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.
Charles1dad 12-10-2017
I particularly like cello and piano duets and would appreciate all recommendations of this type.
Charles, cellist Janos Starker and pianist Gyorgy Sebok recorded three Bach sonatas (S. 1027, S. 1028, and S.1029, which may also be identified as being in G Major, D Major, and G Minor respectively) on the great Mercury Living Presence label many decades ago. I have it on an original LP, and I don't know if it has been released on CD or incorporated into a CD set or compilation. But if it has been, and you can find it, I guarantee you will be delighted!
charles1dad, Schubert did more piano duos than any other great composer. A 4CD set by two fine pianists . Christoph Eschenbach and Justus Frantz on Brilliant Classics 92858 from HMV originals gives you 4 hours of the best at a cheap price .ADD CD A dark horse with Evgeny Kissin and James Levine on RCA 8287669283-2 sounds good to me, A DDD recording .one CD .
A cello piece that might be interesting to a jazzman like yourself is Takemitsu's "Orion " a beautiful piece with piano pizzicatos , very modern classical piece that could be called avant jazz IMO .
For cello lovers, there’s an incredible, but pricey, set by my favorite cellist called the “Art of Maurice Gendron” on Decca. He was certainly one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century, with a tone like liquid gold. The set contains both his solo and concerto recordings. He was like none other with the possible exception of Emanuel Feurman, with whom I believe he studied.
I'll contribute with the popular, yet problematic:
Schubert Symphony No. 9 - Sir Charles Mackerras either with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Virgin Classics 1988) or the
Philharmonia Orchestra (Signum Classics 2006). Schubert's manuscript wasn't clear on the tempo of the opening movement and you'll find as many variations as there are conductors, but Mackerras nails it with (imo) the perfect tempos.
Bruckner Symphony No. 5 -
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim (elatus 2009). This is a difficult piece for conductors as there are many musical ideas to wind together to keep your interest going for 75 minutes. Barenboim's account is simply superb and holds you to the very end. (Great 16/44.1 recording also).
Mahler Symphony No. 7 -
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Michael Gielen (
Hanssler Classic 1993). Arguably Mahler's most clumsy symphony as it changes pace very frequently and seems to lead the listener to nowhere. This recording, when compared to others, clearly hits all the right buttons in terms of orchestra playing, phrasing and timing. The Wagnerian "Star Trek" trumpet theme is spectacular as the harps, violin and piccolos are spot on in their dynamic shading. Yes, even Bernstein takes a back seat to this one. Great 16/44.1 recording as well.
Vivaldi The Four Seasons - Soloists Orchestre National de France, Maazel (CBS Masterworks 1984?). This war horse has been recorded ad naseum with many soloists using it as a platform as an excuse to show off a bit or to read new meaning into it. This version is straightforward without any flair and is simply a delight. Recording is pretty good for its age.
Thanks for that nicely manageable core recordings list, Schubert. Appreciate your input. HUGE library you have, by my standards. How the heck do you manage it?...given you have moved a bit lately or so I think.
I’ll just mention a dozen or so works that everyone agrees are basic to the Classical repertoire. Over the years I’ve noticed that many come to Classical through smaller pieces so I’ll start with them . Used to be some PBS stations would have a listener poll of their favorite chamber(small) works every few years .
Time after time the top choice was Schubert’s Quintet in A "The Trout", a complement of sting trio with added piano and double base . One of my favorite recording is Rudolf Serkin and company on Sony Classic SMK46252, this has the added gift of also having one of the other masterworks, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet . As with all I mention there are many good recordings of everything, the listener reviews on Amazon are usually helpful .
A string Quartet that has some of just plain beautiful music ever written is Claude Debussy’s Quartet in G minor Op.10 . A wonderful recording is by the Guarneri Quartet on RCA, coupled with the great Ravel Quartet in F as is often the case with the Debussy .
