David Hurwitz

[lordlance]

You may be right. Over the years I've heard the NYP perform under such music directors as Bernstein, Boulez, Masur, Maazel, Gilbert, and Dudamel. The underrated Gilbert was notably self-effacing, but he did put on some spectacular events such as semi-staged productions of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre and Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen. I'll be going even more often to hear the Phil now that they finally have solved the acoustic problems plaguing what is now called David Geffen Hall since its inception. (But I am still waiting to hear the authoritative truth as to why the NYP is not a great orchestra; I remain in the dark.)

Perhaps that's from some other discussion but I don't think anyone would say it's not one of the greats... One of the oldest... Part of the big five... Prestigious...

I imagine a lot of people here would disagree with my assessment but truthfully having spent the past decade exploring conductors discographies and live performances, I really don't think the idea of these sort of giants of the 20th Century stands up to scrutiny or that of the current lot being worse/lacking as much personality (held by some, not all)

In reality the more you explore a conductor, the more you realize how many duds they produced - across the board regardless of whom we're talking about. I'm aware some consider people like Reiner as consistently of high standard (and of course his discography with CSO is mug  more compact at 60 odd discs) but I haven't explored Reiner.

Those I have dug into like Karajan, Bernstein, Abbado, Mehta, Masur, Klemperer, Walter, Giulini, Bohm, Davis certainly don't stand up to scrutiny. Of course a lot of these I find just dull but even those I enjoy... You need to find the gems amid the duds. 

Similarly, I've often found performances by contemporary conductors which were simply better than whoever was considered sort of the go-to guy. Feels like cult of personality ultimately perhaps (and I'm certainly a sucker for them) but these reputations, I feel, are built on certain key recordings or composers rather than actually sitting down and listening to all their recordings.

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All of this aside, I think maybe Toscanini kind of comes close to being consistent but even with him you can clearly tell in his Beethoven studio cycle that he's mellowed (only fair for someone who's almost a nonagenarian... Toscanini defies his age... One can only admire.) 

[71 dB]

I have been watching his videos lately. While I am not a newbie to classical music anymore (haven't been for 25+ years    ), I have been watching his new video series of how to build a basic classical music collection. In my opinion those videos have been very good (considering the target audience).

The list by Hurwitz for beginners has so far been:

1. Beethoven - Symphony No. 5
2. Brahms - Symphony No. 1
3. Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4
4. Grieg - Piano Concerto
5. Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto

I have one recording of all of these works except for Tchaikovsky. For some reason I have never felt the urge to dive into his symphonies and I don't have any recording of any of his symphonies. None of these works are among my TOP favorites*, but I enjoy all of them. However, I agree with Hurwitz, that these are good choices for beginners to get into classical music. When I got into classical music 25+ years ago, I kind to "jumped over" the most basic repertoire and instead explored works like Elgar's oratorios and the cantatas by Buxtehude/Bruhns. In that sense I can kind of come back to this basic repertoire and in some instances explore it as a new thing to me. That's why these videos by Hurwitz are interesting to me: I can in a way start exploring classical music for the second time bringing some new excitement which help me further connecting with it.

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*I prefer Beethoven's chamber music over his orchestral works the 6th symphony being my favourite. Pretty much the same with Brahms. I adore his chamber music, but his orchestral music is a bit "meh" to me. As for Tchaikovsky, I am not a huge fan, but I do appreciate his ballets and smaller  scale orchestral works like Rococo Variations and Serenade for Strings. Grieg is an interesting case. I do enjoy his music, but I have never listened to it much. It is hard to take Grieg "seriously" and it is easy to think his music is for children. Mendelssohn I do like quite a lot actually, but again I haven't listened to his music much.

[Jo498]

I would have expected a bit more variety in 2025...

Below's a link to an 1980s "Great composers" series that were sold like magazines (with an LP or tape, they re-did the series 10 years later with CDs but then had to rely on "cheapo" recordings whereas the older one were licensed from DG, Decca etc).
A friend of mine who also helped me getting into classical music from ca. 1987 on had collected most of these back then.
That series started with 20 "romantic" pieces/composers and except for Grieg (and Tchaikovsky 6th and also b flat minor piano concerto instead of the 4th) there's total overlap with DH. I'd actually pick Tchaikovsky's 5th rather than 4 or 6, I think it's the best to start with: more "regular" than 6, more consistent with the motto theme than 4, gorgeous slow movement.

https://www.musik-sammler.de/lists/roman69/show/grosse-komponisten-und-ihre-musik/