Quote:
Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo
I started off with Brahms, Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven......pretty standard introduction imo. I highly recommend them as a starting point and their compositions are varied, well covered and readily available.
When I started to 'explore' a bit more, I gravitated towards Sergei Rachmaninoff. He was as brilliant as anyone else, and wrote some tremendous piano-specific pieces (my favorite instrument).
Personally, I recommend focusing on chamber music to start. It's simpler music performed by smaller groups. It can pack a real punch, has tremendous spirit/soul and is (imo) easier to appreciate than large performance pieces.
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Rachmaninoff is wonderful. His darkness is very typical of the Romantic period where harmonies began to make their move towards lush chromaticism, pushing the boundaries of the earlier Classical period.
His short piano prelude, Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor is one of his most famous pieces and embodies that style nicely. Huge thick pillars of sound, and very dark yet has an uneasy tenderness within.
His piano concertos are considered to be among the toughest works in the world to play. Brazilian pianist Arnaldo Cohen recently played two of them here in Calgary with the CPO...brilliant stuff.
Anyways, I have my Mahler tickets and second the notion that everyone who is interested should buy some. If you are between the ages of 15 and 26 the CPO has a CPossibilities program where you can sign up (for free) and get tickets to every concert for $12...and sit anywhere you want. This beats paying ~$70 a pop for the nice seats.
They are trying to encourage young people to come out to these things and it's a hell of a deal.