# Is Classical Your Favorite Genre to See Live?



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Jazz and Classical are my two favorites. I appreciate the time the performers take to perfect their performance that their rock and roll peers often don't (there are a few exceptions though).

I'm much more satisfied with Classical and Jazz shows, it's just a higher level of musicianship, and they take it more seriously.


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2018)

Well I don't consider 'classsical' to be a _genre_ exactly, but the most memorable experiences I have had when it comes to *live performance* have been [contemporary] classical.................so, I guess, yeah. In those performances, the music felt more _alive_ than ever.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Jazz and Classical are my two favorites. I appreciate the time the performers take to perfect their performance that their rock and roll peers often don't (there are a few exceptions though).
> 
> I'm much more satisfied with Classical and Jazz shows, it's just a higher level of musicianship, and they take it more seriously.


I am the same although I am not keen on the so called modern Free Jazz, I also enjoy folk music in particular the Irish.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Recordings are fine... CDs are fine... LPs are fine... tapes are fine… But I’ve never found a substitute for actually being in the collective energy field of live performers, whether it was a small group, jazz ensemble, or symphony orchestra. I’ve never found a substitute for being in that living exchange of energy, in the spontaneity of the moment, with live performers. IMO, the performers need to be in the living energy of the audience just as much to be at their best. Recordings are only the next best thing but can still be pretty terrific, and the rest is imagination. That’s the tragedy of fewer live performances, fewer opportunities for chamber groups and symphony orchestras where one can experience the music first hand. Live performances are collective experiences that can unite people around a common interest rather than just listening alone. I particularly enjoy going to symphonic concerts that also include the great world-class soloists on piano or violin. 
:angel:


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Classical concerts are the best way to _hear_ classical music and there are some performers I do enjoy seeing. But as a full experience my response to classical concerts is a bit more mixed. I don't feel a part of the community that attends classical concerts and dressing somewhat more smartly than I usually do and then sitting still in an uncomfortable chair for a time are not big pluses for me. And these days it is so much cheaper and easier to hear different insights (performances) via CDs, TV and streaming arrangements that concerts seem a real luxury. I don't live in a city and would often have to leave early to get home if I was using public transport (which is not cheap either). So, it means driving and - horror - paying huge amounts for fuel and parking on top of everything else. Opera, on the other hand, is definitely best live but still suffers from all those downsides I just listed.

Jazz and rock concerts might also be difficult but in small halls without regimented seating the _experience _seems so much more worthwhile compared to alternative ways of listening to the same music.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Dan Ante said:


> I am the same although I am not keen on the so called modern Free Jazz, I also enjoy folk music in particular the Irish.


I agree, I don't enjoy free jazz either. I also don't enjoy Miles' fusion albums much, I prefer him in the suits playing So What and the like.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Yes, I like live classical, ans some jazz and pop. But any live concert that has to be amped so loud you can't hear it (i.e. almost all pop), is not for me. I just don't get the idea.


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## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

Although I am only really a fan of so called classical music, I feel like as far as the concert experience goes, classical music is somewhat underwhelming. Live music is obviously great, but unlike other genres, live classical doesnt really have much of an experience to it like other genres do. This is not necessarily a criticism of the establishment, it is just the way it is. 

One thing that I gave up on quickly with classical concerts was dressing up nicely. I am there to hear music, not make a fashion statement. As long as I have a shirt without writing and am not wearing shorts, I wont really bother changing into something else. I just dont really see why it is important and why I should have to be uncomfortable just to go to a concert.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

R3PL4Y said:


> One thing that I gave up on quickly with classical concerts was dressing up nicely. I am there to hear music, not make a fashion statement. As long as I have a shirt without writing and am not wearing shorts, I wont really bother changing into something else. I just dont really see why it is important and why I should have to be uncomfortable just to go to a concert.


At our concerts so long as you are tidy as opposed to scruffy you don't need diner jackets and bow ties.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

R3PL4Y said:


> Although I am only really a fan of so called classical music, I feel like as far as the concert experience goes, classical music is somewhat underwhelming. Live music is obviously great, but unlike other genres, live classical doesnt really have much of an experience to it like other genres do. This is not necessarily a criticism of the establishment, it is just the way it is.
> 
> One thing that I gave up on quickly with classical concerts was dressing up nicely. I am there to hear music, not make a fashion statement. As long as I have a shirt without writing and am not wearing shorts, I wont really bother changing into something else. I just dont really see why it is important and why I should have to be uncomfortable just to go to a concert.


I love dressing up nice for the symphony! The music is sophisticated and I like dressing in a manner that matches the music. You complain that it isn't experience, but dressing up is PART of what makes it an experience.

Classical is classy!

But you don't have to be a snob.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

It's just about the only music I attend in person, and I travel all over the US and elsewhere to partake. I don't go because of who is playing, but because of what music is being played - and to get me to go, it must be something really special or something I love that isn't so often performed. To hear the Phildelphia Orchestra do Gliere's 3rd or the Schmidt 2nd or 4th - those were worthwhile trips.


When it comes to dressing up which some of you have mentioned: depends where I go. Nashville: boy, those people cling to the gentile traditions of the old south and dress to the nines. Detroit, LA, Seattle and most other places not so much. There I wear my normal uniform: clean, starched and pressed Levi's, a well polished pair of cowboy boots, an Ariat or Cinch western shirt, and if it's cooler out, a suede jacket. Cowboy hat always in tow. No tie, ever. I'm comfortable and that's all I care about.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Given the choice, I'd pick a live country show over live classical. The musicianship is great in both, but at a country show, you also get lighting, staging, and usually more music than at a classical show (definitely in terms of pieces played). There's also more room for spontaneity and improvisation, whether in solos or arrangements, than classical concerts feel comfortable using (when does Beethoven's 5th stray far enough not to be the same music anymore? They err on the side of caution).


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## Haydn70 (Jan 8, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I love dressing up nice for the symphony! The music is sophisticated and I like dressing in a manner that matches the music. You complain that it isn't experience, but dressing up is PART of what makes it an experience.
> 
> Classical is classy!
> 
> But you don't have to be a snob.


I agree 100%. Being at an event of any kind where people are dressed nicely (meaning at minimum jackets and ties on the men) is always a treat...a very rare one these days, unfortunately.

At a minimum I always wear a sports coat, dress shirt, tie and slacks with dress shoes to classical concerts and the opera.

And it is not just about the clothes worn but *HOW* they are worn.

Someday I intend to attend a concert or opera in white tie.

There is nothing snobbish about dressing nicely.


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## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

It's difficult to compare the two as the genres are almost polar opposites, but I would say I enjoy the overall experience of going to see live house/techno music more than I do classical. It's like falling through a trapdoor into a slightly unreal utopian dreamworld, or a bacchanal ritual much more bodily than a classical concert, which is food for the soul in a different, more intellectual fashion. But I wouldn't be without either.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Being in concert at a good hall where a very large production, such as a Mahler symphony or an opera, is taking place creates a sound world that doesn't exist in recordings.

I once went four wheeling in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with some people near what was then a U.S. Air Force base. We were going along when a loud noise began. It got louder and louder to the point you couldn't tell what direction is was from. Then a B-52 flew overhead at treetop level.

This is what I would compare to the ending of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 -- the sound is so huge it fills every space of the theater. Even if you turn up your stereo as loud as it goes, it will still be a two-dimensional experience.


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