Great composers that are not your cup of tea

[JoshLilly]

How can liking or not liking something be wrong?

[Steve]

How can liking or not liking something be wrong?

If it isn't based on significant experience. Not liking something is only justifiable if you've surveyed the artist/piece in question.

Shostakovich I don;t find remorely boring, but the pieces I have heard of Prokofiev's usually seem prolix, the material's qulaity almost accidental (its either very good, or quite bland), and there's a sort of facileness that I can't quite pu my finger on...

I'm probably completly wrong, or its the result of hearing bad performances, or not concentrating hard enough... Do suggest pieces that would provide a good crash course in his style and convince me of his greatness. He's in my 'favourite era' so logically I should like him! I am fond of the Symphony Concerto for Cello, and also the sweet concertino and the lovely Cello Sonata, but the first piece especially just seems to long... I find it tiring to listen to, and I'm a cello nut!

Perhaps, Shostakovich Symphony No. 15, with Jansons? I too was rather disinterested with Shostakovich until I spent some time with a quality recording of his later symphonies. (11, 13, 10), all fit the bill.

[Guido]

No you seem to have misunderstood. Despite my awful typing skills, I was trying to say that I don't find Shostakovich remotely boring, i.e. I love his works.

Prokofiev is the one I am having difficulty with.

[BachQ]

Elgar

[Bonehelm]

Elgar

Excellent choice.

[Gabriel]

Verdi and Stravinsky. I will keep trying, however.

[Mozart]

They are many, but, to keep it short, i'll name only one; Mozart!

Well Im glad to see this guy doesn't login in anymore 

[Joe_Campbell]

Well Im glad to see this guy doesn't login in anymore 

I only partially agree with S_M_T. I can only handle Mozart in small doses. If I listen to too much at a time, I get the sudden urge to kick a cute stuffed animal.

[Kullervo]

I don't know if he is really considered great, but I really don't like Antheil. His music comes off as something someone would have considered "wild" in its time, but now just seems embarrassingly posturing.

[marvinbrown]

Verdi and Stravinsky. I will keep trying, however.

  Yes, Verdi much like caviar is somewhat an acquired taste- his operas are really wonderful if you can get yourself to appreciate them....realizing that this is easier said than done, my struggle with Mahler continues.......

  marvin 

[Mark]

I'm not sure that he qualifies as 'great', but British contemporary composer, Mark Anthony Turnage, really makes me switch off.

[jurajjak]

Shostakovich I don't find remotely boring, but the pieces I have heard of Prokofiev's usually seem prolix, the material's qulaity almost accidental (its either very good, or quite bland), and there's a sort of facileness that I can't quite pu my finger on...

I'm probably completly wrong, or its the result of hearing bad performances, or not concentrating hard enough... Do suggest pieces that would provide a good crash course in his style and convince me of his greatness. He's in my 'favourite era' so logically I should like him! I am fond of the Symphony Concerto for Cello, and also the sweet concertino and the lovely Cello Sonata, but the first piece especially just seems to long... I find it tiring to listen to, and I'm a cello nut!

Which Prokofiev works are you familiar with?  I love Prokofiev, but find the cello concertino (a semi-posthumous work) to be pretty boring.  If you're not familiar with them already, I would suggest you check out The Buffoon (but not the slow Jurowski recording), The Fiery Angel, the 2nd and 5th Piano Concertos, the 2nd and 6th Symphonies, Le Pas D'Acier, The Love for Three Oranges (the full opera, not the too-brief suite), The October Cantata, the 6th, 7th, and 8th piano sonatas, the opus 11 Toccata, the Four Etudes (opus 2), The Ode to the End of the War, the Violin Sonata #1, and the op. 39 Quintet.  If you listen to all of these works and are still not impressed, I guess Prokofiev isn't for you.  If you're interested in his more "serious" works, I'd especially suggest the 2nd and 6th Symphonies, the Piano Sonatas 6-8, the Violin Sonata #1, and The Gambler, which is difficult but rewarding.  If you have a lot of patience, you could also try War and Peace, which is a flawed masterpiece--and allegedly a work Shostakovich greatly admired.  Shostakovich also had kind things to say about Prokofiev's Flute Sonata (in my opinion, the best flute sonata ever written) and his comic opera Betrothal in a Monastery, as well as the bombastic (and hardly boring) "Ode to the End of the War."

