Building the Digital Beast II: The Playlist

(Ed. Note: This is Part II of our series on how to live digitally and still have a satisfying portable classical music experience. Part I is on how to meta-tag mp3 files. Part III is about managing the iPod. iPod, iPod Touch, Mini, Shuffle, iTunes, and iPhone are of course, trademarks of Apple.)

How to use Playlists to manage your iPod.

If Bach had his playlists organized....

Hi there. In Part II, we're going to talk about managing playlists on iTunes to maximize your classical music experience.

So you've got all (or at least some) of your music uploaded/downloaded into your computer. The next step is to use the Playlist feature to effectively become your own classical music DJ.

There are three types of iTunes playlist:

The regular Playlist is just an ordinary tool to put your tracks in a prearranged order. It takes the most work, but gives you the greatest amount of control.

For the classical music aficionado or opera lover who wants to play all the Bruckner symphonies in order, or perhaps listen to the entire Ring over a week, playlists are invaluable. But of the three, the regular Playlists are the most important because you can do heavy customization, putting just what you want in the desired order.

Customized Bruckner playlist with the movements of the symphonies in the right order.

Smart Playlists are built from your library to fit a set of prearranged conditions. Those conditions are based on data meta-tags on files, or on other data relevant to the tracks. For example: here's an all-Bruckner smart playlist I made a few years ago. It was generated with the tags "Composer--Starts With--Anton Bruckner":

Computer-generated "smart" playlist with the running order slightly jumbled.

For example, you can grab all the works tagged with "Anton Bruckner" or all the pieces conducted by "Riccardo Chailly." This is why having accurate meta-tags are important. Smart playlists can also grab any movements or pieces that last a specific amount of time, or meet some other criteria that you set yourself using the Notes field.

The third type of playlist is called On-the-Go and is generated by your handy-dandy iPod. You can add to it by hi-lighting a track with the click-wheel, and pressing the center button. The track will blink and be added to the list. You can also add whole artist folders, composer folders, what-have-you to the list.

However, when you re-sync your iPod with iTunes, the On-the-Go playlists will automatically update, purging the main list and saving your old one as "On the Go 1," or "2" or whatever number you are up to.

Next post, we'll talk about managing an iPod and what you do when your library is too big for your device.

Building the Digital Beast

(Ed. Note: This is Part I of our series on how to live digitally and still have a satisfying portable classical music experience. Part II is on how to build and manage playlists. Part III is about managing the iPod. iPod, iPod Touch, Mini, Shuffle, iTunes, and iPhone are of course, trademarks of Apple.)

How to manage classical music in your iTunes.

If Beethoven had read this article, he would have
filed his Karajan recordings correctly, too.
Photo from Teapot Shortage.

Superconductor could not function without a massive iTunes library, accessible anytime on my Mac with two finger movements. I also keep updating the "Classical iPod", 155.5 gigs of carefully organized works--and the newer iPhone, with less storage capacity but a greater chance that my listening experience will be interruptive.

The challenge of keeping any classical music library updated is compounded by two things: the generally poor quality of CDDB (CD Database) listings, which drive iTunes' ability to assign names to your music) and that there is no existing industry standard or naming conventions applied across the board to classical music. Even if there were, nobody wants to pay coders or web people to do it. So it never gets done.

I did it, and at present, have about 200 gigs of music, relatively well organized. Here's how I solved the problem. Maybe it will help you follow suit.

Step One: Balkanize the Genre tab.
iTunes' factory setting has just one assigned genre for "classical" music. Everything in one field. Useless.

I divide works as follows:

• 20th Century: any instrumental music written 1900-2000.
• Cantata: Sung works for small ensemble. Lots of Bach.
• Chamber Music: Everything for small ensemble except string quartets.
• Concerto: if it has a soloist vs. an orchestra, it's in here. Includes piano concertos and violin concertos.
• Harpsichord: Like piano, but plucked. Solo works in here.
• Lieder: all art songs, even if they're not in German.
• Opera: The queen of arts.
• Operetta: because I roll like that.
• Oratorio: Religious-themed stage works. Lots of Handel.
• Orchestral: Catch-all category: tone poems, overtures, waltzes, etc.
• Piano: A soloist battling 88 keys. Some duo works for four hands.
• Sacred Music: Masses, motets. You know, church music.
• Symphony: If it is designated "symphony" by its composer, it goes here. From C.P.E. Bach to P. Glass.
• Violin: Solo and duo works for that instrument.

