{"id":23410,"date":"2020-04-09T10:33:21","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T14:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/?p=23410"},"modified":"2020-04-09T18:19:29","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T22:19:29","slug":"this-may-be-the-wrong-place-to-ask-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/this-may-be-the-wrong-place-to-ask-but\/","title":{"rendered":"This May Be the Wrong Place to Ask, but…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One thing I’ve been trying to do while working from home, isolated in a spare bedroom that now serves as my office, is to be more patient and open in my listening habits. I listen to albums I play in the background all the way through – no needle lifting! I have been listening to lots of artists I normally don’t listen to, including albums released past 1983. I’ve been listening to genres of music I normally don’t make much time for, especially classical music<\/strong>. My wife walked in on me listening to a Mahler symphony the other day and exclaimed, “I never thought I’d walk in on you listening to classical music,” as if I’d been watching bestiality videos…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I do own a half dozen classical music albums – the real-deal, old-timey stuff by composers prior to the 20th century, but I’ve never gotten any feel for classical music as a whole. I know that I can better focus on a string quartet than a full orchestra. I know that people tinkling complex stuff out on a piano often doesn’t interest me (although last year I heard a piece that appealed to me in the background of a TV show and realized it was a Chopin piece, so maybe there’s hope). Years ago, I bought Handel<\/strong>‘s Messiah<\/em>, performed on old-timey instruments, from the time when that piece was written. I’m not sure if this was a cool move, in classical music lover terms or not, but it seemed as if it was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I own a Mahler symphony on CD that I heard my mistake one morning, as my radio alarm when off earlier than expected, while a classical music program was broadcasting. I still love that one, but I forget which number it it. Maybe his third. I’ve been listening to a lot of his stuff this week. His 10th symphony, which may have been unfinished, appeals to me for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gets to my question: Since all classical albums are “covers,” how might I go about checking out the best “cover artists?” I guess that lovers of classical music have go-to conductors, but how would I know one is to my potential liking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there classical music labels that fans of the genre can rely on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there anything to be gleaned from the album cover? Do the beige covers with a sketch of the composer promise one thing versus the covers showing the conductor in action? What about the covers that use a piece of artwork from the general time and geography of the composer? (They strike me as the cheesiest of album covers.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You get where I’m coming from on this, right? I look forward to your assistance.<\/p>\n