Oh and I forgot to mention Koroliov.
Classical Music for Aficionados
I would like to start a thread, similar to Orpheus’ jazz site, for lovers of classical music.
I will list some of my favorite recordings, CDs as well as LP’s. While good sound is not a prime requisite, it will be a consideration.
Classical music lovers please feel free to add to my lists.
Discussion of musical and recording issues will be welcome.
I’ll start with a list of CDs. Records to follow in a later post.
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Vanguard Classics — Vienna Festival Orch. Prohaska, conductor.
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite et. al. DG — Chicago Symphony Abbado, conductor.
Brahms: Symphony #1. Chesky — London Symph. Orch. Horenstein, conductor.
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat. HDTT — Ars Nova. Mandell, conductor.
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. Analogue Productions. — Dallas Symph Orch. Johanos, cond.
Respighi: Roman Festivals et. al. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
All of the above happen to be great sounding recordings, but, as I said, sonics is not a prerequisite.
I will list some of my favorite recordings, CDs as well as LP’s. While good sound is not a prime requisite, it will be a consideration.
Classical music lovers please feel free to add to my lists.
Discussion of musical and recording issues will be welcome.
I’ll start with a list of CDs. Records to follow in a later post.
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Vanguard Classics — Vienna Festival Orch. Prohaska, conductor.
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite et. al. DG — Chicago Symphony Abbado, conductor.
Brahms: Symphony #1. Chesky — London Symph. Orch. Horenstein, conductor.
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat. HDTT — Ars Nova. Mandell, conductor.
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. Analogue Productions. — Dallas Symph Orch. Johanos, cond.
Respighi: Roman Festivals et. al. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
All of the above happen to be great sounding recordings, but, as I said, sonics is not a prerequisite.
Showing 50 responses by jim204
RV I am so glad you are enjoying Gilbert playing the Goldbergs, I love his playing and the harpsicord is so well recorded also. Another thing he plays beautifully is Gaspard LeRoux's Suite in F Major. Len - I do love Schumann also, my favourite of his is Etudes Symphoniques , a wonderful work and my favourite recording is Mikhail Pletnev playing Rachmaninovs own piano in a studio in Rachmaninovs villa on Lake Geneva. The recording is beautifully recorded and it reflects what Rachmaninov played on it himself and Pletnev is inspired. Oh and Masur is a wonderful conductor and none other that Arrau loved doing concerts with him. |
Len and RV I have just discovered a new young pianist who dare I say plays like Horowitz in the 50s and guess what the name of his album is Homage to Horowitz. His name is Nikolai Tokarev and he is on Idagio and it's a mixture of pieces with a definite Horowitz swing. The first three Scarlatti Sonatas really get the party going and the last of the three is the D minor sonata a warhorse of Martha Argerich and he is every bit as fast as her but she has an extra fizzle to her playing but he is very close. Do give it a try I think you'll like it and The good thing about it is because it's on Idagio you can try before you buy. |
Yes guys it is very dangerous for anyone to be compared to Horowitz but I am saying that given time maybe he will become as good maybe. here I think he is testing the water and the last number although not in my field is a pastiche on pices by Liszt he creates quite a storm and he has double octave glissandos that are trully frightening. I'm saying time will tell for this young man. |
@schubert Len I can really put you onto an "Art of The Dance" in Heinrich Schiff doing The Cello Sonatas of JS they are absoloutely joyfull and the first one is a delight from start to finish. No he doesn't have the polished perfection of Founier but he puts sheer and utter joy into them .Well worth a listen. |
@jcazador Jeremy I enjoyed those links you posted of Arrau they were very informative and gave us an insight to his sound which was wonderfull. I was really amazed how a man of 80 could keep his techniquein such good shape. I think I have said this already but I went down to London just to hear him play Beethovens last three piano sonatas. I have to say that His sound from the piano was absoloutely unique and his recorded sound could never give us what he gave in live performances. I think it must have been the eighties that I went as my daughter was just a baby then. The little Op.109 sonata I have never heard anything like it, such an organic sound it makes you never want to hear anyone else play them. |
