Getting Into Classical and Contemporary Music

[IceAlisa]

Apologies if these have been listed.

IMO, no one does dark and brooding like Rachmaninov:

Hell's Bells, my favorite execution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtuMVBLEWJU

Another one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXU7I_Yyi2Y Gilels owns it.

I am also a fan of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNIK1yaKr_4

Another favorite is the Francois Boieldieu Concerto for Harp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frn_H8RGH7Y
The 3rd movement is lovely too.

Rage over a lost penny is always a fan favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMnvhfTuVG4

Night on the Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky, a deeply spiritual piece IMO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8

La Campanella is awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEnfZjqMSy0 it means "little bell" and the idea is to imitate the sound of a bell.

Fantasie Impromptu by Chopin is a must: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvm2Z...eature=related

Elgar's Salut d'amour is so pretty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSv3iApK3DQ This was an wedding present to his bride. Must have been nice.

Mozart's Requiem is absolutely terrifying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi8vJ_lMxQI
Lacrimosa is not to be missed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-Tr...eature=related

And not to forget the rude Americans: Copland's Hoedown is on my iPod http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsReWx9XdNs

as is Barber's Adagio for strings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450 I am trying to forget that Alena skated to that.

my favorite Ravel is "Le Tombeau de Couperin". There are orchestra and chamber music versions, and the piano version.

I've had the privilege to hear the St. Petersburg Philharmonic perform this. You would have been pleased.

[Ziggy]

Thanks so much for all the links, guys.

A lot of awesome stuff and definitely a good starting point.

[LilJen]

It's my favorite piece of classical music. I am partial to the second movement, but you're right, the whole thing is beautiful.

Me too. Beethoven's 7th ROCKS.

If you're looking for more of a wistful dark, Faure's Pavane is perfect. Need to wallow in the pain of a recent breakup or a job that's going nowhere for a while? Perfect song to feel sorry for yourself by!!! (Chopin also does wistful very very well.)

[IceAlisa]

Seconding the Fauré Pavane. Also Schubert's Serenade is good for that purpose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq1Cg...eature=related

[Scintillation]

Just a general piano player shout out to Martha Argerich, my all-time favorite pianist, here playing one of the most complicated pieces ever, Ravel's Ondine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BonP-ilIxwg

It's based on a poem about the water nymph who's trying to lure a handsome suitor to live down at the bottom of a lake with her. You know someone could make a voidy skating program out of that.

[Wyliefan]

I just had a vision of a female ice dancer draped in fishnets. Pechalat, maybe?

I went to the most wonderful (free!) concert last week by pianist Menahem Pressler, on his 88th birthday (which also happened to be Beethoven's birthday). He gave a great little speech about how not everyone can have a career in music, but everyone can love and serve music, and that's what matters most. You could tell how much he loved the music just by the way he played.

I would link to YouTubes of him playing those particular pieces, but can't find them. But it was Beethoven's piano sonata no. 31 -- he told us all about how each movement corresponded to a period of Beethoven's life -- and one of the Chopin nocturnes.

And then we sang "Happy Birthday" to him.