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Classical fans, I need advice

I need a bit of advice. I've been listening to sample classical recordings (from tower records and amazon) for over 3 months trying to find a place to start. My interest began when I first became entranced by Alison Krauss + Union Station and Nickel Creek. I've gained a new appreciation for classical styles and the violin (fiddle?) in particular.

I listened to: Hilary Hahn - Bach: Violin Concertos on Deutsche Grammophon and enjoyed it. It wasn't too pretty, nor too symphonic. It's intimate and large at the same time. Maybe not quite as romantic as I might prefer but I honestly cannot say without hearing more. Keep in mind I'm not describing the performance here just the music. I'm thinking I will take the plunge with this Hybrid SACD.

Based on this can I be "profiled" and perhaps pointed in a direction? I know these works come from the Baroque period. I also read this in an amazon review "Shortly after Bach's time, the structure of a concerto changed from an ensemble piece for chamber musicians to a piece for soloist and full orchestra. Hence many recordings of these pieces are done by 'name' soloists and 'name' orchestras and lose their intimacy in the process. This recording does not; kudos to DG and Hahn for the choice of the thoroughly musical and consummately professional Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for this disc." I really don't know if this is significant to my enjoyment of what i've heard but I thought I should mention it.

A few other notes about myself. Sound quality is of extreme importance to me. I simply cannot enjoy music on poor recordings. Something else, I really like the song from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack titled "Concerning Hobbits" composed by Howard Shore and performed by the New Zealand S.O. Again I'm not sure if this points me to a specific classical style or period but I figured I would mention it.

Any comments are appreciated
Vedric
vedric

Showing 1 response by shubertmaniac

shubertmaniac
350 posts
 
Classical music:

Schubert: late string quartets and cello quintet, perhaps the most sublime, intimate music there is. The Emerson String Quartet CD on DG is a fine recording and a tremendous performance.

Brahms: the two string sextets, and all the quintets, easy on the ears, easy to follow the logic or flow of the music. Raphael String Ensemble for the two string sextets, fantastic recording (Tony Faulkner producer) and superb performances. The quintets, Phillips has a great 2 for 1 CD of the all quintets.

If you like either of the above, then you can move on to Beethoven and Bartok for chamber music. If you can appreciate these two, then you can move onto Webern and Schnittke, both serial and freely atonal.

Speaking of bluegrass/c&w: my favorites are the real old timers like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and the queen of old-time Western, Patsy Montana. The archtype of Western song is," I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweeteart". It was recently in a DVD I saw, but cannot remember the name.

914Nut: I like the Ahn Trio, do you like the bad boy of classical music Nigel Kennedy? And if you like Faure, have you listened to Koechlin yet?
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