@schubert Len you really suprise me about Arrau . I was led to believe from his autobiography form Josef Horowitz thet he revered Fischer-Deskau more than any other vocalist . I am quite perturbed therefore thet you should have heard that from his own lips in fact the authourities were going to present him with either the Schumann medal or The Philharmonia Societies gold medal when he took ill. He was rushed to hospital but unfortunately didn't make it. And due to his admiration for both Masur and Fischer-Deskau they managed to ship in Fischer- Deskau to make the presentation to him but sadly too late. |
@jcazador Jeremy I have just read your post about Arrau and Bach. Having famously said he deferred to the harpsichordists when it came to playing him he unfortunately relented and recorded some Bach before he died. Well it is sad to see ones heroes fail before your ears and I listened to him trying to play the partitas. I couldn't get by no 2 in B flat major as I was horrified to hear a man in his late eighties stumbling through them. I HAVE HEARD 2ND YEAR STUDENTS PLAY BETTER. Surely it was up to the recording company to hold it back and not release it as it sounds nothing like him. I am glad that Brendel retired when he did as he thought he wasn't playing as good as he once did, I really admire him for that. |
Jeremy - Thanks for your info on the Richter CD's but as I don't buy any CD's nowadays I shall wait till it comes out on Idagio and sample it there. While on the subject of pianists can I recommend one to you , his name is Ivan Bessonov and we are going to hear a lot from him in the future. Think if you will a young Pollini and mix in a bit of Perahia and I think you have a wizard of a pianist. At the moment I am totally hooked on him and when these recordings were made he was only 16 !!!! . It is an all Chopin disc with three compositions of his own thrown in . On his original stuff I would think Chopin , Alkan and Scriabin without any atonal writing which all todays composers feel they have to do to get anywhere ( WELL I HATE IT ). |
As for Yuya Wang I really think like RV she could some day be one of the greats but I do wish they would stop sexualising these young female pianists and fiddlers as it really annoys me . You would like to think that these girls would be able to compete in the arena without resorting to that but we live now in modern times and their press agents jump on every opportunity to get them to wear the tightest things possible, it just really bugs me. Rant over !!!! |
Len and RV if you would like a good recommendation for a Mahler 3 with an older conductor how about Bernard Haitink with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks on BR Klassiks. Obviously the conducting is beyond reproach and the beauty of tone in the final movement is a wonder to behold. This recording is now my number1 of all the 3's I have. Yes Len I agree with you re Blomstedt he just keeps getting better , I was listening to him playing Beethoven's Symphony No 7 from last year and it was delightful with playing full of charm and fun. These conductors are so loved and revered by their orchestras that they pull out all the stops for them. |
How true Len how true, I shall have to look for his mass myself and although deeply sceptical of all religions I do admire pious men who do everything in praise of their God and are deeply attatched to earthly human beings. Bach and his contemporaries are the greatest of all human beings and composers just like their counterparts in great art. All you need to do is think of Leonardo and Michaelangelo, they have not been beaten by the centuries that followed them. I don't know about you guys but when I see todays "modern art" I am filled with depression and can only think "why" when I see the awful rubbish that is churned out ad nauseum in both art and music, it really does depress me . Now for some Prozac !! |
@likat You are very welcome, if there are any more music suggestions you feel you need please do not hesitate as most anyone on the thread will be pleased to chime in with their favourites. Happy listening Jim. |
