Yes.
Happy New Year to you,
and all others on this forum.
Happy New Year to you,
and all others on this forum.
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
Just my opinion rv, but this is one of the the best recordings of the Master I know about . https://youtu.be/CCVnO6tbYEM?t=4 |
Schubert Wow, thanks. I am on a search for a flac version of this piece.So beautiful. Story about music and unwell child: When my son (now 6.5, 210 lbs) was very young, he had terrible earaches, agony. We watched. Finally I got out my stand up bass and played really simple tunes, and the sound penetrated his body, and after awhile he stopped struggling, stopped crying, began listening, and finally fell asleep. This happened many times until he finally "outgrew" the problem. Some medication helped too. |
I hi haven’t heard any Julia Fisher recordings since she left Pentatone, but I have all those recordings and play them in MC constantly. I also got to see her live at the Aspen Music festival back when she was making those Pentatone records, once playing the Brahms Concerto and once in a Mendelssohn Tirol with Muller-Schott and damned if I can remember Pianist now...anyway, in concert she sounds a lot more electric than in the studio |
No, I haven’t heard him on either Sibelius Jim. Will get after him on that and LvB . Been on a Part , Byrd and Du Fay binge lately . I've always liked Part , but never knew he had a piece with a Scottish tinge . Takes a few listens to get it IMO . https://youtu.be/x3Y77YHGakQ?t=3 |
A great case for "less is more" from the most popular classical composer alive .Spiegel It may sound easy but it is very difficult to play . https://youtu.be/FZe3mXlnfNc?t=4 |
@schubert Len I share your views on Julia Fischer She shares a triumvirate I think with Maxim Vengerov and Leonidas Kavakos and I think those three reign supreme at the moment. Kavakos at the moment has a recording on Idagio of him playing and directing the Beethoven Violin Concerto and at times the playing verges on the impossible with tempos and his control of the orchestra . Have you heard his playing of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in the original manuscript and the revised one, no wonder Sibelius revised it, it must have been the very devil to get your fingers round it. And Julia Fischer who as well as beautiful playing is quite a beauty herself , the Bach unacompanied sonatas and partitas will be at the very top of the pile for quite a time. She is also nearly as good a pianist as she is a fiddler. |
I heard Milstein in recital months before he died, in Chicago. The outstanding memory is of hom playing the Bach Second Partita (the one with the great Chaconne), simply staggering playing, particularly for an Octagenarian. After he died many CDs were issued on labels such as Doremi of live Milstein concerts through the years, and that Bach Partita was a staple of through the years, so it must have been firmly in his fingers until the end. Milstein DG set of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas is still my favorites. |
The Russians always say it takes a Russian to play Russian music . After hearing this small but great masterpiece of Rachmaninoff I am inclined to agree . https://youtu.be/XfDreatXYeU |
Konstantin Scherbakov Been listening to his Shostakovich preludes, Liszt and Lyapunov Transcendental Etudes, and now his Rachmaninov, mostly especially the Morceaux de fantaisie (5), for piano, Op. 3 and Variations on a Theme of Chopin, for piano, Op. 22 . As good as it gets. Here is a review (or two): https://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninov-Sonata-Variations-Morceaux-Fantaisie/dp/B06Y18QWFY |
@jcazador Jeremy i used to love Nathan Milstein and back when I used vinyl I had the main violin concertos and the Bach Sonatas and Partitas and I just loved him. You are talking about the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and the last time I heard it in person was up in Glasgow and it was going to be Ida Haendel playing it. Unfortunately Haendel was ill that night and she was going to be replaced by someone called Nigel Kennedy. Well we sat back and out rolled this little boy to play this tiger of a concerto and all we knew about him at the time was he was a student at the Menuhin School. He dully launched into the work and astonished us with his prowess for a boy he was certainly some player. I am really saddened by what has happened to him over the years because it seems that he squandered his talent but I suppose that is what burnout does to us no matter what you are good at. So sad. |
Mahler, what a nice surprise! I heard Philadelphia Orchestra once, in Philadelphia, Thanksgiving concert, 1960. Tchaikovsky violin concerto was part of the program, featuring Nathan Milstein.In the last movement, Milstein's bow began shedding, and whenever he had a second, he would reach over with his left hand and strip the loose ends. The first violinist stood next to him and offered his bow, Milstein rejected the offer and proceeded. When the piece ended, the crowd erupted in applause, and Milstein was so excited that he reached up to Ormandy (on his pedestal) and nearly dragged him over, as Ormandy was somewhat impaired (hips? maybe). The crowd gasped, and then resumed applause.Remember it like yesterday, that was 60 years ago. |
Jcazador I heard Ormandy conduct the Philadelphians in the Berlioz Requiem in Ann Arbor in the late seventies. I was unfamiliar with the piece. My seat was in the balcony and boy was I surprised when the guys sitting two rows in front of me dressed in tuxedos took out their horns and proceeded to blow the roof off the place! |
One of the best American choirs singing one of the best Scottish songs . Sublime ! https://youtu.be/9PTZG2cHM5g?t=2 (Vaughan Williams Arr.) |
Several posts ago we were discussing the sound of piano recordings. Rooting around in the miscellaneous section of the CD racks, I found I had a BIS SACD of a Sudbin recital of Liszt, Ravel, and Saint-Saens. And indeed, the recorded sound is both very present and natural. I have the Scarlatti disc on order. |
Mitsuko Uchida Here is an interview/demonstration about Debussy. It shows her depth of knowledge and skill, the seriousness of her attitude, and also her linguistic ability (she speaks german with german interviewer, with translation to english in subtitles). I really appreciate her complete package. She is not making a PR appeal with clothes or winks. She is the real deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA1Pn_pv4Y8 |
