Peabody Conservatory Concert Recordings
March 1, 2007 1:34 AM   Subscribe

The Peabody Symphony Orchestra and the Peabody Concert Orchestra have a wealth of classical recordings freely available for download - Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Mahler, Borodin, Schumann, Stravinksy...
posted by algreer (11 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
My first FPP, please be gentle.

I'll be surprised if it hasn't been mentioned in the blue before, but searching didn't turn it up as a double...
posted by algreer at 1:35 AM on March 1, 2007


That's a nice find. Thanks!
posted by jfuller at 3:01 AM on March 1, 2007


Good post, but I have an irresistable urge to say "Golly gee Mr. Peabody! Your orchestra sure plays good!" "Of course, Sherman, I used the Wayback Machine to help Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Haydn and Mahler write the stuff."
posted by wendell at 4:24 AM on March 1, 2007


Mahler for free -- this is gonna be good. algreer, TYVM; you've set yourself a high standard.
posted by pax digita at 6:05 AM on March 1, 2007


Great links. Thank you, algreer.

This is slightly old news, but Peabody has a new (as of '99; that's new in organ terms) pipe organ in an old hall that sounds tremendous. Unlike many church and cathedral organs, you hear very little of the room itself; it's like listening from inside the organ in comparison. Worth the trip to see a recital there.
posted by breezeway at 6:09 AM on March 1, 2007


Cool! Thanks.
posted by serazin at 8:40 AM on March 1, 2007


This is wonderful!

Thanks.
posted by winna at 11:14 AM on March 1, 2007


Oh man, I was just thinking of Peabody the other day, or more specifically wondering whatever happened to a couple musicians from my hometown who went there many moons ago.

I'll have to check this out more thoroughly when I'm at a different computer and have more time. (I keep forgetting to do that with these interesting MeFi-posted sites.)

Thanks.
posted by NorthernLite at 2:00 PM on March 1, 2007


Oooh thank you!

Can anyone with better knowledge of classical performance than myself comment on the quality of these? I don't mean the audio or compression quality, I mean of the performances themselves. Last year Lifehacker had an article about free classical music available at Wikipedia. One Lifehacker commented that "Its a good site for beginners, but before long you'll be craving the London or Chicago Symphony Orchestra rather then the Polish Youth orchestra." I didn't think this would really be an issue for me, since I am hardly an aficionado, but I did notice that the performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (which I think is by an orchestra at MIT) had a few noticeable flaws, specifically the first movement of "Winter" where the solo violin at the beginning seems to be moving faster than the rest of the strings. Plus there's a lot of coughing to be heard in the background, which is kind of annoying when you're listening with headphones.

But hey, free classical music, right?
posted by good in a vacuum at 3:17 PM on March 1, 2007


Oops, I should clarify: that would be the Vivaldi performance available at Wikipedia, not one at the Peabody site, if there is one.
posted by good in a vacuum at 3:20 PM on March 1, 2007


Check this out, good in a vacuum. There's a lake of ink spilled on the subject, and there are probably better resources, but that (particularly part 3) is a good start if you want to find the best recordings.
posted by breezeway at 3:59 PM on March 1, 2007


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