New here--actually came onto the forum while trying to help a poster on the Classical Movie Forum that I belong to. She'd downloaded it off of the Forum thinking it was something Classical, turned out to be Max Steiner (well, that's 'Classical Movie Music' at least, LOL!)

So I hung around for a while and decided to stay--it seems like a rather good bunch of musicians.
My own back-story:
Mainly a choral and vocal accompanist since about 1960--have taught at a boy's high school for the past umpteen years. Before that, freelance both here and in Europe. Mainly Lieder and Art Songs, but lots of choral experience, also.

I occasionally dabble in solo piano repertoire, but generally go for the 'other' composers like Symanowski, Liapunov, Falla, Albeniz, Korngold, early Richard Strauss and Brahms. I have played both Ravel concertos in concert (prefer the D Major for Left Hand), and am currently trying to track down the Korngold Left Hand Concerto just for fun.

For accompanying, I am extremely fond of Lieder by Brahms, Mahler, R. Strauss, Korngold (yes, he wrote some really GOOD ones), Schumann and Wolf, Art Songs by Copland, Barber, Rachmaninoff and Mussorgsky. Not too keen on French 'Chanson', unless it's Debussy or Ravel. I'd say the most satisfying 'cycles' I've performed with solo voice have been the Schumann "Dichterliebe" and a toss-up between Brahms "Zigeunerlieder" and Ravel's "Don Quichotte."

I tend to have broader interests in vocal music than I do in piano solo repertoire. I don't tackle Beethoven Sonatas (which I admire) because for me they're too psychologically imposing, and I don't play Chopin because I simply don't like him.

Musical tastes, as you can see, tend to run from late Romantic to 20th Century. And if you're asking "What about Mozart?" my answer is "I like a few of his operas."

Tom

It's good to have someone here who knows their music - through the experience of actually making it - welcome to the forum!

I'm also new and found this website through a google news alert I made for Jonas Kaufman, the tenor from Munich. I found out about him also by chance when I came across the recent Massenet/Werther performance available for free on the Medici and Bastille Opera websites.

I like opera as well as the other forms of classical music.

Andre:

Thank you. And as a cat-fancier and owner myself (Maine Coon and 'Wegie'--Norwegian Forest Cat), I really LIKE your Avatar.

I'm more of a 'practical' musician than a 'philosophical' one, though I'm told I play with a lot of understanding of the composers I perform. So you'll probably not find me in any of the deeper more Esoteric discussions that come up on the forum, but I will admit that having read a lot of the posts so far, I'm feeling VERY comfortable here.

Thanks again.
Tom

violadamore:

From my experience so far, I think you'll like the forum, also.
How about listing some of your favorite operas for the other posters? You might find some good posts on the "Opera" forum.
Myself, I'm pretty much into German (Strauss, Wagner, Korngold, Berg) though I like a lot of Italian, especially Verdi. What that man could do with four chords is absolutely AMAZING in my opinion!

Best,
Tom