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Violins, Fine Wine, and Your Classical Music Recommendations — Vince
My wife and I were trying to unwind after a work week full of fighting murders and child molesters (we are both prosecutors). We opened a lovely bottle of pinot from the Willamette Valley and retreated to our patio to enjoy an amazing Arizona evening. Despite the gentle breeze, we wanted music to accompany our time. We turned on classical iTunes Radio and just sat.
I’ve always enjoyed the violin, but when the second movement of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Winter (Max Richter version) played, my appreciation soared. There is nothing more memorable than when music perfectly captures feeling. It was then that I realized that classical music—really good classical music — is a lot like being introduced to fine wines. It’s an intimidating education, full of lingo and infinite choice, but still very rewarding. I don’t know why I love the pieces I do, but I do. When Jay Nordlinger and Mona Charen discuss music I always listen closely. I hope they do another music episode of their podcast soon.
In the interim, I’ll reach out to you all. Any classical music selections to recommend, particularly those featuring the violin? The more haunting, lonely and sorrowful the violin the better.
Published in General
Yes! The Mendelssohn Concerto. Vince, when you decide to get out of the mellow easy listening vein, the Mendelssohn finale is sure to cheer you up. One of my all time favorites.
Ahhh…thanks for that rhapsodic landscape tour with “The Lark Ascending”! For learning the ropes, I think Robert Greenberg’s lectures from the Great Courses are wonderfully fun and full of meat for beginners and experts. I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy” with the splendid viola lead, second movement especially. And, if you have a particularly deep, rich, luminous wine, don’t miss an hour with Jesse Norman singing R. Strauss’ “Four Last Songs.” A cello with wings.
You think helicopter blades are bad? I hate Johnny Depp for ruining the William Tell Overture by wearing a dead bird on his head in The Lone Ranger. :-P
To my ear there is no instrument so capable of stirring such a broad range of emotions as is the violin, and my two favorite works are Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, followed closely by Brahm’s Violin Concerto in D Major– all, preferably, played by Itzhak Perlman.
I know there are arguments to be made in favor of Heifetz, Stern, Zukerman (and my late mother always insisted that none of them could hold a candle to Nathan Milstein), but during the 11 years I lived in Israel I spent many wonderful evenings at the Israel Philharmonic not just listening to, but experiencing Perlman as conducted by Zubin Mehta– and believe me, those two always had their own party going!
The almost mischievous sense of joy they shared, the white-hot flame of creativity, the pure spontaneity with which they fluidly and effortlessly interacted with each other to create the music was simply magical, and every time I listen to a recording of Perlman I once again experience that same excitement.
Ah, I feel a distinct inclination to go peruse the CDs…
The Bach violin partitas have already been mentioned, but if you’re in a contemplative mood check out the Partita #2 – the final movement (the famous “chacon”) is a window into the composer’s soul (his first wife had recently passed away), not to mention a tax on the soloist’s skill.
For a little lighter fun, I like the Dvorak Mazurka for Violin and Orchestra.
Enjoy!
I love Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony even before The King’s Speech used it.
Others have mentioned Fauré and others Requiems, but I really am moved by Fauré’s Requiem Op 48.
As a former symphonic band geek in high school and college, I like stuff boisterous and loud, which is not really wine drinking music, but I like Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.
Thanks for all the good suggestions. Maybe I’ll even go try some of the violin concertos others have suggested!
While I would certainly defer to Ryan (how’s that for working together!) I went to law school in Oregon and if you are in the Willamette Valley, try the smaller vineyards to visit: Vidon, Collene Clemens, Raptor Ridge are amazing, small productions and you will likely meet the owners during the wine tastings. Arbor Brooke 777 is also delicious but not a “small” vineyard.
Ok quick confession: I could walk past Tom Cruise and not blink. Brad Pitt? Yawn. Penelope Cruz… Ok I would blink if she walked past, I’m married not dead… But having an editor of Ricochet (one that I listen to all the time) comment on a thread? Totally star-struck.
