It's been four years since this channel went live, and what a journey we're undertaking: 3500+ videos, 20 million+ views, and we're still in our early days! Thank you all for your support and contributions!
Thank YOU so much Dave! Your videos allowed me to grow out of a certain conductor cult, to stop pretending to be a critic, and to enjoy all the fantastic recordings out there! I’m having so much fun than ever before!
Thank you, Dave! I never thought I could gain so much knowledge and get to know so much music. Sharing your enthusiasm and curiosity brings me joy everyday. Happy to be one of the 39.000 subscribers (or friends, I would say). Let's keep on listening!
Classical music is thriving. People are still listening! Thanks to you, CDs are still being sold. Thousands of dollars have also left my pocket! But not regretting it in the least!
Four years! Wow! Over 3,500 videos! Wow! Almost 40,000 subscribers! Wow! Let me add my congratulations, and my big thanks for your work and your passion for sharing what you know. You have made Classical music fun, just as it should be. What I most appreciate about you is how you cut through all of the B.S. and snobbery that clings to classical music. You really cut through the poop and in so doing, show classical music to be something that anyone can enjoy. For you, it's all about the music - not artists, not cultists, not recording labels, not geography. Here's to your good health and to many many more years!
Such a heartwarming video (I love it when the cats show up too)! It fills me up with joy seeing your channel grow and being a part of it. As a bulgarian, who just recently turned 20 years my only major introduction to music generally was you. You introduced me to all kinds of different works, recordings, performers, unusual composers that I wouldn't have even heard of and most importantly - critical listening. Thanks to you I discovered the wonderful world of music criticism, objective aesthetic standards, listening to music in good cd sound (before that I just listened to some live recordings in awful sound on my phone), different interpretations of the same work, large form symphonic music (instead of just 5-10 minute light and fluffy piano pieces witch was the only music I knew before) and so much more. Now, again thanks to you (and my grandmother, who is so kind to buy me cd-s and to whom I will be forever thankful for that!), I have quite a reasonable collection. Most of it is of course all kinds of different Mahler, Shostakovich, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams and Sibelius symphony cycles and a lot of singleton recordings, but, again thanks to your recommendations, I also bought some big boxes - Szell, Ormandy's first stereo one (I can't wait for Sony to release the second one, it's terrific!),van Beinum, Muti, Berglund, Monteux on RCA and others. I also got to know a lot of rare music because of your videos - Bax, Roussel, Ohzawa, Martinu, Glazunov, Lutoslawski, von Zemlinsky, the serialists and so much more. I am listing all of these stuff, just to show how much variety of performances and repertoire you managed to cover and in such an interesting way - the passion with witch you talk is tremendous and after watching your videos I can not not order the performances you are recommending! Also, I am very thankful not only for the music education you provide, but also I owe to you a lot of my knowledge in the English language. Basically all of the English that I know is thanks to watching RU-vid - some chess and history channels and some biology ones (I am a biology student, so that is kind of necessary), but you are definitely my most watched channel! So one of the main reasons I can communicate in English with relative ease (grammatically not very well I am sure, but at least I hope it is ok) and understand when someone speaks this language is in fact thanks to you! Generally I never comment on videos, but your channel is the only exception - you are one of the very few youtubers, that actually cares about the feedback from the audience and reads the comment section with great interest and attention! So thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have played a major role in the last 3 years of my life, you introduced me to what has become one of my biggest passions, and I couldn't be grateful enough for your very, very high level music education! Thank you very much ones more and keep up the great work!
I'm very touched by your comments, and truly humbled. I was in Sofia on business a couple of decades ago and had a very interesting time. Bulgaria is a beautiful country from what I saw of it.
This channel has enriched my musical life and regular life in so any ways! I'm about exactly your age and thought I knew a lot about classical repertoire, but oh my, how much more there is out there. And what a joy it's been to discover. I love, love, love the Fabulous Concert Program series. If i had one wish, I'd love to see a Fabulous CHAMBER Program series as well. Lots of good wishes to you, Dave!
