Anyone into Classical here?

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SheHateMe

SheHateMe

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2012
7,251
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My particular interest is in Classical Piano since I am a huge nerd about playing the Piano. I've been playing since 9th grade (I am 22) and I want to up my skill level. When I first got to College, I was really depressed and stopped playing for 3 years. I just got a new teacher last year and things have been going really well. I've played three pieces under her. She drives me insane, but she keeps me going.

Anyway, what are your favorite pieces? Here are a few that I am either working on, already played, or want to play.

Beethoven - Tempest Sonata No. 17, Opus 31 No. 2 in D minor, Allegretto

Handel -Passacaille (current piece)

C. P. E. Bach - Solfeggietto Piano (past piece, learned in 4 weeks)

Schumann - Kinderszenen Op 15 (next piece after Passacialle)

Dmitri Kabalevsky - Variations in D Major (past piece)



What are your favorites and do you play any instruments!?
 
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V

Vdubchaos

Lifer
Nov 11, 2009
10,408
10
0
I come from a family of musicians (grand father was a principle of a music school/mom was a teacher).

I went to music school for 6+ years and can play quite well, but I never really was into it much when I was young.

We do like classical music though and we listen to it often. When I was younger I couldn't get into it, now it's totally opposite.

I can actually feel the music set an atmosphere and get my mind going (in a creative way).....it gives me goose bumps.

It also relaxes me. Very soothing (especially when it gets crazy in life).

Bach Toccata (for example) I can close my eyes and my mind just goes wild. Now that I'm older (34 hehe) I'm simply amazed how people can create such masterpieces. It's just amazing and puts me in a weird state of mind.

My favorite BY FAR is Mozart Requiem (entire thing from start to finish).

Here are some of my other favorites:
Bach-Air on G String
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMkmQlfOJDk&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=2

Bach Toccata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=1

Beethoven -5th Symphony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7pQytF2nak&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=5

Johann Sebastian Bach - Cello suite No.1 Prelude in G - Majo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuHQgmoSKGs&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=7

Luigi Boccherini: Minuetto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSE15tLBdso&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=8

Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WWFootmWt4&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=9

Chopin's Prelude No. 20 in C Minor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgpPk4ooo7E&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=12

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWaouJ6ufLE&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=13

Ludwig Van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No.14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2LcJTqwVug&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=14

pachelbel's Canon in D-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA-2hl1Vbc&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=15

Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, 1st movement, Allegro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QHzI5HmXl4&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=16

Luigi Boccherini - Menuet, from String Quintet No. 5 in E.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKpP8XFYIHk&list=PLDA8718A071AA78B0&index=17
 
SheHateMe

SheHateMe

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2012
7,251
20
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Sweet links! I actually love a lot of these pieces and I have so many favorites and a long "To Do" list of pieces!

I forgot to add that I played this piece at my very first recital when I started lessons. I learned it in a little over 2.5 months.

It's one of my favorites and I work on making it more perfect every time I play it.

Mozart - Fantasia in D-Minor
 
Farmer

Farmer

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2003
3,334
2
81
I like the Beethoven 5th piano concerto, all of it. I had a recording of Yvgeny Kissin playing it when I was young. Really everything Beethoven except the really late stuff, I guess that is an acquired taste.

Beethoven's 5th and 7th with Carlos Kleiber, great record.

A lot of romantic era: Chopin (The Funeral march, Fantasie Impromptu). and Liszt I like. Debussy for the piano. Tchaikovsky Barcarolle. Bach organ pieces, the little fugue.

Barcarolle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBDAklpf8X4

Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto adagio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSeg69d3CQ8

I grew up listening to classical music, and I felt weird for knowing nothing about popular music.
 
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SheHateMe

SheHateMe

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2012
7,251
20
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I want to try and listen to Liszt. I naturally have a strong dislike for it because every teacher I've ever had hates Liszt and they wouldnt even consider trying a Liszt piece.

There have been quite a few I've wanted to play...

Like Liszt - La Campanella

(her outfit is horrid!)

