Well-known music you've somehow overlooked (or never got round to hearing)

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Oh and his Bach and Brahms orchestrations. And the Concerto for String Quartet. And all of his choral music!

[(poco) Sforzando]

Oh? They sound very similar in style to all his other music to me. Perhaps his suite in G for strings then? Even the key is in the title. 

Are you saying you hear no stylistic difference between the Gurrelieder and the Violin Concerto? The Gurrelieder could have been written by Richard Strauss. The Violin and Piano Concertos speak a very different language.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Are you saying you hear no stylistic difference between the Gurrelieder and the Violin Concerto? The Gurrelieder could have been written by Richard Strauss. The Violin and Piano Concertos speak a very different language.

Well Schoenberg always just sounds like Schoenberg to me....the way every note works in relation to the other notes, the rhythms, the orchestrations and so on, that I can't really say any of his compositions could sound like they were written by anyone else. I can certainly understand why you would compare him to Strauss though, I find that all Schoenberg's music is written with a fiercely German Late Romantic sentiment.

All apart from the D major quartet which makes me think of Dvorak whenever I hear the opening!

[Karl Henning]

Well Schoenberg always just sounds like Schoenberg to me....

And always good.

[NikF]

Mendelssohn also wrote the occasional great work for piano, if you're into that. Top of my list: the six preludes and fugues, Op. 35.

Could you tell me, please, if there's a recommended recording of this?

[Jo498]

I think I have a decent recording of op.35 on Naxos (Frith), but the most famous one in e minor has been recorded on several Mendelssohn recitals. The other famous (and very worthwhile) piece are the Variations serieuses (done by many famous pianists).

[Chronochromie]

Oh yeah, I haven't heard any of Britten's and Janacek's operas.

[Brian]

Could you tell me, please, if there's a recommended recording of this?

I have high hopes for Howard Shelley's brand-new Hyperion CD, but until then, yeah, Frith is good. I heard half the cycle performed live by Benjamin Grosvenor last summer, which was the first I'd ever heard them at all. Bowled over - hope he decides to record them.

[Karl Henning]

I have high hopes for Howard Shelley's brand-new Hyperion CD, but until then, yeah, Frith is good. I heard half the cycle performed live by Benjamin Grosvenor last summer, which was the first I'd ever heard them at all. Bowled over - hope he decides to record them.

I'm going to fetch in the Frith, I really like his CD of four-hands Stravinsky with Peter Hill.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Oh yeah, I haven't heard any of Britten's and Janacek's operas.

ALBERT HERRING

[North Star]

THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN

An excellent suggestion! 

[NikF]

I think I have a decent recording of op.35 on Naxos (Frith), but the most famous one in e minor has been recorded on several Mendelssohn recitals. The other famous (and very worthwhile) piece are the Variations serieuses (done by many famous pianists).

I have high hopes for Howard Shelley's brand-new Hyperion CD, but until then, yeah, Frith is good. I heard half the cycle performed live by Benjamin Grosvenor last summer, which was the first I'd ever heard them at all. Bowled over - hope he decides to record them.

Jo498 and Brian, thank you.

[71 dB]

Oh yeah, I haven't heard any of Britten's and Janacek's operas.

Same here.

[Rons_talking]

Oh yeah, I haven't heard any of Britten's and Janacek's operas.

Peter Grimes is a wonder; though the story involves child-abuse so it's probably not receiving its due attention in recent decades. I grew up on the John Vickers recording...

[Monsieur Croche]

Peter Grimes is a wonder; though the story involves child-abuse so it's probably not receiving its due attention in recent decades. I grew up on the John Vickers recording...

I thought the child abuse was alleged, ambiguous at best, and the tension is the townspeople's belief that child abuse was going on while that was not the case... rather the point of the libretto. Still, an uneasy subject in any time.

I'd add Billy Budd, an all-male cast [crew aboard a ship], originally composed as a radio opera, and Midsummer's Night Dream.

His amazing Curlew River, is a Japanese Noh play cast as an early era Christian Parable/Morality play, and well-worth a listener's time; it also runs a little over one hour, so is brief compared to a standard full-length opera.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Midsummer Night's Dream is a wonderful opera! I admit I'm not too familiar with Peter Grimes, but I've been curious to get to know it for a while. I have all the libretti for his operas compiled into a lovely large hardback book.......I could get into more of his operas sooner or later.

[Daverz]

Blind to Lucas's supernal genius, it is as if the sun cannot shine for you (poco) sfz!

Especially the blind part as then you have to pay attention to the dialog.

[Mirror Image]

For years, I ignored Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune because I had continued to read it was a warhorse in which I usually avoided these kinds of works like the plague, but to my great surprise when I did finally listen to Faune, I just couldn't believe my ears. I was completely transfixed whenever I heard this work and I still am to this day.

[zamyrabyrd]

Delius. Saw "Song of Summer" a few months ago. Wow! That was the launching pad for my hearing his nature inspired suites and the violin concerto. Wow!

[Mirror Image]

Delius. Saw "Song of Summer" a few months ago. Wow! That was the launching pad for my hearing his nature inspired suites and the violin concerto. Wow!

I'd love to hear that work in concert! I'm jealous. Who was the conductor/orchestra? Anyway, yes, to those who resonate with Delius it usually is on first-hearing. I remember the first time I heard any of his music, it was In a Summer Garden and I'd never heard anything like it. Such a unique musical persona and one of my absolute favorite composers.