The Classical Music Recommendation Thread

[Burning Down]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

If you want dramatic look no further than Wagner. His opera cycle "Der ring des niebellung" (probably spelt that last word incorrectly) is pretty damn fierce. I'm not into opera personally, but the music is great and you can get a version of it on CD called "The Ring without words" which is just amazing.

It's on Amazon here Amazon.com: Wagner: The "Ring" Without Words: Richard Wagner,Lorin Maazel,Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra: Music for just nine dollars for almost 70 minutes of music: can't be bad!

Oh man, I remember having to listen to that for one of my music history courses. Opera sung in German does not appeal to me one bit. Same with opera sung in English. It's so grating on the ears. I have to say that was the longest 70 minutes of my life - certainly one long piece of music Incan do without.

I have a love/hate relationship with Wagner. I like his music but the fact that he was a racist and heralded by Hitler as a national hero and official patriotic music of the Third Reich has always bothered me.