Dave Hurwitz and Classicstoday.com

[marty]

The WBF is not known as a music lover's resource nearly as much as a gearhead forum. People displaying an album cover and not providing any comment or insight as to why they posted it is essentially meaningless to me (and is even one level below the usefulness of posting system videos..sorry) To find great performances and recording in the classical repertoire I generally rely in Gramophone or in TAS, Stereophile and other "audiophile" publications. But for quite some time, I have been enamoured with Dave Hurwitz who runs a terrific site called classicstoday.com. An introduction to Dave and his site can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/@DavesClassicalGuide/about

Anybody's view of "the best" is totally subjective. But I really like Dave Hurwitz's assessment on so many classical pieces. Most of all I like his demeanor. Candid, fun, knowledgeable. He's having a good time and it shows. Not like Gramophone which is my usual source (which is good and informative but very stodgy). They take themselves way too seriously. Hurwitz is quite the opposite and a delight to listen to. He's actually kind of addicting. Learning why he thinks a performance is exceptional has been highly educational and makes me a better listener.

Here are 3 videos to help you become familiar with Hurwitz's recommendations. The first is on great recordings by conductors who never recorded all the symphonies of a particular composer. He calls them "Stand Alone" Symphony recordings.

The next is his take the finest recordings of Mahler's 5th. I was not even aware of some of his favorites!

His video recommendations are numerous. A friend of mine who played with the Philadelphia Orchestra thought his assessment of Mahler's 3rd was spot on and is now a big Hurwitz fan.

I hope you will enjoy Dave's excellent site.

 

[RCanelas]

Dave has consistently and continuously introduced me to my now favourite performances and recordings, across a multitude of periods. Absolute reference resource.

 

[LL21]

Thanks, Marty. I have definitely watched with great interest from time to time. Great to see this reference point here.

 

[rando]

The WBF is not known as a music lover's resource nearly as much as a gearhead forum. People displaying an album cover and not providing any comment or insight as to why they posted it is essentially meaningless to me (and are even one level below the usefulness of posting system videos..sorry!)

Does seem you prominently placed a hard line defining lack of interest in responses by those likely to desire presenting them on WBF. Those who we might wish to hear from again stood firmly across it from anything close to a confrontational or controversial statement.

To find great performances and recording in the classical repertoire I generally rely on Gramophone or an occasional review in TAS, Stereophile and other "audiophile" publications.

The press and their offices are readily available on WBF. I enjoy when Kal or another member fitting that description graces the larger body of audiophiles with a timely notice of album they were alerted to in pre-release and procured a copy of. Possibly you have the cache to assert this forlorn desire of enriching the fold with your own fast discoveries in company with a thought provoking rightness of presentation here. Extoll civilized meanderings inside a culture of squared circles.

But for quite some time, I have been enamoured with Dave Hurwitz who runs a terrific site called classicstoday.com. An introduction to Dave and his site can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/@DavesClassicalGuide/about
Anybody's view of "the best" is totally subjective. But I really like Dave Hurwitz's assessment on so many classical pieces. Most of all I like his demeanor. Candid, fun, knowledgeable. He's having a good time and it shows. Not like Gramophone which is my usual source. Good and informative but very stodgy. They take themselves way too seriously. Hurwitz is quite the opposite and a delight to listen to. He's actually kind of addicting. Learning why he thinks a performance is exceptional has been highly educational and makes me a better listener.

Here are 3 videos to help you become familiar with Hurwitz's recommendations. The first is on great recordings by conductors who never recorded all the symphonies of a particular composer. He calls them "Stand Alone" Symphony recordings.

Justifiably you have lit upon actively enjoyable movement within this hobby. A lightness hard to assess the duration of.

Speaking as someone not quite ready for grey hair. What is written is pleasant enough. Not much interest in watching, someone talking to the camera, videos on music instead of music being played in videos by an artist. I'd personally rather see that fraction of a penny YT decides my view is worth dribble into the coffers of our dying arts.

 

[SCAudiophile]

I read and/or watch, and have benefitted from many Hurtwitz reviews over the years. He is an excellent resource...

