Genius work of Chopin

• I think his Préludes are georgeous, personally, and perfect for beginner listeners. If I had to take only one piece of music to deserted island, it would be that.

• Nocturnes are absolutely beautiful, as well.

• If you’re into bigger stuff, then Ballades, Scherzos, Piano Sonatas (No.2 is my favourite)

• Zimmerman performing all the ballads. Here is No.3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCW3631sxkw

• His polonaise in F sharp minor op. 44 is lovely. Op 53
• Grande polonaise brilliante over the Andante spiniato.

• This (Nocturne no.20) :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ZdlI4cOwo&list=FL2_qFA5_TNn0kt9dYgUDVrw&index=3&feature=plpp_video

• His Piano Concerto No. 1. It’s my favorite piece of music ever, and that moment at around the 2 minute mark is absolutely sublime.

• the cello sonata! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t29vc6PBey0

• Find a recording on a pleyel piano. You won’t regret it.
•  I love his second scherzo op. 31 (the other three are great too, powerful and lovely, no 3 for example) and his fourth ballade in f minor op. 52

• I also love the barcarolle op. 60 which is a great piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU-5u2dmXdM

• My favorite Chopin pieces are his ballades. There are four of them, the most famous one is the first in G minor but the best (and most difficult) Chopin ballade is the 4th in F minor.  This piece in my opinion is the best piece that Chopin ever wrote.

• Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61 – Chopin’s greatest emotional work

• Ballade No. 4 Op. 52 – Chopin’s greatest compositional achievement

• Fantaisie in F minor Op. 49 – Probably his most epic piece

• Sonata No. 3 Op. 58 – For the incredibly complex first movement, the gorgeous Largo, and the amazing finale

• Nocturnes Op. 62 – Probably Chopin’s most mature work in terms of expression

• Mazurka Op. 56 No. 3 – His best Mazurka imo

• Piano Concerto in F minor Op. 21 – A beautiful summary of his early life in Poland

• Few performances in the history of music are as special and touching to me as Richter doing the Gm Ballade in Prague. Do check that recording out, if you haven’t, will you? Zimmerman is my 2nd fav interpretation tho, so I’m with you on him!

• Berceuse Op. 57. I name this one simply because I didn’t know beans about Chopin until a few years ago, when I heard that performed as a piano/violin duet, and it blew my mind. So it will always have a special place in my heart.

 

Genius work of John Philip Sousa

• Sound off, it’s a bit unusual for a Sousa march (at least to me anyways) but it’s a good time
• Hands Across the Sea, George Washington Bicentennial, El Capitan and The Occidental
• classics like Stars and Stripes, the Liberty Bell and Fairest of the Fair are excellent.
• “Looking Upward Suite” it’s pretty epic, especially the third movement even though it’s not technically a March.

Genius work of Victor Herbert

• Victor Herbert Cello Concerto No 2 Slow Movement

Genius work of Ossip Gabrilowitsch

• Ossip Plays
• Ossip 

 

Genius work of George Gershwin

• Rhapsody in Blue
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RdmR_5kbDc Second Rhapsody
• An American in Paris
• Piano Concerto in F
• Cuban Overture
• Oscar Levant

• Summertime

• Bess you is my woman

• Ella Fitzgerald – the Gershwin Songbook

  (1) George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue – Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic (1976) (2) An American in Paris ~ Gershwin ~ Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic (3) George Gershwin Piano Concerto in F major Wang Yuja – HD (4) George Gershwin – Cuban Overture

  1) Oscar Levant – Rhapsody In Blue (2) Gershwin, Concerto In F For Piano And Orchestra, Oscar Levant, Piano

  (1) Leontyne Price “Summertime” (2) Leontyne Price, William Warfield: Porgy & Bess duet – “Bess, You Is My Woman Now”.wmv

   

Genius work of Leopold Godowsky

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZGM_IY_Gug
• Ravel’s Miroirs suite

Genius work of Paderewski

• Check out his piano sonata. It’s pretty damn cool. Much more harmonically adventurous than the Minuet, for sure!

Genius work of Tschaikovsky

• Pathétique Symphony
• Souvenir de Florence – is a fantastic piece and so much fun to play. He agonised over it, but he ended up being very proud of the finished product! Theres a great recording of it played by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble on Spotify, or Janine Jansen and Friends on YouTube. Enjoy!
• Piano Trio
• Queen of Spades

• Swan Lake.

• Serenade for Strings. It’s Tchaikovsky’s raw emotion and schmaltziness cranked up to 11, in the best possible way.
• Piano Concerto No. 1, it’s playful and fluttery because it’s flute heavy but often offset by huge brassy bits that give it a bigness that I haven’t found in many other composers.
• fantasy overure to Romeo and Juliet.

• Valse sentimentale is great!

