Guess I'm part of the 5% 🎉

Great idea, Dave. I go back to some of your earlier videos when I wonder what you might have said about X composer, work, conductor, etc. Your videos are excellently indexed and categorized, btw, too. And I've rewatched some of your videos, too. As I viewed some of your earliest videos, I was surprised to find you seemingly less jovial, more staid. Love how your tone and mannerisms have loosened up as got into your groove.

No one could ever convince me that the composer who wrote the 'Symphony for a Thousand' would have "intended" any of his work be played by a chamber sized ensemble on old, craggy sounding instruments. It might have been what he was stuck with during his era. However, all (most?) artists would prefer that their art be granted the biggest, grandest, BEST presentation available for the times in which it is being presented. So play these great symphonies as grand as possible each and every time if you want to show any artist's true "intent." Otherwise, what you are doing is simply offering up a history lesson.

At the end of the day nothing can hold a candle to the Dieskau/Moore (1972) one in my opinion (especially in terms of Leiermann). Unfortunately i can't enjoy Winterreise recordings of non-german singers, because im a native speaker and it just sounds wrong to me when non native speakers sing it.

Schchedrin is indeed still with us at 92. I hope I didn't jinx him!

I just want to say, thanks Dave fir the goldmine that is your KZbin channel! You’re a very strong voice in the classical music community (thank god!) and naturally this will come with a lot of response, wether they agree or not. I think this is so very valuable, because it really makes people think about the discography and forces them to form an opinion. Your videos have ignited a lot of debate and those discussions are so valuable to read too, because they make you revisit some recordings or view them though a different light. Bless you and your loved ones, I wish you all of the best and I hope to enjoy your videos for a long time, since they enlightened me and probably will do as long as you make them!

At some point it might be useful to do a Haydn Symphony Crusade sampler, discussing and demonstrating the most characteristic of the 104+ at different stages of Haydn's career. Say, three or four symphonies, not necessarily the most familiar ones but those most representative of his compositional style as it evolved.

It’s funny the first one is a short alert one 😂 loved it!

I actually go back to old videos usually when Im interested in a composer I check the Survey lists you have which are nice way of grouping! Also I check Reference Records series , we need more of those by the way!

One thing I noticed when comparing new videos and old videos is Dave is more serious and formal and the video length are usually longer the old videos. Now he is more relax and funny in the new videos

I think I’m one of your 5%ers then Dave. I often search the repertoire videos for recommendations on certain pieces/cycles. And always thoroughly enjoy them. My wallet, not so much!

San Francisco Classical Bar Mitzvah Company is my new favorite record company! Send this straight to your bloopers Hall of Fame!

The Greig! Seriously, as someone else correctly said here; cascading scales in every octave. Cleverly sugar coated mush too many listeners adhere to, and totally over played on the radio stations, but note, truly professional pianists don’t play it in competitions.

Sometimes the instrument really does matter: hearing the Mendelssohn 5th played with a serpent is a shock to modern ears which are used to a contrabassoon. Having an ophicleide rather than a tuba in Symphonie fantastique is quite interesting. Fortunately, instrument quality improved over the decades and we don't have to suffer the barbaric sounds of the older items.

Long live your channel, your huge archive, and... everybody should embark on the Haydn Symphony Crusade! I'm at no.9 by now, loving each and every one! Thanks again and again!

Excellent, David. Thanks

I've been watching the older videos, as I mentioned!

Persichetti, my goodness, I'm with you -- we need someone who will champion his stuff! FAR too underrepresented and unsung! I've got all those discs, and they're NOT in my "overflow room" (I don't have one!)

Wow, I’ve been here watching you since 2020. I tend to go back whenever I discover music for myself and then need to check if you’ve done a video on it. Usually you have! I think this is a great idea because, even though your curated playlists are very good, navigating the search feature on the playlists page on KZbin can be very trying, so this should make it easier to find things :)

Even in non-online spaces, my interaction with classical music people has been positive. There's always one person every once in a while that tries to rain on the parade, but we just keep marching on!

