Post your 5 best Classical Albums from 2013!

[mkrzych]

I like Weber, and I like Harmonia Mundi, and I like Isabelle Faust . . . so I have no doubt I'll like this recording

 

I'll let you know after I listen to it tonight - downloading now.

 

I love this album! Music is charming, performance is sparkling, recording is very clean - what's not to like?

 

FWIW, I personally wish the pianist had used a modern instrument, instead, but the use of fortepiano lends a bit of the feel of a 19th century "salon" performance; i.e., the recording sounds a bit more intimate and less "stilted" because of that idiosyncratic sound.

 

Overall, I'm glad I bought this one - thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 

Glad you like it as much as I do ;-)

[Boris75]

What do you guys think about this release below. I've listened through all the samples and in my taste it is full enjoyment.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10387[/ATTACH]

 

BTW, so far I really like to sound of Decca, Hyperion and Harmonia Mundi of course - crisp clear with good sound level!

 

I came across this recording because it was sold at half-price as part of eClassical daily Christmas sales and bought it just out of faith in Isabelle Faust's taste, and I have been very pleased with it. I find the music very enjoyable, the playing excellent and the recording to-notch.

[mkrzych]

I came across this recording because it was sold at half-price as part of eClassical daily Christmas sales and bought it just out of faith in Isabelle Faust's taste, and I have been very pleased with it. I find the music very enjoyable, the playing excellent and the recording to-notch.

 

I found it too late, so I paid full price, but I think it's worth it and this king of music make me smiling.

[mkrzych]

I came across this recording because it was sold at half-price as part of eClassical daily Christmas sales and bought it just out of faith in Isabelle Faust's taste, and I have been very pleased with it. I find the music very enjoyable, the playing excellent and the recording to-notch.

 

 

BTW, for modern piano I may suggest her Schubert recording with the same pianist or Beethoven Complete Sonatas from Harmonia Mundi as well.

[Boris75]

BTW, for modern piano I may suggest her Schubert recording with the same pianist or Beethoven Complete Sonatas from Harmonia Mundi as well.

 

Thanks for the recommendations

[Musicophile]

Thanks for the recommendations

+1 on the Beethoven. Among my top Beethoven violin sonata cycles, together with Argerich/Kremer and Grimaux/Haskil.

 

Faust is really one of those artists that you can buy nearly blindly. I've never heard a bad recording from her.

[rodaguilera]

Already on my buying list. Really energetic and supreme recordings from Hyperion - gold mine like Musicophile suggested on another thread. Superb!

 

Hi! Yes you should definitely buy this one.

[mkrzych]

Already on my buying list. Really energetic and supreme recordings from Hyperion - gold mine like Musicophile suggested on another thread. Superb!

 

Hi! Yes you should definitely buy this one.

 

I did. Anything I should to be considered more in this taste?

[Musicophile]

I did. Anything I should to be considered more in this taste?

Handel & Haydn: Angela Hewitt plays Handel & Haydn - CDA67736 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

 

If it's Haydn you're after, how about this?

 

Handel & Haydn: Angela Hewitt plays Handel & Haydn - CDA67736 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

[mkrzych]

I did. Anything I should to be considered more in this taste?

Handel & Haydn: Angela Hewitt plays Handel & Haydn - CDA67736 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

 

If it's Haydn you're after, how about this?

 

Handel & Haydn: Angela Hewitt plays Handel & Haydn - CDA67736 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

 

Angela Hewitt seems to be good choice, but I like more particular instrument like piano/cello/violin with something else: orchestra or combined together.

[Snowmonkey]

What do you guys think about this release below. I've listened through all the samples and in my taste it is full enjoyment.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10387[/ATTACH]

 

BTW, so far I really like to sound of Decca, Hyperion and Harmonia Mundi of course - crisp clear with good sound level!

Picked this one up on spec on one of eClassical's sales and it was one of my (pleasant) surprises of last year. I keep finding myself going back to it.

+1 on the Schubert and +2 on Isabelle Faust in general.

[Musicophile]

Angela Hewitt seems to be good choice, but I like more particular instrument like piano/cello/violin with something else: orchestra or combined together.

This is a big pack, not all trio's are must haves, but for this price, you can go wrong.

