The Classical Chat Thread

[offbeat]

Same for me. When I tiptoed cautiously into the room marked 'Baroque', I found a huge party going on that I'd been completely unaware of. Couperin, Charpentier, Rameau and Lully set me off on a journey that seems to have no end.

Have you tried Rameau's Les Indes Galantes? I'm always looking for excuses to post this youtube excerpt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3OIdv9jrFY

tks elgarian - that rameau was new to me too - totally brill 

[Opus106]

Have you tried Rameau's Les Indes Galantes? I'm always looking for excuses to post this youtube excerpt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3OIdv9jrFY

Oh yes, I have, on the radio. A memorable tune, certainly... and it was just an orchestral suite, as I don't remember hearing any vocals. (I quite didn't expect that choreography, though. Thanks for the video.)

But I have always found these Baroque ballets sounding the same. Lully comes to mind. I can just imagine him keeping the beat -- the same one, to please his employer; one tap at a time, eventually leading that last fateful tap.

[UB]

A Critic's Guide Funny stuff by John Adams.

[Brahmsian]

Just like in professional sports, where many teams are going back to their 'retro jerseys', perhaps composers and orchestras should do the same? 

[MN Dave]

At first, I always think this is "The Classical Cat Thread". 

[Brahmsian]

At first, I always think this is "The Classical Cat Thread". 

Obviously, those threads should be merged.  0:)

[greg]

[Elgarian]

But I have always found these Baroque ballets sounding the same.

I'd have said the same myself not so long ago. Perhaps it's the same with any art form that hasn't quite 'clicked' for one reason or another. The differences between swimming pools might seem less significant than the similarities until we've learned to dive in and bathe in them. (Oh, what rubbish I talk, sometimes!)

[secondwind]

. . . The differences between swimming pools might seem less significant than the similarities until we've learned to dive in and bathe in them. . . .

Or until we dive in the shallow end one time and learn the difference between "wading pool" and "diving pool"!

[Elgarian]

Or until we dive in the shallow end one time and learn the difference between "wading pool" and "diving pool"!

"Beware! Baroque ballet enthusiasts have been injured at this end of the pool!"

[secondwind]

Ah, you lily-livered liberals want a warning label on everything!  Let 'em learn by experience, is my motto!

[secondwind]

At first, I always think this is "The Classical Cat Thread". 

[MN Dave]

Funny review-ender in the current issue of Fanfare:

"This CD should be taken out and shot."

[jochanaan]

Just like in professional sports, where many teams are going back to their 'retro jerseys', perhaps composers and orchestras should do the same? 

Hey, a jersey would be a nice change from a tuxedo.

[MN Dave]

Mendelssohn's 2nd takes up a whole disc in the Karajan box? 

Who new?

[Brahmsian]

How come operas don't go by basic chronological titles, like symphonies, sonatas and quartets, et al?

Opera # 1
Opera # 2

Not as exciting, huh? 

[Opus106]

They have libretti, you know.

[Brahmsian]

Anyone else recognize a theme from the Grosse Fuge and Muss es sein? theme from the Op.135 quartet in the C sharp minor Op.131 finale?

[Brian]

Anyone else recognize a theme from the Grosse Fuge and Muss es sein? theme from the Op.135 quartet in the C sharp minor Op.131 finale?

Don't know the quartets yet, but I certainly recognize a theme from Op. 125 in the finale of Op. 111...

[jochanaan]

Mendelssohn's 2nd takes up a whole disc in the Karajan box? 

Who new?

Well, it's a big piece, Mendelssohn's attempt at emulating Beethoven's Ninth.  I've heard it once or twice, and much as I like most of the Mendelssohn siblings' music, this one lacks a little--something...