Unpopular Opinions

[TheGSMoeller]

All Russian music is crap.

Someone would like a word with you...

[Concord]

Someone would like a word with you...

And he's one of the worst.

(Hey, it's a thread for unpopular opinions.)

[Brian]

And he's one of the worst.

(Hey, it's a thread for unpopular opinions.)

It certainly is. Who's the least worst?

[North Star]

Someone would like a word with you...

Just what exactly did he say?! (Not DSCH, but Concord)



And here's another modest musician deeply hurt by the statement:

[Concord]

Who's the least worst?

Borodin.

[Karl Henning]

Well, it would be a funny world if we all thought the same. Borodin (the talented amateur) is far down my list of favorite Russian composers!

[eyeresist]

Well, it would be a funny world if we all thought the same. Borodin (the talented amateur) is far down my list of favorite Russian composers!

Mm-hmm. Most of the Mighty Handful are on further acquaintance not that mighty.



.... he said, with great humility.

[Concord]

Well, it would be a funny world if we all thought the same. Borodin (the talented amateur) is far down my list of favorite Russian composers!

I guess I like him because, to my ear, he's the least Russian-sounding of the Russian composers. He reminds me more of Dvorak, which is not a bad thing.

There's Stravinsky, of course, but I think of him more as a world citizen.

[North Star]

I guess I like him because, to my ear, he's the least Russian-sounding of the Russian composers. He reminds me more of Dvorak, which is not a bad thing.

There's Stravinsky, of course, but I think of him more as a world citizen.

The  Ballets russes works, among others, sound quite Russian to me.

[Uncle Connie]

The Russians are mostly not my greatest loves.

I listen to some of them because, in the car, I tune in to the radio stations and sometimes I get stuck with a Russian.

If I have the sense to take along a CD, there will be no Russian within a mile (c. 1.5 km.) of me.

Except Shostakovich.  Him I like.  Him in fact I adore.  And him, alone of all of them, I have a shelf full of CDs of.  (Syntax?  Sorry....)

Add three or four Prokofiev and a few Boris Tchaikovsky, and we're done.  Uncle's Russian adventure ends at that point.   

Do svidanya.

[Concord]

I agree: this is a thread, I thought, for unpopular musical opinions, such as, "Neo-romanticism is really just neo-commercialism."

[Johnll]

A sincere and grateful Thank You!

[RJR]

I like Shostakovich but, after all, I could live perfectly happy without ever hearing a single note of his anymore. OTOH, how about your life without Mahler? 

Doing just fine without Mahler. Don't even miss him.
And, except for the occasional moments, Bruckner as well.

[Gurn Blanston]

Doing just fine without Mahler. Don't even miss him.
And, except for the occasional moments, Bruckner as well.

Ditto.

[Leon]

Except for Brahms, Verdi, and some French composers, e.g. Faure and Debussy; I could easily live without the last half of the 19th century.  Especially the orchestral works.  My listening habits normally span the Baroque-Classical eras and then skip right to the 20th century, bypassing the Romantic period as much as possible.

[Scarpia]

Doing just fine without Mahler. Don't even miss him.
And, except for the occasional moments, Bruckner as well.

I discovered Mahler during the LP era, which was good, because on an LP you can literally see the good parts in a Mahler symphony on the disc.  This allows you to skip past the endless "chamber music texture" and go straight to the two or three good minutes in each half-hour movement.*

[runs away]

*I exclude the 9th from this.

[springrite]

Except for Brahms, Verdi, and some French composers, e.g. Faure and Debussy; I could easily live without the last half of the 19th century.  Especially the orchestral works.  My listening habits normally span the Baroque-Classical eras and then skip right to the 20th century, bypassing the Romantic period as much as possible.

This comes very close to my taste as well. I go mostly from Bach, The Classical Threesome all the way to Mahler and later. I think I skip a few more decades than you. Well, with the exceptions of Schumann and a few select few.

[Gurn Blanston]

Except for Brahms, Verdi, and some French composers, e.g. Faure and Debussy; I could easily live without the last half of the 19th century.  Especially the orchestral works.  My listening habits normally span the Baroque-Classical eras and then skip right to the 20th century, bypassing the Romantic period as much as possible.

I would replace Verdi with Dvorak and add Tchaikovsky, but only because I don't care much for 19th Century opera. Otherwise, that works for me, too.

[Florestan]

Truth is, I could really  live without any music of any era*.

*(But would it be worth living?)

[Opus106]

Keep up this ditto-ing and me-too-ing for a little while longer and you'll all be kicked out of this thread for holding popular opinions and posting them here.