Oh, dang. I just read back through the comments and realized that I was preempted on virtually everything I said. Except the bit about my distrust for prosecuting attorneys (I only kid).
So flipping through my vinyl collection (the pride of our livingroom, haha), let me add Marin Marais: Sonnerie de Sainte Genevieve du Mont de Paris. The recording I have is fantastic (MHS 4639), and I’ve never found it replicated on youtube.
p.s. @ Spengler, I’m listening to the piece you linked to right now. Absolutely wonderful!
or CPE’s harpisichord. Just as good as his Dad’s, in my opinion.
Agree. Fugue in D is dreadful and because my music is usually blasted on the lanai, if I forget to skip the track, the neighbors complain. :)
I love Bach, but I have reservations myself about the T&F in D minor, though I have heard some awesome renditions of on the classical bayan. It’s been played so often, it’s difficult to find a sensitive interpretation.
Part of the problem is this, maybe. It’s really a composition by Bach meant for the purpose of impressing another composer — a living acknowledged master of his day from North Germany — Dietrich Buxtehude. Chances are, if you like Buxtehude’s style, you will like the Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. The distinctiveness in style had led people to attribute it to some other composer and not Bach.
Bach was a quick study of popular styles. German composers were quite capable of absorbing styles from France and Italy. Bach recognized a limitation as a composer at a time when Vivaldi was admired for the beauty of his compositions. Bach studied Vivaldi’s music and did write some later pieces in the style of Vivaldi, but he used the rest of his creative ability to make it even better.
Don’t forget his Scottish Fantasy!
Guaranteed favorite: The Violin Concerto in D Minor Op. 47 by Jean Sibelius
Violinist: Maxim Vengerov (quite popular, apparently, amongst the Richoetti)
Conducter: Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra: CSO
I prefer my Sibelius with Islay scotch whisky, but a good white might work. Enjoy the sublime here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsbrRAgv1b4
My mom would agree with you about John Williams, and she knew everything about classical music there is to know. He is amazing.
I am deeply offended by this topic.
All this sax and violins is clearly a CofC violation!
Breezing through the previous 77 comments, I find little to disagree with. Unless I overlooked them, two additional works should be on your list. The Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor must rank as one of the most beautiful and moving compositions ever, particularly the final movement, which Dvorak extended, with even greater effect, upon the death of his beloved sister-in-law The Janos Starker performance with Dorati and the London Symphony Orchestra on Mercury has long been my favorite, but many have liked the Rostropovich/Karajan version on Deutsche Gramophone. Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major contains a profoundly evocative second movement, which I understand was requested by Artur Rubenstein to be played at his funeral. There are several fine performances, but I would avoid any by Heifetz because his tendency toward fast speeds misses some of the emotion here.
The extended melody in the second movement of Prokofief’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor is haunting, and the piece as a whole is a good introduction to the composer’s unique blending of lyricism and percussive dissonance.
Great thread!!!
I played the violin for many years and love all of what’s been mentioned here. I’d also recommend the Brahms Concerto for violin and cello – I had the opportunity to play this (in the orchestra) with Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson when I was in high school. What a thrill.
I also recommend the Belcea String Quartet’s Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets Vol 1 & 2. Pricey but really great.
Sir Thomas Beecham would disagree. Bach: Too much counterpoint; what is worse, Protestant counterpoint. Harpsichords: sound like two skeletons copulating on a tin roof.
Don’t know what he thought of Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2, but that’s my recommendation to accompany a drink with someone you’ve known a long time and still like.
Josef Suk’s E-flat String Seranade resulting from future dad-in-law composition instructor’s good advice to maybe lighten up a little is from sort of the same place. Dad-in-law’s String Seranade works too.
I fell absolutely head over heels (nose over palate?) for the Raptor Ridge pinots about seven years ago, and ever since then have counted myself a major fan. Their pinot noir is always a revelation, but what has really blown me away has been their pinot gris; certain years of the Raptor Ridge pinot gris may possibly have been the best I’ve ever experienced– there’s such amazing life to them that one has to fight the impression that this decidedly still wine is, in fact, effervescent! It’s just beautiful.
