Music I Listen to - Classical (Symphonies)

Still do not have much to write about hardware. What have arrived a few days ago are the Telos caps, both the gold and platinum versions. Still testing them out in my system, they are potent, to say the least. There are many combinations to check out, so I foresee a couple more weeks to conclude the work.

Instead, I thought to share some of the music that I listen to. I am no music critic, so I'll just write briefly about music that I go to time and again, this is music that have stood the test of time for me. Much of what I'll be writing about is from the real basic repertoire.

I'll start with (western) classical music. I have been listening to classical music before my first hifi system. I found myself gravitating towards classical more and more in my college years, very much attracted by its richness, discipline, and variety while operating within defined structure.

Classical music is of course a vast and diverse genre (I can't profess to have explored it in any extensive manner). However, with the survival-of-the-fittest principle operating on it for 200-300 years, what is left in the basic repertoire now is very much the cream of the crop.

The first classical CD I ever owned is a recording of Mozart's symphonies, and over the years, Mozart still pretty much forms the core of the classical music that I listen to. Mozart's music is almost all sunshine, optimistic, and extrovert. It will without fail lift my spirit at the end of a long hard day. Don't do any hifi analysis, just let the music wash over you, it is almost therapeutic. :-)

I'll just touch on Mozart's symphonies here, the version most satisfying for me is Neville Marriner's with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Karl Bohm with the Berlin Philharmonic comes a very close second.

A couple of years ago, I tracked down a set of Marriner's Mozart symphony cycle (part 1 of Philips' Complete Mozart Edition, pictured above) on ebay. And it is now my definitive version. Marriner with the ASMF are fleet of foot, light in heart and, most importantly, they let the music speak for itself, with no self-indulgence or self consciousness. Always a very enjoyable listen.

If you are starting with Mozart, also seek out his Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A little Night Music), a serenade, you'll recognize the tune at the first few bars. Again my favourite is Marriner's, pictured below.

I planned to continue to write on Beethoven, the 'punk rocker' of the classical era to me, but it is late now, I'll leave it for my next post.

Leaving you with a picture of my Mozart and Beethoven box sets:
Left - Complete Mozart Edition - Symphonies (12 CDs, Nevillet Marriner, ASMF. Philips 464 770 2);
Middle - Beethoven 9 Symphonies (5CDs, Herbert van Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, 1963 edition. Deutche Grammophon 429 036-2);
Right - Beethoven 9 Symphonies (5CDs, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Teldec 2292-46452-2)


Happy listening.

Note: all recordings here are not exactly of audiophile quality, but boy, are they satisfying musically. :-)