Yes I love his playing , I have heard him live a couple of years ago.He played Beethoven's 4th Piano concerto which was wonderfull and certainly a very big risk in one who is relatively young. I have a few recordings of his playing a host of things. He has recorded the first and second Anees and made a wonderful job of them and instilled a beautiful wistfulness in them with crystaline playing also. If you like Piemontesi there is another player you should listen to it.s Jan Lisieki a Canadian of Polish extract with a beautiful technique the same as Piemontesi. He is in his early twenty's and already he has produced a full set of the Beethoven piano concertos` which I have to say he makes a very good job of and he certainly has illuminated passages that other pianists just smudge. Yes certainly two pianists to watch. |
Len , I do admire your faith but I grew up in a schooling system that was strict scottish prespyterianism and it was not a nice faith to young people.John Knox was pushed down your throat nearly every day as our savior from darkness. They just ignored the fact that he was responsible for the death of our rightful Queen Mary Stuart and when I stated the fact in class one day I recieved a thrashing from the teacher then a thrashing from the headmaster and worst of all a thrashing from my father. So my friend I will leave you to your faith and I'm afraid I go to the pit, I just hope they have piped Bach !! |
@rvpiano I couldn't agree more RV I think of Mahler's First as an obvious choice for a host of reasons. If he had only written that one symphony then he would still be procaimed a genius. I would also nail my flag to the mast with Rachmaninovs First symphony and remember the composer never heard it again after it's first disasterous performance in fact it was thought lost for many years but I think that one has many things to say. My personal favourite of the Rachmaninof one is Mikhail Pletnev conducting the Russian National Orchestra. |
RV,I am glad you are enjoying Rachmaninov's First with Pletnev and the Fischer's Mahler First. There is also a superb Mahler's Fourth with Fischer and the Budapest Forces also on Idagio and it is so beautifully recorded. I think that is also a superb symphony from Mahler but of all the recordings that Gramophone reviewed and recomended the thing that often bugged me was in the last movement some warbling soprano always spolied it for me. i must say that the new Fischer one has a very acceptable soprano for me because after all it was a child's view of Heaven and he stipulated a soprano with a light childlike voice. Yes I must say I do indeed like Fischer. |
@schubert Len I agree the Ravel is handled beautifully by Richter, if you are looking for a different slant on the Pavan please look up on Idagio John Williams and Julian Bream playing it on two classical guitars it is wonderful . well worth a listen and I have listened to Rachmaninovs The Bells with Pletnev , what a wonderful work. |
@twoleftears I do agree with you regarding Trifonov he is an exceptional pianist but I think he still has a few years needed under his belt to reach what he will hopefully become. Talking about his recording of the Transcendental Etudes my favourite performers are Lazar Berman and Claudio Arrau who incidentally was 75 years old at the time. Of course he doesn't have the explosive nature of Berman but his virtuosity was always used for the expressivity of the piece and not to wow everyone . Where Arrau scores is in the quieter more reflective pieces like Vision, Eroica and my favourite Harmonies' du Soir which is truly exceptional. I never could understand how he could produce the rich sonorities and liquid sound that left you in rapt attention. On a different theme now has anyone been listening to any late Beethoven String Quartets lately. I can recommend a wonderful Op.127 and 132 just now from The Hagen Quartet. The string tone is wonderful and I have to admit it doesn't get any better than this. The two slow movements are rapturous and their intonation is unbeatable and this from a man who for the last 40 odd years could not see past the Alban Bergs. Try if you can and listen to them it will definitely cleanse the soul. |
Just heard yesterday of the death of the grear Jessye Norman , she will be sadly missed . Hers is the best rendition of Strauss's Four Last Songs I have ever heard and I have my daughter primed to have Im Abendrot at my funeral. My first live encounter with her was when my pal and I went to the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow to hear Mahler's 2nd Symphony with the SNO.Miss Norman sang the Urlicht and I shall never forget the experience when her voice rose above the orchestra the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Yes she was a one in a million voice. |
