Kracher, that is what I also thought !
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.
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This is her latest.
@jim204 BTW, your "too closely recorded" was exactly what I was trying to get at with my "more forward in the soundstage". I also wish the producer had left slightly longer breaks between tracks. Otherwise superlative. |
@twoleftears Yes superlative indeed, that young lady has a stellar career in front of her she is astonishing. About more time between tracks I totally agree with you it hardly gives you time to draw a breath. I must say though that the recording quality of most of the piano recordings I listen to nowadays are superbly detailed and tonally awesome. I have been listening to young Alexandre Kantorow these last two days and they are all on the BIS label and they are I would say the best classical recording label out today. Their sound is so dynamic and detailed that I have trouble remembering I am listening through headphones and not in the Usher hall. A little tip here on the technical side of things here , I have just bought a new USB cable for between my PC and DAC. Is is a CAD 11 USB cable and it surely is a star . It cost a bloody fortune but it is worth it for what it brings in detail tone and just old fashioned enjoyment . Another thing I got was a filter that goes between my router and PC by way of the Ethernet. Another Eureka moment as it seems to clear up the gunge and digital noise from the signal. It is from Network Acoustics and it is called the ENO. If you want to radically clean your streaming then those two boys are for you. |
I apologize because it is not classical but i am in love with all great contraltos... Marian Anderson and Kathleen Ferrier are my 2 goddesses love... This young russian is amazing like his life story is... For male save for Fritz Wunderlich and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who are my gods, in my next life i want to be anyway an "oktavist"... I guess i will be a Russian soul this time.... |
@rvpiano You are right RV about Lewis playing the Brahms late pieces I listened to them last night and totally agree with you. There are a few recordings of late Brahms doing the rounds at the moment, Volodos Kantorow and Lewis and all special in their own way. |
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It is common to think that the soloist always has the last word. This is not always the case at all. First of all, “Das Lied” is a symphonic poem; the orchestral writing is much more than simply accompaniment for the soloist. Whether the soloist (or listener) likes it or not, the maestro has the last word. Depending on the stature of the soloist, a conductor will be more or less deferential to the soloist’s wishes, whims and limitations. Moreover, this type of disagreement is common in the rehearsal process. In this case, the problem is not only one of differing musical visions. It is not that only she thinks that the music will be better served at a slower tempo. As wonderful as she is, she is clearly having difficulty keeping up with Bernstein’s tempo (her limitation). A smart conductor will recognize this and, when all else fails, will adjust his musical vision for the sake of the music. Otherwise, the end result will be the rhythmic mess that we hear in this example. It would be interesting to hear what the final outcome was. Bernstein was a smart conductor. |
Like usual very interesting comment from frogman confirmed by this reader comment under the video: «There‘s another intersting interview (in German) with Christa where she says the following: Karl Böhm got it always right Karajan was always either too soft or too loud Bernstein was always either too slow or too fast But of the three, only Bernstein could communicate music with an unparalleled intensity. Christa, who will turn 93 in a week or so put that pretty well! »
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Johann Sebastian Bach, WTC, Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 852, No. 7 Franz Liszt, Douze Études d'exécution transcendante, S. 139 12. Chasse-Neige Frederic Chopin, 12 Études, Op.10 No. 8 in F major Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2/2 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 18 Pieces, Op. 72 No. 5: Méditation Sergei Rachmaninov, Etudes-tableaux No. 9 in D Major, Op. 39 |
As of late January, 2022, it’s fascinating to see that there have been more than 70 pages’ worth of people’s input on their favorite classical music recordings and/or listening suggestions since rvpiano originally started this thread on 12-09-2017. HOWEVER, on most of the forums here in which people discuss their audio equipment, I get the impression that better than 90% of them never mention classical music when discussing the genres of music they listen to and how their audio gear impacts their listening experience of it. The very low esteem in which the vast majority of the listening public appears to hold classical music comes as no surprise, because over the past four or more decades, schools (especially public schools) have eliminated courses devoted to introducing classical music to their students. The lower the income level of the students, the less likely they are