Topic: Ten (or so) well-known works you don't enjoy that much

[Symphonic Addict]

I can kind of understand the others, but these I don't get (especially the Dvorak) unless you were abused while playing the music as a child.

Actually, I've never been a fan of the Prokofiev. I do enjoy the Troika, nonetheless.

As to the Dvorak, I think it has to do with the fact that I don't enjoy wind music as much as I wanted. The other day I heard a performance under Hrusa, but I was underwhelmed.

[Symphonic Addict]

So time to play the game:

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9.  I do enjoy it from time to time, but most recordings lose me with an interminably dull 3rd movement, and one has to be in a particular mood to tolerate the Finale.

Emperor Concerto.  I used to love this thing.  But I enjoy the first 3 piano concerto so much more.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4.  Loud and obnoxious.

I'll admit that I used to enjoy the Elgar symphonies more than I do these days. 

I'm usually careful about "husbanding" my exposure to the big warhorses, but I think I did manage to wear out the Ravel-Mussorgsky Pictures.

But not enjoy Dvorak's Symphony No. 9?  Never!  Always thrilling in the right hands (try Lenny on Sony, for example.)

I'm leaving out a lot of big, important sacred Baroque things, big Victorian choral things, and a lot of opera, just because I'm simply unwilling to put the time in, usually, and it seems unfair to blame the music.

Even though I've listened to the Emperor Concerto many times, I can still tolerate it (the same goes for the Dvorak). It's been years since the last occasion when I heard the Ninth Symphony (Beethoven). I'm curious about how I'm gonna react the next time I give it another try.