Amazon Classical Music Forum's Listmania

I'm no expert on classical music, although I have been known to listen to NPR at times. As I slogged my way through a major expansion of my Classical Mania aStore, I was surprised at just how many of the featured artists I actually had heard of. I guess I should have expected that. Classical music is part of our culture, after all. Not pop-culture or counter-culture, just plain culture -- the things we all hold in common that bring us together.

Stereotypes about classical fans abound, but I discovered in glancing over Amazon's Classical Music Forum they are actually a pretty diverse group. I was encouraged to find that the forum was less opinionated and more informative than the dread pop-music boards. There was also a considerable amount of attention paid to beginning classical buffs. I guess everybody has to start somewhere.

If you're looking for E. Power Biggs definitive recording of Bach's renowned Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, it's here. (A recording I know of strictly as a stereo equipment enthusiast. I mean you could smoke-test your bass with Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida, but how prosaic that would be!)

You might be surprised how much classical music you've heard a thousand times, but just couldn't name. After all, The Lone Ranger and Beat the Clock didn't have to pay royalties to Rossini and Khachaturian! You can also give yourself a big pat on the back if you immediately realized that Arthur Sullivan is more often mentioned in conjunction with his librettist William S. Gilbert.

Here is a selection of classical music Listmania lists from the Amazon Classical Music Forum:

1. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Symphonic Cycles
2. Listening List for Trumpet Students
3. Hoshour's Guide to World Class Violin & Cello Concertos
4. Hoshoshour's Guide to Definitive Beethoven Symphonies
5. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Bruckner Symphonies
6. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Brahms Symphonies
7. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Piano Concertos
8. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Mahler Symphonies
9. Music CDs I Listen to in 2007, and Music CDs I Recommend.
10. Sublime Beethoven recordings
11. Essential Prokofiev
12. Best Brahms Symphony Cycles according to The Penguin Guide
13. Best Beethoven Symphony Cycles according to The Penguin Guide
14. Got Scenery?
15. Wade's Piano Student Listening List #1
16. My favorite classical recordings of 2007
17. ~Handel's MESSIAH~the best recordings~
18. A Ranking of Rach 3
19. Music of Howard Hanson
20. Favorite "Messiah" Recordings
21. My 20 Desert Island Recordings
22. Essential Brahms
23. Christmas-Themed Classical Music
24. Mahler for Audiophiles
25. Great Christmas Music From Various Genres
26. CHRISTINE SCHäFER's GREATEST REALIZATIONS...
27. GLENN GOULD's GREATEST REALIZATIONS.
28. My favourite opera recordings on DVD
29. Great Classical at a Great Price!
30. Favorite Classical Music on the Philips Label
31. A Must-Have Mahler Cycle
32. A Strauss-Lover's Four Last Songs
33. My Favorite Italian Pop
34. Collecting the Deutsche Grammophon Collector's Series Classical CDs
35. Deutsche Grammophon "Archiv" Favorite Recordings
36. Building an Outstanding Classical Music Library with Box Sets
37. The World of Classical Music and the Performing Arts!
38. A Debussy Discography
39. Classical Trumpet
40. Some uncommonly beautiful recordings
41. Not Just for Longhairs: Funny Classical Music
42. Leonard Bernstein, Renaissance Man
43. Classical Entry Points
44. Musical Performance Practice Favorites
45. Classical Music starter list
46. Classical Music
47. Classic Recordings of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos
48. Classical pieces recorded by progressive rock groups
49. Classical Music - sophisticated structures in sound from the Masters
50. Classical Music For People who don't like Classical Music
51. Heavenly Voices