Now here's the good part. You can do this quickly. Select your files. (albums). Hit Command-I. An info box pops up. iTunes will ask you if you "think it is a good idea to edit this many files at once." It is.
Go to the Genre field at the bottom. Type in your new Genre. Wait for it to compile and presto-change-o, you've started to Balkanize your massive "classical" collection.

Step Two: Standardize your Fields: 
Once you decide what genre your files are, it's easy to start changing the fields to suit your music needs. You can change many of these fields at once for multiple files, and ITunes will reorganize your folders in your Library, putting the "books" on the right shelves. This is just the method that works for me, and I thought I'd share it.


Pick a disc of Beethoven symphonies. Let's say Herbert von Karajan, conducting the Beethoven Fifth. The 1981 cycle he did in Berlin. Here's how it looks, freshly downloaded from Amazon.com:

The Song Title field is all right, but the rest is a mess. The album is called "Beethoven?" Really useful. The composer's name is spelled wrong and there are no dates on him (I use the dates for search functions in playlists. May explain that later.) And worst of all, the artist is "Herbert von Karajan" with "Berliner Philharmoniker" broken out into a seperate field.

• Artist, Album Artist: for an orchestra, put the name of the orchestra (in English) with the name of the conductor. Like so: Berlin Philharmonic cond. Herbert von Karajan. You can do these for all works with the same orchestra and conductor and when they load into an iPod or iPhone they'll all wind up in the same folder.
• Album: should reflect a clear, unique folder for these recordings, One of the problems with iTunes is that two albums with the same title will wind up in the same folder in your iTunes. That can make "Beethoven Fifth Symphony" a very large file if you own more than one recording. Adding the conductor's name can clarify matters. If a conductor (like von Karajan) made multiple recordings of a work, add the date as a marker. So: Beethoven: Symphony No. 4, 5 Karajan 1981.
• Composer: Services like CDDB and Amazon have strange ideas about spelling the names of composers, or only using their last names. So you might have files tagged with "Beethoven", "Ludwig Vanbeethoven" or even "LvB." Choose a STANDARD style that works for you. I like this format: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).

Here is the same file after a quick cleanup:

The Song Title is unaltered. Album is now called "Beethoven: Symphony No. 4, 5 Karajan 1981." This gives you the pieces, the conductor's name, and (important for Karajan) which cycle it is of the four he recorded in his lifetime. Composer's name is now spelt right, with those useful dates. And the Artist and Genre fields have been corrected.

That's pretty much it. Hope this helps you get started uploading (or downloading) your music and getting your portable classical collection to a place where everything is as it should be.

Superconductor 2011 Gift Guide Part II: Orchestral Boxed Sets

One of these boxes has music in it.

With the major labels constantly merging and trying to re-sell old recordings, there are excellent opportunities for the collector. The recordings here are all orchestral music, with great conductors tackling familiar works. Buy one of these for someone you know, and they'll be happy you did.

Nielsen: The Masterworks Vol. 1: Symphonies 1-6, Orchestral works (Da Capo, 4 CDs, 2 DVDs)
Danish National Orchestra cond. Michael Schønwandt. 
Those of us who stayed in New York this summer can tell you that Mr. Schønwandt's performance of Nielsen was a concert highlight of those hot months. The Danish conductor brings his razor-sharp ensemble to a complete cycle of the six symphonies. Recommended here: the bold Inextinguishable Symphony (No. 4) and the brisk Four Temperaments (No. 2). The set also includes overtures and rarely heard excerpts from Nielsen's stage works, not often played outside of Denmark.

