Favorite openings

[greg]

I couldn't find a thread about "favorite openings," surprisingly (the closest I could find was "Most original opening of a piece of music").

So what are your favorites?

A few of mine are Mahler's 9th, Brahms 2nd, Shostakovich 10th, Bruckner 4th, Pettersson 8th...

[Gurn Blanston]

Oh, OK, thought it was a Diner topic at first...

Beethoven's 3rd. Beethoven's 9th. Haydn's Op 50 #1. Mozart's K 465 Quartet in C.




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Listening to:
Academy of Ancient Music / Hogwood - Hob 01 024 Symphony in D 3rd mvmt - Menuet - Trio

[Franco]

Le sacre du printemps
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21
Brahms: Quintet for Clarinet, op. 115
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major - 2nd Movement
Durufle Requiem - Introit
Miles Davis: My Funny Valentine (1964 Concert)

[hornteacher]

Egmont Overture
Marriage of Figaro Overture
LvB Symphony 6
Fanfare for the Common Man
Mendelssohn VC

[MN Dave]

Oh, OK, thought it was a Diner topic at first...

Great minds...

[jochanaan]

A few unusual ones:
Debussy: La Mer.  One of the subtlest "fade-ins" in music.
Scriabin: Prometheus.  Gotta love that opening chord!
Carl Nielsen: Symphony #4.  Raises the audience out of their seats!
Howard Hanson: Symphony #2 "Romantic."  The opening dissonance is unlike any other opening I know.

[mc ukrneal]

There are the usual suspects (like Brahms #1 and 4 for example), but a few others I love are:

Bach: St. Matthew's Passion (not my favorite piece, but what a beautiful opening)
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances
Svendsen: Symphony No 1
Brull: Piano Concerto No1 (gorgeous start)
Alnaes: Piano Concerto
Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4 (those first bars of piano solo - just wow!)

[Wanderer]

Here are some off the top of my head:

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3, 6, 9, "Archduke" Trio, "Kreutzer" Sonata, Cello Sonata op.69, Piano Concerto No.4, Die Weihe des Hauses Overture, ...
Janáček: Taras Bulba
Schreker: Die Gezeichneten
Zemlinsky: Eine florentinische Tragödie
Szymanowsky: King Roger
Busoni: Piano Concerto
Schumann: Symphony no.2, Introduction & Allegro appassionato
Wagner: Die Walküre, Das Rheingold.
Medtner: Improvisation No.2, Piano Concerto No.3, Violin Sonatas Nos.2 & 3, Sonata Romantica
Ravel: Piano Concerto in D
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Mozart: Flute Concerto No.2
Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2, Symphony No.1
Foulds: A World Requiem
Bantock: Celtic Symphony

[Lethevich]

The one that comes to mind above all is Bax's 6th symphony. Just... woah.

[Maciek]

Two that came to mind straight away are Brahms 2nd PC and Szymanowski King Roger. Both absolutely sublime. (Though I'm aware that musicologists quote the opening of King Roger as proof of the unevenness of that opera - but what do they know?)

If I thought about it a little longer, the list would grow considerably, of course (Lutoslawski 3rd and 4th, Penderecki Polymorphia, Gorecki 2nd Symphony. Etc., etc., etc.).

(Wanderer, I see both of mine are also on your list. You have such impeccable taste! I'll have to check out those of yours that I don't know. )

[Sergeant Rock]

Two of my favorite openings are in D minor: the powerful martial opening of Brian's Gothic Symphony, with thunderous timpani (two sets) and the mysterious opening of Bruckner's Third with the trumpet theme that impressed Wagner.

Sarge

[DavidW]

GRIEG'S PIANO CONCERTO!!!!

Sorry I'm excited because I heard the tune as soon as I saw favorite openings, but it took me forever to remember where it came from.

Just the way the piano just digs in, with this vicious melody it's killer.

Check it out for those that can't immediately recall-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_DT4DRxVA Andsnes really digs in there.

[DavidRoss]

Sibelius's 1st, not just for its novelty and lovely mysterious strangeness, but also because it announced the arrival of a major new and distinctive voice.  The same could be said for Mahler's 1st.

Mahler's 4th, because it recalls to me the innocence of a bygone age and also reminds me of an early stanza in Eliot's Wasteland.  Actually, I rather like the openings of all of Mahler's symphonies--I use the 3rd for my cell ring tone and the 6th for my meeting alarm!

Copland's Appalachian Spring, because of the unsurpassed loveliness of its unfolding.