I REALLY wanted to learn how to play this song. It is so cool! I love his Hungarian Rhapsodies too. I know I just contradicted myself. :p
 
K

KillerCharlie

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2005
3,691
68
91
First of all, I'd suggest getting symphony tickets. If you are under 40 you can usually get great deals. Through a young patron program, I got a block of 6 tickets to Seattle symphony for about $25/performance. They are $40-$50 seats. Oh, and Valentina Lisitsa is awesome - she is the most accessible, friendly, and fan oriented classical musician period. On top of that she's easily one of the best pianists in the world.

As for me, I am about to buy a grand piano. I've been shopping seriously for one for a few months. Right now I'm looking at getting a used Estonia 6'3" - they're rated as on par as US Steinways but at 1/3 the price. I've also been looking at restored Steinways and Mason & Hamlins from the golden era (1900-1930), but the higher quality restorations I like are a bit out of my price range.

Beethoven's piano pieces are fantastic. I memorized his Pathetique sonata (all 3 movements) when I got back into piano a year ago after not playing for about 10 years (since high school).

I am a Chopin fanatic though. I love everything except most of his etudes (they are etudes after all).

His nocturnes are awesome. Here are some of the ones I've learned lately. I'll start posting youtube links in a minute.
Valse No 6 D flat major op 64 No 1 Minute-Waltz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2JCxapd5hU
Valse brilliante in E b Op 18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG-E4PVGQSINocturne
B Flat minor, op 9 No 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtIW2r1EalM
Nocturne E Flat major, op 9 No 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvxS_bJ0yOU
Prelude No 15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFHXmiZP38
Prelude No 7 Opus 28 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLU4wgtpjGs
Polonaise in A, Op.40 No.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbnunexhlXM


Ones I want to learn:
Nocturne E minor, op 72 No 1
Nocturne No.2 in F-Sharp Major, Op.15
Valse No 3 a minor op 34 No 2
Waltz A Flat major, op 69 No 1
50 others
 
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SheHateMe

SheHateMe

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2012
7,251
20
81
KillerCharlie said:
First of all, I'd suggest getting symphony tickets. If you are under 40 you can usually get great deals. Through a young patron program, I got a block of 6 tickets to Seattle symphony for about $25/performance. They are $40-$50 seats.

As for me, I am about to buy a grand piano. I've been shopping seriously for one for a few months. Right now I'm looking at getting a used Estonia 6'3" - they're rated as on par as US Steinways but at 1/3 the price. I've also been looking at restored Steinways and Mason & Hamlins from the golden era (1900-1930), but the higher quality restorations I like are a bit out of my price range.

Beethoven's piano pieces are fantastic. I memorized his Pathetique sonata (all 3 movements) when I got back into piano a year ago after not playing for about 10 years (since high school).

I am a Chopin fanatic though. I love everything except most of his etudes (they are etudes after all).

His nocturnes are awesome. Here are some of the ones I've learned lately. I'll start posting youtube links in a minute.
Nocturne B Flat minor, op 9 No 1
Nocturne C Sharp minor, op 27 No 1
Nocturne E Flat major, op 9 No 2
Prelude No 15
Prelude No 7 Opus 28
Polonaise in A, Op.40 No.1
Valse No 6 D flat major op 64 No 1 Minute-Waltz
Valse brilliante in E b Op 18



Ones I want to learn:
Nocturne E minor, op 72 No 1
Nocturne No.2 in F-Sharp Major, Op.15
Valse No 3 a minor op 34 No 2
Waltz A Flat major, op 69 No 1
50 others
Click to expand...

Cool!

I suggest you check out Piano World to get some expert advice on Pianos and also in touch with a community of Pianists and aspiring Pianists. Its really great, I am on there all the time. Plus, they have online recitals. I am planning on playing in the one during the summer! I'd love to hear you play sometime!

I really love Chopin and I want to play more of his pieces that AREN'T Nocturnes! I also want to do Bach, but I don't think my technique is at that level yet...or perhaps, I am too afraid to try. I want to start off with Bach's Inventions.

What made you stop playing the piano for so long, if you don't mine me asking? Also, are you self teaching or do you have a teacher?! I really wish I could afford an Acoustic Piano but Im a college student and I don't have the money...I also don't have that much space in the house to store it. Right now, I am using a Digital by Casio, I paid about $800 for it and I LOVE it. Action is similar to an acoustic and the portability and Headphone jacks are really important to me. The key action was a little heavy at first and I had to really adapt to it because I was coming from a cheapo keyboard where the slightest touch would play a note.
 
