FrancesHinden, on Oct 26 2005, 05:40 PM, said:
I seem to be in a bit of a minority.
Until last week my computer hard disk had a bit on an emphasis on 'B', as it had:
Bruckner symphonies 6,7,8,9
Bach B-minor mass, magnificat
Beethoven piano sonatas
(and some other stuff by Haydn, Handel, Mendelssohn and Elgar).
But! Our hard disk broke, we've just replaced it, and the new one has no music at all on it yet. I think I'll go back to Schubert piano sonatas & string 4tets for a while, haven't listened to them for ages.
I'm also part of this minority. I listen to many orchestral recordings, mostly remastered versions of classic LPs from the 1950s/60s. I am a big fan of the work of Herbert von Karajan, who has achieved a technical perfection from the Berlin Philharmonic that no orchestra has matched since. All records are of Karajan and the BPO unless otherwise noted. My favorites for bridge are
Relaxing (first online game, or tense period)
- Beethoven, Symphony No. 6
- Dvorak, Symphony No. 8, von Dochnanyi Cleveland
- Grieg, Peer Gynt Suites, Karajan VPO
- Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1, with Berman
Exciting (whistle along during a casual game)
- Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 2, Leinsdorf Chicago, with Richter
- Dvorak, Symphony No. 9
- Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition
- Strauss, Die Fledermaus, Karajan [old] Philharmonia, with Schwarzkopf, ...
Dominating (listening while playing well)
- Bach, Brandenburg Concertos, I Musici
- Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, Furtwangler Bayreuth, with Schwarzkopf, ...
- Offenbach / Rosenthal, Gaite Parisienne
- Tchaikovsky, 1812 Overture with choral, Lockhart Boston Pops
Contemplating (listening while playing less well)
- Mozart, Violin Concerto, with Mutter
- Ravel, Bolero