On 12/26/2022 1:31 PM, Dan Koren wrote:

On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 7:55:44 AM UTC-8, Roland van Gaalen wrote:

Although I appreciated symphonies and operas as
a university student, I didn't start buying classical
recordings in large numbers until I was in my mid
thirties. The triggering event was an evening in
chess café Gambit in Amsterdam in 1993.

Thanks for sharing. I honestly envy you and everyone
else who remember distinctly the moments and the
works that made classical music attractive to them.
I do not have a clear recollection when it happened
for me.

I grew up in a musical family. Both my parents were
"prosumer" level pianists (for lack of a better term).
They made me listen to lots or classical recordings
and radio broadcasts. I started taking piano lessons
when I was 3 and I went to concerts starting at 4.

The works I heard early included Mozart 25 and 40,
KV 466 and 491, Schubert 3,4,5,8,9, Bruckner 4, 7
and 9, Tchaikovsky PC1, Mussorgsky's Tableaux,
the Sorcerer's Apprentice, Pacific 231, and lots of
Chopin.

The first concerts I attended were a recital and a
concert by Sviatoslav Richter. The first opera I
attended was Die Meistersinger. I was only 4
at a time and I decided immediately it wasn't
music, but merely sadistic bladder torture,
made even crueller by hearing the sound
of the brass flushing.

I honestly envy anyone who has a distinct
memory of their early musicl experiences.

dk

Although I was familiar with various classical pieces because of my parents' records (though mostly they were into Billie and Ella and Sarah and Louis and Mahalia and Frank and the like) I didn't really pay much attention to CM until I heard the
Beethoven VC playing over the PA system at an outdoor shopping mall somewhere. No idea whose recording it was. Anyway, it got my attention and that's where it started. My 3 kids grew up hearing me play all sorts of of recordings but didn't develop an
interest in CM.

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On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 7:55:44 AM UTC-8, Roland van Gaalen wrote:

Although I appreciated symphonies and operas as
a university student, I didn't start buying classical
recordings in large numbers until I was in my mid
thirties. The triggering event was an evening in
chess café Gambit in Amsterdam in 1993.

Thanks for sharing. I honestly envy you and everyone
else who remember distinctly the moments and the
works that made classical music attractive to them.
I do not have a clear recollection when it happened
for me.

I grew up in a musical family. Both my parents were
"prosumer" level pianists (for lack of a better term).
They made me listen to lots or classical recordings
and radio broadcasts. I started taking piano lessons
when I was 3 and I went to concerts starting at 4.

The works I heard early included Mozart 25 and 40,
KV 466 and 491, Schubert 3,4,5,8,9, Bruckner 4, 7
and 9, Tchaikovsky PC1, Mussorgsky's Tableaux,
the Sorcerer's Apprentice, Pacific 231, and lots of
Chopin.

The first concerts I attended were a recital and a
concert by Sviatoslav Richter. The first opera I
attended was Die Meistersinger. I was only 4
at a time and I decided immediately it wasn't
music, but merely sadistic bladder torture,
made even crueller by hearing the sound
of the brass flushing.

I honestly envy anyone who has a distinct
memory of their early musicl experiences.

dk

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On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 10:51:47 AM UTC-8, Frank Berger wrote:

My 3 kids grew up hearing me play all sorts of
recordings but didn't develop an interest in CM.

You didn't spank them enough ?!? Oy vey ..... ;-)

dk

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When I grew up in New York in the 1950's no one in my family had the
slightest interest in Classical music. But back then it was commonly
thought that it was a sign of culture and sophistication to appreciate
it, the supermarkets sold LP collections of "Great Masterworks", and my
parents acquired them for me.

I remember being particularly impressed by the Eroica and the Unfinished
- and, of course, Scheherazade!

The physical discs were long ago worn down into powder - but remain for
sure as my imprints - and I have no idea about the performers. It's hard
to believe that they have caused me to acquire over 1000 CDs, downloads,
LPs, and cassettes - thus some might consider them "Legendary'...

