Idagio, When you get the best in Berlin highly unlikely there is any better.
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.
3,872 responses Add your response
My second impressions of Idagio -- Yeah, I'm learning how to navigate it. There's a lot more repertoire to explore. It's just a bit hidden. I was able to jack up the sound quality. Yeah, again the way to go about it is a bit hidden. Is it now quite to the level I got from Primephonic? I must continue to button push... |
My first impressions of living with Idagio rather than Primephonic classical streaming... 1. The selection ain't quite as luxuriously, mind-bogglingly complete as the late, lamented Primephonic but there's no doubt they've got excellent taste. 2. I have yet to encounter the streaming glitches that often made dialing up specific Primephonic selections more a role of the dice than a done deal. 3. Through my system, sound quality can sometimes be slightly thicker and less-spacious than through Primephonic (or for that matter Qobuz), but it's always still enjoyable as heck. 4. Idagio is extremely easy and intuitive to log into and navigate. Anybody else share my impressions? |
I have not heard Olafsson on Mozart . What I have heard is his DG with Debussy . Rameau and thought it was very good . Rameau is one of my favorites , I listen to him a lot , have too , you won’t hear him live in US . You will ,IMO. in the most interesting city in North America , Montreal . https://youtu.be/wChgk4qq3Kc He’s my man , Olafsson says Rameau is second only to Bach ! https://youtu.be/qTwqBVt2Clw |
Richard Strauss TOD UND VERKLARUNG ( Death and Transfiguration) Concertgebouw Orchestra Bernard Haitink Philips (now Decca) 1981 Notes: "Death and Transfiguration" is something different again, much closer to Liszt's concept of the tone-poem. It represents the victory of the human spirit over the sharpness of death. A man lies dying in his room. The atmosphere of death lies heavy over the sick-bed. He dreams of far-off happy days. A spell of agony racks his body, but victory over the world is his. He dreams again of childhood and youth. The music grows more and more impassioned and then we are back in the sick-room again. He grows weaker and his pulse beats ever more slowly until at last he sinks back into death. Now out of the darkness comes victory, release from the world, transfiguration. Death and Transfiguration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tab5DrnhQdI Cheers |
Before a concert Liszt mingled with the audience, charming them with his
witty remarks. He had a semicircle of chairs placed around the piano on
stage so that illustrious guests could sit near him and converse with
him between pieces. He added extra bits of his own invention to the
pieces he was playing, improvising cadenzas, tremolos, double octaves,
and trills even to iconic pieces like Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata. He
brought his silk gloves on stage and threw them down to be fought over
by audience members. Women were said to carry his discarded cigar butts
in their cleavages. When he broke piano strings, as he often did in his
performances, people collected the broken strings and had them made into
bracelets. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/nothing-sheer-racket |
Richard Strauss VIOLIN CONCERTO Pavel Sporcl (violin) Prague Symphony Orchestra Jiri Kout Supraphon 2009 In 1933 Strauss (1864-1949) was appointed to two important positions in the musical life of Nazi Germany: head of the Reichsmusikkammer and principal conductor of the Bayreuth Festival. The latter role he accepted after conductor Arturo Toscanini had resigned from the position in protest of the Nazi Party. These positions have led some to criticize Strauss for his seeming collaboration with the Nazis. However, Strauss's daughter-in-law, Alice Grab Strauss [née von Hermannswörth], was Jewish and much of his apparent acquiescence to the Nazi Party was done in order to save her life and the lives of her children (his Jewish grandchildren)... Further, Strauss insisted on using a Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig, for his opera Die schweigsame Frau which ultimately led to his firing from the Reichsmusikkammer and Bayreuth. In 1948, a year before his death, he was cleared of any wrongdoing by a denazification tribunal in Munich.---wiki Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 8 Allegro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1leKe9Uy2g Lento ma non troppo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Qwsq7wxyo Rondo. Presto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lOuFMp-9Do Cheers |
