Your first classical 'hero'?

[Sergeant Rock]

For me, Jacqueline Du Pre.

She was my first classical crush....

My hero:






Sarge

[jochanaan]

First on the right; second on the left:

I'm sorry to say I don't quite recognize those two apparent legends...

[johnQpublic]

R: Ormandy
L: Sibelius

[Sergeant Rock]

I'm sorry to say I don't quite recognize those two apparent legends...

Sibelius and Ormandy


Sarge

[jochanaan]

Sibelius and Ormandy

My eyesight must be worse than usual today!

[c#minor]

Tchaikovsky, and his 5th Symphony was a particular work of his that had me lulled into doing nothing else than listen to it, EVERY DAY FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS.   

I've grown out of that now, kind of.   

Someone who talks about the fifth without saying the fourth or sixth is better. This is still my favorite symphony but i try to restrain myself to only a few listens a month, i don't want it ever to get old.

[Keemun]

I don't remember which one was first, so I'll post both:

Horowitz



Perlman

[Sergeant Rock]

I posted my first hero yesterday...and today the post is gone! Weird. I'll redo it then:







Sarge

[greg]

man, i miss the good old days, when time had cool people on the cover:

[marvinbrown]

  My first Classical Hero was Mozart, and in so many ways he still remains a hero.  That's how I got into opera in the first place. Mozart's operas opened the path that led me to WAGNER.  It went something like this:


   Mozart -> Puccini -> Verdi -> R. Strauss -> WAGNER  0:)

 

  marvin

[Kullervo]

I'll probably get shit for this, but this is the man who drew me into the classical realm. I have told this story before, but when I was a kid I grew up in NY and was in receptive distance from the Vassar College radio station, which played EVERYTHING. One night I heard this music that was absolutely engaging. I couldn't stop listening to it. I found out after the piece that it was Schoenberg and the piece, if memory serves me correctly was Verklärte Nacht. Before that I only had a few classical records which I had no passion for. Suddenly I gained an interest in them too (a Beethoven and a Bach).

I'm with you. Verklärte Nacht was one of the first pieces that really engaged me as well. From there it was only a short jump from Schoenberg to Brahms.

[longears]

  My first Classical Hero was Mozart, and in so many ways he still remains a hero.  That's how I got into opera in the first place. Mozart's operas opened the path that led me to WAGNER.  It went something like this:

   Mozart -> Puccini -> Verdi -> R. Strauss -> WAGNER  0:

It must be a comfort to know you can always retrace your steps. 

[Kullervo]

man, i miss the good old days, when time had cool people on the cover:

Yeah.

[marvinbrown]

It must be a comfort to know you can always retrace your steps. 

  Yes its fantastic, I remember the first operas that I bought from each of these composers:

  With Mozart it was the Magic Flute, with Puccini it was La Boheme, with Verdi it was Aida, with Strauss it was Salome and with WAGNER I made a BIG MISTAKE and started with Tristan und Isolde.... I tell you it was a real struggle at first but now its my favorite opera of them all  . 


  marvin
 

[greg]

Yeah.

[Brian]

  With Mozart it was the Magic Flute, with Puccini it was La Boheme,

It sounds like I've followed your path quite precisely so far! ~ except before Die Zauberflote there was Carmen. I had contemplated listening to Tristan; which Wagner opera would be a better starter?

[marvinbrown]

It sounds like I've followed your path quite precisely so far! ~ except before Die Zauberflote there was Carmen. I had contemplated listening to Tristan; which Wagner opera would be a better starter?

  I would start with Tannhauser or  Lohengrin (I am not a very big fan of The Flying Dutchman as an introduction to Wagner- I am sure many would disagree with me).  Lohengrin has the very popular "here comes the bride" tune and is very lyrical.  Tannhauser has some beautiful accessible music (the overture is memorable).  In addition both of these operas are shorter than Wagner's mature works and they carry the same themes of love, death and redemption which you will encounter in his mature works- except Die Meistersinger of course.  I am also a very big fan of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg-I get goose bumps everytime I hear the "prize song".  The problem with Tristan und Isolde is that is that it is musically very heavy.  For a newcomer to Wagner it can be an ordeal to sit through once you get passed the overture and the singer starts- I would definitely try Lohengrin and Tannhauser to get a "feel" for Wagner then attempt Tristan und Isolde- hope this helps.

   marvin

[Iago]

The first classical concert I ever attended was conducted by Serge Koussevitsky. Naturally he became an instant hero. In a short while however, he was supplanted by Arturo Toscanini. And still later by Charles Munch. Pierre Monteux and Leonard Bernstein, all of whom it was my pleasure to know while I was employed at Tanglewood. Obviously I was NOT one of their confidants or bosom buddies. But I did see them functioning as "people"  and not just as the great musicians they were. And THAT was a pleasant occurence.

[Renfield]

The first classical concert I ever attended was conducted by Serge Koussevitsky. Naturally he became an instant hero. In a short while however, he was supplanted by Arturo Toscanini. And still later by Charles Munch. Pierre Monteux and Leonard Bernstein, all of whom it was my pleasure to know while I was employed at Tanglewood. Obviously I was NOT one of their confidants or bosom buddies. But I did see them functioning as "people"  and not just as the great musicians they were. And THAT was a pleasant occurence.

Very impressive. Not that I am assuming you've any need to hear that, but I will still voice my admiration for anyone currently alive to have heard Koussevitsky (and presumably Toscanini) live, while also having met Munch, Monteux and Bernstein in person.


Concerning Wagner, brianrein, and though I'm not the most typical of listeners, I started with Parsifal: and I'm still there! (Though not in the sense of being stuck.)

[Iago]

Renfield,
   Thank you for your compliment. but I don't in any way consider myself "ancient". I will be 72 yrs of age in January, and I saw Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony (courtesy of my grandparents)when I was about 6-8 yrs of age (don't remember exactly). Living in NY, I then became very interested in the NBC under Toscanini. In my 20s, I worked at Tanglewood as a "gofer". That's how I met Munch, Monteux and Bernstein.  Rehearsals and press conferences were far more enlightening (and enjoyable) than were the actual concerts.