Pleasure lies in diversity

I listen to classical music every day.

It is the most enduring passion in my life. I am always looking for new pieces to check out, or to new versions of masterpieces that I already love.

However, as I have explained previously, there comes a time in which I feel that I am listening to the same people -meaning conductors and orchestras. And I find true pleasure in that, I have to say.

The thing is that you may end up spoiled in the way you experience those works of art: you get used to them and when you run into different approaches you either dismiss them or even despise them.

In the last couple of years I have forced myself to find pleasure in the differences. Whenever I want to listen to one of my favorite symphonies, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth to name just one, I am always tempted to go with the safe bets: Solti, Gergiev or Mravinsky. Nonetheless, I consciously decide to make an effort in looking for different versions through reviews or forums because I am sure I am missing a whole other realm of possibilities.

And I have found a few gems, indeed.

When I started to get into wine, the best advice I got from a renowned sommelier was that I was truly going to learn by tasting lots of different kinds of wines. I must say you could apply that same way of thinking to classical music: the more diverse music you hear, the richer you will become in terms of references.

One of the many great things about this approach is that by listening to a lot of different versions of the same work you get to know them in a new and fascinating way. If you listen to slower versions you will discover other sonorities that you missed in faster ones. You also get to acknowledge the role of certain instruments you previously ignored.

Long story short: go ahead and get rid of your favorite versions, at least for a moment, and give the benefit of the doubt to those other ones -just because they may provide you with the exceptional pleasure of discovering the new best version of your favorite symphony.