Now, that notwithstanding, and still speaking as another Oregonian who never hesitates to recommend to others the best of the Willamette Valley, I have to say that for relaxing at the end of a trying day with music, wine, and some exceptional artisan cheese, there is nothing so satisfying as a glass of Taylor Fladgate 20-year-old Tawny Port– and for exceptionally trying days (or in celebration of a special achievement), their 40-year-old Tawny. It’s a purely sensual experience capable of turning an inverted world right again. At least momentarily. And it’s something not to be missed.
that is funny, I can picture Bach and Buxtehude with dueling organs at two opposite ends of a giant cathedral. That imagery seems to fit Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D minor. Not sure either of them would have ever been so frivolous as to duel with organs, but it is a funny little imagery. :)
For the purposes of Gemuetlichkeit enhancement you could do worse than toss in Fritz Kreisler encores. Liebesleid and Liebesfreud come to mind. For the fabulously goofy Finnish version of Gemuetlichkeit, Jean Sibelius’ Characteristic Suite would make a stone smile. And possibly buy the next round.
I’ve enjoyed this thread and there are some wonderful recommendations. If members want to continue this conversation, let me offer two questions: 1). what makes the difference as to whether you’re bitten by this particular bug or not? We all know people, very sophisticated in politics, literature, science, etc…but in music, particularly “classical” music, not at all really. For me, I know getting bitten early – like, 14 or so – was the key – a bit like smoking, though never was bitten by that one. 2). should we be pessimistic about the audience of the future for this music? Yes, there’s plenty of it online, and through streaming….but when I go to concerts, I tend to see my age peers (a brand-new Medicare card in my wallet!). Orchestras are in money trouble, like Minnesota and even Philadelphia. Record labels are consolidating, dropping the classical back catalogues. Music education is….minimal. Will our grandchildren be listening to Dvorak and Faure?
YES, if their grandparents include “this” music as part of the family culture and experience.
Orchestras are realizing they must embrace their audiences where the audience is, not expect the audience to appear in the formal concert hall setting. That is why you are seeing more outreach projects, bringing orchestral musicians into local communities, creating interactions with children and families in less formal settings. Community teaching projects integrate collegiate programs with their neighborhoods. Families that take advantage of such opportunities build a wonderful musical heritage for themselves.
Everyone may not become an elite musician capable of performing Dvorak or Faure, but ALL of us are musical at some level, unless the heart has stopped beating, or the solar system halts. Music is built into us, whether we acknowledge it or not.
http://www.whitevinyldesign.com/solarbeat/
With a maternal grandmother who had been a concert pianist, a mother brought up amidst that world to become first a professional dancer classically trained in ballet and later both a pianist and composer, and a European father who was invariably described by friends, business associates, and the occasional enemy as “a gentleman of the old school” who was the definition of a cultured man of his time, it was inevitable that I was born and bred immersed in classical music. My parents supported the symphony, the opera, and the ballet, and our home was always filled with music.
I can no more imagine not having that at the core of my being than I can conceive of not having grown up with a passion for art and literature– these things are so woven through the tapestry of my being that whomever such an individual might be, she would not at all be who I am.
These guys are pretty good ambassadors for classical music:
One of the most expressive violinists ever:
Wow, so much hate over T&F in d.
So it’s overused and tricky to play sensitively. I still would have been immensely proud of myself if I had been the one who’d composed it.
That’s my standard. When I hear music by famous composers that I myself would have been embarrassed to have written, then I know it’s bad. If I would have been over-the-moon proud to have written it, then I think it’s good.
Some pieces that are tricky to perform are definitely worth the pains it takes to do them well, though others aren’t.
Bach was the young one at the time, Buxtehude was the established master. Bach had to walk quite a distance to get to the town where Buxtehude was established in, and he stayed there a while. It was quite something for Bach to hear this master. The biography I read didn’t mention whether Bach got to play his piece, or show it to Buxtehude, or what the reaction was.