Bruckner Symphonies No. 3-9, Sacred Works (EMI, 12 CDs)

Munich Philharmonic cond. Sergiu Celibidache

The Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache worked at the height of the recording boom. Yet, the maverick maestro famously refused to join the frenzy of record-making, preferring to let his live performances speak for themselves. When he died, his family did not hesitate to make his performances available on CD. These EMI reissues are at a budget price, featuring his mystic approach to Bruckner with the Munich Philharmonic.

Stravinsky: The Complete Ballets and Symphonies (Decca, 7CDs)

Orchestre symphonique de Montreal cond. Charles Dutoit

Cleveland Orchestra cond. Vladimir Ashkenazy

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra cond. Riccardo Chailly

This is pretty good Stravinsky. Not absolute top-rank: that's Pierre Boulez' DG recordings or the composer's own readings on Sony. There are some great performances here though: Charles Dutoit's Montreal account of The Firebird and Vladimir Ashkenazy's Cleveland Rite of Spring. The set also includes more modern ballet scores like Agon and the composer's neo-classical symphonies and works for piano and orchestra.

Charles Munch: Late Romantic Masterpieces  (RCA 7 CDs)

Boston Symphony Orchestra cond. Charles Munch 
Charles Munch's Boston recordings have enjoyed something of a renaissance this year, with two boxed sets celebrating his musical legacy. Here is your chance to hear his approach to Wagner, with soprano Eileen Farrell joining the orchestra for scenes from the operas. In addition to solid symphony performances (the Tchaikovsky 4, 6, and Dvořák 8) this set also includes classic concertos.  Violinist Henryk Szerying plays the Tchaikovsky, and cellist Gregor Piatagorsky tackles the Dvořák concerto.

The Mahler Symphonies (RCA, 16 CDs, 1 DVD)
Tonhalle Orchester Zurich cond. David Zinman
I'm just going to quote my own review here:
"The Swiss forces are not as showy a "name" as the Vienna or Berlin Philharmonics or the American "big five." But on these recordings, they play Mahler with freshness, enthusiasm and love for this composer's particular genius. They are led by Mr. Zinman, who chooses brisk, but not rushed tempos, with some exceptions."

"It also includes a fascinating documentary, Going Against Fate, that chronicles the sessions for the Sixth Symphony. The film delves into the complexities of playing in a modern state-sponsored orchestra, from the tuba player's need for brass oil to a bassoonist demonstrating the proper way to wrap and blow a double reed."

Check out the rest of the 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide:

Part I: Gigantic Boxed Sets

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas
Part IV: Opera Recordings
Part V: Piano Mania

Superconductor 2011 Gift Guide Part I: Giant Boxed Sets

The Doorstop Division: 20 discs and up.

These boxed sets might not fit under your tree--or down your chimney.
Image by Matt Groening © Gracie Films/20th Century Fox.

In the last decade, as Americans have gotten more obese (see photo) classical music has too. Companies have put out huge, bloated "complete collections":

• All the operas of Richard Wagner including the Ring. (34 discs, on average.)
• All the piano music of Franz Liszt (99 discs) 
• Complete editions of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart (157, 60, 85 and 170 discs, respectively.) 
• The Great Pianists of the 20th Century (Now out of print, but it was 200 discs and came in two suitcases.)

You get the idea. It might have had something to do with the millennium, as record labels scrambled to push their music out into the world (again) before the Y2K clock fried their databases. Or it might have been the simple greed that has nearly driven those labels out of business. Only Norman Lebrecht knows for sure.

Despite the bloat (and subsequent devaluing of music to something that you buy the same way you buy cheese)these make  great gifts for the hard-core music lover in your life. They can also make a handy doorstop after spending the holidays ripping the CDs into your hard drive. Which is why Amazon.com is now making it possible to download entire boxed sets with a minimum of effort.

Anyway, here's five picks. They're big, but they're really good. I promise.

Bach: Complete Cantatas cond. Helmuth Rilling (Hänssler Classics, 71 CDs) 

There are several comprehensive sets of Bach cantatas on the market, from Nikolaus Harnoncourt and John Eliot Gardiner. This entry from Helmuth Rilling, the founder of the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart may not be on a flashy major label, but it is more than competitive.

