Listening Resources
These artists/pieces/composers/conductors have been compiled from books, friends, teachers, articles, etc. for suggested listening. There are holes to be filled, so if you have a suggestion please fill out a comment on the main page. Consider this a growing list!
It is always helpful to do background listening for pieces you are working on. Listening to different works by the same composer will help you develop a deeper understanding of the composer’s music. Feel free to use this as a starting reference.
Some things to consider while listening:
- Rubato
- Phrasing
- Breathing
- Dynamic shaping
- Accompaniment texture
- Basic style
- Emotional context of the text (if applicable)
- Articulation
Vocalists:
- Bartoli, Cecilia (b. 1966), Italian mezzo-soprano opera singer
- Callas, Maria (1923-1977), Greek soprano (especially the 1954 recording of Lakme: Ou va la jeune indoue? “Bell Song” by Delibes)
- Caruso, Enrico (1873-1921), Italian opera tenor
- Deller, Alfred (1912-1979), English counter-tenor
- Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich (b. 1925), German baritone
- Fleming, Renée (b. 1959), American soprano
- Melba, Nellie (1861-1931), Australian opera soprano
- Otter, Anne Sophie von (b. 1955), Swedish mezzo-soprano (especially songs by Grieg)
- Patti, Adelina (1843-1919), Italian soprano
- Pavarotti, Luciano (1935-2007), Italian operatic tenor (especially “Nessun Dorma”)
- Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (1915-2006), German-born Austrian/British opera soprano (especially operas by Mozart, Strauss, and Hugo Wolf)
Strings:
- Bell, Joshua (b. 1967), American violinist (especially “Franck Violin Sonata”)
- Casals, Pablo (1876-1973), Spanish Catalan cellist
- Du Prez, Jacqueline (1945-1987), English cellist
- Grumiaux, Arthur (1921-1986), Franco-Belgian violinist (especially with Clara Haskil on piano)
- Heifetz, Jascha (1901-1987), Lithuanian violinist
- Ma, Yo-Yo (b. 1955), French-born Chinese-American cellist
- Perlman, Itzhak (b. 1945), Israeli-American violinist (especially Franck “Violin Sonata” & Mozart)
- Segovia, Andre (1893-1987), Spanish classical guitarist
- Williams, John (b. 1941), Australian-born British classical guitarist
Pianists:
- Fischer, Edwin (1886-1960), Swiss pianist (especially J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert)
- Haskil, Clara (1895-1960), Romanian pianist (especially her recordings of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Scarlatti)
- Lang Lang (b. 1982), Chinese pianist
- Rubinstein, Arthur (1887-1982), Polish-American pianist (especially “Chopin: Nocturnes and Schumann: Fantaisiestucke Op. 12”)
Reeds:
- Klein, Alex (b. 1964), Brazilian oboist
- Mack, John (1927-2006), American oboist
- Marcellus, Robert (1928-1996) American clarinetist
- McGill, David, American bassoonist currently in Chicago Symphony
Baroque Flutists:
- Beazley, Janet
- Brown, Rachel
- Guitry, Amara
- Hazelzet, Wilbert
- Kruger, Christopher
- Kuijken, Barthold
- Preston, Stephen
- Schultz, Stephen
- Wentz, Jed
- Winne, Jan de
Conductors:
- Abbado, Claudio (b. 1933) Italian
- Bernstein, Leonard (1918-1990) American
- Gergiev, Valery (b. 1953) Russian
- Karajan, Herbert von (1908-1989) Austrian
- Keilberth, Joseph (1908-1968) German
- Klemperer, Otto (1885-1973) German-born
- Masur, Kurt (b. 1929) German
- Mehta, Zubin (b. 1936) Indian
- Ormandy (1899-1985) Hungarian-American
- Rattle, Simon (b. 1955) English
- Richter, Karl (1926-1981) German
- Shaw, Robert (1916-1999) American
- Slatkin, Leonard (b. 1944) American
- Solti, Georg (1912-1997) Hungarian-British
- Szell, George (1897-1970) Hungarian-born American (especially with Cleveland)
- Thomas, Michael Tilson (b. 1944) American
- Temirkanov, Yuri (b. 1938) Russian (especially for Russian music)
Operas by:
- Beethoven ("Fidelio")
- Bellini
- Berg
- Bizet
- Britten (especially "Peter Grimes")
- Delibes
- Donizetti
- Massenet
- Mozart (especially “Magic Flute”, “Cosi fan tutte”)
- Prokofiev (especially “Romeo and Juliet”)
- Puccini (especially “La Boheme”)
- Rossini
- Verdi (especially “Trovatore”, “Traviata”, “Rigoletto”)
- Wagner (especially his "Ring Cycle")
Orchestral Works:
- Bach (especially his passions)
- Barber (especially "Summer Music")
- Bartok (especially "Concerto for Orchestra")
- Beethoven (especially his symphonies, “Violin Concerto”, “Piano Concerto”, “String Quartets”, "Egmont Overture", "Leonore Overture No. 3")
- Brahms (especially his symphonies and "Violin Concerto")
- Copland (especially “Appalachian Spring”)
- Corelli (especially “Violin Sonatas”)
- Denisov
- Faure (especially "Cantique de Jean Racine")
- Firsova
- Haydn (especially his early symphonies)
- Hindemith (especially "Symphonic Metamorphoses")
- Holst (especially "Suites", and "The Planets")
- Honegger (especially his symphonies)
- Ives (especially "The Unanswered Question")
- Mahler (especially symphonies 1 & 6 with Cleveland Symphony conducted by Szell)
- Marais “Gamba Music”
- Mozart (especially "Piano Concerto in D," "Piano Concerto in C," "G Minor Symphony," "Jupiter Symphony," "Grand Partita," and "Requiem")
- Paert
- Prokofiev
- Rachmaninoff (especially "Variations on a Theme by Paganini")
- Ravel (especially "Daphnis and Chloe", "Mother Goose Suite", and "Pavane for a Dead Princess")
- Rimsky-Korsakov (especially "Scheherazade", "Le Coq d'Or", "Russian Easter Overture")
- Schwantner (especially "Black Anemones", and "New Morning for the World")
- Shostakovich (especially his symphonies)
- Sibelius (especially his symphonies and tone poems)
- Strauss, Richard (especially “Horn Concerto Op. 111”, "Four Last Songs", "Palestrina", "Josquin", "Ockeghem")
- Stravinsky (especially "Pulcinella", "Petroushka", "Firebird", "Rite of Spring")
- Tchaikovsky (especially his symphonies)
- Vaughan Williams