Thank you Dave. What a wonderful channel you have created and long may it continue. I’ve said it before and I’m still convinced that you hav done more to promote the word of classical music than anyone in a very long time. Thanks again.
Dave, your videos have changed my classical music life. I can’t put into words how appreciative I am of what you do. You are the greatest music critic/teacher I’ve ever encountered in any genre. Thank you!
Many congratulations Dave, and thank you for bringing to us so many hours of intelligent, insightful and sometimes delightfully amusing discussion - you are also a joy Dave, as are your two beautiful kitties, Finster and Mildred - I have enjoyed every shared moment.
Congratulations, Dave! Thank you so much for being an important part of my day, every day. It is one of the joys of my retirement. Please take care and keep these videos coming.
Happy 4th year of fun and fascinating videos. Do carry on Dave with more classical music goodness. And I have enjoyed revisiting many of these. Much thanks!
Thank you for 4 wonderful years of enlightenment in the realm of "classical" music. I just wish this type of programming had existed 40 years ago as I struggled through undergraduate and graduate musicology, during which prejudiced 2nd generation music history professors spewed such crap that non-Germanic music was not "worthy" of musicological research! Even my "esteemed" dissertation adviser ridiculed my research choice of Puccini (and the other post-Verdi Italian composers). "Why would anyone want to research on such 2nd rate musical claptrap?" Thank you for validating my musical taste from all those years ago!
Thank you for the thousands of hours you have spent on these videos! By far the best of the home made videos during the pandemic and you are still going! I learn a lot both from the videos and the comments. I only recently began to post comments myself, but I will continue to do so.
Congratulations Dave. Your site is a delight. The only problem is the number of discs I am buying thanks to your introduction of them. Looking forward to many more years.
You are widely loved, Dave! It seems I am only one of many that enjoy watching your videos each and every day. For me, it makes a wonderful start of the day. Wake up early, brew a pot of coffee, listen to Dave, then put on some music to get you going for the day ahead. It gives me much joy. Keep on posting (and listening)!
Well Done!.Thank you for being here.I have learned and discovered so much from your channel over the last 4 years.Its made me laugh,rage,agree,smile,shake my head,nod my head,clap my hands,shout out loud,Aswell shock, surprize and entertained me,very much so during the dark days of 2020/21 when i looked forward to your next video.Please keep going and heres to your 5th year.
Big time congrats, David! You’ve put the classical world on a higher plateau than any else has. Thank you for making us classical lovers feel more relevant in main stream society. ☺️
Never mind the percentages, you've made more videos than Leif Segerstan has symphonies! Long may you continue to prosper, enlighten us with your views & tempt us to drop by & perhaps change ours! 🍻
Many congratulations, Dave. By my reckoning with all those views, you must have made at least $5 out of your channel - or maybe even $10 - well on the way to funding your retirement! Like many others here I continue to be profoundly grateful to you for introducing me to wonderful new music. Without this channel I'd never have discovered Alwyn, Arnold or (recently) Dutilleux, so many, many thanks to you and the cats!
*FOUR MORE YEARS!* So much joy and knowledge of previously unknown composers, works, and recordings have come my way thanks to you Dave. What can we say, you’re the best and will keep on listening!
No, David, thank YOU! I never thought I would listen to music the way I listen today. This is because of you and this channel (and the other subscribers as well).
Thanks for the last four years of videos Dave! This channel has been an invaluable source of musical recommendations for someone who only recently started out on their classical music journey.
Hi Dave, thank you so much for all this work! Ever since I found your channel I've been watching each video from the beginning four years ago, and listening to whatever recommended recording you gave us, and slowly building up my musical library - streaming, that is - I don't have the budget to buy so many albums! I've listened to great recordings and pieces that I would not otherwise have come across and I thank you immensely for that. Next video for me is your repertoire best Shostakovich symphony box sets!
