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The reason more Romantic works are recorded ad nauseum is due to the simple reason of "hummable" thematic overload. Think Tchaikovsky--think Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. He's accessible to a mainstream audience. We're not talking Anton Webern here. Simple as that. Hell, I have my...

I second that. Let's divert this potpourri elsewhere, but with a view to thematic-intensive, lushly orchestrated warhorses that please the concert-going masses. Any Respighi fans in the house? He's one of my guilty pleasures. And I just love the Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows) tone...

I think Bruno Walter's performance of the Resurrection Symphony--with that studio ensemble, the "Columbia Symphony Orchestra"--is just about the best Mahler Second I've ever heard. You wouldn't believe, however, how rousing a performance of this mammoth work I heard at the Dorothy Chandler...

I prefer Solti's take on Mahler, though I respect Bernstein's more emotional readings.

Scott: Vaughan-Williams's most technically "perfect" symphony is his eighth. Refer to the Adrian Boult performance. Excellent--if the multimiked, shrill sonics don't overwhelm you. It's an Angel/EMI disc. If you love a thematic emphasis, check out Vaughan-Williams's violin-and-orchestra...

Agreed. This thread serves to identify the HTF "players" involved--it's our "coming out" party, as it were. Now that we know who here loves serious music, let's consider thread options. One I'd like to consider is best conductors with specific composers. The late Leonard Bernstein is...

Jan, Zane: So we like Vaughan-Williams. Any of you ever listen to Hovhannes? Ever listen to the 32nd (yes, 32nd) symphony--Mysterious Mountain? Try the classic Charles Munch/Boston Phil reading on RCA. Wonderful if light music! JB (Also, the Boult interpretation of Vaughan-Williams's seventh...

Since this is a potpourri thread about serious music, I'd like to go back to Dvorak for a moment. I think his best symphony is No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88--and a truly lovely performance is Lorin Maazel's with the Vienna Philharmonic on Decca/London, from 1965. The sound holds up beautifully...

By the way, the individual titled components of Gustav Holst's The Planets are movements, not "songs." In the vast, vast world of serious music, you might look to Franz Schubert as the definitive authority on "songs," or, rather, leider. As for The Planets, I own six performances on record...