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K

KillerCharlie

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2005
3,691
68
91
I took lessons age 9-15. I stopped in late high school and college to focus on academics so I could get an engineering degree. I hated taking lessons as a kid but suddenly after college I wanted to play again really badly. At best now I play an hour a day, but I get so sick of the digital. If I average over an hour a day with an actual piano, I'll probably start up lessons again after a while.

Right now I have a high end Kawai digital with a great action (double escapement and everything).

I've posted on pianoworld quite a bit. Once I get a piano I'll probably get some recording equipment and take part in the recitals.
 
SheHateMe

SheHateMe

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2012
7,251
20
81
KillerCharlie said:
I took lessons age 9-15. I stopped in late high school and college to focus on academics so I could get an engineering degree. I hated taking lessons as a kid but suddenly after college I wanted to play again really badly. At best now I play an hour a day, but I get so sick of the digital. If I average over an hour a day with an actual piano, I'll probably start up lessons again after a while.

Right now I have a high end Kawai digital with a great action (double escapement and everything).

I've posted on pianoworld quite a bit. Once I get a piano I'll probably get some recording equipment and take part in the recitals.
Click to expand...

Great! I wish you the best of luck. I do agree, playing on an Acoustic is a different experience. There have been times where I had great difficulty with digitals, but when I go to the Music building on campus or perform that week's assignment at my Teacher's house....it just naturally comes out and NO problems!
 
Ketchup

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
Bach was probably my favorite CD in college. Great study music. Beautiful and relaxing.
 
brianmanahan

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,638
6,016
136
bach + beethoven + mozart = all i need

and occassionally some rachmaninoff if i am feeling really crazy
 
acheron

acheron

Diamond Member
May 27, 2008
3,171
2
81
Bach and other baroque music here. I listen to the classical music radio station in the car, so they play a wide variety, but if I'm choosing for myself it's usually Bach or Vivaldi or Handel or Telemann or something.

Sometimes it's Beethoven though, which is completely different, obviously... for the most part Romantic era music is too much for me (hard to describe other than that), but Beethoven is the exception. Because he's goddamn Beethoven.
 
lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,387
10,782
126
I just started listening to it more over the last few days. I'm not particularly educated, but I like most of it. Mozart tends to stand out for me though.

Listening to this radio station currently...

http://109.123.116.202:8020/
 
SSSnail

SSSnail

Lifer
Nov 29, 2006
17,458
83
86
SheHateMe said:
What do you want to know?
Click to expand...
Like, which pieces did you play under her, wink. And, how did she drive you insane, and with what, wink. And, how did she keep you going, wink. ;) wink

Oh man, I hope people are quicker than that, but I guess not... without the emoticons, a lot of innuendos are lost.
 
SheHateMe

SheHateMe

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2012
7,251
20
81
SSSnail said:
Like, which pieces did you play under her, wink. And, how did she drive you insane, and with what, wink. And, how did she keep you going, wink. ;) wink

Oh man, I hope people are quicker than that, but I guess not... without the emoticons, a lot of innuendos are lost.
Click to expand...

All three of the pieces that I have performed under her were marked in my OP. The Mozart piece, Fantasia in D Minor was actually a piece I performed under my first teacher when I started Piano. I decided that I wanted to play the piece a second time under my new teacher given the large gap that was between playing it the first time.

And I guess she drives me insane just about as much as any other teacher I've had that cared. She doesn't let me quit things or develop bad habits (I always crack my fingers before I start playing..she hates that). She stresses sight reading and following dynamics. She tried to get me to use a Metronome once while playing and I couldn't concentrate so we don't do that anymore..instead she will just have me count or tap my hands to the counts as she plays. As of late, she has been driving me insane over this Passacaille piece. Its three pages long, very technical, has a lot of changes in dynamics in a short period of time, and requires following an exact finger layout.

I have about 4 lines on the piece before I finish..I should probably practice over break, but I probably won't.


Did that answer all of your questions?
 
silverpig

silverpig

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
27,703
12
81
I love listening to classical piano when I run.

Lizst is my favourite. Hungarian rhapsody #2, and la campanella for sure.

I like some Chopin, Nocturne 9.2 for example, but find some of the rest of it to sound like what I would expect from a toy music box.
 
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