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
re Salmond Caution, I have never been to Scotland furthermore I do not speak the language (joke) If interested, please read: https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/03/jaccuse-2/#respond |
Just heard Cherkassky playing Rachmaninoff's Variations on the theme of Paganini. Wow. Never heard an interpretation like that. Is this type of playing considered outdated? I've heard sofronitsky play in a similar fashion. Whatever they play sounds new, their interpretations make the pieces sound as if I'm hearing them for the first time. |
I've been obsessed with Schubert for the past 7-8 months. I'm completely in love with his music. I've found many a great pianist, including Volodos, Lupu etc. Recently discovered Shura Cherkassky. There are ample recordings on Tidal and Qobuz. Youtube has many performances as well. What are your thoughts on this guy? Have you had a chance to see him live? Here are a few pieces from YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOBajKsgcVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Axnmi2Qn4 |
Just listening to Vikingur Olaffson on Idagio at the moment, stirring stuff indeed. The recording tone is close and sumptuous and the quallity from Deutsche Gramophon is super and as good as anyrhing I have heard. I am so glad he takes the Rameau pieces from a twentieth century perspective and not trying to copy a harpsicord. I like this recording very much. |
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My wife says of my daughter and I is that we know what each one of us is thinking before we say it. I say that I'm glad she got my brains and her mother's looks as if the other way round she would be in qute a pickle. I am just kidding as my wife is the glue that binds us together.I had a listen to the jazzman that you posted and although not to my taste he is a very clever and inventive chap. The music reminds me of the direct cut discs we used to hear at all the audio shows in the seventies, I wished at the time that the ordinary record companies would have issued limited runs of these for the classical market, it would have been better than the tripe we were forced to buy at the time. Take care all of you, Jim.PS , I see Prince Charles has tested positive for Corona virus now !!! |
Here is a recent outing that reminds me not to argue with Rattle. He is beyond genre , very wise and intelligent as well . https://youtu.be/xCwGLFSSzY0?t=6 |
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Here is a piece for you Jim that proves even a rainy day can be beautiful. Gonzalo Rubalcaba is a Cuban Jazz artist with classical training . No less a musician than Simon Rattle has said he is the best pianist alive. https://youtu.be/EmuZhxWgmuE?t=3 |
Thanks Len, for your (as usual) words of wisdom, they are very much appreciated. My daughter works fo The University of the West of Scotland but she has had many offers to work elsewhere . She does not want to leave Ayr and us aswe din't have any more family and she is particularly close to me. I have tried many times to get her to pursue another job with more prospecs but she just says she wants to be close to us (she lives in the next street to us). She has a Masters with Honours from St. Andrews University in Politics and Law and as you may deduce I am more than a little proud of her. Take care Len and be safe , Jim. |
Well Jim , looking at your medical chart you are a tough old bird even for a Scot . Folk with Scot DNA usually are . Even a 75 percenter like me has walked away from things others have not . You may have more time than you think ! The inevitable came to me once in the form of a near-death event . I was near the end of a bright and warm tunnel when my Grandfather came out with raised hand and told me to go back, my time was not yet here. For a long time I was puzzled why I was so calm . Talking to others with them as well , a Lady said "Because you were in a place were fear does not exist " "Be not afraid "is the most used phrase in the Bible and I saw why. In any event few humans appreciate true beauty as well as you and that alone is a life lived well . yours , Len P.S. What Uni does your girl work at ? even |
I'm afraid I have taken a self imposed 14 week isolation as last January I had Sepsis and Pneumonia and kidney failure at the same time. I was very lucky that I came out of Hospital but I have been left with one lung pretty duff and I already have Diabetes. My wife who works in a food store has taken a forced leave of absence as she is working with the public all day is in danger of bringing it home to me . The university my daughter works in has had positive Corona outbreaks amonst the students so she has gone into isolation also and I won't see her for twelve weeks. Yes things are changing in our country at the moment and there are still idiots packing trains. Hold onto your hats folks. Jim. |
