Apple Music Launches New Classical Music Section Curated by Deutsche Grammophon, Including Full-Length Operas

[Solomani]

Opera, meh. I'd be happy if they just released some of the older (1980s and 1990s) Sony Classical CDs, especially many of the best New Years Concerts performed by Vienna Philharmonic and maestro Zubin Mehta. The Philharmonic was at its best under Zubin.

Hell, even the Los Angeles Philharmonic (not really the most stellar philharmonic in the world) became spectacular under Zubin Mehta's tenure.

 

[nt5672]

Imagine the freedom of not listening to your “cool equipment” but just listening and enjoying the music, like many have for hundreds of years.

Fair point, as long as you don't mind missing the subtle details, don't mind the phase shifts and don't care about the subtle distortion. Some people can hear a bad speaker at a concert, an out of tune instrument, etc., some can't or don't care. That's what makes the world go around, but classical music listeners usually care about such things more than teenage pop fans.

When I listen to music it is too feel the emotion of it. Most pop stuff today has no emotion, so it does not matter. To understand the difference, go to a live symphony at least twice (the same music, you'll hear it differently the second time), then listen to the same symphony on an iPhone through your "good-enough equipment" and it's just possible that you'll understand the difference. It really is night and day and good equipment gets you nearly there, an iPhone with wireless speakers, not so much.

So I would say "imagine listening to the real thing" instead of the fake popular rendition from an iPhone.

 

[Solomani]

Can't imagine listening to good Classical music through Apple's DACs and earphones. But to each their own.

So you prefer what? Windows Music on Zunes? Can your criticism be any more pointless in an Apple-centric forum?

 

[LizKat]

Shouldn’t a curator be independent of a specific label?

Not if the alternative is going to be a bunch of people who think a capella is some kind of sausage.

 

[Solomani]

Not if the alternative is going to be a bunch of people who think a capella is some kind of sausage.

Well at least it sounds like an Italian sausage! The second-best kind. I approve!

 

[ob81]

I have been getting into classical music since I heard that it was great for newborns. Nice timing on this one.

 

[Solomani]

I have been getting into classical music since I heard that it was great for newborns. Nice timing on this one.

So I was wrong to keep bombarding the newborn with Raffi music instead??

 

[ob81]

There is no wrong. Truth be told, at 4 weeks today, my little one is more responsive to Cardi B. I blame my 13 year old.

 

[Solomani]

Could be worse. At least the little one has not been exposed to William Shatner singing.

 

[LizKat]

Could be worse. At least the little one has not been exposed to William Shatner singing.

I'm not entirely sure some operas are all that well suited to the tender ears and hearts of newborns, come to think of the range of human behavior in some of them. Anyway I'm excited about these new avenues offered Apple, can't wait to check them out.

 

[jerwin]

Sorry my ignorance but what is exactly the opera? I only know oprah. It’s something related with old music?

It's like a broadway musical, except it's sung in a foreign language.

:ducks:

 

[LizKat]

It's like a broadway musical, except it's sung in a foreign language.

:ducks:

Well you're not all wrong there, and you know it.

The word itself, opera, comes unaltered from Latin and simply means "work".

Some might find an opera a piece of work to listen to, at first, but the overall body of work the genre offers today must encompass every human emotion and dramatic situation any of us have or ever will encounter. It's amazing how many ways there are to tell familiar stories in ways that seem and sound entirely new.

So yeah, they're like musicals, and could be in any language (some are occasionally sung in translation to another language), but in operas just as in musicals, the bottom line speaks to shared emotions and familiar human experiences.

For those who have never bothered to listen to any operas, dip a toe in and you'll not regret deciding to explore further by listening to both world acclaimed and little known operas: they're all capsules of culture and music at a given time. Some are comic or playful, some tragic, some perfectly capable of striking a sympathetic chord in listeners (or else just comic relief) even by depicting less dramatic emotions like boredom or impatience. In my experience, once you get hooked on opera... it's a lifetime interest. Nice to know now the addiction can be indulged on demand via my AM subscription.

 

[SandboxGeneral]

I went for a leisurely drive this afternoon and listened to this new curated classical section on Apple Music for the duration of the ride. There were plenty of great pieces being played, many by Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmonic which are among my top favorites too.

 

[macgabe]

Great news - listening to a to a DG mix right now on my headphones - beautiful

 

[Cougarcat]

This is the kind of attention to detail Apple generally nails. Wonder why they haven't gotten around to this, especially when they asked their PR team to make a big splash out of this.

It's not even attention to detail, just basic functionality. Even Amazon Music gets this right.

 

[LizKat]

Great news - listening to a to a DG mix right now on my headphones - beautiful

OK I gotta check this out. I have the wrong iTunes library up now for that option right now since I keep my AM setup separately, but I can Fix.That.Right.Now...

 

[philippti]

Shouldn’t a curator be independent of a specific label?

I think they pretty much have almost all classical music there is to have

 

[Brenster]

Well you're not all wrong there, and you know it.

The word itself, opera, comes unaltered from Latin and simply means "work".

