V. Monlti "Chardash" in performance of Vengerov(solo-violin) |
Aphex twins latest ' druqks' has some of the most beautiful music in electronic music ( and some worst) but the achingly beautiful material makes it worth while. A lot more than worth while. |
Mr. Dieyingly Sad by the Critters 1966...... |
Astor Piazzolla's "Death of an Angel"
Astor Piazzolla's "Libertango"
Pat Metheny -- "Offramp". |
Two works by R.Straus need mentioning:Death and Transfiguration--and the trio and duet from the last act of der Rosenkavalier.
Other favorites of mine are the Bailero from Songs of the
Auvergne (Canteloube), sung by Kiri te Kanawa; Deux Arabesques (Debussy), for piano; and the Humming Chorus from the second act of Madame Butterfly (Puccini).
The Gorecki Symphony mentioned above is his #3,
nicely performed by London Sinfonietta with soprano Dawn
Upshaw. |
Getz/Gilberto - everything - gentle and romantic
Neil Young - live, alone, acoustic, small intimate venues (mostly bootlegs) - raw, emotional performances
Pink Floyd - early, live recordings, best before Dark Side of the Moon (mostly bootlegs) - cutting edge (but still accessible) experimentation with music that evokes awe and respect for human creativity (like the Beatles, but we all know about what awesome work *they* did). |
Great thread! I have just a couple of suggestions. Gorecky's Symphony For Sad Songs, UTE Lemper's BARABARA, Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Jan Garbarek and orchestra on ARBOUR ZENA. |
Bach's cello suite no 2. "Famous blue Raincoat" by Leanoard Cohen. "Fly" by Nick Drake. |
In no particular order:
Simon and Garfunkels "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
Always makes me feel like everything's gonna be ok no matter what.
Billy Joels "Innocent Man"
Always makes me feel like everything is gonna be ok when I'm havin' woman problems.
Joaquin Rodrigo/ The Adagio from the "Concerto de Aranjuez"
Sad, bitter sweet,cerebral,intensely sexual, but hopeful as well. This works on so many emotions and I never tire of it. Julian Breem does this piece exceptionaly well. However, Christopher Parkening's performance is absolutely astonishing. |
Any ECM afficianados out there? Don't know how he does it, but Manfred Eicher gets the best out of his musicians. My vote would be..
Pat Metheny and Friends ("80/81"): the last 5 minutes of "two folk songs"
Pat Metheny: New Chautauqua
Egberto Gismonti: Solo (this guy is amazing. Like a Brazilian Keith Jarrett)
Mick Goodrick: In Passing
Kenny Wheeler: any early album (Gnu High, Deer Wan, Around Six)
Dave Holland: Life cycle, Extensions
W. A. Mozart: String quartet #15
Chopin: The Nocturnes |
I've been listening a lot to a couple of albums. Both these are music suitable for being in pain.
Etta James: "Love's been rough on me". A beautiful, pained, strong, bluesy sound. Rolling guitars and horns. Sample lyric "I was your rock, now I'm rolling away." As it happens, I'm listening right now. Very nice recording in terms of sound on a good system also. This was an Audiogon recommendation, so thanks to whomever...
John Hiatt's latest (I think). "Crossing Muddy Waters". Check out the cut "What do we do now?", which says it all. Just a consumate songwriter, playing with good musicians. The sound is very good, if a bit bright.
You asked for achingly beautiful music, which these are. Maybe even better description would be music to listen to when you are aching.
Best,
Eric
p.s. To seandtaylor99, what is your favorite recording of Beethoven's 5th? I love this also, but picked up Thielmann conducting it, and have been disappointed. Looking for something that is a powerful (symphonic!) interpretation, and which also sounds great on a modern sound system. |
Grateful Dead: Terrapin Station |
Saint-Saens & Springsteen. The Swan and the version of The River from the Live in NYC CD/DVD. |
Beethoven .... piano sonatas, 2nd movement of 5th symphony.
Mozart requiem. Some parts of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake are very moving.
Also, there's AC/DC "Rock & Roll Damnation" from the classic Powerage album.
One of these is a facetious answer, can you spot which one it is ? :-) |
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Andrew Latimer's guitar paired with Peter Bardens keyboards on Camel's Flight of the Snow Goose |
I agree with you Pendragn, but Eva sure makes her work for her money.