+1 0n Wild-Horenstein , Rachmaninov Concertos too. I really think Wild was one of the most fearsome virtuosos of the twentieth century , he could be compared to ANYONE !! He had such an easy virtuousity that he made everything look too easy so he was dismissed because he wasn't making a shed load of faces while playing Rachmaninov's Third Concerto. Another great pianist who I think is the same is Marc-Andre Hamelin , again he has this way of playing which can encompass anything you just have to look what look what he did for Alkan's works. I would love to se him tackling some of the great keyboard works of Bach , I bet he wouldn't slow down for the decorations int the repeats.RV I love Zimmerman , I know you don't like Liszt but I find his Liszt very palatible ( the Sonata and Totentanz ) do remember though that if you don't like a pianist playing Liszt don't blame Liszt ( old saying from Brendel ) |
Goodness me Len , Paul Robeson now there's a name from the past. As a kid in the fifties we had an old box of 78s in a cupboard and there were 2 or 3 Robesons there. I loved Ol Man River of course but the one that I was always playing was Trees which I really loved at the time . Of course father didn't like me playing the 78s too much as it played havoc with the stylus that was more suited to 45s and 33 1/3 but I didn't care it was better than his pipe band records so there was an uneasy truce that if I played my stuff when he was out it was OK. You know That film of him in Wales , I remember seeing it in a local cinema in it must have been about 1960 and I enjoyed it so much I hid in the toilets so as to see it again. I have to say though that McCarthyism really crippled Robeson and they hit him where it hurt by making it impossible for him to get roles in films and in theatres. We all as counties have heinous things that we would rather forget, the Brits have a terrible past with imperialism look at what we did to India, appalling. Now you talk about me knowing things, you are quite an erudite gent yourself. You have a nice week my friend and keep your "lugs" tuned. |
@jcazador Oh jeremy you lucky lucky man having experienced Rachmaninov playing live. I would love to have been so fortunate but unfortunately he was already dead when I was born but I do consider myself very lucky that I have seen a lot of the other greats. I have a little nugget from Arrau about Rachmaninov that when Arrau was playing in concert one day he didn't know that Rachmaninov was in the audience and at the end of the recital Rachmaninov asked if he could taik to Arrau. Of course Arrau said yes and they struck up a conversation about the recital especially about Beethoven's 32 variations in C minor Arrau had just played. Rachmaninof told Arrau he had never heard of the piece and Arrau was cool to Rachmanonov after that. I thought Arrau a terrible snob after that , after all how could you not forgive a wonderous pianist, composer and conductor of not knowing a minor piece by Beethoven. I must say I did think a little less of Arrau after that, oh and another thing he said was that although Rachmaninov was a great pianist everything he played he turned into pure Rachmaninov ( I call that sour grapes ). |
@jcazador Hi Jeremy I have seen Ashkenazy a few times and one of the best was a Beethoven cycle in Glasgow. He was with the SNO and within a fortnight he treated us to the five Beethoven Piano concertos and the Choral fantasy. How he remembered all those notes I will never know but it was incredibly enjoyable all the same. although not what I would say my favourite pianist i think he is a very ejoyable pianist and one of the best Beethoven interpreters that I know. |
@schubert Len you are so right , the young mind is fantastic at storing all sorts of things and music is right up there at the top of the pile. Well done ladies.on a a different note i have looked at the you tube clip you sent me and I really enjoyed it taking me back to The White Heather Club in the sixties with Andy Stewart and the Ian Powrie Fiddle Band. Stirring stuff indeed.Hope you have a good weekend. Jim. |
Just listening to a great interpretation of Elgar's Enigma Variations which may interest you guys . It's the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by, Vasily Petrenko. Must say I am liking it , the slow movements are handled with great tenderness and the rip rollicking ones are very stirring. |
@mahgister I entirely agree regarding Perahia , I find his brand of pianism far superior than Pollini's. Also I was on Idagio earlier and I saw Pollini's earlier Beethoven Piano sonatas and found them glacial but of course that is only my opinion as I am sure many people will be seduced by a wonderful technique , not me though. I also had a listen to Prahias new recording of the Hammerklavier Sonata and I was mighty impressed |
