I used to frequent the Senses of Cinema site, but so many of the articles have a dense, scholarly style of writing, as though the writers are trying so hard to impress us with their writing abilities that they forget to tell us about the director. I spend almost all of my time at the classic film board at
www.imdb.com (one of the board's most prolific posters, Kevin Lee, has a few articles on the list you cited).
My recent experience with von Karajan's Beethoven symphonies has emphasized the importance of choosing the right interpretations. I get all my CD's through the library system (I've only bought one thus far, that being Mussorgsky's original rendition of "Night on Bald Mountain", which my library didn't have), so I can test out several versions of the same piece without having to worry about wasting money.
Thanks for the advise on Schumann. Turns out my library hardly has any of those recordings, so I may actually have to do some purchasing.
Regarding Brahms, Wagner, and Strauss, I could use suggestions for any of them. I have Wagner's Ring Cycle, as well as several of his overtures, so it would be a while before I'd have time to explore anything else of his. And I have to find out if I even like his music first.
I love *most* of the Brahms I've heard thus far (the two piano concertos, violin concerto, and four symphonies).
Aside from Strauss' tone poems, I have no idea where to go with him.
Nothing like a little whisky to help us get along for a while, eh?