Interesting! Parsifal I really do understand - it is one of those kind of ‘suspension of time’ pieces - plus in a work that’s supposed to be largely about “Mitleid”, if you have no sympathy with the characters then… yeah… Also Fidelio has some unbelievable moments - that first quartet, the prisoners chorus, Leonore’s aria, the opening of Act 2 and Florestan’s aria - the final choral scene - but that’s about it, and the fact that most productions now change the dialogue, wiggle things around and make very judicious cuts shows how flawed it is. It’s got masterpieces IN IT, but it itself is no masterpiece 🤷🏼‍♂️

I love to isten!

Boulez was BS. If his compositions were never played no one would notice.

Well, I think this is a great idea, though. For myself, I frequently search for "Hurwitz name of piece or composer" and watch things from all 4 years, 3 years, etc. ago. I continue to realize that I need to revisit the collection, especially since many of the repertoire pieces are from a few years ago. I need reminders of ensembles, conductors, soloists, and the great analyses of the pieces themselves. I'm looking forward to these recaps!

Dave. What a brilliant idea. I enjoy delving into your earlier videos from time to time. But now I'll be doing so more often, for sure. I enjoy your 'Good conductor, bad day' series; any more afoot? Well, actually, I enjoy all your talks! Over the years, you've guided me to huge amounts of (to me) hitherto unfamiliar works, and unfamiliar composers, for which I thank you enormously. Here's to music, and the enduring pleasure it brings.

I guess I'm one of the 5%ers. I myself go back into your archives regularly because you produce videos faster than I can build up my collection. So, I find myself re-watching primarily repertoire and beginner list videos. Occasionally, I think about leaving a comment, but I didn't know if you'd even see it given that the videos are years old. Anyway, these reminders will be helpful too.

Dave, I’ve been with you from the very beginning. I think I’ve seen absolutely every video and I refer back to many of them regularly. Assuming other viewers are like me, you, more than any review magazine or advertising, influence and encourage music purchases. I wonder whether the good folks at DG, Warner, Sony et al. appreciate that you’re a boon to their sales and you could contribute even more if they’d allow audio clips.

Recently discovered Pettersson through an acquaintance on a Mahler discord server. A lot of it requires a substantial emotional invest to really follow it, but my, what wild, glorious rides result. The Violin Concerto 2 is my favourite work for 2025 (well, at least it's difficult to imagine anything making more of an impression or proving more pure listening joy).

You may count me as part of the 5%...I can't tell you how many times I have watched both your reviews of the big Szell box, to say nothing of your best symphonic cycle videos, Dave's Faves, and the fantastic ALDA & KOLA videos...During the pandemic and ever since, these have always been cheerful distractions from the ugliness of the world around us.

I'm in the 5%!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Dave, When it comes to reminding your audience about older videos, I think that you can try making a community post on KZbin. This has the same effect as making a recap video, but I just wanted to provide an alternate option in case you’re unable to make a video. Hope this helps Alison

I do rewatch some videos. Really this is generally limited to the Repertoire ones, though. The reason tends to be because I can’t recall all the recommended versions, and, because I collect certain works obsessively, I recheck just to see if there was one that escaped my attention that I’d never heard (and therefore should get). A propos of works obsessively collected, I vote for Smetana’s Ma Vlast (must have close to 20 of those). Oh, and congratulations on your now having a video with >100,000 views (the best Mahler symphony cycles video).

Dave's video time travel machine! Nice.

I'm a Haydn Crusader and I check back videos occasionally especially if I find a new disk of symphonies to get the story that you so aptly share with us . Found a Derek Solomons volume in a used record store and used the videos as a guide .

And this is the Big Bang moment... How it all begun. The very first video of this magnificent channel! Thank you for the videos, dear David!