I love her Len and have done for decades, her hands were tiny but that most certainly never deterred her. None other than Horowitz marvelled at her dexterity, in fact I have somewhere in my house a picture that shows her Horowitz and Arrau backstage at a concert she had given. In fact when they came to congratulate her on her performance she threw her arms around Arrau and then kneeled in front of Horwitz and kissed his hands and he then pulled her to her feet and he then kissed her fingers and said she was a marvel. I think she was a marvel too not only for her Mozart but her Iberian music also especially her Albeniz which can be ferociously difficult but her little hands coped admirably. That soundbite was superb. |
Jim, I played this Mozart on same record I have today. What do you think of this lady, Jim . I rather like it https://youtu.be/MmX-lVH3XWU |
Johann Strauss WALTZES Wiener Symphoniker Yakov Kreizberg PentaTone 2006 SACD Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437 "Emperor Waltz" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4f-EWGp2iw An der schönen, blauen Donau, Op. 314 "The Beautiful Blue Danube" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfDiR2Ie7k Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald, Op. 325 "Tales from the Vienna Woods" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP22qGAZQ4I Cheers |
@edcyn928 Yes I wholeheartedly agree about these young pianists needing more time to mature but so do all pianists and not just the young. i do think Perahia a much better pianist than Brendel was but that is only me. I spent a life time going to the Edinburgh Festival every year only to get jaded with Brendel with his mannerisms and finger slips and he certainly never ever had the technique that Olaffson has but I have never heard Schubert played live better than Brendel, but I for sure will stick with Olaffson. |
@jim204 -- I actually listened to Vikingur Ollafsson's Mozart earlier today. It seems his DG album was featured on my Qobuz home page. Yeah, he's truly excellent, and I enjoyed the heck out of his readings. But he still needs a bit more time to fully tap the depths that lie beneath the stuff that the kid from Salzburg brought to us. In other words, I'm still not ready to give up Perahia or Brendel. |
Have any of you listened to Vikingur Ollafson's new Mozart recording, it is playing of stupendous quality. It is the type of playing that makes you say it's only Mozart then you start saying listen to those runs they are super fast and crystalline and then you start saying they are not only fast and super clear they don't slow down the impetus of the piece one jot. No this is one truly great pianist. |
I have listened to Lisiecki and I have to say that although he is convincing in some of the Nocturnes it is when he gets into the later ones that both Arrau and Moravec have nothing to fear, belatedly of course. Arrau especially gives a wonderful burnished tone helped on of course by Phillips splendid recording. The only one who could be on the same side of the fence tone wise as Arrau was Horowitz but of course in a completely different way, both were breath taking. There was no one to beat those two. |
Dmitri Shostakovich
CELLO CONCERTO Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy Mason Jones(horn solo) Notes:"Five prime Soviet composers, led by Shostakovich, sat in box number 2 at the left of the stage and watched a star Soviet instrumentalist perform the first Western reading of the new cello concerto before an audience that included many of the top U.S. composers." Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 107: I. Allegretto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf-O1jZy6Eg II. Moderato https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leZphzOsaj4 III. Cadenza https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnkJWkXngRQ IV. Allegro con moto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWcEJQIsf-4 Cheers |
Dmitri Shostakovich VIOLIN CONCERTO David Oistrakh (violin) New York Philharmonic Dimitri Mitropoulos Columbia / Sony 1956 / 1998 Mono Notes:"The work had received only two previous performances anywhere, when it was given its world premiere ten weeks previously by the Leningrad Philharmonic, October 29 and 30 1955. Directly after its first performance in America, the work was recorded for this record with Mr. Oistrakh once again as soloist." Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 99: I. Nocturne. Adagio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnMUdwOu_7E II. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv44X3Mn3Zk III. Passacaglia. Andante https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsuQFMQ11RI IV. Burlesca. Allegro con brio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZqyFtxMzNQ Cheers |
