Classical Music for Aficionados

A bit off the beaten path-

Agon-Stravinsky(demonstration disc for me)

The Four Temperaments-Hindemith

Both available in wonderful performances in wonderful sound on the 2 disc Balanchine set conducted by Robert Irving. 

For great symphonic works in wonderful sound the Decca Karajan box is a must have. Includes one of the greatest Planets.

Surprised nobody has mentioned yet Barbirolli's Sibelius Second on Chesky or Testament.

And of course Paray's Saints Saens 3rd on Mercury. How does anyone live without this recording? 

On a well mastered cd of an excellently produced recording there is air around instruments and in the hall going back to the beginning of the stereo era and even on some mono recordings.

Some of the remastered recordings that have been coming out lately are jaw dropping. You feel like you are in the space with the performers. It's really kind of eerie how much information was captured on those tapes.

Surprised there is no love for Glenn Gould here.
But I'll throw in some must haves.
Goldbergs '81 analog not digital version
Music of the Renaissance and Baroque 2 cd set

Also what on vinyl was considered a demonstration disc(try and find one!) Cluytens  Debussy's Jeux

And I happen to be a big fan of Baroque played with high cholesterol style rather than on blood thinner so I'll add Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico by the Berlin Philharmonic. Often making music is very different from academic archeology. And let's face it no one will ever know what contemporaries of the early music and baroque composers really heard. Though it is fun to speculate. But not too much.

Another poster mentioned the Gendron box while saying it was pricey.
It is available on Amazon.uk for almost half the price coming out to about $6.00 a cd which back in the halcyon days of Tower would have been considered budget cds. And we're talking 25-30 years ago so with inflation they're super budget.

To get back to Mahler. I have to admit to out and out disliking him at first. Much like the great Decca classical producer John Culshaw who worked with the greatest conductors on some of the most famous recordings who refused to produce records of his music because listening to it made him ill. I am not making this up.

Through time my feelings have changed and though still not one of my favorite composers may I recommend one of the all time great recordings if excellent mono is acceptable? Dimitri Mitropoulos and Minneapolis doing the Titan on Masterworks Heritage. If you have any interest in classical symphonic music at all this must be heard. Just maybe not on an audiophile system if you have a second one more forgiving of older mono recordings.

Interesting that there is so little posting on opera performances and recitals that it is quite indicative of the quick loss of interest in this art form over the last few decades. Is it the none existence of the greatest of singers that once upon a time would throw audiences into a frenzy or has the sound of the operatic voice somehow become exaggerated and alien for the most part to us. 

The New York City Opera is no more. Why? Met performances have plenty of empty seats. On all these pages there is only one mention of a specific opera recording and a few nods to people like Bjoerling, Tebaldi, Corelli, Baker and Hampson. But really not much.

Do most of you not like opera and not have the patience for it? Opera recordings used to be huge sellers even at a time when people could also hear phenomenal exciting live performances. The Met sat afternoon broadcasts were hugely popular across the nation for those who did not have access to great opera houses.

This has all been lost and is not coming back. You could point out exceptions and to this and that but it really no longer has any major hold on cultural life.