If you haven't basked in the full-throated burst of sound from a symphony orchestra or heard the verve and zest of a Mozart piano quintet fill up a room, then a full, lush life is escaping you.
You don't like classical music? No, you just think you don't like it. Okay, if you've been force fed modern classical, then I understand -- you hate classical music.
Yet you love music! There isn't a moment of the day when you're not listening to it, if you can help it.But like me, you've been hooked on rock, rythm and blues, country and other forms of popular music since you were what -- "Almost thirteen"?
That deep and abiding love for music, my friend, is a sign that the seeds have been sown. Now, it's time to step up and live life on the musical edge,to expand your intellectual muscle. Do it by giving yourself a real shot at finding out whether there can more to your musical life, something you never knew you'd like.
Do this: set aside an hour or two and listen to the pieces I've set out for musical risk-takers at the end of this post. There's a chance you have a friend or two who owns them or you can get them on loan at a public library. You probably won't have to spend a dime. But if you do, some of the music I've listed can be downloaded inexpensively from the internet. Or, you can buy used CD's for $2.00 or less and new ones for $5.00 or less.
Even though I'm giving you some artists' names, don't worry about finding their recordings. Any professional artist or orchestra that's been promoted by a recording company is in the classical big leagues. So they're all very good musicians.The best performing artists are out-of-sight good.
1) Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto No.1 in G Minor, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, pianist.
2) Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No.2, Evgeny Kissin, pianist.
3)Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No.2.
4)Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Virgil Fox, organist.
5)Beethoven, Piano Sonata No.14 (Moonlight) [The third movement is incredible!]
6)Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.5, Murray Perahia, pianist.
7)Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.
8) Mozart, Quintet for Piano, and Woodwinds in E-flat Major, K.452
Choose any four or five, and if your interest isn't piqued, at least you will have made an honest effort, right? And just maybe the next time you're at a highbrow cocktail party and perchance classical music comes up in conversation, at least you'll be able to make yourself look good with a couple of well-edited comments.
If your interest is stoked, email me and I'll send you list of what I've been enjoying for years. And yes, I'm still into rock!
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