 

Trios avec piano (Intégrale) | Joseph Haydn par Haydn Trio Eisenstadt – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

If you don't have the Haydn cello concertos yet, with Jacqueline du Pré you have a safe bet, see the recent Cello thread.

 

If you prefer a newer one, this one is very nice:

 

Haydn/Hofmann/Mozart: Cello Concertos | Compositeurs Divers par Sol Gabetta – Télécharger et écouter l'album

[rodaguilera]

I did. Anything I should to be considered more in this taste?

 

These were the last albums that i bought on digital format from Hyperion and enjoyed:

Hildegard of Bingen: A feather on the breath of God - CDA66039 - Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 17 & 27 - CDA67919 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

[mkrzych]

I did. Anything I should to be considered more in this taste?

 

These were the last albums that i bought on digital format from Hyperion and enjoyed:

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 17 & 27 - CDA67919 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

 

This seems to be interesting, thanks a lot. I will investigate it!

[mkrzych]

Thinking about these ones as well:

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Piano Concertos No 16 (K.453) & No 22 (K.482) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart par Kristian Bezuidenhout*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Liszt & Grieg: Piano Concertos - CDA67824 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

[mkrzych]

Thinking about these ones as well:

 

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Liszt & Grieg: Piano Concertos - CDA67824 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

 

Already downloading…. To me awesome performance!

[Musicophile]

Thinking about these ones as well:

 

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Piano Concertos No 16 (K.453) & No 22 (K.482) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart par Kristian Bezuidenhout*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10399[/ATTACH]

Liszt & Grieg: Piano Concertos - CDA67824 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

I'm not a big fan of the Bezuidenhout. If you want a historical instrument, go for Brautigam instead.

 

eClassical - Mozart ? Piano Concertos Nos 19 and 23

[mkrzych]

I'm not a big fan of the Bezuidenhout. If you want a historical instrument, go for Brautigam instead.

 

eClassical - Mozart ? Piano Concertos Nos 19 and 23

 

Thanks a lot as always Musicophile. I am enjoying Liszt $ Grieg now - for me really nice!

[Moosbrugger]

This is a big pack, not all trio's are must haves, but for this price, you can go wrong.

 

Trios avec piano (Intégrale) | Joseph Haydn par Haydn Trio Eisenstadt*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

If you don't have the Haydn cello concertos yet, with Jacqueline du Pré you have a safe bet, see the recent Cello thread.

 

If you prefer a newer one, this one is very nice:

 

Haydn/Hofmann/Mozart: Cello Concertos | Compositeurs Divers par Sol Gabetta*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

You know, you could save yourself a lot of trouble if you just export your iTunes library to excel and post it.

 

[Musicophile]

You know, you could save yourself a lot of trouble if you just export your iTunes library to excel and post it.

 

That would make a rather long post...

[christopher3393]

I hope no one minds my selcting the Medieval Period. Much easier for me.

 

 

Machaut: Songs from Le Voir Dit - CDA67727 - Guillaume de Machaut (c1300-1377) - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

 

 

Mon chant vous envoy | Guillaume de Machaut par Marc Mauillon*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

 

Hildegard von Bingen - Celestial Hierarchy | Hildegard von Bingen par Sequentia*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

 

BINGEN Hildegard von | Compositeurs Divers par Sabine Lutzenberger*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

 

Conductus, Vol. 2 - CDA67998 - Anonymous - Medieval - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads

[ksjeff]

This seems to be a good place to post my question, with so many knowledgeable folks here. As a classical music novice looking for guidance, is there an available recording/performance of Beethoven's 5th that is widely considered to be the best? Could you recommend your favorite? Thank you.

[Snowmonkey]

This seems to be a good place to post my question, with so many knowledgeable folks here. As a classical music novice looking for guidance, is there an available recording/performance of Beethoven's 5th that is widely considered to be the best? Could you recommend your favorite? Thank you.

Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic seems to be the most acclaimed version: Ludwig van Beethoven : Symphonies n°5 & n°7 | Ludwig van Beethoven par Carlos Kleiber*– Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Not everyone agrees, but I'm a big fan of the complete Beethoven symphonies by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic (1963). If you're a novice who's attracted to the 5th, you'll sooner or later come to love them all. You can download the complete set from Qobuz for $35 or buy the CD set from Amazon for $29.63 (+ shipping) and rip them yourself. Either way, a great bargain.

