I just bought her Goldbergs. It’s really excellent particularly in the first 12 Variations. She tends to lose the line a bit in the Black Pearl and some of the longer variations, but it’s still a great disc. I would like to hear play them again in a few years
My favorite classical recordings
This is a new thread that I hope will have enough contributors.
Please indicate the classical performances and performers that are your favorites.
Hopefully others will contribute comments and add selections of their own.
22 responses Add your response
---The 4 th of Schumann by Furtwangler is for me by the way the greatest recorded achievement by far over any other interpretation and one of the most fascinating opus written as the 6Th of Beethoven which is a perfect description of Nature as Vivaldi four seasons and here with Schumann we have a perfect description of an agitated soul on the brink of the abyss ... Only Furtwangler can capture this as a Schumann soul photography, His direction aimed not to the beautiful, the perfect, no more than some other Furtwangler interpretations, it is way too deep and moving to be just beautiful or perfect; the reason why Furtwangler science of musical time put it on the top among any other maestro who capture, if not perfection or beauty but life itself, the beats of the human heart... This time mastery elude many and suspass all as Georgiev suggested speaking about Furtwangler achievement... ... ---The Liszt Christus , so great it is ,put Liszt on the short list of the great composers ever not just one of the greateast pianist ... Dorati version is the best ...Some others may be interesting , i own 4 versions 😊..Bruckner takes notice of the Christus , listen the first symphonic movement almost paradisiac describing Eden as suspended over Christ birth ... Bruckner had his ears opened for the mesmerizing pianist transformed in saint in his retreat reading his partition...
---The fifth of Bruckner....By Celibidache or anyone of the great Brucknerian maestros... ( the musical time mastery of Celi is second only to Furtwangler, Celi is a contemplative who put all work in front of the eternity , Furtwangler is an active man who put all works in his own human time rythm ; then their time and timing mastery are completely opposite) . All others Bruckner symphonies are more beautiful , as the spontaneous 6 th which i read somewhere he never corrected as he did obsessively for the others; the 7th is the most beautiful symphony ever written with the Beethoven 6th; the 8th the most perfect in all his parts balanced owning some qualities pertaining to all other symphonies he wrote together , the last movement is included second only to the fifth so to speak and if we compared to the 9th where there is no conclusion and which is by far the most dramatic of all Bruckner symphonies with a red sun setting for the last time in the first minutes..... But for me the 5 th dont rival any of these others in beauty, perfection, spontaneity, and drama ... Why then the 5th is the one i prefer ? Because of the metaphor i associated immediately with the second listening : the last fugal movement is written as a huge fugue encompassing and resuming perfectly the same movements born in the first three one with the astonishing fugue culminating in the chorale , it remind me as the perfect metaphor for the human life journey till this last memory phase waiting for death and the encounter with God... for me the first three movements describe life as imprevisible but the last describe an understanding and a recapitulation a revisiting of life in his dephts that is unsurpassed because of the last revelation : the God facing waiting moment in the last chord which will be described later in his Te Deum, which work Bruckner in his children faith described as his key to paradise ...