I am very impressed with the young Russian pianists of the last twenty years Kissin not withstanding . I find them to be awesome technicians with dynamic contrasts that really stagger in their volume. My young Russians now are, Trifonov , Volodin , Sudbin , Kolestnikov ( a poet ) and most of all Volodos ( superlatives are not enough for him but will have to do . If you want to hear pure poetry listen to his new release of Schubert's Great A Major Sonata D959. |
Jeremy , I'm afraid I am quite spoilt when I'm listening to Volodos as he turns everything he plays to gold and I don't want to listen to others in the same repertoire. Re his two Schubert discs he has put his awesome technique to really illuminate the sonatas. My go to man for Schubert used to be Andras Schiff, but he really does pale into insignificance now so much so that I am wishing Volodos would record all the Schubert sonatas. |
Arrau in Schubert's Last sonata in B Flat Major D960 always makes me feel so sad as he plays it like someone who themself knows he has very little time left on this earth. Arrau actually said that of all the composers he played he always found Schubert the most difficult to express. Another thing Arrau did was play an horrendous cut that all other pianists did not play , the great Brendel and Cooper also did the cut much to the detriment of the first movement of this sonata. I remember in the late sixties having Kempff's whole set of these sonatas and I loved them but Kempff was from an entirely different age where people were grateful that someone had taken on the task of committing the herculean task of the complete sonatas that his set were not as dissected as "scholars" today would do. After all this I still hope Volodos commits a lot more to tape. |
@twoleftears Yes Sibelius 3 that's my favourite of his and Rattle's performance with the Berlin Phil are my go to recording. Three or four years ago Rattle brought over the Berlin Phil to give a full Sibelius cycle and the BBC proms at the Albert Hall and BBC Radio 3 recorded each performance and each night I recorded them. I have thoroughly enjoyed them ever since but I have one small caveat, I do find them a tad refined in the brass section. I love the Scandinavian bands playing them as they tend to let their brass players a little more license but it is just a small grouch. I have watched and listened to Rattle's performances since he was first with the CBSO and I have to say he has illuminated a good few works for me. |
@jcazador Yes Jeremy that is a good tip about the USB Hub and yes it does provide a stable platform for the digital stream to get to work. I also play all my music from a computer I have built myself. I use a powered USB card from J Play and I also use their Network card , they are powered by a Linear Power supply from HD Plex and the sound that comes from it is incredible actually. It was so good that after I built it I committed about three thousand CD's to hard drives and I then sold my Gryphon Mikado Signature CD Player and have never looked back. |
@jcazador 8Terrabyte !!!!!!!!!!!! Heaven's above Jeremy that's gargantuan and for only $119 , that's incredible, that size would cost a fortune over here in the UK. Yes you have to be very careful to make copy hard drives to double store your music. I use solid state hard drives inside my computer and regular platter drives for storage , that way I get away with the solid state for playing music of from the computer and the usual hard drives are for storing the music as a cheaper backup. The solid state also is a far better carrier with no physical movement inside and much better sound quallity |
@phomchick Music stored on and retrieved from an SSD will sound exactly the same as music stored on and retrieved from an HDD. I am sorry but I beg to differ on your statement as I have found the complete opposite to be true. I think the difference is the amount of jitter each drive produces as the HDDs to my mind gives considerably more simply because of the platters and stators inside the drive. when I listen through Roon to each drive the SSD drive to my ears produces more detail and treble information. The HDDs produce to me a flatter less involving sound. |
@schubert Len , I am glad you like Volodos doing the late Brahms I love that Recording especially the Intermezzos. The gradations of colour he pulls out of a percussive device like a piano is nothing short of a miracle. His whole approach to piano playing reminds minds me of Horowitz but I say that under my breath as I know it can be very dangerous to say things like that. . |