More curiously my father liked movie soundtracks and thought he was
buying the music from the Tony Curtis/Yul Brenner film Taras Bulba - but brought home the Janacek work by mistake! This started my interest in
"Modern Music" and appreciation of the Sinfonietta - and of Karel Ancerl.

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On 12/26/2022 2:10 PM, Dan Koren wrote:

On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 10:51:47 AM UTC-8, Frank Berger wrote:

My 3 kids grew up hearing me play all sorts of
recordings but didn't develop an interest in CM.

You didn't spank them enough ?!? Oy vey ..... ;-)

dk

Almost never. Never tried to influence them. I parented the way my parents did. I think I got spanked only once. When 2 friends and I hammered a nail through my neighbor's tire and got caught.

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On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 11:42:34 AM UTC-8, Notsure01 wrote:

The physical discs were long ago worn down into powder -

You will wear down into powder youself pretty soon too,
unless you digitize yourself. Digitization is the only form
of imortality humankind has been able to invent. Label
the disc or file "Retired After a Distinguished Career"
so we all know what the disc represents. Donate a
copy each to every museum and music library in
the Galaxy.

dk

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I can't remember exactly, but my Dad bought a Bechstein grand before I was born.

Since he mostly played Bach on it, I assume I heard a lot of Bach in my first years.

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Op maandag 26 december 2022 om 16:55:44 UTC+1 schreef Roland van Gaalen:

Although I appreciated symphonies and operas as a university student, I didn't start buying classical recordings in large numbers until I was in my mid thirties. The triggering event was an evening in chess café Gambit in Amsterdam in 1993.

The first LP I bought featured Beethoven's Mondschein and Pathétique, performed by Dutchman Theo van der Pas (published 1952), his only recording as a soloist. He was a pupil of Grainger and Casadesus. Later followed Backhaus, Rubinstein, Ashkenazy,
Lipatti, Pollini, Cziffra ...

Henk

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On 2022-12-26 8:55 a.m., Roland van Gaalen wrote:

Although I appreciated symphonies and operas as a university student, I didn't start buying classical recordings in large numbers until I was in my mid thirties. The triggering event was an evening in chess café Gambit in Amsterdam in 1993.

By the way, I'm a terrible player, and the café, a truly bohemian (and therefore civilized) hangout, closed in 2005, when the owner had died.
https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-oldest-che-caf-in-amsterdam

That night, the piece playing in the background fit the ambiance perfectly!

I'm listening to it again now, and it again has the effect of gradually sucking me in as a listener.

I remember the owner saying "Mooi hè?" ["Beautiful, isn't it?"]. Yes it is! https://youtu.be/8iyH4eBoRys
[Beethoven Violin Concerto]
--
Roland van Gaalen
Amsterdam

Even as a pre-schooler, I liked classical music. On Sunday evenings the
BBC broadcast a 30 minute program of light classics and my mother would
leave my bedroom door open so I could hear it. A piano trio played with
a soprano, who seemed to sing about roses all the time, and a baritone
who sung things like "Down to the mighty deep".
I started buying LPs when I received a record player when I was about 13. Living in rural England, I was 17 before attending my first concert -
the Czech PO on tour with Ancerl, followed a few weeks later by a
recital by Vasary.
Then to Uni where there were weekly concerts in the city hall, mostly
the Hallé under Barbirolli but occasional touring orchestras such as the
LPO under Boult or Haitink. Seats behind the orchestra cost about 35cents.

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On Tuesday, 27 December 2022 at 02:55:44 UTC+11, Roland van Gaalen wrote:

Although I appreciated symphonies and operas as a university student, I didn't start buying classical recordings in large numbers until I was in my mid thirties. The triggering event was an evening in chess café Gambit in Amsterdam in 1993.

By the way, I'm a terrible player, and the café, a truly bohemian (and therefore civilized) hangout, closed in 2005, when the owner had died.

My first exposure to music was from a lot of opera that my Dad, especially, played on 33rpm lps. This seemed to morph into a huge amount of Rachmaninov, concertos and symphonies, Tchaikovsky etc. Maybe why I still listen to a lot of Russian music to this
very day. There was Chopin too, maybe too much.