I can spent timon watching your Videos or listening to my hndreds of CDs. Sorry , time is is a limited ressource. If I shall keep on listening, then my Beethoven cycles coes first and HaDn an Mozart much later.

Thank you so much for bringing out the emotional aspects of music and how we connect to artistry, love the hammer analogy, like the other commentator stated you've nailed it.

Hi Dave Great idea I like your “early “ stuff It’s great for refreshing the fun memories of the Bruckner Frau Buchner wild horses and the NINTH ! Reminds me also of what a great find you were during the dull days of the pandemic !

cue (queue?) the Twilight Zone music because....#1 - I just started watching your videos maybe 2 weeks ago. #2 - today I heard Beethoven's 7th Symphony on the radio and that made me wonder how I was going to search out your recommendation for the best Beethoven Symphonies. #3 - And look at your list in your drop-down comments; "The Best Beethoven Symphony Cycles." Cool. Wow. PLUS, since I"m new I'll be watching your older stuff. BONUS!!!!! Thank you 🙂

My problem is with KZbin playlists, placing the newest first…and “play all” then plays new to old😢

Thank you for all your great work! I find it so much fun, and very easy, to drill around your old video library. You have everything organized so well into playlists. I'm looking forward to systematically going through the Haydn Symphony Crusade. With your advice, I think I have acquired decent recordings of all 108. I wish you had another two lifetimes to do crusades on Haydn's marvelous string quartets and piano trios.

The Haydn symphony crusade is my favourite series! I'm following along with the Fey-Klump and Maerzendorfer cycles (with some Fischer and Hogwood sprinkled in for fun).

This will be helpful, Dave. Good idea. When I first discovered your channel over a year ago, I watched a lot of your older videos - especially the ones geared towards beginners. They really helped me gain an appreciation for classical music. Then I watched a lot of your basic repertoire videos - the Beethoven symphony and piano sonata cycles, for example. But there’s so much to watch, even though I do refer to your playlists fairly often. So this will help me a lot, I think. Thanks again! And thanks also for helping me love classical music!

Love your comments! I do understand the inability to play the pieces! Can you do one with the pieces!!!

You can make (small) popup links appear during the course of a particular video. I’ve seen others within a video say things like “and if you missed my recap of Beethoven cycles, you can click on the link above…” and program it to appear at that moment. How it’s done, I don’t know, but it can be done. Unfortunately, only people who watch that particular video would see that link, but it’s at least something. Cheers!

If criticism was not art it would always be right. One of the main interests about criticism is that it's a creative act, basically because is an entirely subjective action made with the intention of sharing a personal experience. This is what all creative artists do. On the other hand, if all art criticism said only good things it would be false and a sign of dead art. Adversity is necessary for growth and development, this is sort of a universal law, to say the least 😂

I've watching your channel for several years now and apparently I'm with the 5% that looks through the older stuff, which I don't mind in the least. I especially enjoyed (and learned so much!) revisiting your Mahler and Shostakovich-symphony video's, but also the best opera-, and many other lists. I need my time to really digest some of that music and for that, your videolibrary is just perfect. It's much easier to keep on listening when you have so many excellent suggestions to choose from.

As a guitarist, I cannot tell you how many people I know boast about their guitar, only to hear their average playing. I cannot tell you how many people I have heard that sound amazing on $400 Mexican guitar.

One little KZbin tip, Dave, is rather than (or in addition to) putting the links in the description box itself, put them in a comment and pin that comment. This is what a lot of professional KZbinrs do and I presume there's a reason.

Dave, I am constantly accessing your archives on KZbin when shopping for recordings and I thank you for them! Perhaps your “Haydn Crusade” will have increased participation once you reach Symphony No. 82. Let us hope that the earlier symphonies are fully appreciated in future times and you receive the credit you deserve for promoting Haydn’s monumental contribution of all 104+ symphonies.