Yes rvpiano, I have the LPs of all the titles that I posted. Any in particular catch your interest? BTW, the Victrolas are all plum labels.
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
BTW, upgrading the internal wiring and replacing the resistor to the T27 was a substantial upgrade to the tweeter’s performance on the 101s. Replacing the wiring and bypassing the overload protection circuit (S-STOP) yielded a big improvement to the entire bass response. I also upgraded as many crossover parts as I was able to. They really sound quite wonderful. In comparison, the stock 101s sounded compressed, bass deficient, and the T27 had noticeable grittiness. The 101s, both stock and modded, are quite power hungry. I’ve found they sound their best powered by 90wpc Altec monoblocks (modified 1569s). Using this combo, the dynamics are quite impressive too. |
I just realized that the Brahms 2 with Ashkenazy/Haitink is digital too. I thought of a couple more favorite Dorati recordings on Mercury: Bartok Miraculous Mandarin complete ballet BBC (the LP needs to be an RFR stamper, not an M) Dvorak Sym. #7 LSO (tough to find, not the orange label) Tchaikovsky Sym. #5 LSO And a few more RCAs: Sibelius Sym. #2 Monteux/LSO Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream excerpts Monteux VPO ( only low level sections have good sound) from Victrola series Wagner Tannhauser Overture, Magic Fire Music, etc. Munch/BSO, also Victrola Just curious. Any different favorite performances of the pieces I’ve mentioned? I’d be interested. |
I have the LPs of these recordings too. The only exception is the Archduke Trio, which I have on Sine Qua Non cassette and CD. The Horowitz CD comes from 2 LPs which I also have. And I agree, the sound quality of these LPs is uniformly outstanding. The Rite of Spring and Firebird recordings are digital, while the rest are analog. I find the Dorati Rite on London to be the most "lyrical" recording of the piece that I've heard while lacking none of its savagery, and I've come to prefer it to the other performances I've heard. The only one that even comes close for me in that regard is the Leibowitz on RCA from a Readers Digest set. The von Dohnanyi/VPO Firebird is very rarely mentioned, yet for me it beats out all the others because of it's flow and continuity, not to mention the incredible virtuosity of the VPO. I'm always left shaking my head at the genius of Stravinsky's orchestration. |
Here are a few that I’ve enjoyed (all stereo): Mozart PC #25 Brendel/Marriner Philips Prokofiev VC #1, 2 Chung/Previn London Prokofiev V Son. #1, 2 Perlman/Ashkenazy London Stravinsky Rite of Spring Dorati/Detroit London Horowitz "Late Russian Romantics" (Rachmaninoff, Scriabin) Sony CD Mozart Complete P Sonatas Eschenbach DG Haydn "London" Symphonies Davis/Concertgebouw Philips West Side Story/Porgy and Bess Suites Bennett RCA Brahms PC #2 Ashkenazy/Haitink London Stravinsky Firebird complete von Dohnanyi/VPO London Shostakovich Sym. #5 Bernstein/NY Columbia/Sony (’59?) Beethoven Sym. #5 Kleiber/VPO DG Debussy Nocturnes Monteux/BSO RCA Holst Planets Mehta/LAPO London Brahms Sym. #2 Munch/BSO RCA Respighi Pines/Fountains Reiner/CSO RCA Copland Appalachian Spring Dorati/LSO Mercury |
I'd be lying if I said Mahler's Symphonies were down my alley but his vocal works are . The greatest recording I know of is his "Ruckert-Lieder " with the incomparable Janet Baker and the New Philharmonia Orchestra/ Barbirolli . Warner Classics 566 9812. To list everyone I like would go into the hundreds/thousands . To make it easy for an old man I'll just list my favorite 3 composers of the last century in no particular order . Ralph Vaughan Williams Leos Janacek Bela Bartok |
Alfred Brendel, Glenn Gould, Artur Rubinstein. Aaron Rosand, Milstein, Heifetz, Itzhaak Perlman. Guitarists Segovia, Bream, Williams, Oscar Ghiglia, Eliot FIsk, Manuel Barrueco, Jorge Caballero, Ana Vidovic, Adam Holzman, Eduardo Fernandez all the obvious composers, plus: D. Scarlatti, Ravel, Debussy, St. Saens, Prokofiev, Bartok--too many to list but those are favorites Beethoven symphony #5, 9, 7, Mahler 1st Beethoven violin concerto, Ponce guitar concerto Prokofiev violin sonata #2, St. Saens #2, Bach unaccompanied violin partitas 1 and 3, sonatas 2 and 3, cello suites 1, 3 and 5 too many Beethoven piano sonatas to list but Waldstein probably the favorite |
Let’s get this forum rolling again! Who are some of your favorite pianists, violinists, cellists? What about your favorite composers, concertos, sonatas, symphonies, tone poems, etc.? Horowitz, Rachmaninoff, Pletnev and Glenn Gould top my list of pianists. Violinists include Milstein, Bell, and, of course, Heifetz. As for cellists, there’s Maurice Gendron, Janos Starker and Wallerstein. Composers are a hard one. I love so many. But aside from the obvious Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and Brahms, there’s Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, et al. Favorite symphonies are Beethoven “Eroica”, Rachmaninoff 2nd, Mahler 9th, Mozart “Prague”, Prokofiev and Shostakovich 5ths, Stravinsky “Symphony of Psalms” and many more. Favorite Concertos: Any Mozart Piano Concerto, Glazunov Violin Concerto, Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto, Prokofiev’s 2nd Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s 4th Piano Concerto. Any Strauss Tone Poem. Beethoven’s 2nd and 3rd Cello Sonatas, and just about any of his piano sonatas. This is just a partial list. As you can see, my taste is quite conventional. |
