|
Again, some favourites, this time split into two categories - Classical and
contemporary, with brief comments. To make it more manageable, I've decided to
limit each composer / group to a single entry, with references to further works
in the comments
Classical
| Composer / Title |
Comment |
| Beethoven's 9th symphony |
The masterwork - particularly where the choir joins the
final movement. At the time this was unheard of in an instrumental work,
and must have been electrifying. Beethoven, on the other hand, considered
the human voice to be the greatest of all instruments. Also outstanding
are the D-minor violin concerto, 'Emperor' piano concerto and the other
symphonies (personally I enjoy Nos. 1, 7 & 8 more than the well-known
5 and 6). |
| Handel's Messiah |
Immensely enjoyable, particularly to sing along to. |
| Vivaldi's 'Gloria' |
Also 'Nulla in Mundo pax sincera' among he choral works, and
the numerous concerti and concertanti |
| J. S. Bach concerto for two violins |
Also Cantata140 - Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers awake)
which you may recognise from the old Lloyds Bank adverts. |
| Bizet's the Pearl Fishers |
Wonderful music, dreadful libretto (as the librettists
themselves remarked after hearing the score "if we'd realised how
good he was, we would have written something better"). Bizet died
young, but also produced Carmen which is highly enjoyable. |
| Verdi |
|
| Mozart Magic Flute |
Truly inspired music, against a faintly ridiculous score,
but Mozart had no excuses since he wrote both. Mozart's music has a sense of warmth which is (sometimes) missing from the technical excellence of
Bach's works. I've heard it said that the Angels play Bach to entertain
God, but when they get together on their own, they play Mozart. |
| Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto |
Horrendously difficult to play (Rachmaninov himself had
unusually large hands) but inspiring. |
| Lakme |
I confess I don't know much else, but the duet in Lakme
rates a mention all of it's own |
| |
|
Contemporary
This is actually much more difficult, as individuals fail to stand out the
same as the giants of classical music who have, after all, stood the test of
time. I suspect then that this will be more in the lines of current favourites,
and to be honest, few of them really stand comparison with the classics. Still,
here we go
| Artist / album |
Comment |
| The Coors - Walk on corners |
Clean simple Irish folk music, and it helps that
they're good looking too! the later albums 'Forgiven, not forgotten' and 'in
Blue' are both very good. |
| Cyndi Lauper - Twelve deadly Cyns |
This greatest hits album has all the
best tunes on it: 'True colours', 'Time after time' and a great rendition of the
Roy Orbison classic 'I drove all night' |
| Huw and Tony Williams - Paradise circus |
Two Welshmen (unrelated) who play a mixture of
traditional and modern (their own) folk music. Great entertainment, they
can have you laughing one minute, and close to tears the next. Don't miss
them if they're playing near you. Other albums include 'Rosemary's baby'
and the acoustic set 'Unplugged and unrelated'. For tour dates see their
website tcsprodns. |
| Enya - Watermark |
See also 'Shepherd moons' and 'the Celts' |
| Buddy Holly - the very best of |
Includes 'Heartbeat', 'Oh Boy' and 'Every day'. |
| U2 - the
Joshua Tree |
Great when they were a small band, they got totally lost in
a sense of their own importance. 'Rattle and Hum' is still very
good, but 'Achtung Baby' has only a couple of good tunes ('who's gonna ride
your wild horses?' and 'mysterious ways'), and you can forget anything later. |
| The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody |
Also includes their other great hit: You've lost
that lovin' feelin'. |
| Louis Armstrong - the very best of |
Unforgettable for his rendition of 'What a wonderful
world', this double CD box-set includes 'We have all the time in the
world' 'Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)' and 'Dream a little Dream'. |
|
|
|
|
[Top]
|
