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- Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!uchinews!dent.uchicago.edu!gustavo
- From: gustavo@dent.uchicago.edu (Gustavo Comezana)
- Subject: Re: Beginning a classical collection
- Message-ID: <1992Dec28.182626.4981@midway.uchicago.edu>
- Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
- Organization: Dept. of Mathematics, U. of Chicago
- References: <1992Dec28.091408.16539@leland.Stanford.EDU>
- Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 18:26:26 GMT
- Lines: 83
-
- In article <1992Dec28.091408.16539@leland.Stanford.EDU> paulxxxx@leland.Stanford.EDU (paulastya gupta) writes:
- >Hello! Questions from an ignormaus:
- >
- >1) How can one "break" into classical music? My current collection
- >includes the grand sum of *2* classical CD's. My current thoughts
- >are to get a book outlining the music of different ages (baroque,
- >romantic etc.), and start with the recommendations made as to great
- >works by the major composers.
- >
- Tough question. Some time ago I read a book written by a music critic
- from TIME magazine which seemed a good introduction for the layman,
- because it avoided two pitfalls that are all too common in that kind
- of literature: pedantry and/or condescension towards the reader.
- Unfortunately I can remember neither title nor author right now, but
- I'll try to get them for you as soon as I can.
-
-
- >2) Last time I was at the local music store, I compared several CDs
- >of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture, and noticed that the times differed
- >by as much as 1 minute! Does this mean that it may be slightly cut
- >off in the shorter time performance? This complicates CD buying.
- >
- While it is not very unusual for conductors to make cuts, what
- accounts for most differences in timing is the speed that a
- conductor decides to set for the piece. You may ask "isn't that
- specified by the composer?", to which the answer is that the
- composer's instructions generally allow for a great deal of latitude,
- and not only concerning tempo (hence the importance of "interpreation"
- in classical music). Quite apart from that, conductors often take
- liberties with the score which sometimes work and sometimes don't.
- Naturally, this complicates matters, but it is in the nature of the
- beast.
-
- You mention timing diferences of about a minute; well, I can think of
- an example of two recordings I own of the same piece (Mahler's 4th
- Symphony), one conducted by Rafael Kubelik and another by Franz
- Welser-Most in which the timing difference is even most striking:
- Kubelik dispatches the third movement in about 12 minutes, while
- Welser-Most takes over 18. Which one is better? Hard to say; I like
- them both because both of them "work": each brings out an aspect of
- the piece that the other does not.
-
- There exist sources that may help you with purchasing decisions, such
- as "The Good CD guide", the "Penguin guide to classical recordings"
- and serious publications such as "Gramophone", "Fanfare", "American
- Record Guide", etc. You should be aware of the fact that what you'll
- read in the above sources merely represents the (informed) opinion of
- a critic, and these very often (sharply) disagree about the merits of
- a given recording. I said something about "serious" publications
- above: you have probably seen magazines such as "CD review" and "Hi-Fi
- News", but IMHO the quality of their reporting is far below that of
- the ones I mentioned above.
-
- >3) Should one look only for DDD recordings as opposed to ADD or AAD?
- >This further complicates CD purchasing.
- >
- This means nothing. CD's may sport wonderful of perfectly awful sound
- quite regardless of whether they are DDD, ADD or AAD.
-
- >4) Should one look for particular condutors/orchestras performing that
- >piece? This really complicates CD selection!
- >
- Indeed. See my comments on sources of critical guidance.
-
- >***************************************************
- >
- >Thanks. As a side note, I was recently listening to The Planets by
- >Holst. Strangely enough, as much as I liked "Mars", I thought the
- >remainder of the CD in its entirety was boring. I am in my early
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-
- This may be the conductor's fault. May I ask who it was?
-
- >20s, and seem to go for involved peices (I also like hard rock and metal).
- >
- >Any recommendations for my tastes?
-
- I'll think of something suitable ASAP.
-
- >
- >- paulxxxx@leland.stanford.edu
-
-
-