Dear Dave, Thank you so much for these first 4 years! I have been following you silently from Lausanne, Switzerland, since almost the beginning, and caught up on most on your videos. This is the first time ever I write a comment on RU-vid and it is to thank you for all your work, your good advices and all the fun! I am so happy when we share the same tastes, and even happier when we don’t! Please keep on blabbing, we’ll keep on listening :) Say hi to the cats for me, Sincerely, Loïc
Love Love Love to you Dave. Someday in the world of miracles I'd love to share with you my stories about Ormandy and the 4 times I worked under him. "Never meet your heroes" (let alone work with them). Yep. I was shattered by this musical and personal putz, behind the scenes of a recording session of Alexander Nevsky et al. Also some anecdotes about Bernstein's first Mahler 8th in Philharmonic Hall in 1965 and the venomous tantrum in rehearsal and the humorous attempt to solve it by gigantic Ezio Flagello (who had to sit on two chairs). Bernstein was so giving, so patient, such an insightful and masterful teacher one moment, but the next .... truly mercurial.
This channel taught me so much and expanded my appreciation for music (being an orchestra musician!) radically. There's a before an after your channel for me, Mr. Hurwitz. Thanks a million! Gonzalo from Argentina
Hello from Barcelona. Watching your videos makes me feel at home, relaxed, sharing magical, unfogettable moments with a dear friend. I've discovered your videos quite recently, and It's the greatest pleasure to hear you talk about the countless stars of the music galaxy. It's never too late, though, and I've learned a lot in a short time. Thank you very much, David. Let's all blow the four candles in the cake.
The first CD review of yours that I saw was that of the Boulez oeuvre recordings and I immediately knew that I had struck gold. Since then you have been part of my daily routine. I have worked in the classical music world for 35 years, but listening to your talks brings out such an incredible amount of extra knowledge and treasures. Thank you very much for sharing with us.
Can’t believe it has been 4-years already! Been watching since 2020 and you never cease to provide thoughtful (and entertaining) commentary. Keep the videos coming
Congratulations on your 4-year milestone, Dave! I enjoy your video talks and marvel at how well-spoken you are in offering your thoughts so prolifically. You have the right temperament for a music critic: you possess a Mark Twain-like aversion to priggishness and pomp, a good sense of humor, and, though you may at times express sentimental feelings, you never seem to allow such feelings to unduly influence an opinion. As an example of this, I recall your unsentimental feelings on the sale of Hyperion Records, where my own feelings were clouded by my disappointment. I appreciate your knowledge and recommendations. I have spent a lot of money on classical music as a result of your talks, most recently the Honeck/Pittsburgh Tchaikovsky 5th. I'm from a part of the country where, it seems, lovers of classical music are not easy to find - including the workers at my local record store. Listening to you talk about the music has been a real gift that has brought with it a lot of rewards. I will "keep on listening." Thank you!
Thank you and sincere congratulations! As a 75-year old with far more experience in the "popular" music styles, your insights and recommendations reignited my interest in classical music. I've been regularly visiting your channel for, apparently, about 3 and 3/4 years now! (I was hooked when I found out that it was OK to love the music of Dvorak or Vaughan Williams or innumerable other "non German" composers.) Your insights and recommendations have greatly enriched me and my CD collection! Happy anniversary and keep up the good work!
Dave , totally brilliant appraisal of the best singer bio I've ever read.... It's an inspiration to any young musician, director, conductor, designer.... She's by a mile my favourite Wagnerian soprano, the most brilliant musician... Note that on all her live recordings, often with some eccentric conductors, Varnay never got out with the orchestra, her characterisations and vocal colouring were equal in intensity to Callas. And that book, exactly as you say, shines a steady and forensic beacon on her approach to her art and her amazing professionalism. She may not be the most well known of singers but once heard she is not forgotten.
Sadly my phone attached my reply to the wrong video.... I'm no tech expert. The reply was of course meant for your great video on Astrid Varnay's brilliant biography!