When as an electrical engineering student, my first music purchases were :
1st LP - Hank Williams
2nd LP - Beethoven 6th symphony (Jochum)
My first stereo experience on an Armstrong 521 amplifier I built - Carmen and L'arlesienne suites, music which still has a lot of resonance for me.
I can remember attending a Cherkassky recital (Handel Variations) in Portsmouth.

Like yourself I developed a keen interest in chess, but at most clubs there was always someone who was better, (I was no Bobby Fischer). Now I still indulge in the game against my pc, where I can take moves back, until I find the move of the century.

Ray Hall, Taree

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around age 9 I lucked into a Khachaturian 45
parents had LPs of Tchaikovsky, J Strauss and Offenbach

around 13 my love of prog-rockers ELP led me to many composers

in college I began to explore the Bach cantatas

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Poulenc's Sextuor. In my early teens I borrowed a multi-lp set from the city library, Les Six, which led to my first experience with a work that encouraged me to listen more. Also at the time, there was a Pittston, PA Polish radio station, WPTS, which
broadcast the Saturday matinee Met broadcasts. During the intermissions there would be ads in Polish. It interested me but did not really love opera until I had seen some performances, then I was hooked.

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I was brought up with little classical music experience. My Dad had a
radio/tv shop and when he closed it, he took home the remains of the
record bin, to which I was the primary listener to. Always had an ear
for music, of all different kinds. I remember playing Henry Mancini's
energetic "Sousa in Hi-Fi" album over and over again. I started taking
piano lessong from a Nun in a convent at age 4. After a year, I
graduated to a neighborhood piano teacher, who frowned on classical,
saying popular music was what people "wanted to hear." So I played
stuff like 12th street rag, Alley Cat, Nola. After 8th grade, I
realized she had taught me all she knew, so I stopped lessons. I was
going to quit cold turkey, but my Dad convinced me to take lessons at
the University, where my teacher looked at my repertoire books, was
aghast, said I wouldn't be playing this stuff here, and started me in
the Schirmer's book of Haydn, Mozart sonatas, which you could say would
be the pieces that triggered my listening.

After that, I went full out classical, getting music from the library,
reading record reviews from Stereo Review and Hi-Fi to figure out what
records to buy. I quit taking piano lessons when I graduated, but I
still play for my own pleasure, and actually played in a band a couple
of times. My oldest son inherited my musical tastes and got a
doctorate in piano performance from IU. He now plays in a couple of
orchestras in Indiana. While he was home from school back in RI he
would be the music director of a local theater group, and asked me to
join his orchestra a couple of times. We did "Cats" and "Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." It was great fun having your own child
as your musical boss.

(That's my musical biography in two paragraphs!)

-Owen

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On 12/27/2022 11:10 AM, Owen Hartnett wrote:

I was brought up with little classical music experience.  My Dad had a radio/tv shop and when he closed it, he took home the remains of the record bin, to which I was the primary listener to.  Always had an ear for music, of all different kinds. I

remember playing Henry Mancini's energetic "Sousa in Hi-Fi" album over and over again.  I started taking piano lessong from a Nun in a convent at age 4.  After a year, I graduated to a neighborhood piano teacher, who frowned on classical, saying
popular music was what people "wanted to hear."  So I played stuff like 12th street rag, Alley Cat, Nola.

Miami Beach Rhumba, Honeysuckle Rose and After You've Gone for me. I quit because I had zero ability and I couldn't stand my younger brother impressing the teacher every week. These tunes still pop into me head once in a while, after 60 years.

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On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 7:55:44 AM UTC-8, Roland van Gaalen wrote:

Although I appreciated symphonies and operas as a university student, I didn't start buying classical recordings in large numbers until I was in my mid thirties. The triggering event was an evening in chess café Gambit in Amsterdam in 1993.