Dmitri Shostakovich STRING QUARTETS NOS. 5, 7 & 9 St Petersburg String Quartet: Alla Aranovskaya(violin) Ilya Teplyakov(violin) Alexei Koptev(viola) Leonid Shukaev(cello) Hyperion Records 2000 String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108 : I. Allegretto - Attacca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAAIrKYCGzw II. Lento - Attacca https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7NpRgrxDQ III. Allegro - Allegretto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI6rxrDqSd8 Cheers |
Dmitri Shostakovich COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS VOL. 5 Sorrel Quartet: Gina McCormack(violin) Catherine Yates(violin) Sarah-Jane Bradley(viola) Helen Thatcher(cello) Chandos Records 2004 String Quartet No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 92: I. Allegro non troppo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9-iW_9tQr0 II. Andante - Andantino https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5RDNPm_oPM III. Moderato - Allegretto - Andante https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1VdImpYpmw Cheers |
Robert Schumann PIANO QUINTET Leif Ove Andsnes (piano) Artemis Quartet Virgin Classics 2007 Piano Quintet in E flat major Op. 44: I. Allegro brillante https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rMroOtrQas II. In modo d'una marcia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxZNOlh6fdE III. Scherzo (Molto vivace) & Trios I and II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlXwwYt7-hQ IV. Finale (Allegro ma non troppo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljjU2OS2F-I Cheers |
I have both Qobuz and Idagio. You’re right, Qobuz is pretty good for classical, but Idagio is great. I found it much better than Primephonic. The search engines are really useful and they sometimes do live music (for a fee.) ‘I also find Idagio sounds better than Qobuz for classical. I’ve commented on this many times. |
PRIMEPHONIC, the Classical streaming service is giving up the ghost and touting Amazon as its replacement. What do you dudes/dudettes think of classical Amazon streaming? Should I go for Idagio, the German classical streaming service instead? Yeah, Qobuz is pretty good with classical and, in the main probably even has better fidelity than Primephonic has(had). But I'd like to hear from you guys. |
Robert Schumann STRING QUARTETS Doric String Quartet Alex Redington(violin), Jonathan Stone(violin), Simon Tandree(viola), John Myerscough(cello) Chandos Records 2011 String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41 No. 1: I. Introduction. Andante espressivo - Allegro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbQbs76hk0Y II. Scherzo. Presto - Intermezzo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v7E_gvHLBQ III. Adagio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-nS54Kh630 IV. Presto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ihHXy8lUWk Cheers |
Robert Schumann Sonata No. 1 Evgeny Kissin (piano) RCA Red Seal 2001 Wiki: Evgeny Igorevich Kissin is a Russian concert pianist and composer. He became a British citizen in 2002 and an Israeli citizen in 2013. He first came to international fame as a child prodigy. Born: October 10, 1971 (age 49 years), Moscow, Russia Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 11: I. Introduzione. Un poco Adagio - Allegro Vivace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IOHYrOY3Ug II. Aria. Senza passione, ma espressivo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1si32Caz_c III. Scherzo. Allegrissimo - Intermezzo. Lento https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQ0qrIJwBM IV. Finale. Allegro un poco maestoso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjMpHztvnIA Cheers |
This is one of my favorite Beethoven pieces , his op 59 Quartet . It’s played by the Gewandhaus Qt, from the great orchestra of that name. I’m addicted to the beautiful Leipzig tone which is so LvB . Tad of pianissimo . https://youtu.be/C_pM4Huh03o |
William Schuman SYMPHONY NO. 10 "AMERICAN MUSE" Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Leonard Slatkin RCA Red Seal 1992 Symphony No. 10, "American Muse": (world premiere recording) I. Con fuoco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Xp6Mxw3QQ II. Larghissimo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks79FmjoK5Y III. Presto - Andantino - Leggero _ Pesante https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTjgtPVFB1k Cheers |