 

http://www.qobuz.com/album/berliner-philharmoniker-herbert-von-karajan-beethoven-the-9-symphonies/0002894630882

 

Amazon.com: Beethoven: 9 Symphonies (1963): Music

 

Apologies for the OT.

[Bob Stern]

As a classical music novice looking for guidance, is there an available recording/performance of Beethoven's 5th that is widely considered to be the best?

 

I'd like to recommend an interesting 15 minute lecture by Bernstein called "How a Great Symphony Was Written". Bernstein plays examples of Beethoven's successive revisions that make the music increasingly effective. It's a good way to appreciate what makes "masterpieces" as good as they are.

 

The English lecture is the left channel only of tracks 7 and 8 of this album. You can buy just those two tracks in MP3 format for $4 total. (Sony had the weird idea of cramming 4 languages on the CD by recording different languages in the left and right channels.)

 

Amazon.com: Beethoven: Symphony No. 5; Leonard Bernstein Talks About Beethoven's First Movement Of The Fifth Symphony [Great Performances]: New York Philharmonic, Members of the Columbia Symphony Orchestra Leonard Bernstein: MP3 Downloads

 

As SnowMonkey stated, Carlos Kleiber's Beethoven 5 and 7 are highly acclaimed, but I think they are overrated. (I have a higher regard for Kleiber's Brahms 4.) It is extremely forceful and exciting, but some others are equally forceful and exciting, such as Solti. My preference is for a more lyrical performance, like Abbado or Bernstein/Vienna or Karajan. Vanska/Minnesota is too far the opposite extreme: he perversely pulls back at almost every climax. (Perhaps the orchestra, which considers itself underpaid, is incapable of getting any louder when the climaxes arrive.)

 

Unfortunately, I haven't heard any of the modern recordings in good sound other than Vanska.

[Musicophile]

This seems to be a good place to post my question, with so many knowledgeable folks here. As a classical music novice looking for guidance, is there an available recording/performance of Beethoven's 5th that is widely considered to be the best? Could you recommend your favorite? Thank you.

This is a tough one. 4 notes, da da da da, and so hard to get it right. Given that this is probably the best known classical piece in the world, everybody has an opinion. I haven't seen any recording really standing out that everybody would agree to. So don't expect unanimity, and be prepared to be confused :-)

 

That said, I fully second Snowmonkey's recommendation for the Kleiber and the 1960's Karajan. If you decide to get the Kleiber in high-res, please get the 24/96 from Qobuz and not the 24/88 from HDtracks, which most likely is ripped from SACD.

 

Be aware that Karajan has recorded this symphony at least 5 times. The 1970s DG cycle is quite good as well, avoid the 1980's cycle at all cost. There is one other even earlier Karajan which is to my ears even slightly better:

 

Amazon.com: Beethoven 9 Symphonies: Music

 

But this one comes in mono, and the 1960s cycle sounds so much better that you probably don't want to start with that.

 

If you want something more "contemporary", influenced by the movement around the "historically informed performance" (HIP), I would add:

 

Paavo Järvi's recent recording with the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Not yet available as highres download unfortunately, but as SACD. Symphony no.1 on this one is even better.

 

SA-CD.net - Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5 - Paavo Järvi

 

And if you really want to hear "destiny knocking on the door", which is how some have read the famous four notes, you just need to listen to this one as well, still one of my all time favorites:

 

Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Can be found on single albums or in this box:

 

Ludwig van Beethoven : Les 9 Symphonies / The Complete Symphonies (1958) | Ludwig van Beethoven par Bruno Walter – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Unfortunately, mediocre CBS sound.

 

Sorry for what is probably too much information for a novice, but I'd recommend you use this well known piece to just educate yourself a bit. Many people who don't know classical music well say that they couldn't tell the difference between different version of the same classical piece anyhow.

 

On the recordings I have the length of the first movement varies from 6:32 to 8:55. I bet you the differences should be audible pretty easily. Just chose what really resonates with you.