Pieces that have blown you away recently

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm not sure if "blown away" is an apt descriptor in my case, but I listened to Verdi's La Traviata last night for the first-time and enjoyed it. As I have said many times before, opera (and songs/lieder/etc.) is one of my least favorite genres, but there are some moments, especially in opera where the music just transcends the genre itself and when this happens, it's pure magic.

Several Verdi operas left me powerfully impressed, among them La Traviata. Also: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Macbeth and Otello, but the ones that struck me like utterly brilliant were Aida and Falstaff.

[Mirror Image]

Several Verdi operas left me powerfully impressed, among them La Traviata. Also: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Macbeth and Otello, but the ones that struck me like utterly brilliant were Aida and Falstaff.

Thanks, Cesar. I'm hoping to get around to Aida and Falstaff at some point. I don't think I'm going to listen to every opera he composed (he wrote around 26 of them I believe), but I'm definitely going to be listening to the ones that seem to be the most highly regarded.

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm cheating this time as I had alrealy listened to this work before. Górecki's String Quartet No. 3 (performed by the Quatuor Molinari) is devastating in its overwhelming poignancy, not much dissimilar to his Symphony No. 3, also with a similar length (56 minutes long). I'm speechless.