Mozart Moves Up

Mozart has never been my favourite composer and that has not changed, but recently he has certainly jumped up a few notches. I've always liked some of his music but always had the feeling that he lacked depth - wrote catchy tunes but never had the power to do for me what Beethoven does.

Recently I've been studying four of Mozart's operas; Cosi Fan Tutte, Le Nozze de Figaro, Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflote. These have caused me to change my mind a little, some of the music in Figaro and Cosi convinced me of his genius. Of the four I would rate the "Flute" the lowest, it epitomises what my earlier feelings were; several catchy tunes but no real substance, the same cannot be said of the other three, they are without doubt among the finest operas ever written. Some say Don Giovanni is the best opera ever, but not for me, I like Cosi and Figaro more.

I find it hard to make a list of favourites because my favourite depends on my mood, so here are some of them in no particular order.

Classical Music

• Beethoven symphonies 5, 6 and 7
• Beethoven Violin Concerto
• Bruch Violin Concerto
• Mendelsohn Violin Concerto
• Beethoven Moonlight Sonata
• Some of the work of Handel, Bach, Brahms and Tchaikovsky

Operas

• La Boheme
• Tosca
• Carmen
• Madam Butterfly
• Rigoletto
• L'elisir d'amore
• Lucia di Lammermoor
• Le Nozze de Figaro
• Cosi Fan Tutte
• Don Giovanni
• Norma
• Don Carlos

I like most kinds of music except Country and Western and some of the crap that masquerades under the name of music today. Modern pop music has lost it's way, since the Beatles and a few others from that era, no-one has come close to producing good stuff.

It's true that music is very subjective and a matter of taste, but I think the following statement can be fairly made:

Music can be tested, if it stands the test of time, it's good: if not, it's crap.

That's why the music of the great composers is as popular now as it was hundreds of years ago, in some cases, more so! Most of the stuff nowadays will be forgotten in a month, never mind a hundred years!