Mike |
Mikeam, I forget to mention Eva's exquisite rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This is the first of her songs that I heard...more than enough to hook me. As for Ella, no one has surpassed her in an overall sense...so versatile and always spot on. |
Pendragn, I also own the "Live at Blues Alley" CD, so I know exactly what you are reffering too. You are so right in that the world has lost a great voice, perhaps, the best voice I have ever heard. I certainly can think of no other voice except for Ellas' in the same league.
Best regards,
Mike M. |
OK it's time for some Rock n Roll and blues. There is so many tunes that move me that it is impossible to give a top three. Right now I am listening to Elvin Bishop's "Struttin My stuff" and it is moving me. Among others that move me are
"Golden Country" REO Speedwagon
"Fantasy Girl" 38 Special
"Good Day for the Blues" Storyville
"Easy Rider" Iron Butterfly
"More Than One Way Home" Keb Mo (many more by keb Mo)
Some others
Handel's "Halleluia Chorus"
Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers"
Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be"
Uh Oh Got to go. Delbert McClinton's "Every Time I Roll The Dice" just came on. I can't type and tap my foot at the same time. Happy listening |
Mikeam, you're a man after my own heart. You must also try Eva Cassidy's Live at Blues Alley. Her "covers" of Fields of Gold, Autumn Leaves, People Get Ready and What a Wonderful World are fabulous. Concerning her much lamented death, my understanding is that she died at age 34 of cancer. The world has lost one of the great blues voices. |
Eva Cassidy "SongBird". Thought I'd never compare a female voice to Ella and get confused as to who I preferred.., well it has happened. She died in a car accident in 1996, but her music lives on. Please try it, then drop me an email and tell me thanks :)
Mike |
re, Mahler: Hello Frap & Detlof, my personal conclusions:
1st-- Walter/ N.Y.Phil. (Sony)
2nd-- Klemperer/ Philharmonia (EMI-Great Recordings...etc NOT the Concertgebouw-Decca)
3rd-- Adler/ Vienna S O (ORF)
4th-- Walter/ Vienna Philharmonic (Urania - must exist on other labels too)
5th+6th-- Barbirolli/ Philharmonia (EMI, etc)
7th-- Barbirolli/ Halle Prch (BBC Legends)
8th-- Horenstein/LSO (BBC Legends)
9th-- Bernstein/Berliner (Deutsche G)
10th--Bernstein/Vienna Phil. (Deutsche G)
6th-- Horenstein & Kubelik (with the Bavarian S O) also offer (to me) interesting versions.
Cheers! |
Bach's Mass in B Minor does it for me. How can I ever forget seeing/hearing it performed in the church Handel attended in London. Check out #7, "Gratias agimus tibi"...it starts simply with the chorus and builds from there, adding tympani and trumpets by the closing forte. You would swear the angels had graced you with a brief appearance in your listening room.
Not so well known is Scriabin's Piano Concerto in F Sharp Minor. If you're partial to piano concerti and haven't heard this yet, I can't recommend it too strongly...as beautiful as anything by Rachmaninoff. I have it with Vladimir Ashkenazy, London 414 252-2 (CD).
Anything by Puccini works for me. I wish everyone could hear Jose Cura sing "Ch'ella mi Creda" from La Fanciulla del West, an extraordinarily powerful aria. |
PIA' s Benediction Moon record. It's an spiritual experience and she has such a beautiful voice. If you like Enya go for this one. |
Hello Frap. It is indeed good to to see this place alive an kicking again. I wholeheartedly agree with you about the early von Karajan renderings of LvB. I could never really warm to the Kleiber, whereas I loved Reiner's Eroica and the Pastorale, which he did with the CSO. You make me curious about the Horenstein Maler, which I never had the chance to hear. I'll go hunting for Unicorns though I suppose, as in the fairytales, they are rare beasts indeed! |
Hello Detlof, I have not listened to the Abbado Beethoven cycle, but I think that while Karajan was not exactly suited to Ravel, he really understood Ludwig Van in the first Stereo DGG cycle.
