Classical Music for Aficionados

I would never doubt Christa Ludwig !

Have you heard Sofiane Pamart?

SETLIST

00:00 Sofiane Pamart

33:09 Alexandre Kantorow

01:06:42 Etienne Jaumet & Fabrizio Rat

01:36:19 Macha Gharibian

01:59:44 Marc Melià & Francoiz Breut

Johann Sebastian Bach, WTC, Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 852, No. 7 Franz Liszt, Douze Études d'exécution transcendante, S. 139 12. Chasse-Neige Frederic Chopin, 12 Études, Op.10 No. 8 in F major Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2/2 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 18 Pieces, Op. 72 No. 5: Méditation Sergei Rachmaninov, Etudes-tableaux No. 9 in D Major, Op. 39

As of late January, 2022, it’s fascinating to see that there have been more than 70 pages’ worth of people’s input on their favorite classical music recordings and/or listening suggestions since rvpiano originally started this thread on 12-09-2017.

HOWEVER, on most of the forums here in which people discuss their audio equipment, I get the impression that better than 90% of them never mention classical music when discussing the genres of music they listen to and how their audio gear impacts their listening experience of it.

The very low esteem in which the vast majority of the listening public appears to hold classical music comes as no surprise, because over the past four or more decades, schools (especially public schools) have eliminated courses devoted to introducing classical music to their students. The lower the income level of the students, the less likely they are ever to be exposed to this kind of music.

Add to that a general public attitude which views classical music as the exclusive preserve of a wealthy privileged few, and that it (in the larger public mind) contains an element of snobbery and elitism, it therefore comes as no surprise to me that classical music is rapidly disappearing from the public musical landscape, especially in the United States, where the "fine arts" are being systematically devalued and pushed aside in favor of "popular" "Top 40" and "easy listening" musical genres. There are very few classical music radio stations left anywhere now.

Finally, I must add that, especially in the U.S., the public DOES have a great love and appreciation for true, enduring CLASSICS in many other genres, ranging from Rock and Roll to Jazz to Country & Western, R & B, punk rock, rap and more. The enduring best of all these musical genres have become classics, too, in their own right.

I am not disparaging these latter forms of music - just observing that European-style Classical Music as most of us have come to define it, appears to be on the ropes and on the verge of disappearing entirely from the wider public musical consciousness. It may very well survive only as a tiny niche interest.