@twoleftears Yes I am glad you like her program she surely is a poet of the piano and with a fearless technique to boot. There certainly is no shortage now of young women who can keep up with and very often beat the men at their own game. Now I see a time upon us where men and women can take on Liszt,Alkan and Godowsky and make something of the masses of notes in front of them and turn it into a cohesive whole . As a phrase of Busoni comes to mind , "Bach is the Old Testament and Beethoven the new and together they make Liszt possible" |
@jcazador Johnathan I see you are a fan of Uchida and yes she is great in Mozart but I remember the first concert of hers I attended, it was Mozart piano sonatas in the first half and Schubert impromptus and the little A Major sonata in the second half. Yes it was a beautiful concert but I could not keep my eyes off her face, the faces and mannerisims were all over the place I was mesmerised. I did not even watch her fingers as I just kept staring at her face and my pal was the same. I since have enjoyed lots of her Mozart but from the comfort of my armchair and hi fi system. |
Just finished playing through the Schubert sonata disks I own, and evidently different people respond differently to different styles of playing (all of which is doubtless excellent). Anyway, it allowed me to appreciate even more the Volodos disk of 1 and 18, which is absolutely splendid. After that, I most enjoyed Clifford Curzon's classic rendering of the last sonata. And then Lupu. Brendel and Pollini just don't move me, for whatever reason. It appears that Volodos has recently recorded some more Schubert, likely a must-buy. https://www.sonyclassical.com/news/arcadi-volodos-his-new-studio-recording-of-schubert-works |
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This reissue of his complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on Decca was originally recorded for Philips (446909-2) between 1992 and 1996." " his first Vox/Turnabout cycle dates from 1961-64" http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/l/lon781821a.php |
Re: Brendel, Beethoven Sonatas I think there are more than 2 recordings by Brendel of Beethoven Sonatas. There is the Vox/Turnabout series, and the Phillips Series, and there is also a newer series. Plus there are recordings of various Beethoven Sonatas (eg, Beethoven - Favorite Sonatas) that are not in a complete set. I do not have a definitive handle on all these recordings, but they are different from one another, and I think the later the better, but they are all excellent. If any of you knows more about this, please fill me in. Also: agree that Brendel is superb, clearly one of my favorites. |
edcyn, I agree with you on Brendel - not just for Beethoven, but for just about anything. Definitely my favorite pianist, and usually very underrated on audiophile sites, why I am not quite sure, since his recordings on Philips have excellent sound as well. His Mozart concerti I am thinking of in particular. |
I don’t think " The Lark Ascending" has any problems , Its simply one of the most beautiful pieces ever written . I never tire of it and have heard it a thousand times . People do hear things differently .I think Wagner is total garbage , few would agree on that . I totally agree with Jim on BIS . They are by far the best firm for Classical recording . |
I love reading the disagreements here. Differences in interpretation is one of the things that makes classical music so endlessly absorbing & wonderful. twoleftears -- I love Brendel. I have his Beethoven Sonatas both on Turnabout and on Philips. I actually saw him perform live once. brownsfan -- Britten's Ceremony of Carols on Argo is regularly on my turntable. |
Since there's been a lot of love in this thread for Schubert (the composer) I decided to pull what CDs I had off the shelf and work through the (very incomplete) piano sonatas. So far: D. 157: Volodos--excellent D. 784: Brendel--as usual (and I apologize in advance) leaves me cold D. 845: Lupu--as usual, very stirring and engaging |
Have you heard the Recycled Orchestra? Watch the video in this article. https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2019/12/landfill-harmonic-paraguay-recycled-orchestra-1... |
@twoleftears You are absoloutely right about the exagerated width of th piano , I listen to more and more disks each year with severe perspective problems. I don't notice it too much on my setup as I use phones but I do when I go to my pals house and we listen to his conventional system , it seems that the signal has you looking straight on to the keys and the keyboard is eight foot wide, " I don't like that ". I like BIS piano recordings best because they have a massive dynamic range and you have the best seat in the house. lf you want to hear piano et it's best today I suggest you go to the BIS catalogue and listen to Yevgeny Sudbin's solo work especially his Scarlatti Sonatas. I shall also chastise my self for my outburst about VaughanWilliams because if truth be told there are lots of less competent composers that him and I'm afraid all after Shostakovitch fall into that category, that's my thoughts and I don't expect anyone to agree with me. |
So I listened to Mariam Batsashvili's CD of transcriptions. Music: I'm no expert, but the pianism seemed really excellent. Sound: the timbre of the piano was very natural and entirely credible. But... the audiophile in me had a problem with the soundstage. There was no sense of the room, the space, the acoustic, in which the piano was being played. If I had to guess, I'd say it was miked very close up. I tried to get a sense of the perspective from which we were supposed to be listening to the recital. For some of the time, it seemed as if the perspective was more or less looking at the piano/pianist head-on, so that the lower register tended to the right speaker and the upper to the left. But then this would collapse or even flip in another passage. Hmmm. |
Jim, please, please try listening to V-W's Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus. If that doesn't win you over, nothing will. The problem with The Lark is that it's pretty instantly appealing, and so it gets trotted out overly frequently and hence becomes a chestnut. A moratorium of a few years would help a lot. Bruckner; I'm a Mahler fanatic and also a sucker for slow movements. Hence 7, 8, and 9 rank high in my personal pantheon. |