Carlos Kleiber had an outstanding 5 & 7 on DGG back in 75, that most critics praised as THE ONE. It is outstanding, and yet,and yet, I still cant let go of the Karajan magic on the 1963 cycle.
Do you or anyone here care to comment on the great Mahler symphonies? (1,2,3).
My choices are Horensten,(1st & 3rd, and what a third!!!!!on UNICORN LP & CD).
Bernstein, Kaplan( not a conductor per say, but a man who studied the "Resurrection" ad infinitum and probably knows more about the Mahler 2nd than even Lenny did. Produced an incredibly good 2nd on MCA records with libretto notes not found anywhere)...and Walter on the 2nd.
Solti also had an outstanding 1st on Decca. Good to see this place alive again. .........Frank |
Right now I'm rediscovering an oldie from my childhood. Chet Atkins' "Theme From A Dream" from his "In Hollywood" album. This was previously unavailable on CD, but was just issued on JVC XRCD a couple weeks ago.
Strange thing though. I just found out that the songs I loved all these years from that album were actually from a second studio session a few years after the original master was done in 1958. Last year I purchased a second copy of this album on Ebay and while the jacket and label were identical, the arrangements were totally different from my dad's copy. The people at JVC told me that they are aware of this second recording, but that BMG may have unfortunately lost these masters.
What I enjoy so much about the later recording, and why I think it's so achingly beautiful is that it focuses on the simpler guitar arrangements of Mister Guitar rather than the larger orchestrations of the original session.
Those songs are just so beautiful. And sad. It's too bad the only way I can enjoy them now is from a scratchy 40 year old LP. |
Hi, Tubegroover, Detlof, Rcprince; may I also recommend the Quator Altis version of 14 on Sony (the version is based on the original text -- so, differs slightly from the others).
Can't seem to find the RCA version of the #15 on catalogue...
Re, Beethoven cycles: there are two of Furtwangler's versions of the 9th (1951 Bayreuth & '54 Philarmonia Orch.) I find very moving. Also a 3rd by Furt: 1944, Vienna Phil.
Khrys: interesting tip about Parsifal/Thielemann. You also might want to consider Klemperer's version of same (EMI).
Cheers! |
This thread has been kept alive over one year. May it survive another! Toward that end, try the "Prelude to Parsifal" by Wagner, especially as performed by Christian Thieleman. |
Frank, I think you have a point with K's first Beethoven cycle, have you heard Abado's cycle, also on DGG? The rendering is exiting, though alas typical of DDG's worst! |
Jules Massenet's Intermezzo from Thaiis only played by Michel Schwalbe of the Berlin Philharmonic
Try to find the "flower" Label LP pressing of this great Karajan record of opera intermezzi. The LP was
KARAJAN: OPERN INTERMEZZI, DGG (138 OR 139 SERIES) 1968
BERLIN PHILHARMONIC. Do NOT get the EMI Intermezzi record, its not the same.
The playing is none finer .The version is one for all time.
Pure Magic. If you dont care for Karajan(his first Beethoven Cycle is still unsurpassed [early 60s], you will after this LP..........Frank |
Yes,Rcprince, especially the second movement. When I heard that for the first time, it was almost a mystical expierience, like a prayer, and had tears streaming down my face.....and I don't tend to "hystericalisms". It was one of the great musical moments of my life. The other two were the main theme of Bach's Musical Offering and the beginning of Mozart's Requiem. Those were moments, I'll never forget and they belong to the inner treasures of the heart which make life worth living. |
Tubegroover and Detlof, I believe the RCA Shaded Dog of this piece is one of the best recordings of the work, and one of the more valuable ones out there. Still looking for one... |
Hi Detlof
Both vinyl and CD. I will check on your recommendations. Thanks. Will |
I also enjoy a lot of classical pieces mentioned above. But let me go aginst the grain here. I think 'the future sound of london's work notably ' life forms' and ' dead cities( later part)'are the electronic music's classical equals. Full of intricate melodies that touches your heart. There are other albums before these two, which are good but nothing like the two mentioned. I say these two are going in to the history as late 2000 electronic classicals. |
Tubegroover do you speak LP or CD or both?
