Music

I tend to listen to a lot of classical music, and here are some of my collections/fave stuff. :)

Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. This is one of the most beautiful music ever composed by Barber. Typically, it's played in a quartet, but I noticed that some string orchestras also play this.

Complete Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. This is a special collection performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy. Ashkenazy is an excellent performer who seems to play a bit slower than other pianists, but he adds so much depth and emotion to his performance.

Beethoven Complete Symphonies performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan is considered a must for all Beethoven lovers/classical music enthusiasts. I highly recommend this one. I find Karajan's conducting to be decisive and explosive and somewhat melodramatic at times, but that's what makes his conducting style so fascinating.

Chopin Nocturnes performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy is a complete set of Chopin's Nocturnes. I think Chopin is poetic, while some of his other comparables, such as Liszt, were more focused on techniques of piano performance.

The Piano Works by Chopin performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy is the complete set of Chopin's solo piano works and contains 13 CDs. I know it's kinda expensive, but it's nice to have all of Chopin's masterworks together. :)

Arthur Foote's Suite in E performed by London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Klein is absolutely gorgeous. Foote is American composer, and his suite is very breezy and lyrical. This is probably one of the best suites for string orchestra.

Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suites performed by New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein is a gorgeous piece. Grieg is one of the most famous Norwegian/Scandanavian composers, and lyricism and gentleness mark his works.

George Handel's Messiah: Highlights performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir George Solti is one of my favorite Messiah version. Solti is an excellent conductor and almost grandfatherly in a way. And of course, you can't spend Christmas without listening to Handel's Messiah.

Liszt, Franz's Mephisto Waltz #1 performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy sounds diabolically fast and difficult to perform. Ashekanzy does an excellent job of bringing this piece to life.

Sergei Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers, and you can never go wrong with Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff: the Piano Concertos, etc. performed by Rachmaninoff with Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy is an excellent album on Rachmaninoff. It's not just because it's played by Rach himself, but because it's interesting to listen to the interpretation Rach did on his own pieces.

However, the best person for the Rach concertos are really Ashkenazy. (Can you tell that I love Ashkenazy?) Rachmaninoff Concertos 1-4 performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy with London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by André Previn is the bomb. I listen to it all the time, I think it's better than Rach's own performance IMHO. Of course, I'm biased, but you should have known, right? ^_~