Happy Anniversary, Dave! I don't often comment, but I listen to every video you make and have made. You make my life so much richer and you are one of the greatest blessings on RU-vid. Thank you so much for all you do and share!
Thank you, David. You have introduced me to so much great music over the years: works, artists, composers, recordings that I was not familiar with -- but I am now. I am deeply grateful because this channel has enhanced my love of classical music which has in turn enhanced my life. Merci, mon ami.
Happy 4 to all of us!!!! Glad I've been here since the beginning. It has been insightful, enjoyable, entertaining & very helpful. Looking forward to the next 4 years, and let's all keep on listening 👂 Thanks for all your hard work & effort 👍
really delved into classical music about a year ago. i quickly found a mountain of stuff. i wasn’t completely ignorant of the genre yet didn’t know how to start. found your channel and its been my main hub of discovery. invaluable
Thank you David. You extend my enjoyment of music every time I tune in. “Keep on listening folks” is a great byline and I do that almost all the time. 🙏💚🥰
I'm late to the party but have enjoyed the last several months. Keep it up! I have found out I've been lucky in choosing sets (some on vinyl back in the 80s) and what new things to look for
Congratulations Dave Hurwitz on your 4th anniversary 🎉 I've been listening since those covid days and you are joy. Keep posting and of course, I'll keep listening!! Thank you David Hurwitz.
I listened to classical music for years, but it was "YOU" Dave who actually got me to "LISTEN" to classical music. Pointing out things I never noticed before. Congrats on the four years of videos. Hope I'm still around for the eight year anniversary. I'll be 80 years old "HELP" !!!! THANKS DAVE.....
And you've done it all without once saying, "Smash that LIKE button!" I think I've been following since Day One, or certainly from the first week. Not everyone with a RU-vid channel has the verbal gift you do of speaking extemporaneously, cogently and with great humor on their area of expertise. I'll keep on listening as long as you keep on making them!
Oh. I forgot. The one thing you put me on to that earns you the most gratitude is the Rameau orchestral suites box by Brüggen. You may have a Bach problem, I have a much wider ranging Baroque problem, in that I have no ear at all for it. Drudgery squared. Up until sighing deeply and starting to taste Rameau on your recommendation, the only things I could stand were some (non-vocal) Handel, the Goldberg variations (piano), and (love instead of just stand) Scarlatti sonatas (also piano). But those suites are JOYOUS! That is exactly what I've always missed in Baroque music (except Scarlatti): joy. This has oodles of it, and I was converted within the first quarter suite! So: a big thank you for that. The biggest Damascus moment you caused in me. Of course there were more, and if I have one complaint it's that you have led to more than a few presses on "buy now" on various sites, but - you are gladly forgiven!
Thank you for establishing this RU-vid channel! Even as a long-time consumer of classical music, I have learned so much from you. My world has been enriched by discovering previously unknown compositions and many of the recordings you've recommended. Congratulations on the first four years! Here's to many more four-year periods ahead for this channel!
David, thanks so much! Over the past three years or so you've had an enormous, positive impact upon my classical music listening experience, with many, many great 'best of' recommendations (for discs I've subsequently bought), many connections to new composers (for my ears), and an abundance of both educational presentations and humorous, heart-warming banter. I will be eternally gratful for how your knowledge, taste, and enthusiasm have enriched my listening life.
Congratulations on an amazing achievement. 3500+ video studies in excellence 4 years. What can I say personally except that 4 years ago, I had a lot more shelf space, since filled from your solid recommendations. Now I need my own overflow room!
"The only thing more remarkable than your knowing all this stuff is the fact that other people know more than you do." Yes, moms out there really know how to keep their sons from becoming too high on themselves. :) But seriously Dave, thanks so much for guiding us, young, old and ancient through your love of music. Happy Anniversary!...and may you have many more. Take care!