Some might find an opera a piece of work to listen to, at first, but the overall body of work the genre offers today must encompass every human emotion and dramatic situation any of us have or ever will encounter. It's amazing how many ways there are to tell familiar stories in ways that seem and sound entirely new.

So yeah, they're like musicals, and could be in any language (some are occasionally sung in translation to another language), but in operas just as in musicals, the bottom line speaks to shared emotions and familiar human experiences.

For those who have never bothered to listen to any operas, dip a toe in and you'll not regret deciding to explore further by listening to both world acclaimed and little known operas: they're all capsules of culture and music at a given time. Some are comic or playful, some tragic, some perfectly capable of striking a sympathetic chord in listeners (or else just comic relief) even by depicting less dramatic emotions like boredom or impatience. In my experience, once you get hooked on opera... it's a lifetime interest. Nice to know now the addiction can be indulged on demand via my AM subscription.

If you’ve any particular suggestions, feel free to post some AM links here. Even with DGs curation, there is an astonishing amount of music being made available. Just playing through the DG Playlist itself is throwing up so many jumping off points and albums & works to follow up on and explore further.

I think they pretty much have almost all classical music there is to have

I’ve followed up three albums today of excerpts/tracks that have made the current DG Playlist, and all three have been excellent and may well warrant buying. It really is an embarrassment of riches being served up, and the curation is really working for me. Apple Music, along with Audible, continues to be my MVP streaming subscription.

 

[LizKat]

Just playing through the DG Playlist itself is throwing up so many jumping off points and albums & works to follow up on and explore further.

This, yep. It's probably the most common way I'd use a playlist like that. As a musician and out of personal preference, I'm not likely to set up my own playlists to reference just parts of any classical works, more likely to mix and match some entire works in a 2-hour list that I pre-arrange as to order and then play straight through. I always figure if I had to learn a tedious adagio of some baroque work, I can afford to lend other performers an ear on how they got through it lol.

I do love looking through a playlist like the DG one to see "oh yeah, I wonder what other performances they have of Bach's French Suites.." and I'm off to round up a slew of them in Apple music just searching on the work name. Then I decide if I'd like to buy one or another of them, after downloading them onto AM and listening to them in rotation for awhile. There are tons of music I've never acquired but always liked having pop up on a classical radio station -- so AM is a feast for me, it's a try-before-you-buy wonderland really.

 

[Clix Pix]

Soprano Montserrat Caballe......any opera that you notice that she is in, have a listen. She's astonishing!

 

[LizKat]

Soprano Montserrat Caballe......any opera that you notice that she is in, have a listen. She's astonishing!

Yah I have to say I make an exception to my habit of not listening to parts of classical works when it comes to opera. I do have and like to listen to certain operas in their entirety, but I love collections of arias too.

The recording of some duets by Caballé and Verrett is nifty. iTunes has it (and is available on AM).

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/great-operatic-duets/477953281

 

[TheFluffyDuck]

I look forward to this being updated twice over the next year or so.

 

[LizKat]

I look forward to this being updated twice over the next year or so.

I bet it will be updated much more often than that. There are centuries' worth of options...

 

[Clix Pix]

Yah I have to say I make an exception to my habit of not listening to parts of classical works when it comes to opera. I do have and like to listen to certain operas in their entirety, but I love collections of arias too.

The recording of some duets by Caballé and Verrett is nifty. iTunes has it (and is available on AM).

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/great-operatic-duets/477953281

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Yes!!! I have that album, both in the physical CD format and in my iTunes library. I also have quite a few other albums featuring Caballe, either in an opera or as a collection of arias.... Oddly enough, I first discovered her when watching a video of her with Freddie Mercury singing "Barcelona," and I was immediately intrigued. Who was this woman? She fascinated me from the get-go and her voice was something different than I'd ever heard in the past. I wanted to know more, to hear more.... and over time, gently, softly, at times unleashing astonishing vocal power, yet also floating a few pianissimos along the way, Mme Caballe led me down the rabbit hole of Opera and I've been enthralled ever since!

 

[artfossil]

What a wonderful resource this is! Thank you, Apple, for making this available to us.

When I listen to music it is too feel the emotion of it. Most pop stuff today has no emotion, so it does not matter. To understand the difference, go to a live symphony at least twice (the same music, you'll hear it differently the second time), then listen to the same symphony on an iPhone through your "good-enough equipment" and it's just possible that you'll understand the difference. It really is night and day and good equipment gets you nearly there, an iPhone with wireless speakers, not so much.

I’ll offer a different experience, as the way I listen to music is different from yours. I’ve been living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle—home, classrooms, studio and places in between—and at the same time, I’m intentionally paring down my physical possessions. If I waited for “good equipment” to listen to music, I’d never listen.

Instead, I find that my memory and my imagination are more than enough to make up for any deficiencies in my equipment. With just a pair of AirPods, I can enter into the music and it can be as expansive or as intimate as necessary.

I’m just so grateful that with Apple Music I have access to anything I want to hear, any time and anywhere.