My favorite work for the Violin and Piano duo(a lot of peoples favorite duo) is Cesar Franks , Violin Sonata in A . Of the perhaps 7-8 thousand recordings I’ve owned if I could have only one for the rest of my life, I’d choose the one of this by the great Korean artist Kung Wha Chung on violin and the stupendous Romanian pianist Radu Lupu . They bring out the French elegance of this masterpiece in a way that is rare . .I seldom say anything or anybody is the "greatest" , but this is the greatest recording I’ve ever heard so there -LOL .
In the bigger Orchestral works a piece I have easily heard a thousand times and yet remains ever fresh in my ears is something Norway’s greatest composer Edvard Grieg wrote as incidental music for the play "Peer Gyynt" by Norway’s greatest playwright Henrik Ibsen . A great recording of "Peer Gynt’ is the San Francisco Symphony under Herbert Blomstedt , London 425 448-2 .
Two works by one of the greatest and IMO most original modern composers , the great Czech Leos Janacek, that seem to catch the fancy of new listeners are his "Sinfonietta" and his "Slavonic Mass" . Strong powerful works that go from the beautiful to the brutal in a flash that always sounds that’s as it should be ! He writes his music to fit the Czech language so you want a Czech band for these , the Czech Philarmonic/Sir Charles Mackerras are the go-to for these .
A concerto that everyone seems to like is the "Concierto de Aranjuez" by the modern Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo. A guitar work that is just plain fun . A nice recording of this is Carlos Bonell with the Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit . There are a lot of wind solo’s in this and at the time the Montreal winds were to die for .
Concerto’s they everybody dies for are the "Brandenburg Concertos ’ by J.S, Bach , the daddy of them all . The 6 encompass the entire Baroque concerto grosso literature with constantly changing patterns and players playing both leading and supporting roles that many of the great jazz artists have gone to school on . My fave is the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra / Tom Koopman . . For solo piano great piece to start with is Robert Schumann’s "Carnaval". Artur Rubinstein made nice work of this on RCA .
Last by not least is Vivaldi’s " Four Seasons " If you wish to hear same in magnificent sound try Nils-Erik Sparf; Drottingholm Baroque Ensemble BIS CD-275
@scott_w @terry9 That Gorecki #3 is very powerful, thank you (I bought the soundtrack Terry mentioned, but would be interested if there are other performances on vinyl). Though not similar in style, but theme is the Kol Nidre on this famous old warhorse by Starker with Dorati: https://www.discogs.com/Janos-Starker-Dvořák-Bruch-Tchaikovsky-Antal-Dorati-London-Symphony-Orchestr... The mono original is good and cheap, and the Speakers Corner reissue of the stereo is fine. I’m a big fan of cello music, Du Pre, Starker, etc. Often the orchestra seems unnecessary. This famous piece was probably recorded many times by Starker but the early Period Records performances are wonderful: https://www.discogs.com/Janos-Starker-Kodaly-Sonata-For-Unaccompanied-Cello-Opus8/release/6124443 There have been various reissues of this over the years.
Mahler 5th Lorin Maazel and Cleveland Symph. Telarc Racmaninov 2 and 3 Horacio Guitierrez Telarc Anything Academy of ancient music Sir Chris Hogwood Naxos and Chandos and Mercury living presence labels Don Giovanni Ricardo Muti EMI Anything from Neville Mariner or Benjamin Zander +1 Fritz Reiner
rvpiano, FWIW I'll contribute a bit, but since I (and many others) have already posted in the past to lists of best/favorites etc and I'm too old to just replicate those recommendations, I'm just going to post about music/performers/genre that I'm currently listening to, without regard to professional competency or audiophile credentials. I really like this stuff and It sounds good to me. That's it folks!
I'm currently focusing (mostly) on music for the solo piano and recently discovered a label that supports some newer pianists performing more uncommon/ unusual pieces along with some common ones, some eclectic, but all assessible and enjoyable, in balanced compilations. Happily the audio is also excellent.
