Classical Music

[Alkyogre]

There is a staggering variety of different styles of music under the "Classical" title. Instead of listening to a playlist of someone else's favorites, a great way to get more exposure is to listen to a good classical public radio station. This is where you might be able to hear many different things and possibly find something that you enjoy.

As a lover of both classical and jazz, I enjoy WRCJ - a station in my area that I can listen to in the car or online. They do classical for 14 hours during the day and jazz for 10 at night. I jot down the names of pieces that I like and search Qobuz for them when I have time.

Maybe check out the public radio station(s) in your area and listen for a few minutes now and then. I'll be surprised if you don't come across something that you want to explore further that way. And if not, no biggie - it ain't everyone's cup of tea.

Bottom line - yes, classical music can be an acquired taste. But the taste-testing process can and should be a very enjoyable one.

Some more classic radio recommendations:

BBC radio 3 They have so many beautiful concerts. What I dislike is that at certain moments really isn't going on, but then I swap to another station.
For beginners I can advise the Dutch "Classic FM". Their focus is on all famous classic music, the popular tunes that everyone should have listened, without much talk in between. 24 hours long.
third recommendation is radio Suisse classic. They are more in the direction of Mozart, Strauss, Beethoven, Hayden, etcetera,
And fourth I can recommend is NPO radio 4. They also have at certain times really great concerts, like BBC3. And also here, at alot of time nothing to do.

Lots of good suggestions here. Public radio stations that play a wide variety of classical music will help you zero in on what styles and composers appeal to you. My list has grown over the years. It started with Mozart and Beethoven and grew into Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Verdi, Puccini on and on and on. You can fine tune that with an App like Pandora. They you can perhaps download some files of pieces you like. I found that all labels are definitely not created equal. My favorite labels for audiophile quality classical music are Channel Classic and Harmonia Mundi. Many of the older AAA disks from Deutsche Grammaphone are also excellent. Reference Recordings has several pieces I enjoy. Check out NativeDSD.com also. Good luck! You are in for a treat.

You should add Pentatone on your list. It used to be Philips and they where their time far ahead in recording in high resolution. Think from all labels, they have the largest collection of high res classical music.

 

[brad225]

You can consider classical music to be a lot like the progression of a meal -- you start out with something nice, have to put up with the yucky stuff, and eventually graduate to where you wanted to be all along -- the super yummy dessert.

First movement usually starts off strong: a nice piece of fried chicken, or some great grilled steak.

Second movement is usually the most underwhelming: canned peas that have been boiled to death, no seasoning, no butter. There's not even a hint of the fresh green color the peas were when they were freshly picked. No way to avoid them, even if they're gag inducing. You are hating life right about now.

Third movement starts to pick the pace back up: okay, you've made it through the peas, you can now move on to the butter-laced mashed potatoes and gravy. Light is now officially at the end of the tunnel and it is getting stronger.

Fourth movement gets you to where you've wanted to be the entire meal: big 'ol piece of homemade double-fudge chocolate cake with homemade chocolate icing. You wolf down the first piece and contemplate having a second, knowing that you'll only get about halfway through the second piece before giving up because it was so rich and sweet that loved you a taste for it.

Welcome to classical music.

Thanks Tino, though I might need to alter the menu a bit being a non meat eater. I will take that approach to pieces that other have recommended.

 

[brad225]

i can relate. i retired last Monday, May 15th. after 49 years in retail automotive. 6 days a week. i'm done. time to turn the page and enjoy.

so far just chilling......my plan is 'no plan'......and lots of listening to classical.....and everything else too.

when i became a serious audiophile in 1994, i knew nothing about jazz or classical. now i listen to 70% classical, 20% jazz. my system is built to play large orchestral. my favorite is string quartets.

streaming is great for learning about classical and exploring. as your system gets better, and you listen more, the classical landscape opens up. same with jazz. it's a process to get comfortable one layer at a time. enjoy the journey. i have.

Welcome to the retirement side Mike. My guess is you will stay quite busy.

I started listening to mostly Jazz when I was in high school. I turned 70 a couple of weeks ago so I would say Jazz and offshoots is my mainstay.

My approach to the ideal music system is one that would put me about 4 or 5 tables back from a stage in an intimate club listening to jazz.

I think that was the sound that became instilled in me when I was 20 helping out at a neighborhood coffee house that at 10PM on the weekends became a music venue serving coffee -byob - and every once and a while there was the smell of vegetation burning.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Welcome to the retirement side Mike. My guess is you will stay quite busy.

thanks. so far just dipping my toe into it. looking around at it.

I started listening to mostly Jazz when I was in high school. I turned 70 a couple of weeks ago so I would say Jazz and offshoots is my mainstay.

i'll be 72 in September. in the 60's, 70's and 80's was into mostly 60's and 70's pop/rock......and my kids growing up. not serious music focused listening.

My approach to the ideal music system is one that would put me about 4 or 5 tables back from a stage in an intimate club listening to jazz.

I think that was the sound that became instilled in me when I was 20 helping out at a neighborhood coffee house that at 10PM on the weekends became a music venue serving coffee -byob - and every once and a while there was the smell of vegetation burning.

i never had that sort of exposure. when my kids left and i was an empty nestor, i got exposed to some 'better' sounding gear that got my attention. i jumped into some used better sounding gear, and i was hooked. started reading about gear and music, bought some jazz and classical, and started to investigate. i enjoyed it, so kept at it. since the mid 90's been very serious at learning and listening.

as my system improved and i was exposed to jazz and classical, i investigated deeper and deeper layers of both. i've progressed to appreciating 20th century classical and post golden age jazz, more avantgarde recordings from each. but it was a 20 year process. it happened organically.

 

[GSOphile]

i can relate. i retired last Monday, May 15th. after 49 years in retail automotive. 6 days a week. i'm done. time to turn the page and enjoy.

so far just chilling......my plan is 'no plan'......and lots of listening to classical.....and everything else too.

when i became a serious audiophile in 1994, i knew nothing about jazz or classical. now i listen to 70% classical, 20% jazz. my system is built to play large orchestral. my favorite is string quartets.

streaming is great for learning about classical and exploring. as your system gets better, and you listen more, the classical landscape opens up. same with jazz. it's a process to get comfortable one layer at a time. enjoy the journey. i have.

Mike,
After spending 52 years in the computer industry, I can relate. Although we have similar tastes in music, your system is well thought out and SOTA - and definitely several notches above mine! I have enjoyed and learned from your journey. Best to you in retirement.

 

[astrotoy]

Mike, congrats on your retirement. Six days a week for 49 years. Wow! Not quite like the Queen, but she inherited the job. I was fortunate that my parents loved classical music and my dad put together his Heathkit Williamson amps and Garrard turntable, etc. when I was a kid (first mono and then stereo) and every Sunday as a kid, we had classical music, mostly opera, filling our house. What I found over the many years, and what I see with you, is that the more one is exposed to classical music, with all the nuance of the great composers, the more one appreciates both the beauty and the craft.

Take care, Larry