Robert loves classical music. Do you??

Started by BiscuityBoyle, March 19, 2016, 07:15:08

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BiscuityBoyle

Some piano music I uploaded to Youtube ages ago, when I had a really boring work-at-home job. Mostly Debussy, some Rameau Prokofiev, Brahms, Chopin and Schumann too. The performances are really unique, mostly from behind the Iron Curtain, including by some of the all time greats.

Robert would approve of this!

Now this is painfully beautiful
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Don't you love how the golden glow of his piano tone shines through the hiss of the old recording?! At just two minutes, this one's a bargain!
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So much more where these came from https://www.youtube.com/user/punkpoetry/videos?shelf_id=3&sort=dd&view=0

Ulrich

Quote from: BiscuityBoyle on March 19, 2016, 07:15:08
Robert would approve of this!

Would he? I myself have no idea how much piano music he listens to in private...  :?

He has mentioned some classical music he likes to listen to. Maybe some of us do remember which composers or pieces he prefers? (I think he said Debussy, among others.)

I don't listen to a lot of classical, but if I do, I enjoy it! Especially "live" (e.g. with the good acoustics of an old church around you)!

Also I found out that I like the sound of piano plus cello. (Anyone able to recommend something in that combination?)
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

BiscuityBoyle

Quote from: Ulrich on March 19, 2016, 10:16:16
Quote from: BiscuityBoyle on March 19, 2016, 07:15:08
Robert would approve of this!

Would he? I myself have no idea how much piano music he listens to in private...  :?

As he repeatdly cites Chopin as one of his favourite composers I'm guessing he has listened to it quite a bit, as Chopin hardly ever wrote for instruments other than piano (I believe he did write a sonata for cello and piano, but it's not very highly rated)! The piano also plays a huge role in the oeuvres of Debussy and Prokofiev, also among his favourites; though, unlike Chopin, they wrote some beautiful orchestral and operatic music as well. 

QuoteAlso I found out that I like the sound of piano plus cello. (Anyone able to recommend something in that combination?)

Why yes, I am.

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MeltingMan

En cette nation [Russie] qui n'a pas eu de théoriciens et de démagogues,
les pires ferments de destruction ont apparu. (J. Péladan)

Ulrich

Thank you for the piano/cello music, beautiful!  :smth023

Quote from: BiscuityBoyle on March 19, 2016, 10:59:02
As he repeatdly cites Chopin as one of his favourite composers I'm guessing he has listened to it quite a bit, as Chopin hardly ever wrote for instruments other than piano (I believe he did write a sonata for cello and piano, but it's not very highly rated)! The piano also plays a huge role in the oeuvres of Debussy and Prokofiev, also among his favourites; though, unlike Chopin, they wrote some beautiful orchestral and operatic music as well. 

Thanks for this info. Cool.
Must look up some old interviews and tour program booklets, where he might've mentioned his faves.
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

Ulrich

Now I found an old tour program from "The Swing Tour '96".
In this Robert mentions the following when it comes to "music":

Quotebeethoven (1-9). mahler (1-9). tchaikovsky (ballets). allegri. prokofiev. khatchaturian. elgar. mozart (just about everything). satie. verdi. ... and too much more to even think about...

:smth020
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

BiscuityBoyle

@MeltingMan - damn this is so good. I'm a huge fan of all things GG, including his way with words and his documentaries on Canada. Btw, there's even a documentary on how he went on a tour of USSR in 1957 and introduced the Soviets to Berg and Webern! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9KnOcG51LM

QuoteThank you for the piano/cello music, beautiful!  :smth023

Glad you enjoyed it, will think up more pieces for that ensemble. My favorite thing Robert said about classical music is the following, when The Cure were IN CRISIS in 1982: "I don't despair about losing touch with the Cure. It's more despairing to realise that I'll never attain the heights of a Bach or a Prokofiev." Lucky for us he overcame this understandable but unproductive state of mind and wrote some of the best pop songs like ever!

I adore Prokofiev. The most fun composer.
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MeltingMan

@BiscuityBoyle
Thank you. This is a late version and the version on 'His First Recordings'
is almost even better, unfortunately a one-off from Sony-so it seems. The
dynamic from original 78 rpm discs is simply breathtaking. I also like the
stuff from Taneyev, Prokofiev and Mozart, especially the Adagio & Allegro
in F Minor K 594. Thanks again for a great topic. :smth023
En cette nation [Russie] qui n'a pas eu de théoriciens et de démagogues,
les pires ferments de destruction ont apparu. (J. Péladan)

BiscuityBoyle

That's how bottomless the classical canon is: Mozart's been probably my favourite composer for the last 20 years yet I've never heard of this piece for mechanical organ. Like Robert said, "too much to even think about..."

BiscuityBoyle

Anyway, what I forgot about Prokofiev is that he wrote a beautiful sonata for piano and cello. It's from his very late period and hence largely devoid of the playfulness that one often associates with him, but living in the Soviet Union in 1949 there was little to inspire that state of mind... Performed by the two great musicians he wrote the piece for.

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MeltingMan

Quote from: BiscuityBoyle on March 22, 2016, 08:03:52
I've never heard of this piece for mechanical organ.
Me too...till now. I only knew the cut piano version with Glenn Gould and Alberto Guerrero.
I don't know. I'm in the right mood today for Mozart and Prokofiev because I will be losing
my job this year. :(

http://youtu.be/v-LAE5SNhI0
En cette nation [Russie] qui n'a pas eu de théoriciens et de démagogues,
les pires ferments de destruction ont apparu. (J. Péladan)

BiscuityBoyle

Damn this sucks man, sorry to hear that. Hope the dole is decent where you are and you get to milk it for what it's worth before you head back to the job market; or rather that it works out for you the way you want it to.

BiscuityBoyle

I don't know much about symphonic music and Mahler, of whom Robert seems to be a big fan, but I think pretty much everyone starts her or his exposure to Mahler by this movement of his Fifth, it's really famous.

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helloimageifonly

Such a pity all these suggestions are no longer available  :(