«Noted Bruckner conductor Eugen Jochum wrote in detail about the symphony’s interpretive challenges, noting that, in contrast to the Seventh Symphony, "the climax... is not merely in the last movement but at the very end, in the chorale. ... The first, second and third movements seem almost a... vast preparation. ... The preparatory character applies especially to the first movement [whose] introduction ... is a large-scale foundation... destined to bear the weight of all four movements."[3] As evidence, he detailed the way the introduction’s thematic materials function in later movements, and said the interpreter "must direct everything towards the Finale and its ending... and continually keep something in reserve for the conclusion." »
Bruckner takes notes as i said from the Liszt Christus and go further than Liszt himself ... I will not speak of Scriabin whom i put beside all the great composers i admired because as Liszt , he transcended piano composition, by a revelation of the creative depth of the cosmos more and more present from his first works till the end ; as Liszt transcended piano composition, by a revelation about the soul tempest and the soul peace.... They are the two supreme masters of the piano together beside Chopin who will never go beyond some limits, too much attached to Bach and traditions in spite of his mastery of expression ... |
The early HIP recordings, particularly Harnoncourt Merry Band, could be a trial to listen to due to the steely string tone , squawks obes, and the tempos that sounded as though everyone was taking crystal meth. The dogma espoused by the HIP crowd was also hard to take. Now we have had several generations to master historically informed instruments, many musicians have a music stand in both camps, and the tempos are by and large more realistic, allowing the music to breathe. I still wince when a superbly played piece of music hits a patch of squally string tone, but those moments are now outliers, for the most part. |
I put my recordings of HIP music into the closet with my hair shirts. I must admit that I’ve never liked the overscored, over produced, recordings of orchestral music. I welcomed Harnoncourt’s Beethoven, Berglund’s Sibelius, Mackerras’ Schubert and Brahms. What I found I loved the most was not HIP so much as the reduced forces and the clarity it brought. But, that probably explains why I love music for the solo piano and piano duets. Go figure. :-) RV, I really don’t have a favorite that I don’t stray from often. But I do have a love for Puccini’s La Boheme by Shippers that has never diminished, and I have grown to appreciate Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s Debussy series. They are my go-to recordings of this music now. FWIW, and I realize it may be a bit off topic, but in a prior post you referred to crying for the love of the first movement of Mahler’s 9th. Something I can appreciate and it occurs occasionally to me, just nothing of Mahler’s so much. What, who, actually does exactly this for me is a ’pop’ singer, Eva Cassidy. If you are not acquainted with her, but appreciate a great voice and can abide something not ’classical’ in our sense, you should listen to her. She died young and unappreciated in her early 30’s, but was later discovered in England (she’s from Appalachia). Her songs are so, so, beautiful and full of heart. I cry just thinking about her and I save her music for those times when I’m emotionally prepared to hear her. It’s that exquisite, for me at least. Just hear her ’Over the Rainbow’ juxtaposed to the perennial favorite version by Judy Garland. I could go on, she really winds me up! :-) |
One thing that interests me is how my tastes have changed. For example my first exposure to the Mozart Symphonies were the recordings of Klemperer and Walter. Having revisited this recently, having primarily listed to HIPP versions for the last few decades, while I felt a nostalgic appreciation, I don’t think that I will return to these very often. Many violin concertos from the golden age of recording, such as Heifetz/Reiner collaborations, the soloist is miked so loud relative to the orchestra that it always disappoints when Igo to a concert and the balance is natural |
I am only into 20th century classical, almost exclusively music from post WWII, to the present, which I know not everyone's cup of tea, but I will certainly take part in this thread. I'll start with the recording that really spurred my interest in classical music. Ernst Krenek - Static and Ecstatic / Kitharaulos Not only do I love this from a musical standpoint, but the vinyl recording has a large, deep, open soundstage. It is one of those soundstages, that can fool you into thinking you can walk among the the musicians. There is also a much more recent recording of this piece by the Cleveland Orchestra. |
Sonata Pathetique played by Valentina Lisitsa Adagio in Cm by Albinoni played by Alexander Hrustevich (bayan -- solo) Rhapsody in Blue conducted by Leonard Bernstein (had been my all-time classical favorite record where on the other side is American In Paris on 6-eye Columbia label) El Dia Que Me Quieras -- played by Juanjo Dominguez (guitar) and Diego El Cigala (vocal) Muerte Del Anjel -- played by Astor Piazzolla also same like to hear with guitar of Juanjo Dominguez Requerdos del AlHambra (Tarrega) played by Brandon Acker El Cholco (Villodo) played by Yamandu Costa Take Five -- played by George Benson on guitar.
P.S. I've started relating famous jazz and tango compositions and songs to classics
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