Thank you too. You have no idea how much I learned about classical music through this channel. I also love to use like a library sometimes, going back to older video's about composers or compositions I wasn't ready/in the mood for back then. Or just for fun. Count me in for the next couple of years.
Thank you Dave! Been going back to some of your box set reviews from years back, and it’s amazing how consistent your standard for critical scrutiny and entertainment value has been through these years! If you keep on listening, so will we!
4 Years! I can only echo the sage and heartfelt comments below, and they are spot on!! And, personally, you have made a mark on my life as during that time you became as sure and as regular as my morning coffee. Thank you so very much!
Thank you, Dave! You've always been an awesome resource of music education and really have kept me musically sane and feed my thirst for consuming good music. Listening to you talk about a wide range of things in the classical music world has always been comfort food for me and I'm sure many other. Wish you more beyond this and will keep on listening as long as I can!
Thank you, Dave for illuminating Classical Music in detail & Happy fourth anniversary. If it weren't for you, i would never have known about among other things, the BIG box sets that i've bought. Muti, Szell, Mitropoulos 2 Ormandy & soon Saint-Saëns box. ALL this thanks to you, Dave. Have a great continuation of this RU-vid channel & Take care. 🎼🎶🎶🎶🎻🎻🎻
I have learned many interesting things following your videos. And whether I learned something or not, I have always been wonderfully entertained, and I am grateful for both. Happy anniversary! Please do keep going! 🙂
Thank YOU, Dave! You have no idea how much your videos are part of my daily routine, since the beginning, and how I love to have the opportunity to watch them. Congratulations and... See you tomorrow here.
It is thanks to you Dave that I have explored classical music. I used to be paralyzed by the amount of recordings, pieces, and words I didn’t know. Your entertaining, funny, engaging videos have got me to start listening, and also to keep on listening.
Congratulations! This breadth of videos in 4 years is a remarkable achievement. I very much appreciate that you organise everything in playlists. With this many videos it makes things much easier to find.
Dave and our community here. Happy 4th anniversary! I have enjoyed each of your 3k plus videos! Thank you for the amazing memories and incredible knowledge share. We are all so privileged to have you in our lives. Thank you again!
When I discovered your fantastic channel, I was in lockdown with a newborn daughter. She's 3 now, she has a month-old sister, and I'm still waiting for your '16 pieces guaranteed to make a baby sleep' video. Nonetheless, it's been marvelous. Cheers for all the new music I'd never have found otherwise.
You are my go to source for finding the best recordings! I don’t dare listen to an unfamiliar piece or composer without your thoughts on where to start! Has really helped me avoid thinking I dislike a piece when really it was the interpretation that was lackluster.
I love Dave’s videos and they‘re helping me so much in life but I need to mention: Those 89.500 hours of views have caused round about 12 tons of CO2, if calculated properly (100-175 grams per hour). I m trying to cool down my streaming habits, but it is very tough to do so. Hard to realize but we all should do so for survival‘s sakes. Thanx 🌳
Thank you, Dave! I've been following the channel almost since the beginning, back in the dark days of the pandemic, and I can only thank you for sharing your experience and joy for the music. It's been loads of fun, so here's for another 4 years of listening!
Your channel wasn't only one of the good things, that happened in the COVID era, but still is inspiring to me (to buy CDs and also listen to them), thought provoking, informative & entertaining. I hope the Haydn Symphony Crusade is going on. I already got a t shirt.
Congrats. These are great stats. I've learned so much from your channel, and also from the written reviews on your site (which I've learned about because of your channel). Your passion for the music is inspiring. I feel like my classical music journey would probably have stagnated, or at least progressed much much slower without all this great information (and entertainment!) I will definitely keep on listening.
Mr. Hurwitz, Thank you for doing these videos. They’ve been educational and entertaining. That is a great achievement. May I ask if you will ever do a video about the best available recordings of Dvorak’s operas? I do have a recording of The Devil and Kate and Armida. They’re beautiful and entertaining works. Thank you, Paul D. Hattiesburg, Mississippi
