Hey, I'm Irish, in my early 30s, happily married with two kids and a fan of classical music (along with some rock/metal on occasion, though I'm slowly growing out of most of this). Onto the interesting bits:
Fell in love with classical when by chance I got Beethoven's 9th as a 15 year old and listened to it obsessively for about 6 months. Due to a not very musical family, a rural upbringing, mental illness and similar I didn't really get exposed to much else classical music until my mid 20s when I started listening to Bach, more Beethoven and some Mozart. Fast forward 5 years and I've gotten married, had two kids and discovered Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Chopin and others and started listening to performances by Karajan, Barenboim, Gardner, Bernstein, Glenn Gould, Martha Argreich and others. I'm still woefully ignorant of formal theory and similar which is something I'd like to work on.
So, I joined here mainly so I can discover new music and discover new recordings of old favourites to listen to. I've been lurking for a while and liked what I saw so I figured rather than relying on other people asking my questions I might as well ask some myself!
Currently listening to (after my first thread here): Chailly's Beethoven cycle (really, really liking this!), Karajan's Bruckner Symphonies (too early and too new to me to have formed and opinion) and Previn's Ravel (enjoying this, it's more immediately accessible than Bruckner's symphonies).
Anyway, thank you for giving me so much information on classical music to peruse!
Welcome aboard! 8)
There's so much classical music out there, but I've finally, after about two/three years, nailed down the composers that have meant the most to me. It took a little while, but I think we are all attracted to certain composers more than others. You simply can't like every composer's music you've heard as that would show an ignorance that, in my opinion, is unforgiveable.
I hope you find the forum useful and educational. Sometimes people post crazy things, but I would like to think we're very serious about this music and love passing on the knowledge we've acquired. You'll get a lot out of this forum I think.
Welcome nesf - Im Irish too (now living in Australia), enjoy the forum :)
Hi nesf, and welcome. That Beethoven 9 was probably the classical entry point for many people - and remains a favorite - so I suspect you'll be in good company here!
--Bruce
Welcome! Lots to discover here - enjoy the journey.
Howdy there nesf. Greetings from Beethoven's Vienna. Welcome to the forum. 8)
hi! :)