I have struggled with Shostakovich for many years; his genius is obvious, and certainly there's nothing boring about him (though the excessive length of the symphonies can tax my patience).  But often he tries too hard to be exciting--I feel he's standing over my shoulder hitting me on the head saying, "Come on, isn't this really exciting?"  I generally prefer his early experimental works (like The Nose) or the later mature works (Quartet 15) to the warlike symphonies.  If you like Shostakovich, you might check out Popov, if you don't already know him; Popov is much closer in spirit to Shost. than Prokofiev was, and Popov's Symphony #1 exerted some influence on Shost. when he was writing his 4th Symphony (though the Popov symphony totally rips off Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy and Prokofiev's Scythian Suite in its climax).


Andrew

   

   

[jurajjak]

I'm not sure that he qualifies as 'great', but British contemporary composer, Mark Anthony Turnage, really makes me switch off.

I don't like him either; I thought his "From the Wreckage" trumpet concerto was pretty awful.

[The new erato]

Which Prokofiev works are you familiar with?  I love Prokofiev, but find the cello concertino (a semi-posthumous work) to be pretty boring.  If you're not familiar with them already, I would suggest you check out The Buffoon (but not the slow Jurowski recording), The Fiery Angel, the 2nd and 5th Piano Concertos, the 2nd and 6th Symphonies, Le Pas D'Acier, The Love for Three Oranges (the full opera, not the too-brief suite), The October Cantata, the 6th, 7th, and 8th piano sonatas, the opus 11 Toccata, the Four Etudes (opus 2), The Ode to the End of the War, the Violin Sonata #1, and the op. 39 Quintet.  If you listen to all of these works and are still not impressed, I guess Prokofiev isn't for you.  If you're interested in his more "serious" works, I'd especially suggest the 2nd and 6th Symphonies, the Piano Sonatas 6-8, the Violin Sonata #1, and The Gambler, which is difficult but rewarding.  If you have a lot of patience, you could also try War and Peace, which is a flawed masterpiece--and allegedly a work Shostakovich greatly admired.  Shostakovich also had kind things to say about Prokofiev's Flute Sonata (in my opinion, the best flute sonata ever written) and his comic opera Betrothal in a Monastery, as well as the bombastic (and hardly boring) "Ode to the End of the War."

Andrew
   

Good list - I would add the suites from the Eisenstein film scores though (Ivan & Nevski), and maybe the 2nd string quartet.

[The Emperor]

Well i'm another one that find's most Mozart boring, haven't heard enough maybe but i don't really feel like it to, the only thing by him i like so far is the requiem and that's not even all by him, maybe that's why!

[not edward]

I don't like him either; I thought his "From the Wreckage" trumpet concerto was pretty awful.

Turnage is yet another of those British prodigies who's turned out below their absurdly hyped expectations. I still like a lot of his earlier orchestral music (though it seems overscored and unnecessarily densely textured in a very Henzian way) but have found more recent works underwhelming. I think his chamber music deserves more attention, though.

[Grazioso]

Verdi is a bit too "oom pah" for my tastes, though many of his melodies are unarguably catchy. Other than that, I've yet to come across a major composer whom I haven't either liked immediately or come to appreciate in time. I have wide tastes.

[sound67]

Verdi is a bit too "oom pah" for my tastes

Same here. Was impressed with Simon Boccanegra, though.

Thomas

[jurajjak]

Good list - I would add the suites from the Eisenstein film scores though (Ivan & Nevski), and maybe the 2nd string quartet.

Sure, there's plenty more to add (I'd also include Semyon Kotko, in the Gergiev recording, for those who can forgive the poor ending). I left out Nevsky because I guessed the poster, who knew more obscure works like the concertino, was already familiar with it.  I'd add the first quartet as well; the second one is good too, and unfairly trashed by most critics simply because it doesn't live up to the Bartokian-Shostakovichian standards of the "dark and anguished string quartet."  But it has wonderful melodies, and not every quartet has to be obsessed with self-important soul-searching.  Indeed, I find that a lot of objectively good 20th century quartets (i.e., Hindemith's) become tiresome for their self-importance. 

[Christo]

Verdi is a bit too "oom pah" for my tastes, though many of his melodies are unarguably catchy. Other than that, I've yet to come across a major composer whom I haven't either liked immediately or come to appreciate in time. I have wide tastes.

Talking about Verdi. I survived a handful of Puccini operas, mostly in Romanian opera houses btw, and found them incredibly boring. Did Puccini write anything of interest?