 

[Sampajanna]

Thanks Marty . I had never heard of Dave. I will watch this and I am sure learn a tone!

 

[davidavdavid]

For those willing and able to go Gallic, I do recommend the French language alternative to Gramophone with a decent HiFi section towards the end of each issue: Diapason Magazine: -> Diapasonmag.fr, an expert look at classical music and hi-fi news.

Also, Hurwitz subscribers like myself are quite aware that Hurwitz maintains a love/HATE relationship with the British Gramophone. It is a close race between Gramophone and Simon Rattle as to what/whom makes his hair stand on end. No mean fight for someone follicly challenged so to speak.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Dave has consistently and continuously introduced me to my now favourite performances and recordings, across a multitude of periods. Absolute reference resource.

+1 quite a few of my favourite performances have come to me via recommendations from Dave Hurwitz. He’s remarkably knowledgeable and I find his preferences tend to be very on point for me at least. When he loves a performance (particularly from composers that I connect with from the 19th and 20th century repertoire) I always check it out and there’s often real gold there. He has also turned me on to some marvellous new music (to me) as well like Shostakovich’s close contemporary Mieczyslaw Weinberg and other things like giving more time over to going back and researching and listening to conductors who perhaps don’t always get the recognition their work perhaps deserves like Eugen Jochum and other beacons like Ferenc Fricsay. Dave’s a classic character (don’t mention Simon Rattle ) but his passion and down to earth nature and music knowledge and the quality of his performance recommendations are of huge value.

Plenty of audiophiles love music but I do think we can be held back from a lot of broader experience and greater discovery by the importance we place on best recording quality over more purely music driven listeners chasing best performances rather than primarily best recordings.

Certainly I get that the age of analogue has given us our greatest recordings but in terms of greatest performances they come from the acoustic, analogue and digital ages and it’s hard to keep up with the growing repertoire so researching for recommendations from music knowledge gold mines like Dave is to me invaluable.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The WBF is not known as a music lover's resource nearly as much as a gearhead forum. People displaying an album cover and not providing any comment or insight as to why they posted it is essentially meaningless to me (and is even one level below the usefulness of posting system videos..sorry

I've pointed this out before and got a lot of blow-back. Good luck.

 

[marty]

I've pointed this out before and got a lot of blow-back. Good luck.

Not much to do or say about these issues. People will post what they post. We are all free to read what we wish to read. Album cover festivals and system videos are easy to pass over. Does the WBF care? Not really. It shouldn't. Like any publication that enjoys ad revenue, eyeballs are eyeballs. Not a big deal.

 

[oldvinyl]

I too have benefited from some of the reviews on Classics Today.

Over the years, I have figured out ways to discover music I have not heard before and/or performers or performances I have not heard before. This came from years of flipping through bins in record stores and the years of flipping through boxes at record shows (once vinyl was supplanted by CD). Since I play music (piano), I get recommendations from other pianists and teachers.

Like others have said, I would not be inclined to spend a great deal of time watching YouTube videos about new releases or favorite performances. Sometimes the calculus is "how do I want to spend my time?". And, how many recordings of Mahler 6th Symphony do I really need?

Do I want to watch a discussion or listen to a monologue ABOUT music ... or actually listen to music. I am more inclined to watch a performance on YouTube, a master class or a discussion by a musicologist or specialist about particular repertoire.

I would agree that there are various types of listeners and audiophiles: listen to one facet of playback, listen to equipment/system/room, listen to music, and some combination(s) thereof. My primary objective is to enjoy music. I am glad I have a decent stereo (to me anyway) to enjoy it on.

Something that occasionally strikes me as interesting is that forums are a place to write and read (using our eyes) - which is a meta position with respect to the music itself. We are talking about music (or equipment), not directly experiencing it. We are discussing music by using our visual system to read the screen. The thing I benefit from most on forums is learning from other's experience getting the best performance and most enjoyment from their stereo. And - learning about a performance or release I otherwise would not have known about otherwise.