Classical Music for Aficionados

Not to worry, anyone who loves the Western Worlds greatest artistic triumph gets carried away with the passion of it all ,be strange if they did not. .

Gs5556,

Schubert Trios arrived today.
Very nice recommendation!
Gorgeous Schubert, expertly played.
At first, fortepiano took some getting used to.
After that, sounded very natural.
Beautifully recorded.

Access to product.
Having purchased Classical CDs since they first started appearing in the early 80s, have seen the many changes that have taken place in the retail environment. These days there are no music stores left that sell new product (remember Tower records?) and you are facing first a decision to follow streaming or acquisition options and then how to find the music you want.
Classical recordings are notable for their ageless qualities. A great performance from the 60s still pleases. Sure there are remarkable improvements in fidelity throughout the last 50 years but ADD recordings can sound convincing on even the best audiophile systems.
So I prefer to buy CDs and have a hard copy even though I rip them into JRiver immediately and just store the original.
With this preference, I am currently ordering new product from Amazon and scouring the two used media outlets in my city for used CDs. We all know that used CDs are as good as new ones and, in conjunction with the ageless quality of classical performances, represent a genuine bargain for the classical aficionado.
Have tried HDTracks and other downloading services and not been pleased. Presto in England has most of the new offerings but their shipment to my state is uncertain and they have not downloaded to the US in the past.
DG is moving into the downloading area and I suspect some other companies are also active.
But I find that most downloading options are limited in the pieces made available.
So I am still visiting the used bins and using Internet reviews to identify new CDs to order from Amazon.
Suspect some of you on this site have found better access to CD product and would appreciate your knowledge.

Half-Price books is good source, here in Twin Cities they must have a dozen stores and the price is right .
My secret source is Berkshire Records on net .Don’t tell anyone else !

To me the LP always sounds better and easy to find here in stores plus  the 10 Goodwill stores within 8 miles of my abode,
I’ll like some feedback this, to ME the difference I hear is there is no air in the hall
on CD and there is on LP, and for ME, that makes all the difference .
Of course , I might be nuts .

Schubert,

  You’re not nuts.  The biggest difference between LPs and CDs is the air around the instruments.

The music of Brahms is often referred to as "autumnal".
Fifty years ago I thought that meant the color of a leaf or something.
Now , in my old age I see it as genius that still draws between the lines, sort of like Rembrandt compared to modern painters who just throw paint
unto a canvas .
Example #1 is his late piano music that is like comfort food to an old man.

Another composer who is an exemplar, to me anyway, is Faure,
the daddy of modern French music .An example is one of his last works the Trio for piano,cello and violin, Op. 120.
The recording I have enjoyed the most is the great American/Israeli violinist
Gil Shaham and Co. , "The Faure Album" CC03 on the Canary label .
I gather Canary is the Family business on the net, though I found mine at Barnes & Noble . I doubt there is a bad recording of it .

That said , the Canary has the advantage of starting with an early great work , Faure’s "Sonata for violin and piano, Op.13 and ending with the Trio
Op. 120 showing his progression from a young genius to an old one .
Faure , died not long after . His last words were to his son. "I did what I could.Now let God be my judge ".

I’m going into withdrawal.  My amplifier crapped out AGAIN, so I’m without music. A very sorry state.
I’m getting a new amplifier!!

I've found , after about a dozen amps, that Belles has the goods on what is needed for Classical . Neutrality, clarity , instrumental differrentation, depth
and a tiny dab of warmth .

Someone else (audioconnection) recommended the Belles Aria monoblocks, but they are a little out of my price range.  Right now I’m considering the Red Dragon monoblocks (at half the price.)

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.

I totally agree.  Those remasterings of early stereo recordings on CD are wonderful.  The majority of CDs however don’t have the space that most LPs do.

The best sounding albums I've ever heard, as in the performance is in my living room, are the Vanguard Classical's from the 50's, 60's . Very close
to live music  The ones with the circle saying"The Bach Guild " are !

I'll have to see if any CD's of them are available .

There were and I ordered 5 CD’s from Amazon I have on Vinyl .
Somebody must agree with me on "The Late LvB Quartets " by the Yale Qt.
A vinyl box is available for only $214 .

