Listening to Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto...I feel kingly

[Bundbuster]

I love all 5 of Lud's piano concertos, but No. 5 just makes me want to get up and solve all the world's problems. Let's see...where should I start?

[Snow]

1. Now play a copy of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Entry of the Nobles"

that'll give you your 'getting started' fanfare.

[Bundbuster]

2. Think I'll try a dose of

Mozart's piano concerto no. 26, "The Coronation."

Must be careful I don't start feeling/acting like boy george: "This job would be a whole lot easier if we had royalty, and I were king."

[jpgray]

3. Play Mussorgsky's Boris Goudunov--that'll cure ya (nt)

[Snow]

4. Oooh, yes. Basso profundo here! Love that opera. And it'll

certainly cure your kingly ambitions....

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Mussorgsky is over-rated

good, in his way, but over-rated.

[jpgray]

7. Well, he can stand one more rating, apparently

:D

[mobuto]

16. Nonsense

For a mentally unstable man who never lasted an hour sober in his life, Mussorgsky wrote some damn fine music. Pictures at an Exhibition is one of the greatest works ever written for the piano - it exploits the full power and range of the instrument more than anything else I can think of. And the opera Boris Gudonov is nothing short of revolutionary.

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Who's playing the piano?

Sheesh, you can't just toss off that youa re listening to it without letting us know who's playing, and what orchestra and who the conductor is.

makes a big difference. :-)

But yeah, that's a FANTASTIC concerto.

[Bundbuster]

8. "Emperor" was on the radio

and I was too busy eating chocolate chip cookies (without nuts of course) to catch the credits. My own collection of all 5 Beethoven PC's has Maurizio Pollini, piano, with Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, on the DG label. Bravo!

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Damn

I have the Murray Perahia recordings of all the concertos - fantastic!

[Bundbuster]

10. Murray Perahia is pure genius

Many of my Mozart PC recordings feature him - has he made a full recovery from his physical afflictions of several years back? I don't remember exactly what stopped his career, but it was tragic for such a superb interpretor in his prime.

Here's a question which should get a miriad of answers: what's your favorite Mozart piano concerto?

[ironflange]

11. K467 in C major

The one used in "Elvira Madigan." Mrs. Ironflange one performed it with a really awful student orchestra, but I still have a soft spot for it.

[Bundbuster]

13. Ah yes, # 21

That, along with #27, is probably his most popular. There's a Murray Perahia recording, with the Chamber Orchestra Of Europe, on the Sony label, of BOTH 21 & 27 on one CD. Definitely a must-own.

[mobuto]

15. Favorite Mozart Piano Concerto?

Well, that's a hard one and it varries. At this point, I'd have to say that its the E Flat Major Concerto, No. 22 performed by Michelangeli with Celibidache. But my tastes change and if you ask again in the morning, I'll probably have a new favorite.

As for Emperor recordings, there are really so many. I particularly like Kempff's with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by van Kempen.

FYI, Perahia had a bizarre affliction. He had what he thought was a papercut on his thumb, but it developed into a serious infection that kept him from playing. Except that even after the infection was cured, he still couldn't play. Apparently he had some bone fragment in his thumb - very strange. But he's back completely now. You're not thinking of Leon Fleischer are you? Now that's a tragedy.

[Bundbuster]

17. No, I was thinking of Perahia

and I'm very glad to hear that he's "back completely."

Here's a recording to give a listen to, which has made Mozart's PC #25 my favorite (on most days): Zoltan Kocsis, piano, with the "Orchestre de Chambre Ferenc Liszt" - absolutely stunning, on the Harmonia Mundi label. The CD also has concertos (concerti?) #8 and #13.

[SarahB]

12. Listened to Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique...I feel fantastic!

[Bundbuster]

14. Listened to Sym. Fantastique in my car today

and it always makes me feel fantastique. If any of you ever have the chance to see a live performance, I'd rate it as the ultimate classical music experience - even better than a live Beethoven's 9th.

[Snow]

18. Live performances are fun. I was sitting in the front row

a few years ago with all the suzuki students for a symphony performance. Then a coupla years after that my daughter in the youth symphony got to play the march to the gallows movement. The kids really had fun with the head-dropping thing.