What you should definitely try to get is the rendering by the Alban Berg Quartet and while we are at it, try the Schubert Quintet in C minor also by the Alban Berg Quartet. Don't recall now, who plays the other cello, perhaps Rostropovitch, but I'm not sure. There is also a wonderful rendering with Heifetz, Piatigorski and Primrose on RCA shaded dog and by the great Casals with Isaac Stern on Phillips.
Regards, |
Schubert String Quartet #14; Death and the Maiden, Second Movement. The many variations in this movement is quite unusual, achingly-beautiful and brilliant for those unfamiliar with it, highly recommended. I would also be interested in recommendations for a good recording and performance of this piece. I currently have the Prague String Quartet on the Denon label. |
Yes, I think I know what you mean, Dwpc, and "concentrated" is an excellent word for it. I must go dig it out again and listen.
Cheers |
Detlof...not too detract from the overture; the Pilgrim's Chorus is more concentrated. IMO, the two "allelulea"'s and pulsating strings at the close of the chorus, though brief, are about as good as musical moments get. |
Dwpc...and what do you think of the Tannhäuser overture?
One of the most sensual-erotic music that has ever been written, I think. |
Pilgrim's Chorus from Wagner's Tannhauser |
I have to concur with those who submitted Barber's Adagio for Strings. It sort of troubles me that this music was introduced to many people in popular culture in the sad, sad settings used in the movies The Elephant Man and Platoon. I grew up listening to Barber's Adagio in Germany in the '60's because my mother liked it. I never thought of the Adagio as sad as such. In fact, later on in life when I rediscovered it and before those movies used it, I thought of it as quite sensual. Apparently, I am not alone because a former principle dancer from the Royal Danish Ballet, Fleming Halby, choreographed a somewhat erotic pas de deux to the Adagio.
Let me also submit Camille Saint Saens' C Minor (Organ) Symphony.
Also, the andante asai movement (2nd) to Ravel's piano concerto in G-as someone else already mentioned in this thread.
Pulenc, Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani
Bach, B Minor Mass
Bartok, Concerto for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste
Brahms, Double Concerto for Violin and Cello
Mozart, Requiem
Brahms, Violin concerto
Schubert, 9th Symphony (The Great) |
Another addition to the list, Dvorak's "Mesicku na nebi hlubokem" (O Moon High Up in the Deep Sky), from Act 1 of Rusalka. I'd heard this before from time to time but didn't know who wrote it until I heard it played at Dvorak's home in the Czech Republic. Bought the disc on the spot. Simply beautiful. |
Sumukh: In answer to your question about the recording engineers for HM, they have some of the best, including Peter McGrath and Tony Faulkner, but don't overlook the talents of producer Robina Young, a true talent. |
Just used my father's day gift certificate at amazon to get Barber's Adagio for Strings, etc. recommended here. While I was snooping around, I finally found a cd of Bach: Cantatas and Arias with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Used to have it on vinyl and had about given up! Highly recommended. Thanks, people. |
http://www.harmoniamundi.com/hmUS/homeus.asp
I first listened to the Boston Camerata's "Musee Judeo Baroque by Salaman Rossi" on this label. This was before I had an audiophile hardware budget. I wasn't even a classical music fan then you see. But the sheer beauty of the music did something to my ears. For some reason, I kept turning to this particular CD. All I can say is that "warmth, liquid mid range" etc comes from the recording and not from $2000 wires.
The Audio Critic magazine said they were in "awe" of this label and I agree. Sound quality is better than on 24/96 and even HDCD or SACD recordings - even on their old recordings. Must be superior sound engineers?
Then they started a budget label ($5.98/disk) called clasicalexpress.com
Check out their sampler for $2.98 at :
http://www.classicalexpress.com/sampler.htm |
Sibelius, what about your own concerto for violin? C. Ferras/Karajan, for example? Also, if M. Solemnis would you accept Brahms Deutsche Requiem? (Klemperer, maybe)
Cheers! |
I can't just make it 3:
Bach's Mass in B Minor
Bruckner Symphony #8
Prelude to Wagner's Parsifal
Sibelius Symphony #7
Berg Violin Concerto
Beethoven's Missa Solemnis
Part's Litany
Petterson's Symphony #7 |
Off the wall, but serious: Dog's Breath Variations, F Zappa, Uncle Meat |
