Hello.
When I was a child, I was not a classical music fan. I still see my mother humming some 19th century operas from Rossini, Puccini or Verdi, and me hating that, viewing it as mere shouting. But I was not unsensible to classical music. There was a french cartoon program named “Il était une fois l’Homme” (Once Upon a Time… Man) broadcasted at the Canadian french speaking channel, Radio-Canada. The introduction theme for that show was excerpts from the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Bach, which I did not know at the time. I was strucked by that music and it became a favorite.
Strangely, I had to wait during my 20s to appreciate that much classical music. At Christmas, in 1998, I got a mini stereo system and I decided to buy my first ever classical music CD. It was one of those baroque “greatest hits” CD from RCA (RCA navigator)
It included works like Pachelbel’s canon, excerpts from Bach’s Brandenburg concerti, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. There was also different samples from Handel. I was immediatly appealed by Handel’s Music for Royal Fireworks Ouverture (well it was only the slow part on that CD). Then, for 4-5 years, I invested my time to discover Handel production. But I also managed to discover the art of Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi. I was a hardcore baroque fan at the time.
But around 2002-2003, I was exposed to music from classical era and it changed my mélomane perspective. My first real contact was with Haydn. Oh I already knew Mozart and Beethoven music but my mind was not set to accept classical music. So I bought for 1 buck a few cds including some of Haydn’s London symphonies. I was totally strucked. Also, at the time, Naxos made available for free its music library online. Like a musical Gengis Khan, I invaded that library and listened to many many many (yeah that much!) classical era works, not just from Haydn. I discovered then “unknown” composers like Stamitz (Johann and Carl),Vanhal, Kraus, Dittersdorf, J.C. Bach, G.B. Sammartini, Cannabich, etc. It is only a few years after I went on another crusade and met composers like Beethoven, Schubert, Rossini, Spohr, Méhul, Reicha, etc. It is far from finished and I still have a lot to discover and appreciate.
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