# New Year's Countdown Top 100



## Rachovsky (Jan 5, 2008)

I would like to entice you all to listen to WQXR.com's streaming radio over the next couple of days. They are counting down the top 100 works based on listener's votes. Tomorrow looks like a fun day. 

Here are a few that will be playing throughout the 30th (in no particular order):

Pathetique Symphony - Tchaikovsky
The Lark Ascending - RVW
Symphony no. 40 - Mozart
Violin Concerto - Tchaikovsky
"Organ" Symphony - Saint-Saens
Symphony no. 2 - Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto no. 2 - Brahms
Piano Concerto no. 3 - Rachmaninoff
"Titan" Symphony - Mahler
Symphony no. 5 - Mahler
The Four Seasons - Vivaldi
A German Requiem - Brahms
Symphonie Fantastique - Berlioz
Symphony no. 5 - Tchaikovsky
Gotterdammerung (Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine Journey) - Wagner

And for the top 10... (which will begin 2:30 on the 31st):

10. Symphony no. 2 - Sibelius
9. Requiem - Verdi
8. "Resurrection" Symphony - Mahler
7. "Pastoral" Symphony - Beethoven
6. "From the New World" Symphony - Dvorak
5. Piano Concerto no. 2 - Rachmaninoff
4. Piano Concerto no. 5 - Beethoven
3. Symphony no. 7 - Beethoven
2. Symphony no. 5 - Beethoven
1. Symphony no. 9 - Beethoven

Beethoven takes top 4 honors.  Hope you all take time out to listen.


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

Sounds like a great lineup! No better work to sum the year up than Beethoven's 9th! Ill try to remember to catch it. Thanks!


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Rachovsky said:


> And for the top 10... (which will begin 2:30 on the 31st):
> 
> 10. Symphony no. 2 - Sibelius
> 9. Requiem - Verdi
> ...


Hooorrray for Ludwig! And a 5th piece not far behind. My attempt at not looking smug is failing.


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## Rachovsky (Jan 5, 2008)

Symphony no. 5 by Mahler on now (at the Third Movement) and afterwards is #20 - Symphony no. 1 by Mahler (MTT/SFSO). Then Symphonie Fantastqiue (Barenboim/BPO), then Piano Concerto No. 3 by Rachmaninoff (Horowitz/NYPO), then to top the night off, 5th Symphony of Tchaikovsky (Gergiev)
I will be in heaven for the rest of the night ^.^


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2008)

So are you all saying that these are not pieces you already own in one form or other? And listen to all the time, anyway?


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## Rachovsky (Jan 5, 2008)

I'm familiar with most of them. Just haven't heard most of these recordings.


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

some guy said:


> So are you all saying that these are not pieces you already own in one form or other? And listen to all the time, anyway?


Now this points to one of the most significant factors differentiating classical music from most other genres: interpretation. Just because you own Beethoven's 9th, doesn't mean the one you hear on the radio is the same as what you would hear from your own personal collection. There are a lot of great recordings out there, and some mediocre ones. I trust the station will choose from the good ones, because I certainly don't own all of them.


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2008)

Yes, I understand. But I don't know that radio stations are all THAT good at coming up with the very best recordings. (I used to work in one, and at least that one wasn't all that good. We played whatever we had.)

Anyway, I hope this radio station gives you good versions that you don't already have!

Now, what about a radio station to give you good music that you've* never heard before? Nah. Never happen....

*Well do I remember those early years in listening, when whatever the radio played was new to me. I wish that could have lasted, but "oh, well."


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## Rachovsky (Jan 5, 2008)

some guy said:


> Yes, I understand. But I don't know that radio stations are all THAT good at coming up with the very best recordings. (I used to work in one, and at least that one wasn't all that good. We played whatever we had.)
> 
> Anyway, I hope this radio station gives you good versions that you don't already have!
> 
> ...


It's actually one of the oldest continuously operating FM stations in the world (1939) and garners the most classical music listeners in the country (average quarter-hour audience of 63,000). They have a plethora of recordings.


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## Isola (Mar 26, 2008)

Great program, thanks for the info, Rach. The only problem for me is the time difference (I'm in CET zone) but I'll try to catch up some.


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