I also like Barbirolli in 5, Leinsdorf as well. It’s hard to find a bad performance of 5. The 7th is a tough nut to crack. I hated it for years, but now love it. Abbado recording finally did the trick. Maazel also has a delicious 4th with Kathleen Battle ideal in the final movement. Besides Kondrashin, there are almost too many good 9ths to name, but Rattle does a good job. In the 6th, von Karajan is my favorite. Solti in the 1st, 3rd and 8th. Mehta is a surprising choice in the 2nd with the Vienna Phil., NOT the Israel Phil. These are favorites at the moment. Like most Mahler lovers, I have to go through myriad performances of the others I own to come up with more. |
First I must admit that I prefer my Mahler big, bold, full of angst, etc. Don't care much for the soft romantic approach preferred by many. My favorite symphony is his sixth. I'm partial to Thomas Sanderling and the St Petersburg PO in this symphony but there are others equally enjoyable. Next I enjoy the 9th - my favorite is probably Leonard Bernstein and the Berliner Phil in a live performance recorded in 1979 on DG. But there are so many others.....(not all his :-)_ Probably what has gotten the most listening over the past few years is his 1st in a performance by Benjamin Zander on Telarc. What I really enjoy about this disc is the coupling of his Leider eines fahrenden Gesellen. Love it! I probably have 200+ recordings of Mahler - it can be tough to choose. This is one body of music where performances really can really critical to the listener. Generally I found I enjoy Tennstedt, Solti, Levine, Boulez, and of course Bernstein as much as any. |
I have both the Sony and DG Bernstein/Mahler sets. I have to listen to them more often. I like Abbado for Mahler and in general. George Szell has wonderful recordings of the 4th and the 6th, and of, course, I like him for everything else. Von Karajan is up there with Mahler. And, believe it or not, my favorite Mahler 9th is conducted by Kiril Kondrashin with the Moscow Symphony. The aforementioned Solti is great in Mahler as well as Horenstein. Off the top of my head, these conductors come to mind. I’ll look through my collection and come up with more later. btw, What’s your favorite Mahler symphony? Mine is the 9th. After that, it’s a toss-up. Each is so unique and wonderful. |
I've been hooked on Mahler for decades. The first set of LPs I got were by Solti, so to a large extent I learnt them all in his interpretation, and as we all know, teenagers are impressionable, and his way has become for me in many ways the right way. That being said, I will admit a soft spot for Bernstein. His romantic way with the slow movements seems right--to me at least. Then there are a number of other conductors' individual versions of symphonies that are great. I'll pull out my favs and post a list later. |
This forum seems to have dried up since I was taken Ill. Thank goodness, I’m feeling a lot better. I’d like to revive it. I wonder if there are any Mahler lovers out there. If so, who is your favorite Mahler conductor? I know Horenstein is considered by many to be the non plus ultra, but I like Solti a lot, even though he’s put down by many Mahler aficionados. Who do you like? And for that matter, who are some of your favorite conductors in general? |
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Only important thing about the Grammie's was my "home" Band , the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra ,won for Best Chamber Music Recording/ Small Ensemble . Schubert's " Death and the Maiden" with Patricia Kopatchinskaja . Best CO in USA playing in best Hall in USA has the lowest ticket prices of any major orchestra in America AND up to 4 kids get in free with parents . Also players do about 50 concerts a year free in St. Paul Schools . So please buy the record . |
The field of classical music is undergoing the same extreme downturn that all musicians have been facing since the 1980s. Here’s a NYT article stressing the need to pass legislation to bolster funding as well as alarming stats showing why many, including yours truly, moved to another field to make a living. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/opinion/congress-musicians-music-bus.html?action=click&pgtype... Note that the Grammys tonight are unlikely to spend any time at all with classical activity and, as well, that the ability to purchase classical media has become increasingly difficult. The number of new classical recordings being produced each year has plummeted and is largely centered in Europe. When it becomes clear you cannot make a living in a field, the best minds select other fields even if they are musically inclined. Comparing the Grammys with the Oscars shows where the money is. |
Another poster mentioned the Gendron box while saying it was pricey. It is available on Amazon.uk for almost half the price coming out to about $6.00 a cd which back in the halcyon days of Tower would have been considered budget cds. And we're talking 25-30 years ago so with inflation they're super budget. |
Dag Wiren: Symphonies 2,3, Overtures by Norrkoping SO/Dausgaard. A CPO release. Wiren was a Swedish figure (1905-86) sometimes cited as a Nielsen disciple during his lifetime. The 2 symphonies here are very different but the 3rd symphony (1944) is composed of recurring motives, ostinato accompaniments, and limited harmonic motion. As such, it sounds proto-minimalist in style and you can almost hear Glass waiting in the wings. Play it loud on a good audio system. |