By the way, I'm a terrible player, and the café, a truly bohemian (and therefore civilized) hangout, closed in 2005, when the owner had died.
https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-oldest-che-caf-in-amsterdam

That night, the piece playing in the background fit the ambiance perfectly!

I'm listening to it again now, and it again has the effect of gradually sucking me in as a listener.

I remember the owner saying "Mooi hè?" ["Beautiful, isn't it?"]. Yes it is! https://youtu.be/8iyH4eBoRys
[Beethoven Violin Concerto]
--
Roland van Gaalen
Amsterdam

Concerning "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen", Mike Painter said in 2015:

- Hearing it on the radio (Ely Ameling, Jörg Demus & Hans Deinzler) and then stopping in at Tower REcords and finding the CD and then hearing the rest of the Schubert and Schumann Lieder in the collection is what started my love of Lieder and other
singing.

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On Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at 9:30:43 AM UTC-8, gggg gggg wrote:

On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 7:55:44 AM UTC-8, Roland van Gaalen wrote:

Although I appreciated symphonies and operas as a university student, I didn't start buying classical recordings in large numbers until I was in my mid thirties. The triggering event was an evening in chess café Gambit in Amsterdam in 1993.

By the way, I'm a terrible player, and the café, a truly bohemian (and therefore civilized) hangout, closed in 2005, when the owner had died.
https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-oldest-che-caf-in-amsterdam

That night, the piece playing in the background fit the ambiance perfectly!

I'm listening to it again now, and it again has the effect of gradually sucking me in as a listener.

I remember the owner saying "Mooi hè?" ["Beautiful, isn't it?"]. Yes it is!
https://youtu.be/8iyH4eBoRys
[Beethoven Violin Concerto]
--
Roland van Gaalen
Amsterdam

Concerning "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen", Mike Painter said in 2015:

- Hearing it on the radio (Ely Ameling, Jörg Demus & Hans Deinzler) and then stopping in at Tower REcords and finding the CD and then hearing the rest of the Schubert and Schumann Lieder in the collection is what started my love of Lieder and other

singing.

Isn't he talking about this cd?:

https://www.amazon.com/Elly-Ameling-Schubert-Schumann-Lieder/dp/B000001TWU

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My father was not a classical music aficionado, but he was 'into' hi-fi
almost before there was such a thing. We lived in SE Missouri, and he
would go to the Chicago Audio Show most years. Naturally, he came home
with a copy of Mercury MG50000, Kubelik's recording of 'Pictures at an Exhibition', in 1950 or '51. Over the years a few other classical LPs
arrived, including the Monteux/CSO Franck Symphony (his personal
favorite), and Munch's BSO recording of La Mer and Ibert's Ports of
Call. But it was 'Pictures', and a 45 of Khachaturian's 'Sabre Dance'
that lit the fuse for me, probably from age 6 or 7.

My first purchases came some years later, when I was 16 or so: Victrola
LPs of Bartok's 'Concerto for Orchestra' (Reiner) and Sibelius' 5th
(Alexander Gibson). I discovered Mahler in my first year of college, and
after that the floodgates opened.

Bob Harper

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On Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at 12:19:41 PM UTC-6, Bob Harper wrote:

My father was not a classical music aficionado, but he was 'into' hi-fi almost before there was such a thing. We lived in SE Missouri, and he
would go to the Chicago Audio Show most years. Naturally, he came home
with a copy of Mercury MG50000, Kubelik's recording of 'Pictures at an Exhibition', in 1950 or '51. Over the years a few other classical LPs arrived, including the Monteux/CSO Franck Symphony (his personal
favorite), and Munch's BSO recording of La Mer and Ibert's Ports of
Call. But it was 'Pictures', and a 45 of Khachaturian's 'Sabre Dance'
that lit the fuse for me, probably from age 6 or 7.

My first purchases came some years later, when I was 16 or so: Victrola
LPs of Bartok's 'Concerto for Orchestra' (Reiner) and Sibelius' 5th (Alexander Gibson). I discovered Mahler in my first year of college, and after that the floodgates opened.

Bob Harper

https://youtu.be/J8eBB8DLYDo

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