Know nothing of vinyl because I abandoned it in the 80s.
Have found, however, that you can get a significant amount of air with CDs by upsampling them in JRiver to 192/24 then playing them back with a quality converter. Engineers have explained to me that the improvement happens during the playback conversion when the better SN ratio produces a quieter result that has, consequently, more "air."
Have also noticed that higher res digital files (94/24 is the studio standard) have this sense of "air" about them. 

Vindenpar:
Have recently purchased a number of ADD sets as large collections from Amazon and been surprised at their superb sound quality. Some of the Columbia recordings by Bernstein have a natural acoustic feel lacking in modern digital efforts.
Have also found that removing any original tape hiss found in many inexpensive releases (Sony is notorious in leaving this in) makes a tremendous difference in being able to hear more of the original performance. Purists may want the hiss, but I want to be able to hear the viola section...

@rvpiano Huge Thank You for opening this thread!!! 
I am torn between reading it/placing more goodies into my Amazon cart and offering my own discoveries. So far I am Shopping!!! Million thanks for all the suggestions!!!!!!
beautiful music from my heck of the woods is Giya Kancheli "Light Sorrow"
I cannot imagine my collection without it, played here as often as Brahms 1st, Manfred Symphony, Ligetti...

Sevs,

It was my pleasure.
Enjoy!!

Lots of great music recommendations to explore which is really the basis of this hobby. Thanks.

Although I am not a classical music aficionado, the one recording I never tire of hearing is “Horowitz in Moscow”, Deutsche Grammophon 419 499-2. I prefer live performances in general as they have a more immediate and less studied quality. The ambient noises from the venue gives a “you are there” experience. To my ear, his telling of Scarlatti’s Sonata in E major is sublime.

@sevs Here's one that you might like a lot.  Dobrinka Tabakova, "String Paths", on ECM.  Mix of chamber music and orchestral.  There are a couple of wonderfully melting slow movements.

twoleftears (great handle...)
Thanks for the recommendation; just ordered it from Amazon.
Here are two lesser known albums I have found mesmerizing:
1. Zelenka: Orchestral Works by Archive and Camerata Bern; pay attention to the Hipocondrie
2. Edgar Meyer: Meyer/Bottesini Concertos by St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Wolff; like the Bottesini in b-minor and Meyer is perhaps the greatest double bassist of his generation.

@twoleftears "String Paths" by Tabakova is amazing, I am listening to it thru Tidal now but CD is already ordered. My first impression: "guilty pleasures"!! Can't wait to give it a proper spin thru my stereo. CD itself will be placed between Vasks and Gorecki, to give Peteris Vasks some rest ;-)

Schubert,

The Franck Violin Sonata et al finally arrived.
I had almost forgotten how beautiful this piece is. The performance by Chung and Lupu is lush and luscious, especially the first movement. Never heard it played so sensitively. The Debussy and Chausson are a nice addition.

Newbee,

I had to order from Europe, but finally obtained the Grechaninov disc.
”Snowflakes” is delightful  I also love “Missa Sancti Spiritus.”
I haven’t listened to the symphony yet, but will.
Thanks for the recommendation!

You made my day rvpiano .
The Frank has always been a favorite of mine , usually have 3-4 different renditions .
I remember the first time I heard this one thinking "so that’s how you do it" !
And I had heard great artists , Menuhin and his sister, do it live .As you
no doubt know, Chung has had many health problems , her technique is nowhere as good as it once was, but hearing her live recently was a masterclass.Still a magnificent musician and damn the technique .
Lupu is Lupu . Like Liszt was Lizst .

P.S. I hope you haven’t forgotten how fine his String Quartet in D is .
Used to have a killer version of that by the Fitzwilliam Qt. on Decca .
 It surely must be one of the hardest Qt's to play in the rep, about like late  LvB .

rvpiano, Glad you enjoyed Grechaninov. I think few people have heard this music, too bad. :-)

Now for something else that I consider absolutely delightful. Debussy's La Boite a Joujoux  and Rossini/ Respighi's La Boutique Fantasique. Toy boxes and toy shops.
The former I have on a CD by Tortelier and the Ulster Orchestra (with Ravel's Me Mere l'Oye - Mother Goose ballet) on Chandos, and the latter on a Telarc CD with Rachmaninoff/Respighi's Cinq Etudes-Tableaux as a disc mate.

