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Buidling a Classical Library - MUST HAVES!

I started a r2d4 thread last week and am so impressed with the depth of music knowledge on this site that I'm going to start this one too. My knowledge of great classical recordings is so limited it's embarrassing to call myself a music lover. I've tried following some of the reviews in Stereophile, TAS and Golden Ear, but they all seam to have some agenda other than great sound, great performance and great material in mind. The fact that my system can resolve the subsonic activity of an earthquake during the highschool bands performance of Nutcracker or what ever Stereophile is about does nothing to help me find great music. My request, if you choose to accept it, is to identify the must have recordings to build library from scratch. PLEASE CONSIDER SONIC QUALITY, PERFORMANCE AND MATERIAL EQUALLY. As a lover of music I believe all three should be superior. Also, in the spirit of my last post, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM CRITICIZING OTHERS SELECTIONS. IF YOU WANT TO ARGUE A SELECTION START A THREAD, LEAVE THIS ONE FOR KNOWLEDGE FOR THOSE OF US WHO NEED IT. THANK-YOU. Finally, please list a maximum top ten and even if your favorites already appear, list them anyway. This will help me figure out the first ones to buy. Vinyl and/or digital are acceptable as long as the material is still avalible.
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Showing 1 response by brownsfan

brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
I'm going to limit my choices to recordings of recent vintage. You can assume that all of the recommendations will meet all three of your criteria.

First, I'd recommend all of Fabio Luisi's recordings on Sony with the Staatskapelle Dresden. Especially noteworthy are the Strauss Don Quixote and 4 Last songs. In those recordings he captures the lyrical beauty of Richard Strauss in a way that only Rudolph Kempe has done previously. Also I recommend Luisi's Bruckner 9th symphony. I own a bunch of Bruckner 9's, and have heard plenty more, and I think this one is head and shoulders above them all. Luisi has ended his relationship with the Dresden Orchestra, and I fear we will have no more of these extraordinary performances. If not, what a pity. Keep your eyes open for these recordings as they seem to sell pretty quickly and go on backorder.
I also very much like Till Fellner's recording of the Beethoven piano concerto's 4 & 5 on ECM. I've always loved Beethoven's 1st and 4th, but I never really loved the 5th until I heard this one. Now I can't get enough.
Try Hillary Hahn's Brahms violin concerto on Sony. Its my favorite version of my favorite violin concerto.
Finally, try the Queyras account if the Dvorak Cello concerto on Harmonia Mundi Happy listening!
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