William Schuman AMERICAN FESTIVAL OVERTURE NEW ENGLAND TRIPTYCH VARIATIONS ON "AMERICA" Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Leonard Slatkin RCA Red Seal 1992 American Festival Overture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlEXEi2Pkjs New England Triptych: I. Be glad then, America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI8eetQJOHo II. When Jesus wept https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAxCaBQSBqQ III. Chester https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooMpnMEP-MY Variations on "America": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjhNnXOdQe8 Cheers |
Franz Schubert - Franz Liszt SONATA IN B-FLAT - MEPHISTO WALTZ Evgeny Kissin (piano) RCA Red Seal 2003 Notes: "The Piano Sonata in B-flat major---whether by accident or by design--is artistically the last will and testament of Franz Schubert. While conceived and written alongside its great companions in C minor and A major in September 1828--the last month in which the dying 31 year old composer was still able to work before his death in November--the B-flat major was the last completed. It is usually considered the greatest of Schubert's sonatas, but it might more accurately be called the summit." Schubert: Sonata in B-Flat, D. 960 I. Molto moderato https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqdN-so_8T8&t=144s II. Andante sostenuto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1ASx19E7A III. Scherzo - Allegro vivace con delicatezza https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB3GfTcinHA IV. Allegro, ma non troppo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prB7NnowqtA Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 514 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYIu_hQ_Ejk Cheers |
One of Handel’s Best Aria’s . All done in original instruments and lovely so. https://youtu.be/PVCtCxnJyKY |
The Netherlands in many ways are the most progressive nation in the world . One way is to fund their Bach Orchestra and to make every outing as clean as a hounds tooth . I’ve head much of their work but not 42. Thanks , rv . Truly a Jewel ! P.S . If anyone takes a trip there put a Canadian patch on your jackets , in WW II they were starving to death and many did because 20 SS Divisions ate all the food and all the allies could could not move them. Ike and Brits decided to send in the best troops they had, the 3 Canadian Divisions do or die. 16, 000 Canadians did die but in six months the Germans were beaten . Dutch LOVE Canadians ! Send 100,000 Tulips every year free to Ottawa . |
A performance of a gorgeous Bach cantata in state of the art sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RowYzRTHTWA |
I learned a lot when few years ago when the Minnesota had about 18 months out. It has always been a good orchestra but Osmo Vanska made them a Great Orchestra , with great musicians playing better than they thought they could . Twin Cities have a lot of Forbes 500 firms and natch some of the CEO’s were on the board . Guys making 20 times (or More) though it was a crime for someone who just plays music to make and who did more work in a month they did in a year, to make 90,000 $ a year. |
Franz Schubert WINTERREISE (Winter's Journey) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau(baritone), Gerald Moore(piano) EMI 1955 / 2002 Notes: "When a singer has recorded the same music more than once, a critical formula comes conveniently to hand whereby the later version is recommended for the maturity of its artistry and the earlier one is complimented for freshness of voice. With 'Winterreise' such vocal freshness is not necessarily a virtue; and with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau his mature artistry has never been in question even if we go back to the first recordings of all. Though this was his first recording of the cycle, Fischer-Dieskau had already sung it many times, the first being at the age of 19 with an interval of three hours for an air-raid. The second in 1944 with the singer on leave from the Russian front..." From EMI's 'Great Recordings of the Century' series. Winterreise, D 911 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAvdaXMLRBQ Cheers |
Franz Schubert TROUT QUINTET - DEATH AND THE MAIDEN QUARTET Emil Gilels (piano) Amadeus Quartet Rainer Zepperitz (contrabass) DG 1959, 1976 / 1997 Schubert: Piano Quintet In A, D.667 - "The Trout" 1. Allegro vivace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtlyQ5rthwY 2. Andante https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFHMcid11eo 3. Scherzo (Presto) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6adGCXO-Hs 4. Thema - Andantino - Variazioni I-V -... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxbIiC2QF4g 5. Finale (Allegro giusto) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbcZfTNSYmk Cheers |
I would rather listen to La Petite Bande in a Bach Cantata than anyone else https://youtu.be/rZl4pC0Ps1k https://youtu.be/RaWkWtC6s_s And I'd rather hear a Bach Cantata more than anything . |