There may be a case for early music but by Baroque era it is pretty well known what was what in instruments,and you can hear them today . My self, I don’t pay much attention to those who say Bach etc would have used this or that modern instrument had it existed in favor of what he did write for those who did exist . As always to each his own . |
Surprised there is no love for Glenn Gould here. But I'll throw in some must haves. Goldbergs '81 analog not digital version Music of the Renaissance and Baroque 2 cd set Also what on vinyl was considered a demonstration disc(try and find one!) Cluytens Debussy's Jeux And I happen to be a big fan of Baroque played with high cholesterol style rather than on blood thinner so I'll add Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico by the Berlin Philharmonic. Often making music is very different from academic archeology. And let's face it no one will ever know what contemporaries of the early music and baroque composers really heard. Though it is fun to speculate. But not too much. |
I read the German blogs and classical reviews primarily in order to retain my German language skills, such as they are . . In last few years the rave revues on the young(ish) Chinese violinist Tang Yang have been nothing less than spectacular . I finally broke down and bought her Naxos CD of Saint-Saens "Works for Violin and Orchestra " which are seldom played . I’ve not heard such perfection of technique combined with unreal sensitivity to the music itself in many a year . I suspect she doesn’t get much press in US because she was offered scholarships by both Julliard and Curtis at a very young age but turned them down for a German scholarship in Chamber Music . She still resides in Germany and has 6 recordings on Naxos,,which is a German Firm , I ordered the other 5 today . |
Schubert, How did you ever guess!? I was on a cruise ship, which is a germ generator. As I write, I’m coughing my head off and wheezing out lyrics to songs. I didn’t exactly get the flu, but something very close to it, and have been laid up all week. Not a happy camper! I’ve been following the discussions, though. I’ll contribute something when I feel more human. |
twoleftyears , in my lifetime I have had the occasion to hear LARGE audiences cheer for music they never heard before over their favorite music simply because the artist in the former was authentic and that in later was not .. It was a totally spontaneous reaction which convinced me that we humans are hard-wired to know authenticity when we see or hear same . And that we get a bit antsy when our culture presents us something we unconsciously know is not . |
twoleftears: As regards diverting attention, I have a similar concern with bluray music performances. Have the Holst Planets by philharmonic orchestra/Salonen that is an over-the-top recording (signum vision). Huge number of mics and cameras and the sound is the best of any Holst I have heard. There is, however, so much visual action/panning that the mind is pulled away from the musical content and I find myself preferring just CDs that simply provide the music. Curiously, do not encounter this same divergence in live orchestral performances where the musical content and performers' actions seem to blend naturally. Perhaps in one, you decide where to turn your attention to and in the other, the engineer is doing so for you and you must pay attention to this view. |
Speaking of colors and composers here's a Swedish composer who was also active as a watercolor painter: Hugo Alfven: Symphonies 1-5, Swedish Rhapsodies, Royal Stockholm Phil/Jarvi. Have had this for a week or so and was not immediately impressed. Then, listened to the 2nd Symphony a second time, and was hooked. Worth investigating. The 4th Symphony "from the outermost Skerries" uses two soloists singing only vowels. At times its brilliant and at other times, doesn't quite seem to work. Lots of incidental music of interest; performances/fidelity range from good to very good. |
Scriabin was very taken with that whole Symbolist doctrine (involving synaesthesia) of correspondences between the senses. See Rimbaud’s poem on the different "color" of each of the vowels of the alphabet. This was in Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, years ago. There was definitely some correlation of the more obvious sort (darker sonorities, dark blue, brighter, yellow, louder, red, etc.), and it was interesting as a curiosity, but you ended up thinking about those possible correspondences rather than just immersing in the music. P.S. D'Albert two piano concertos in the Hyperion 19C series last night. Pleasant, but not compelling... |
craig59 I understand the OD part , but as a devout Anglican with a good command of German has never happened to me after 50 years with Bach, esp. the cantatas , to me they are a form of prayer . Someone who wrote great religious music in English and was born in same year as Bach is , obviously , Handel . Among people I have known the most neglected of his works are some of his best works , The Chandos Anthems 1-VI . Chandos Label(no coincidence) has nice box sets for good prices , perhaps the best readily available . After I listened to Vol 1 today, I went and dug out my Volume 1 LP on the Vanguard Everyman Classics label . The Vinyl was so much better the Chandos CD seemed like a toy and I have a modest TT set up . I think I have said it before but again to all , if you ever run into ANY old Vanguard vinyl just buy it . |