Here are a few on the Steinway & Son's label:
Get Happy - Jenny Lin Grand Romance - Jeffery Biegel LaValse - Sean Chen The Rascal and the Sparrow - Antonio Pompa- Bald Exiles Cafe- Lara Downes American Again - Lara Downes Siegfried Idyll - David Deveau
Today I'm having a Gilbert & Sullivan fest! Love that stuff. Still sing it but now in the shower only. :-)
I bought a London Treasury series copy of this record when I was a teenager, and still listen to the recording, though I have accumulated a variety of different copies, I still do not own the first Decca. But, in its various incarnations, it is a wonderful performance and recording and short of the original Decca copy, can be gotten cheaply: https://www.discogs.com/master/view/551677
Thanks for starting this, RV and thanks for the acknowledgment, Al.
I’m not a huge classical music aficionado but over the years, some pieces have certainly captivated me. Two that have are:
1) Stravinsky’s "Symphony of Psalms". Another commendable work by IS. The version I own is below as listed in Discogs. Not saying the recording is audiophile quality but I do enjoy the music very much.
From Discogs... Stravinksky* / Poulenc* - Saramae Endich, The Robert Shaw Chorale and RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Robert Shaw – Symphony Of Psalms / Gloria Label: RCA Victor Red Seal – LSC-2822
From Discogs... 2) Isaac Stern - Leonard Bernstein - New York Philharmonic* - Barber* / Hindemith* – Two Twentieth Century Masterpieces - Violin Concertos Label: Columbia Masterworks – MS 6713
The above a gift received many years ago. Everyone knows Samuel Barber’s "Concerto for Violin & Orchestra" (and rightly so) but it was Paul Hindemith’s violin concerto on the same LP that won me over. Here on You Tube is the Hindemith concerto from the same LP. Hope you enjoy it. PH doesn’t get enough love ;-)
Hopefully you’ll get some ideas on this thread that will turn you on. Sonically, my recommendations above all are excellent. You might want to try the Stravinsky L’Histoire du Soldat on HDTT for sonic realism. Maybe the best sound I ever heard. (If you don’t know the site already, Google it. You can purchase a download or a disc.)
Great thread idea, RV, and thanks for starting it. Also, kudos to Ghosthouse for suggesting the idea in your "Do classical CDs made from early analog tapes sound better on your system than new CDs?” thread.
A strong +1 re your mention of the Horenstein/LSO recording of Brahms’ First on Chesky. As I said in the other thread, it’s probably my all-time favorite symphony, and this recording is magical.
Some additional favorites of mine. I have all of them on LP unless otherwise noted:
--Any of the recordings of solo piano music by Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert on the French Astrée label, performed on period instruments by Paul Badura-Skoda. Incredible sonics (at least on the LP versions; I have no knowledge of that label’s CDs), and wonderful music beautifully performed.
--Dvorak “New World” Symphony, Horenstein/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on a Chesky CD. Music that I would expect to be immediately appealing even to those who are not by any means aficionados of classical symphonic music; a wonderful performance; and as I said in your other thread:
I find the sonics on this recording to be so amazing that I would expect anyone having a bias against the CD format would find themselves re-thinking their outlook after hearing it.
--Chopin “Piano Sonata No. 3,” Edward Auer on an RCA Japan Direct-to-Disc LP. --Chopin, “Piano Sonata No. 3,” Hyperion Knight on a Wilson Audio CD.
This beautiful music is perhaps my favorite piano sonata, and these recordings are the best overall combinations of sonics and performance I am aware of.
--"Danses Anciennes de Hongrie" -- Clemencic Consort (Harmonia Mundi France). --“Musique de la Grèce Antique” [i.e., music of ancient Greece] -- Gregorio Paniagua, Atrium Musicae de Madrid (Harmonia Mundi France)
It’s hard to go wrong with just about any recording on the French Harmonia Mundi label. And the music on many of their recordings that is from the Renaissance and other early times is generally just plain fun to listen to.
Stravinsky “Firebird Suite,” Robert Shaw/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on Telarc. This excellent performance of a very likeable work may have the widest dynamic range of any recording I have ever heard, other than Telarc’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with the notorious cannon blasts.
All my life I've tried to have the aha classical moment. Has never happened, with one exception: Gorecki #3. I own four versions. I find it profound. I own ten records by others, I try each annually to see if I'll warm up to them. One other contender maybe: Saint-Saens #3.
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