ever to be exposed to this kind of music. Add to that a general public attitude which views classical music as the exclusive preserve of a wealthy privileged few, and that it (in the larger public mind) contains an element of snobbery and elitism, it therefore comes as no surprise to me that classical music is rapidly disappearing from the public musical landscape, especially in the United States, where the "fine arts" are being systematically devalued and pushed aside in favor of "popular" "Top 40" and "easy listening" musical genres. There are very few classical music radio stations left anywhere now. Finally, I must add that, especially in the U.S., the public DOES have a great love and appreciation for true, enduring CLASSICS in many other genres, ranging from Rock and Roll to Jazz to Country & Western, R & B, punk rock, rap and more. The enduring best of all these musical genres have become classics, too, in their own right. I am not disparaging these latter forms of music - just observing that European-style Classical Music as most of us have come to define it, appears to be on the ropes and on the verge of disappearing entirely from the wider public musical consciousness. It may very well survive only as a tiny niche interest. |
Erictal4075, Good post. One might argue, in view of your description, classical music is already at the level of a tiny niche in the musical landscape. |
eric on the contrary, i think classical music is more freely available than ever before in USA i am old enough to recall when you had to live in a big city and listen to stupid commercials/talk just to hear some classical music true, it is supported by a small wealthy percentage in usa they have their fancy concert halls and expensive programs but that has no effect on me there seem to be plenty of first rate musicians being formed today i have no desire to be among any majority to each his own |
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Yes, I did. One night Microsoft just took his ten and put in 11 without him knowing, which cleaned off every single thing that was on his large computer ! The way Audiogon works it is impossible to use the same Handel twice . You MUST use a new Handel . I chose Jim5559 as I think Jim204 is a /the star on here , just thought if anyone asked I would say this .
P.S . I started before rock butted in . Besides , I just used Schubert because on the day I started with same it was nobody but rockers on here , Didn’t like and made a fool of myself as if I was great , still hate rock , a huge blow to American society . Took music that was based on romance to one based on lust for starters |
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@jim5559 Yes you certainly got that one right but you have illuminated another point , in music like the drill field Discipline rules also . Where would we all be without our scales arpeggios, thirds fifths and octaves. Yes that is why the drill has to start early at three onwards. I pity that life and thank providence for the product of those years. |
Yes Len I surely do agree with you and sympathise at the same time. I also think it is too late to reverse what we yes We have done to this planet. And I really don,t think the wee poison dwarf will win us our independence. As Rab said "Sold for a passel O' silver " and it still goes on. Scotia forever. |
Well Jim , 3 days ago I’m pretty sure I got ominun? , the newer virus , all the first night was coughs and head aches , but my breath was normal and that would make me a fool to go to a hospital , home of death . Better 2nd day and this day, still coughs but less , Glad i had 2 jabs and a booster,not bad for in your 80"s, Besides , being brave like 70 % Scottish and rest German , I would beat the hell of the non-jab crowd down there crying for the doc to wave his magic wand . In a way it has/ is been good , on the edge of death I had no fear .
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What a great thread and so many great pieces. I started listening to classical seriously when I was in Jr High and was at a JC, somewhere in PA where I heard a quartet playing Pachabel I believe. It was great so when I returned home I found a radio station that was a Classical Station called KkHi in SF. They played Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky, Handel and Grieg and Debussy. So that started me on the journey of my addiction to home audio equipment and classical music. So getting to favorite classical pieces, I lean more towards the Baroque Composers, the transition Classical period from Baroque and handful of Romantic period and the Russian composer onslaught of the 19th Century and I do like 20th century American Composers. The labels or orchestras I buy are as follows in no particular order- • Sir Neville Mariner and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Murat Perahia Bach Keyboard Concerto’s No 1, No. 2 and No. 3 Philips digital recording of Mozart Requiem Deutche Grammephon Digital Recording of various composers (Albion’s Adagio Pachebel Canon Berliner Philharmonic with Herbert con Karajan Telarc produced some good ones-Handel Water Music These are just a handful of the awesome world of Instrmental Symphony, Orchestratrated and Quartet as well as Opera music to enjoy.