Now for something a tad more contemporary, but both tonal and very assessible as well as engaging - Menotti. A compilation of his works on a Chandos CD by Richard Hickox and the Spotelo Festival Orchestra. I discovered Menotti on another disc which contains Sebastian and Amahl and the Night Visitors (as well as Samuel Barber's Souvenirs ballet suite). A Koch CD. Also an excellent recording which I've loved for over 25 years.

Hope some of this works for you.

I played today soundtrack Madam Sousatzka. The piano sounds so clean there. 

Now you've mentioned Lupu, one of my all-time-favorite piano recordings is Lupu with Brahms Op. 117, 118, 119.  Sublime music played sublimely.

One of mine as well twoleftears . 117,118 ,119 are comfort food .
 Lupe is at his finest  in  Brahms and Schubert IMO buts he's so good on everything  whose to say .
A fabulous LP I used to have was Lupu doing the piano works of one of  my
very favorite modern composers , Leos Janacek, was to die for but its long
gone .

One that didn't get lost of Janacek's piano music , some of the most original, charming and lyrical music written by any modern composer,
is Rudolf Firkusny playing his 3 most famous pieces on RCA 60147-2RC .
A CD with very good sound that is truly iconic .

@schubert Do not be lazy: once you place another gem onto your TT/CD spinner, just make a post here!!! I am trying to keep up with you, my Amazon shopping cart has never been so good!!! Million Thanks!!!!! 

This week I am rediscovering my Alan Hovhaness collection, keep wondering why did I waste so much time following recent Prog-Rock outfits: the answer was collecting dust in my collection!

I would really like someone’s opinion here.  Last weekend I picked up a collection of classical CDs from a retired doctor and I don’t know where to start in regards to listening.  I’m a classical music neophyte.  I bought the collection for what I considered to be a good price with hopes of selling the entire collection to make a few bucks.  The collection is listed for sale on Audiogon and consists of over 800 CDs of which 99% are classical.

Now im thinking there may be some diamonds in the collection I should listen to.

Could somebody help a brother out and give me a quick assessment of what I have? I am starting to come to the conclusion  that buying  these as a collection to resell might have been a mistake. 

I took the the time to enter all info on each CD (using barcode scan, catalog number and manual entry) and  have posted a link to the collection in the Audiogon listing.  The collection is listed on Discogs here - https://cloud.collectorz.com/sfseay/music.

Hopefully a kind soul here will give me an honest opinion of this collection.

Many/most of the CD’s are excellent recordings of great music . The Doc had VERY good taste !

Given that classical music has many different genres within itself I would think you would make more selling one at a time . Few people like all kinds.
One the other hand the market for classical is small and getting smaller and
that might take a long time .
You can just grab a CD and start listening, there are no rules . Most people I know started with Symphonies and moved to
solo piano, string quartets etc. Some do the opposite .
Religious people are often drawn to choir music of a religious bent . IMO the best composers to start with are Mozart, Schubert, Bach , Beethoven ,Tchaikovsky and Monteverdi . If you like solo piano Chopin and Schumann.

If I didn't make it clear the collection is top-notch !
I'd sit on it awhile and see if I get a bite.
If not you can always sell them one at a time .

I agree with Schubert.  The doctor had very eclectic, excellent taste.
I think that it would be difficult and not very helpful for us to start picking choices for you.
That would be our taste. You should develop your own taste.

Schubert has some very good guidelines above.
Start with the more well known composers.
In my experience, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Vivaldi appeal to neophytes most.  The doctor’s taste was quite far reaching, so you might find other composers that appeal to you.
It can be an exciting venture of discovery for you.

Have fun!

Thanks to all you guys for the feedback!  This really helps to let me know what I have.  Again, I really appreciate all the responses.

Happy new year!!!

sevs, you are more than welcome . Does an old mans heart good to read your post !
A composer that is hardly unknown , Ralph Vaughan Williams, IMO still is not recorded or played enough .One of his pieces"The Lark Ascending" if not the most plain beautiful piece ever written is right up there with whatever is .

There are many fine recordings , best deal is Sarah Chang on EMI with Haitink and London SO as 4 other of his most popular works are a bonus .
If you feel like crying{no joke} the recent one with Nicola Benedetti will get you there .

To all , I don’t think Telemann has been mentioned, Bach’s buddy and his near equal wrote about
as much music as anyone has and it’s all worth listening to .A half-dozen
of his works were attributed to Back for several centuries and nobody was the wiser .