Vivaldi Masterworks Various Artists (Decca, 28 CDs)

When the Philips label was unceremoniously folded into Decca under the banner of Universal Music Group, the catalogue lost the great Vivaldi recordings made by the ensemble I Musici under the direction of Vittorio Negri.

They're all present and accounted for here, along with great performances from period performance  specialists Philip Pickett and Christopher Hogwood. All the Vivaldi you could possibly want, except for the operas. Those will probably be along on another boxed set, as soon as somebody gets around to recording them.

Wilhelm Furtwängler: The Legacy (Membran, 107 CDs) 

Wilhelm Furtwängler was one of the most important conductors of the 20th century, with a unique, flexible approach to Romantic music. This gigantic set preserves his memory with accounts of Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven, Bruckner, and possibly the kitchen sink. Lovingly packaged with small mini-boxes inside the big case for easier management, the whole set is the size of a small Dachsund. This is the gift for the lover of German music.

Tchaikovsky Edition (Brilliant Classics, 60 CDs)

This shelf-bending set of Tchaikovsky is from Brilliant, the same label that brought you the back-breaking editions of Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven mentioned at the top of the column. It includes the piano concertos, ballet scores, and even the rarely performed early operas. Another weighty entry in a comprehensive series of composer surveys from Brilliant Classics. Includes the major operas alongside lesser-known works like Oprichnik and Mazeppa. 

The Liszt Collection (Deutsche Grammophon, 34 CDs)

If you read this blog regularly, you might remember an article that I wrote comparing (in some detail) the huge boxed sets that were coming out this year to celebrate the 200th birthday of composer, pianist and cigar fancier Franz Liszt. For more detail about the Complete Liszt Piano Music (performed by pianist Leslie Howard) and the other competing sets, please consult this article.

From the out of print Giuseppe Sinopoli recordings of the Dante and Faust Symphonies to the piano music and songs sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, this is a sweeping collection that celebrates Liszt the composer, and not just of piano music. That is certainly the core here, but orchestral works get equal time, and there's even some rarely heard choral music.

But wait, there's more!
Check out the rest of the 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide: 

Part II: Slightly Smaller Boxed Sets

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas
Part IV: Opera Recordings

Part V: Piano Mania

Outside the Box: The 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide

A guide to shopping for the music nut in your life--even if it's you.

You could do worse.

Well, here it is folks, your guide to the very best of classical music and opera. The focus is on releases and reissues within the last year, with some stone classics thrown to make things a little more interesting.

But first, a few words from your editor. That's me.

The arts are struggling in this country. Corporate underwriting has faded with the fluctuations in the market and collapse of big financial institutions. Musicians need to be paid, trips have to be booked, and concert halls have to be heated. Many orchestras are facing program cuts, labor troubles and other signs that have cast a pallor over their seasons. 

If you're an American concert-goer who loves classical music and reads Superconductor, consider donating to your local orchestra or opera company. You get a neat membership card, and in some cases a magazine, newsletter or discounts at local restaurants.

So donate! And then get yourself something nice. After all, it's the holiday season. 

OK. That's the sermon. Now on with the music. The guide this year is in four parts. Well, five if you count this splash page. All products are sold through Amazon.com in my online store.

Part I: Gigantic Boxed Sets

Everything on this page is 30 discs and up. Sounds like a lot of music? It is but these are for bargain-hunters, catalogue completists, or the serious collector who just can't get enough. 

Part II: Slightly Smaller Boxed Sets

A personal favorite: these are cool stocking stuffers. All the discs are in envelopes to minimize shelf space and clutter. Of course if you have a lot of them....

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas
All you want for Christmas is an irascible deaf guy who can't hear very well. That's either your Uncle Al or Beethoven. Beethoven wrote better music.


Part IV: Opera Recordings

The best full-length opera recordings to come out in the past year, on CD and DVD. The weird part is, most of them are from the Metropolitan Opera.

Part V: Piano Mania

For the piano student or the aficionado, classic recordings and new releases. This is going to be a long Liszt, especially since this is the year that all the labels are celebrating the Hungarian pianist's 200th birthday.