Beethoven's 5th.  You bet.

And all too many more besides.

[Florestan]

OTTOMH:

von Weber: Freischuetz Ouverture

Schubert : Symphony No. 9, Piano Sonata D 960

Tchaikovsky : PC1, VC, Symphony No. 5

Schumann : PC

Rachmaninoff : PC3

Bizet: Carmen Prelude

Beethoven : PC4

Chabrier : Espana

Arriaga : SQ2

[WI Dan]

Bach ................. Violin Concerto No. 1
Barber .............. Violin Concerto

Beethoven ........ Piano Concertos Nos. 3 and 4, Symphonies Nos. 9, 4, 3, 5 and 6
Brahms ............. Symphony No. 4

Bruckner ........... Symphony No. 4
Dvorak .............. The Wild Dove, Symphony No. 1

Ives ................... Symphony No. 1
Mahler ............... Symphony No. 3

Mozart ................ Piano Concerto No. 20
Prokofiev ........... Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2

Rachmaninoff ..... Piano Concerto No. 3
Schubert ............. Sonata for Piano and Arpeggione

Sibelius ............... Symphony No. 7
Smetana ............. "Vltava", from Ma Vlast


(edited to add Sibelius' No. 7)

[Opus106]

Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 3 - the grander the better.

Thanks, David, for reminding about the Grieg concerto.

Britten
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Beethoven

Op. 106
Definitely Op. 2 No. 2

J S Bach

BWV 565 - Toccata and Fugue in D minor (obligatory)
BWV 582 - Passacaglia in C minor (Oh yeah!)
BWV 552 - Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major -- what a shock it was when I first heard this piece. I went into this assuming that all P&Fs -- at least those by Bach -- were these larger-than-life works (sometimes foretelling doom ). Yes, this is a larger-than-life work, but listening to that grand, almost celebratory opening completely changed my opinion of Bach's organ works (for the better, I must add).

BWV 82a - Ich habe genug - flute to die for. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJsS_b39YOc
BWV 227 - Jesu, meine freunde
BWV 232 - Mass in B minor - More than the actual (choral) introduction, it's the oboe (with accompaniment) which follows that actually grips me.

Schubert

Impromptu (you didn't think I wasn't going to mention one of the impromptus, did you?) - D. 935 No. 1

String Quartet No. 13, D. 804 - currently I favour something more laid-back than the Takacs I found on YouTube, and that's probably because my listening sessions have centred around the Quartetto Italiano -- my only recording of the work for a long time. I'm yet to listen to the ABQ on Teldec.

Frederick II of Prussia

That simple theme, with which he challenged Bach to write a three-voice... no, wait -- a six-voice riecercar!



Wolfgang Mozart

Requiem, K. 626
Great Mass, K. 427

Rondo for Piano and Orchestra, K. 382 - Hm, wait a minute. How did this little trifle get into the list of Grand Works? As I mentioned in the Haydn thread, I love the innocent way in which a Theme and Variations piece begins, and how it anticipates greater variety -- especially in the hands of someone like Mozart. I just love this work. It may not even be the best in the genre among Mozart's creations, according to those who know about such things, but I simply love the opening march!


I'm sure I have left out a huge lot of music.

[Opus106]

Schumann : PC

Rachmaninoff : PC3

Smetana ............. "Vltava", from Ma Vlast

I'm sure I have left out a huge lot of music.

See?

Here's one more:

Wagner
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Prelude to Act 1 - I was listening to this on the way back home today.

[Sef]

GRIEG'S PIANO CONCERTO!!!!

Sorry I'm excited because I heard the tune as soon as I saw favorite openings, but it took me forever to remember where it came from.

Just the way the piano just digs in, with this vicious melody it's killer.

Check it out for those that can't immediately recall-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_DT4DRxVA Andsnes really digs in there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP8TUe993uo

[Opus106]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP8TUe993uo

Previn wasn't all that bad as a comedian. And 8:24 is priceless!

[Wanderer]

Here are some more:

Brahms: Violin Sonata No.1, Piano Trio No.1
Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata No.2
Korngold: Violanta, Cello Concerto
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Alkan: Grand duo concertant for piano & violin
Gade: Symphony No.1
Schmidt: Symphony No.1
Schmitt: Psaume 47
Lili Boulanger: Psaume 24
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia antartica, The Pilgrim's Progress

(Wanderer, I see both of mine are also on your list. You have such impeccable taste! )

Right back at you!