Classical Music Thread

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[Pocoyo]

 

[Positron]

OK, saw Alexander Melnikov playing the complete Prelude and Fugues by Shostakovich.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND.

Even on CD I find his playing of the fugues a bit sloppy, but he has some insights that are nonetheless interesting. In concert there is just heaps of sloppy playings and no insights. Many a time people had talked about the "Bang Bang" school of pianism among the younger generation, but this was the first time I have the misfortune of hearing one in the wild.

 

[An Sionnach Seang]

I quite like the work of Albert Huybrechts (early 20th century Belgian/Flemish composer), particularly this one:

 

[MongyPleb]

Dvorak Cello Concerto in b minor. The soloist in this version is astounding.

 

[Positron]

Heitor Villa-Lobos has written 17 string quartets, two more than Shostakovich.
He called his Fifth String Quartet "Popular Quartet", and sure enough it is very catchy and melodic.

 

[Zeorus]

So Christina Aguilera has taken it upon herself recently to release a "masterclass" on vocal technique...here's an example of her wisdom:

What a dumb bitch. Any other classical vocalists here that get really irritated with shit like this? I normally wouldn't pay it much attention, but what she says here is just so fundamentally wrong that it veers into the dangerous - somebody attempting to follow this advice can seriously injure their voice with nodes or worse. What do you think, @Golly ?

 

[Positron]

Her voice is almost entirely throat-based, hardly using her head/chest resonance at all. This may work for her type of music (which I loathe), but God helps her without amplification.

 

[Golly]

So Christina Aguilera has taken it upon herself recently to release a "masterclass" on vocal technique...here's an example of her wisdom:

What a dumb bitch. Any other classical vocalists here that get really irritated with shit like this? I normally wouldn't pay it much attention, but what she says here is just so fundamentally wrong that it veers into the dangerous - somebody attempting to follow this advice can seriously injure their voice with nodes or worse. What do you think, @Golly ?

OMG this was all over my facebook feed the other day. Thanks for the ping
Here's the thing, it's not really what she says, but it's what she does. Good vocal technique is based on good breathing and posture, so it's absolutely necessary to not get intimidated by high notes. You commit and you support. That's true. But the demonstration, hoo boy. Oof.

Exactly what @Positron said- that voice is primarily based in the throat. Good breathing and posture only make up part of an efficient vocal technique. Resonance placement is key. You can hear her tense as she reaches towards the upper end of the scale. As a result, her idea of an impressive high note is the B above middle C. There are singers on Broadway who can hit that note in deep REM, much less in their sleep. And of course, she talks in vocal fry which ironically means the core of her sound often isn't engaged.

 

[Pocoyo]

 

[Zeorus]

 

[Positron]

A slightly less familiar piece of Italian baroque violin music. Reminds me of Corelli's "La Folia" variations.

 

[Zeorus]

I'm working on selecting organ repertoire for next year - looking mostly at late 19th and 20th century pieces from a variety of countries (the three pieces I've already cleared with my teacher are French, Dutch, and American respectively). Here's one that most recently caught my eye:

Edit to avoid double post:

This guy is one of my favorite composers that is mostly ignored in the US.

 

[Zeorus]

Here's one of a few pieces I'm looking at doing an organ transcription of over the summer. This I'll probably transcribe as an organ and piano duet (probably basing it on the orchestral version rather than this particular recording for solo piano).

 

[Positron]

Aurore (Dawn), from Vincent D'Indy's Jour d'été sur la montagne (A Summer's Day in the Mountains). A more evocative morning music than Grieg's famous piece

 

[Positron]

Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans is the only extant dramatic cantata Vivaldi wrote for the Venetian orphanage he taught at. Because Vivaldi had a large number of expert instrumentalists to choose from, he composed with an especially rich instrumental palette. This recording, conducted by Alessandro De Marchi, is really a feast for the ears. Almost every aria is worthy of comment, but if I'm to choose one it is Veni, veni me sequere fida, sung by the heroine Juditha as she confides with her servant girl, asking for moral support, before she goes to kill the Assyrian general Holofernes. This aria is interesting in that it employs a rare reed instrument called the chalumeau, which has a sound like the cooing of a turtle dove - although she is going to the bed of another man, Juditha remains faithful to her dead husband like a turtle dove.

Naive records also put the whole, almost 3-hr long, recording on youtube

 

[ActualKiwi]

Still one of my favourites, great music when I'm trying to think or write things. Also one of the few pieces I can at least partially play on Piano myself.

 

[millais]

I'm trying to recall the name of a symphony that I heard a snippet of the other day. All I can remember is that it's a late 19th century DeBussy-like symphonic poem about a river in Eastern Europe. The opening and closing movements are kind of melancholy and majestic, but there is a very cheery, fast tempo movement in the middle that is supposed to capture the atmosphere of a peasant wedding. That's about all I got.

 

[skaytec]

One of my favourites pieces:

In piano sounds good too:

 

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