tonal structures, performance, and recording techniques. So much kids music feels fakey and hucksterish, and kind of insulting to kids intelligence. I'd rather throw on something with bright tonal colors but interesting structures.

I have the same issue with kids toys and furniture that are all poorly-designed, garish plastic bullshit. Like, I get it that a lot of this stuff isn't meant to last forever but it doesn't have to look like a bunch of unicorns got hopped up on energy drinks and barfed all over the place.

I think modern culture has promulgated the falsehood of the prodigy and the overnight success, such that we're trained to think everything is just talent that you're either born with or not. The truth is that gaining any skill like photography or cooking or ice skating or piano takes months and years of patient effort. There's really no way around that (even for prodigies), but you can learn to practice much more efficiently. Chuan Chang's book Fundamentals of Piano Practice might be very helpful. The Art of Practicing by Madeline Bruser is also quite good. You choice of music is your own of course, but I will add that my love of classical was absolutely triggered by this one album. I cannot recommend it too highly! It's just such a mind-boggling trip and I can't overstate it's impact on a bunch of us kids in the 1970's who had literally never heard this music before. Give it a shot. It might change your mind about what "classical" music can be! https://www.amazon.com/Switched-Bach-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B00005ORCV [EDIT: Added note on switched on bach]

>My last acquisition was a recording of Pictures at an Exhibition and its just not my favourite take on the piece

Which recording did you get? I'd recommend Fritz Reiner with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra or Antal Doráti with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.

As for Sibelius, I think the most popular recommendation tend to be for Anthony Collins with the London Symphony Orchestra and it's a really safe pick. You can't go wrong with it. The tempos are quite brisk. He plays through all seven symphonies in three and a half hours, faster than most others.

You should know that you can often listen to complete recordings on youtube before deciding whether you'd like to purchase any of them. Here's a few youtube videos for the complete Sibelius symphony cycle:

• Anthony Collins, London Symphony Orchestra
  
• Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra
  
• Paavo Berglund, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
  
• Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic Orchestra
  
  You can also find samples, usually around 30 seconds per track, at various merchant websites like prestomusic.com or amazon.com. While each sample is short, they can still help give you an idea as to whether you would enjoy the particular recordings.

A few to consider, some more affordable than others:

• Complete Webern
  
• Complete Varese
  
• The DG Complete Beethoven Edition (if you can find it anywhere)
  
• The Philips Complete Mozart Edition (if you can find it anywhere)
  
• Steve Reich
  
• Philip Glass
  
• Handel - Orchestral Works
  
• Bach - Orchestral Works
  
• Ravel - Complete Edition
  
• Debussy - Complete Edition
  
• Shostakovich Edition (one of the few Brilliant Classics box sets I can wholeheartedly recommend, unlike many of the others which can be a bit patchy)
  
• Strauss - Complete operas
  
• Wagner - Complete operas (Solti)
  
• Boulez - Bartok
  
• Boulez conducts Schoenberg (far from complete, but this about the best you can do)
  
• Boulez - Stravinsky
  
• Various Bach choral stuff - Gardiner
  
• Stravinsky
  
• Alban Berg Collection
  
• Berlioz - Complete orchestral works (Davis)
  
• Brahms - Complete Edition (absolutely superb collection)
  
• Britten conducts Britten + operas 1 and operas 2 + Complete Britten
  
• Sibelius - Symphonies and tone poems
  
• Elgar - Collector's Edition
  
• Vaughan Williams - Collector's Edition
  
• Barber - orchestral works (Alsop)
  
• Scriabin - Piano works
  
• C.P.E. Bach Edition
  
• Corelli - Complete Works
  
• Telemann - Tafelmusik
  
• Schubert - Masterworks (Brilliant Classics - not always the best recordings, but for the amount of stuff you get, worth the money
  
• Poulenc - complete works
  
• Messiaen - complete edition
  
• Mahler - complete edition (the symphony recordings here are a representative cross-section, you might want to supplement it with another complete cycle, e.g. Solti, Bernstein, Abbado, etc.)
  
• Liszt - Complete piano music
  
• Janacek - Operas
  
• Haydn - Symphonies (Hogwood), not complete, but as close as anyone has come to it
  
• Mozart - Symphonies (Pinnock) - an alternative to Mackerras
  
• Bartok - Piano works
  
• Debussy - Piano works
  
  If you need anything more specific than that, let me know and I'll try to recommend something.
  
  If you have a look in the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section for any of these, you'll find many more.

This is an honest and correct answer, unfortunately hidden behind my RES filter that hides comments with too low a score. So here's an upvote for you. I enjoy Valentina's videos but she wouldn't be mentioned in any conversation about the best pianists alive today.

I think many people, including myself, would pick Martha Argerich as the most skilled pianist alive today -- I see you mentioned her above, too.

EDIT - I see others below have mentioned Argerich, too. For those who don't know her or who have not heard her Rach 3, here's a good album to check out what we're talking about. It's not the greatest Rach 3 ever recorded, but it's up there, and is certainly one of, if not the fieriest ever recorded.

I'm not a musician so I don't have the words or expertise to describe why I like what I do, but this version is my favorite because it seems to flow better. It seems like the instruments are more... balanced? I've heard versions that sound more "rock"-like (looking at you, Joshua Bell) and don't care for that style for this particular set of music, even the Summer presto movement.

Played this (and the Second Suite) in HS concert band. A terrific piece.

Was ecstatic when browsing the new Telarc CD releases back in the 80s when I found this release.

The instrument used makes a difference with Bach's music. I'm not much of a fan of the harpsichord or the pipe organ, which are two of the instruments his music often gets played on. What really got me into Bach was Switched-On Bach by Walter Carlos, which is the name on the LP. Walter is now known as Wendy, which is the name on the CD. In case the Moog synthesizer is not your thing, I have also made a playlist of the same pieces played by a variety of acoustic instruments:

• Switched-On Bach Acoustic
  
  The Bach Variations: A Windham Hill Sampler is another good collection of Bach played on various acoustic instruments.

Seconding the suites for band. They're some of my favorite works. This album is one of the best I own

If you have these recordings, and you compare them to Argerich, she's done much better than he did. Maybe it's just the particular recordings I was using, but there's just no comparison. Ashkenazy can't do fast, intense, or energetic remotely as well as Argerich can.

Yes! Wendy Carlos, who used to be a man. I think he/she did some of the work on The Shining too. Amazon even seems to sell it.

http://www.amazon.com/Switched-On-Bach-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B00005ORCV

http://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Orange-Carloss-Complete-Original/dp/B00000DGXX/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1457982168&sr=1-3

Price History

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Does anyone know why CDs of Switched-On Bach sell for such a premium?

I managed to get a second-hand one for about €10, but I've seen them on offer for $60+
Here, for example

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

http://www.amazon.com/Vivaldi-The-Four-Seasons-Antonio/dp/B000003CSU

Here are some to get you started. Unsystematically selective, and didn't include opera.

Beethoven String Quartets by the Tokyo String Quartet- Razumovsky and late Quartets.

Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets.

Schubert String Quintet and Trout Quintet.

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique and Requiem.

Chopin Ballades/Scherzos, Nocturnes, and the op. 28 preludes.

Dvorak Cello Concerto.

Mendelssohn orchestral works.

Wagner overtures/preludes.

Schumann symphonies.

Wolf Lieder.

Schubert Winterreise, Die schoene Muellerin, and Lieder.

If you dig enough there's always a classical music (ie post copyright) CD for a couple bucks.

Who doesn't want more Vivaldi in their life?