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It is my favorite version among other great one, like the Bohm one, but this Hogwood interpretion with a children voice chorus is an interpration that did never sound like a mass but like a drama, a spiritual opera, expressing the fear of death, the acceptance of death and the desire for death like in a children heart afraid and at the same time nostalgically aspiring to the promising adventure, all that make this version unique and to be frank the best for me in spite of any other possible and rightful criticism someone could make...No interpretation is perfect....But this one catch the universal essence of this ARCHETYPICAL work about death... Contrary to the magnificent Bohm version that sound like a magnificent mass for example, the Hogwood version sound like a spiritual opera not a mass at all.... How deep and how wise was this choice of children voices and of the pulsating rythm and tempo to illustrate Mozart beating heart at the time of his own death...Thanks Christopher Hogwood... This is the more universal Requiem ever written because of this PRIMEVAL understanding of death for the children heart in each of us, like the swift coming of the great fearsome riper and like the awaiting of our loving mother after our own death at the same time ....And listening to this we are all children again facing death.... And listen the solists they are singing like in an opera they dont pray, they tell a spiritual intimate and at the same time universal story.... The prayer is not in the parts of this " requiem mass" but you can listen to this prayer in the irresistible dancing beating pulsating heart of the composer himself writing all the voices like if each one of them was himself speaking....Incredible feat....The more efficient and powerful requiem ever written....Who will dare to write a requiem after that, it will be difficult to wrote another concerto called the "Four seasons" after Vivaldi, or another work called the Well tempered Klavier or the Art of the fugue after Bach ... This Requiem is magical especially in this interpretation....
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Very beautiful version but a mass of requiem and no more a drama and a spiritual theater... It is like Bohm version a mass not an opera....I dont claim that it is not beautiful, it is.... But moving us nearer the abyss of fear and redemption at the same time, i only feel it with the Hogwood version.... By the way this work is like the art of the fugue, so much deep and beautiful, i collect all version and like them all....
But for the art of the fugue of Bach i like much the Neville Mariner version for example amongst them all ... Not because it is the better one, not at all, but because it make possible and more easier to listen to this everest of music one thousand time at least.... The variety of instruments used and the their limited numbers at the same time and the alternate parts with only harpsichord or organ is wonderful idea of Mariner...It make this abstract algebraic musical geometical feat lanscape a more human easy to grasp landscape...
«If you feel happy but dont feel death you are not near a volcano»-Anonymus Volcanologist
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I always thought that a requiem was a mass ? For reasons not known to me, the worst things get , the calmer I get . Two times in Army I was thought dead in hospital , Not really , I was whatever you call almost dead but you come back. Both times I was not in fear because wherever I was, there was no fear .
I love Mozart of course , but the other genius , Schubert,, brought the feelings to me that Mozart bought to you guys , Mozart is the greatest writer of music . But Schubert is the greatest writer of humanly music . A musician sees Mozart, the Lady in Church sings Ava Maria , Schubert makes you think of all things human. |
Mozart was like us, ordinary human, thinking about death with fear and hope at the same time...I dont think that we must fear death, i think the the animal in us fear death...And the Mozart spiritual drama is yes first a mass but more than that a spiritual opera about the animal who fear death and the children who hope in spite of death in us......The Hogwood version make this very sensible and very clear it is more than a mass...We dont lack beautiful masses , we lack spiritual opera though... For Schubert no one would deny that here the human heart incarnate himself in music score....He was so talented but so receptive that S. created you are right one of the most "humanly music" ever written... His choral and lieders are testimony of his greatness over almost everyone else...I dont even think that someone is over Schubert for creating more beautiful singing music...Save Mozart beside him....
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