Greatest Composer of all time?

[Seneca]

And you can't really go wrong with Mahler - apart from some early chamber works which you're unlikely to come across anyway, nothing he wrote was very far short of magnificent.

[Ned]

Originally posted by monkspider
Ned- I've heard of both of them, yes.

I just don't get your president list.

The president's list was a test to see if people could really focus on a president's actual accomplishments rather than on biased propaganda. Certainly Washington was a great American and set a good example as a president. But he did not accomplish very much as president - at least not compared to every other president on the list.

Ask any kid, who was the better president, Polk or Washington? I can tell you what the answer would be. But the answer clearly is wrong if one simply focuses on what they accomplished while in office.

I left off the list some presidents with significant "negative" achievements - Eisenhower ended the Korean War. Kennedy kept the missiles out of Cuba. Nixon ended the Vietnam War.

Johnson's presidency was the worst failure in United States history dispite his "War on Poverty" legislation. So strong negatives cancelled strong positives.

So, I created the list based on my recollection if the presidents with the greatest accomplishments while in office. I may have left some worthy candidates off - such as McKinley, who won the Spanish-American war. But, even though he won the war, did it really accomplish anything for America or the world in the final analysis?

The final vote is very interesting. FDR wins, Lincoln is in second. This is somewhat understandable. But Clinton beating Polk? No way.

[Ned]

Boris, I am not going to dispute you on the popularity of Carmen over other operas. But as a whole, the most popular operas are Puccini's, Verdi's, Mozart's and the Wagner's, probably in that order. But Bizet and Puccini are not on the list. The three trailers are all on the list.

My favorite operas are Turandot, Cavalleria Rusticana and Don Giovanni.

[Sarxis]

Tough choice.

I can tell you its not Mozart: too many notes.

[Myrddin]

But the bit with too many notes is a great wedding march

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ned
Boris, I am not going to dispute you on the popularity of Carmen over other operas. But as a whole, the most popular operas are Puccini's, Verdi's, Mozart's and the Wagner's, probably in that order. But Bizet and Puccini are not on the list. The three trailers are all on the list.

My favorite operas are Turandot, Cavalleria Rusticana and Don Giovanni.

In terms of numbers of performances, this is not quite true. In a recent survey (it is a few years old, but I imagine it hasn't changed much), the most-performed opera composers are in this order:

Verdi
Puccini
Mozart
R. Strauss
Rossini
Wagner
Donizetti

Turandot is a curious top pick of Puccini. I would put Tosca and Boheme above it easily. If only he'd lived to complete it...

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Anunikoba
Tough choice.

I can tell you its not Mozart: too many notes.

Hehehe, you wouldn't really want to agree with the Emperor in this matter, would you?

[Zero]

cant beleive nobody mentioned beethoven's 9th symphony yet. Or did i just miss it? It's like the classical music version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

[Boris Godunov]

Beethoven's 9th has been mentioned. But this thread is more about the composers rather than specific works.

[Zero]

Originally posted by Ned

FDR wins, Lincoln is in second. This is somewhat understandable. But Clinton beating Polk? No way.

I think New deal's success is a bit over rated.

[Caesar the Great]

if i here Vivaldi's Spring one more time in a commercial i will have to break something! the entire thing has been ruined for me

yeah i'd have to agree with Boris, Bolero is pretty poor

thanks for the recomendations everyone! looks like i've got many long hours of listening to classical music to do...