A compilation of his best Concertos are on EMI 5 034345-2 with Berlin Baroque Soloists , His One for Oboe d’amore and Viola d’amore is to die for. Sound is excellent, I used this for years as my demo CD for purchases .

@scott_w my Oh, God! moment happened at the sweet age of 10+, when my parents dragged me, screaming and kicking, at Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto.  That a-ha moment was unforgettable! What a terrible blow to my convictions that BoneyM and BeeGees is an epitome of musical progression to Heaven!

@craigl59 search on “classical music collection”

@schubert keep 'em coming!!! RVWilliams is buried somewhere in my CD collection, shall dig it out tomorrow. The beauty of spending all my "allowances" on music is that gems are hidden there just waiting to be discovered :-)
Reading Tchaikovsy's note: "worked a bit, walked in the park, cried a lot" I stopped being ashamed of crying while listening to Manfred or Pathetique: shall try to figure out what exactly u were recommending... 

Re: RVWilliams
My favorite of his is Symphony #2 “A London Symphony”
Captures the city with Big Ben and street sounds, musically interpolated.
Truly wonderful work.

Also “A Sea Symphony” (Symphony #1).  The opening bars are thrilling — an evocation of the sea.

“Symphony Antarctica” is actually from a film score evoking the aloneness  of that continent.

November edition of Gramophone has RAVE reviews of  both " A London Symphony "  and "Symphony Antarctica" .
Former on Hyperion with BBC SO/Brabbins , later on Chandos  with Bergen Phil./Sir Andrew Davis . Former "essential listening for all RVW devotees" , later"a distinguished release" .Sound is always good on both labels. Chandos esp.usually has great depth .
.
I've never forgotten a quip made by Gramophone reviewer many years ago.
"The difference between RVW and Bartok is the difference between English and Hungarian folk-music " .

No, no, even better (if that's possible) than the other RV-W suggestions, all of which are great, are his Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus.  I have the Chandos recording.  Bliss.

TwoLeftEars (et al):
Just got the Tabakova in and have previewed the CD; it is impressive indeed, Highly sophisticated compositional style with spectacular string playing. Who knew the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra had these kind of chops (Tabakova does, apparently)?
The piece that immediately appealed to me was the cello concerto. With its unison opening and minimalist style, it screams "Play Me Loud on a good audio system!" The second hearing was even more enjoyable.
BTW, the other unison-influenced movement that I have been listening to recently is the first movement of the Borodin Second Symphony. Blast away, Russian nationalists.
For the English-oriented aficionados, have just gotten the complete Chandos set of Arnold symphonies by (mostly) LSO and Hickox. These performance are so much better than the earlier Arnold CDs I have that they reawaken interest in this all too often ignored composer. Each symphony is another journey and explores, anew, tonal, contrapuntal, and performance capabilities. Again, the performance makes the composer.
And, although one could occasionally complain about a certain "corny" nature to Arnold's melodies, this minor complaint does not detract.
Keep those recommendations coming, TwoLeftEars. If you provide the perfect suggestion we will send you a right ear...or maybe two.

twoleftears, FWIW I agree with your recommendation of Ernest Farrar's Orchestral Works on Chandos. Unfortunately he has a very thin discograph. :-(

Craig, I prefer the Chandos set as well.

And, for 'English-oriented' aficionados I can easily recommend Stanford's Piano Concerto on Chandos. The disc mate is "Concert Variations upon an English Theme 'Down Amound the Dead Men'. Fingerhut on the piano, conducted by Vernon Handley and the Ulster Orchestra. 

Chandos recorded all of Stanford's Symphonies but this is the only thing that really brings me back. I'm quite fond of it.

Well, I just had to order the Tabakova, too.

Just listening to a Nonesuch record I bought over a half a century ago, with some of the best sound ever recorded.  It’s of Bach Cantatas No.140 and No. 57.
Karl Ristenpart leads definitive performances of these wonderful works.  “Selig ist der Mann “ is a not well known, but gorgeous cantata, along with the ever popular “Wachet auf....”

I’m not sure if this cantata series ever made it to CD.

A couple more.  R. Strauss's Alpine Symphony is remarkably neglected for a composer boasting a number of warhorses.

And talking of warhorses, an excellent "demonstration disk" is Patrick Doyle's theme music for the movie Henry V; Simon Rattle + CBSO.  There are some stirring moments.