Jim Just an estimate: I have at least 150 Arrau cds. Not cd discs, but copies on my external hard drives. Doubtless some are duplicates, re-releases. Yes the recording quality on some is not as great as others, but overall it is superior to many other pianists, e.g. Richter. Also noteworthy is what a person he was in the full sense. Improving his mind constantly, aware of political/economic issues, including the tragic overthrow of Allende in his home country. And never a scandal, never an impropriety, never an insult.Just grace, humility, compassion, love. What a man! |
Yes Jeremy you are in good company with Claudio Arrau, He is great in almost anything. His Debussy discs are so liquid and his Liszt Transcendental Etudes are so powerful and so tender by turns and to think he was 75 years old when he committed them to disc. His Beethoven is peerless , I went down to London to hear him play the last three sonatas and in the train back up to Glasgow I was in cloud 9 all the way I couldn't get those trills from the ending of Op.111 out of my mind. Yes although it was my only concert with Arrau it was enough to tell me he was / is the best pianist I have ever heard. Has anyone heard any of his CDs of recordings done in the Forties and Fifties, oh how I wish the recording quality was better because they show a man at the very peak of his powers. You should have heard his Albeniz it is explosive and the technique is faultless , every bit as good as Horowitz but with a far bigger repertoire. Yup, for me he is the man. |
I have listened to his 2 Bach cds. The first is quite traditional, the second adds electronic musicians (not to my taste).The Glass piano works are fine, but I am not a big fan of Glass, so will say no more. I have not yet found the Rameau/Debussy album which NYT praises so highly. It may not be available yet. |
I discovered Olafsson last year through a Wigmore Hall Concert by BBC Radio 3. I am very impressed by his Bach which is exceptionally clean and the counterpoint is peerless in my opinion. I even discovered a disc of Bach on Idagio, but I have tried to listen to his twentieth century recordings and I can't get my head around it. My appreciation of piano music seems to stop with Rachmaninov and I can't seem to get any further than that. If he brings out more Bach I will snap it up in a Jiff but the other stuff it just doesn't seem to make any sense to me. |
Vikingur Olafsson Big praise in NYT for this pianist. So I downloaded his Bach and his Glass. Very nice. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/arts/music/vikingur-olafsson-debussy-rameau.html Also in NYT, article about Heinrich Schütz https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/arts/music/heinrich-schutz.html?action=click&module=Well&... |
Eunice Norton "a classical pianist (who was born in 1908 and died in 2005), whose work I’ve become familiar with almost exclusively from YouTube clips, of which there are more than a hundred." https://outline.com/vYBJch |
@rvpianoRV @rvpianoR I listened to Eric Lu and then recorded him to my desktopI have to say he impresed me very Much ( I see he won the Leeds piano competition in 20 18 ) he should now be in demand from the major recital halls. I do find in his Chopin that he can use too much rubato but hey that's a purely personal reaction. I find the recording maybe a bit close but you can cerrtainly hear the reaction in powerfull playing. I hope he has a bright career ahead ofi him in the future |
No secret, I am a fan of Brahms .Not just for his music but for the man his self . At one time or another I’ve read most of the books written on him in English and back in the day a few in German .I like to think I have some understanding of this very complex man. I have run across a recent recording of his Piano Concerto No 1 .that I believe shows the music and the man played as fine as I have heard . Lars Vogt/Royal Northern Sinfonia Ondine ODE1330-2 I could go on and on but one word will do, sensational ! P.S . Also perfect renditions of Four Ballades ,Op 10 |
@twoleftears I have been a fan of Grimaud for anumber of years now, she has loads of stamina and a very good tecnique. a recording of hers I admire is Schuman's Sonata in A Minor for violin and piano. |
now watching Immortal Beloved is a 1994 film about the life of composer Ludwig van Beethoven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_Beloved_(1994_film) |
"
Yes, Beethoven could be unpleasant, sometimes cruel, and his politics
defied easy categorization. His deterioration over the years was
heartbreaking: a museum
in a house he stayed at in the spa town of Baden described how a
disheveled Beethoven had once gone for a walk and been arrested for
vagrancy." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/travel/vienna-bonn-beethoven-250th-anniversary.html |
I don't know if this recording is availlable any longer but I have a boxed set of Ravel's complete works by, Louis Lortie and I used to love it but like all daft audiophiles I still bought other people playing it. Last night I played some ofit from my hard driveand although some play it with a little more magic I still recommend it if you want a cheaper complete set. |