If you can cope with solo piano then try some John Field Nocturnes – [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JddyRk_SVqs&x-yt-cl=84503534&feature=player_detailpage&x-yt-ts=1421914688[/video]

Was sure I would see these, but on a quick scan don’t think they’ve been mentioned:

Greig – Peer Gynt

Sain Saens – Carnival of the Animals

Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique

…and another vote for Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Heard Elizabeth Leonskaja playing both Brahms piano concertos in Edinburgh last Autumn. Not felt so involved listening to a concert for years! I love the subtle way JB develops his tunes; always quirky, always memorable, never cheesy.

Moving on slightly; what do you listen to if you want to lift your mood?

Karelia Suite works for me every time.

If you ever have the chance of hearing Vidor’s organ symphony played live, take it.

[video]http://youtu.be/-YYc-S2UDZA[/video]

It’s been mentioned before but this is my favourite section.

Philip Glass, Violin COncerto.

or tune into Classic FM, for a Radio2 middle-of-the-road approach to classic music.

There was a quintet I heard last year which made me weep, but there’s no recording of that piece, however Bernard Kane also wrote:

The Vernal River

Brandenburgs are my favourites, Four Seasons also wonderful. Albinoni’s Adagio (G Minor I think), Pachelbel’s Canon…

This is sublime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7XH-58eB8c

Note: Andreas Scholl was completey self-taught so was shunned by the German “establishment” until they heard him sing and were blown away by his voice.

This makes me well up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HLK7Us0GUE

I listened to it about 10 times while watching the sun set over the river Congo so whenever I hear it I think of Africa. Scroll through to 2.45 if you have a short attention span.

Note: Andreas Scholl was completey self-taught so was shunned by the German “establishment” until they heard him sing and were blown away by his voice.

I like an “outsider” story as much as the next man but that’s overegging the pudding somewhat…

Scholl was born on 10 November 1967 in Eltville, Germany, and grew up in neighbouring Kiedrich.[1][2] His entire family were singers, and he was enrolled at the age of seven into the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben, first documented in 1333 as “a schola of men assisting the priests on all Sundays, singing the Gregorian chant”. Aged 13, Scholl performed the role of the “second boy” in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, while his sister Elisabeth sang the first boy. That same year he was one of 20,000 choristers from all over the world gathered in Rome for a festival, and was chosen to sing solo at Mass on 4 January 1981, where he met Pope John Paul II. Along with his fellow choristers of the Kiedricher Chorbuben, Scholl was an extra in the film The Name of the Rose, playing a young monk standing alongside Sean Connery in scenes shot at Eberbach Abbey, near Kiedrich.

Musical education[edit]
Scholl was 17 when the extent of his ability was recognised by the voice coach of the Chorbuben from the Darmstadt Music Academy.[2] Scholl then sang for the tenor/countertenor Herbert Klein, who advised him that there were only two places he should study: in London or at the early music conservatoire in Basel, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Since an uncle had introduced Scholl to the voices of Paul Esswood and James Bowman, the leading European countertenors of the day, Scholl chose Bowman as a role model. Scholl sent a demo tape to René Jacobs to evaluate his talent. This resulted in Jacobs inviting Scholl to visit the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Although the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis only offered post-graduate courses, and Scholl had no first degree, he was offered a place on the strength and quality of his voice after singing a Schubert song for the admissions board, which included René Jacobs.

At the Schola, Andreas Scholl’s teacher was Richard Levitt, followed by Jacobs in his second year.[3] Violinist Chiara Banchini and soprano Emma Kirkby were major influences, as Scholl began to specialise in the music of the Baroque. Scholl additionally studied with soprano Evelyn Tubb and lutenist Anthony Rooley. In addition to the Diploma of Ancient Music, for which his external examiner was James Bowman, Andreas Scholl garnered prizes from the Council of Europe and the Claude Nicolas Ledoux Foundation, and awards from Switzerland’s Association Migros and Ernst Göhner Foundation.

Andreas Scholl has been teaching interpretation in the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, succeeding his own teacher, Richard Levitt, and is in much demand for master classes.

Beethoven’s 6th

Nimrod, everytime.

Currently listening to Karl Jenkins Stabat Mater. Wow. Just wow.

My own favourite. Claud Debussy’s “Prelude to the afternoon of a faun”

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7loz-HWUM[/video]