• Try the Bruch violin concerto. If you dont know it then give it time. The first movement builds up expectation then totally delivers at about 6’00. The second movement is (IMHO) the most beautiful of all violin concertos. The final movement is just exciting fun.
• Symphonies 4, 5, and 6; Nutcracker ballet/suite (Pas de deux is my fav movement); Piano concerto no. 1; Souvenir de Florence (string sextet); Piano Trio; 1812 Overture; Capriccio Italian; Rococo variations; Romeo and Juliet; String quartets
• You must listen to his Piano Concerto #2–undeservedly less famous than his first, it is nevertheless a magnificent work with two outer pyrotechnic movements surrounding a middle movement that is for all practical purposes a triple concerto that is heartbreakingly beautiful and moving. The link is to a brilliant performance with Igor Zhukov and Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting the USSR RTV Large Symphony Orchestra, probably one of the finest recordings of this work ever made…

• His Second Symphony is absolutely beautiful and one of his (arguably) lesser known works. I played it on Violin I a few years ago and loved it.

• Variations on a Rococco Theme is one I haven’t seen recommended yet. Starker / Dorati recording is excellent

• No mention of Eugene Onegin? One of the greatest operas ever written.

   

   

Genius work of Rachmaninoff

(In order, just my opinion for someone new to Rachmaninoff)

• 2nd piano concerto
• 2nd symphony
• 3rd piano concerto
• Vocalise
• Isle of the dead
• Literally any prelude
• Everything else

I would recommend you start by listening to his orchestral works- some highlights are his 2nd piano concerto as well as his 2nd symphony- the latter of these has a well known and incredibly beautiful [movement 3] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvuitFzDxDg&t=1893s). The [first movement] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_asI5WvGVQs&t=47s) of the 2nd piano concerto is probably his most famous/well known concerto (except for maybe the [18th variation] ()from his rhapsody on a theme)- after listening to these I would recommend you listen to his other concertos ([1] (https://youtu.be/F7a9K4lvVn8), [3] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOOfoW5_2iE&t=1s), maybe [4] (https://youtu.be/ts3Q4VIkLv0)) which aren’t as accessible imo. I would also reccomend listening to his [Symphonic Dances] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL9bzulhXfQ), which are also an orchestral work but have a much different feel from his 2nd Symphony. [Isle of the Dead] (https://youtu.be/dbbtmskCRUY) is also accessible though I don’t like it as much as his symphony.

If you’re not into orchestral music then you should for sure check out his famous solo piano music. I would start with his Preludes op [23/2] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RICGqS2UtmU), [23/4] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj84l05xWg0&t=627s), [23/5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj84l05xWg0&t=206s), [32/5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywaW0mZ0hg&t=4796s), and [32/12] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywaW0mZ0hg&t=4301s). Next would be his sets of Etude-Tabeux, from op 33 you should listen to no. [2] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWgdc0vfbs&t=178s), [5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWgdc0vfbs&t=892s) and [7] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWgdc0vfbs&t=3035s). His next set would be his op. 39, and it’s by far my favorite set of pieces by Rachmaninoff- each piece has incredible harmonies and lyrical melodies- they go from angry to peaceful to march life and they show his versatility really well. I would recommend that you listen to the entire set by [Lugansky] (https://youtu.be/8L6CxUpBZlY) but if I had to choose I would recommend no. [5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAV3Zj5Qngo) and [8] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izIAEimMSPc).

Some of his larger works are his Piano sonatas- they’re maybe not as accessible but I would recommend listening to his [2nd sonata] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YPSoOYwLOo) if you do end up getting into Rachmaninoff.

Sonata for Cello and Piano!!!

And make sure to get an uncut version of Symphony No. 2. Most of the newer recordings are uncut, but older ones were sometimes butchered to fit on an LP.

• Piano concerto 3 – incredible
• The prelude sets are great as well.
• The Bells is a great choral symphony.
• The cello sonata is definitely worth a listen as well

What is the secret of Walter Russell’s life?

What is the secret of Walter Russell’s life?
I believe sincerely that every man has consummate genius within him. Some appear to have it more than others only because they are aware of it more than others are, and the awareness or unawareness of it is what makes each one of them into masters or holds them down to mediocrity. I believe that mediocrity is self inflicted and that genius is self bestowed.
Every successful man I ever have known, and I have known a great many, carries with him the key which unlocks that awareness and lets in the universal power that has made him into a master.”
“That key is desire when it is released into the great eternal Energy of the universe.”
“I have found out that the real essentials of greatness in men are not written in books, nor can they be found in the schools, They are written into the inner consciousness of everyone who intensely searches for perfection in creative achievement and are understandable to such men only.”
“Successful men of all the ages have learned to multiply themselves by gathering thought energy into a high potential and using it in the direction of the purpose intended. Every successful man or great genius has three particular qualities in common. The most conspicuous of these is that their minds grow more brilliant as they grow older, instead of less brilliant. Great men’s lives begin at forty, where the mediocre man’s life ends. The genius remains an ever-flowing fountain of creative achievement until the very last breath he draws. The geniuses have learned how to gather thought energy together to use for transforming their conceptions into material forms. The thinking of creative and successful men is never exerted in any direction other than that intended. That is why great men produce a prodigious amount of work, seemingly without effort and without fatigue. The amount of work such men leave to posterity is amazing. When one considers such men of our times as Edison, Henry Ford or Theodore Roosevelt, one will find the three characteristics I have mentioned common to every one of them.”