My Essential Classical Albums.

[Bob Stern]

Rostropovich

[Bob Stern]

Two comments on harpsichord music:

 

1.  I normally find solo harpsichord tiresome, so I prefer Bach on the piano.  However, Scarlatti is an exception for me.  His music is so perfectly adapted to the sound of the harpsichord that I enjoy it that way.  I'm no Scarlatti expert, but the recordings I enjoy are the recent ones by Hantaï and the old ones by Ralph Kirkpatrick.  On the modern piano, Horowitz often played Scarlatti, and he has a distinctive style.

 

2.  I enjoy the unusual color the harpsichord can add to some 20th Century compositions, similar to Bartok's use of the celeste in his "Music for Strings, Percussion & Celeste" (fantastic piece — do listen if you don’t know it).

Dutilleux—Les Citations for oboe, harpsi, bass, percussion.

Schnittke's Symphony 4 (1984) includes harpsichord, celeste & piano, but not recommended unless you like modern music.

[Bob Stern]

Here's another 20th Century piece with harpsichord, just as good as Dutilleux and much more approachable than Schnittke:

 

Kokkonen—Durch einen Spiegel (1977) Metamorphosis for Harpsichord & 12 Strings,  Vanska conducting Lahti Sym, on BIS 528.

[Bob Stern]

Re Bach organ:

 

+1 re Marie-Claire Alain, although I have her 1983-86 recordings on Erato (now Warner).

 

Kevin Bowyer on Nimbus also is good.

[Bob Stern]

14 hours ago, accwai said:

what would be a good version of Schubert's The Trout?

 

If you can tolerate 1965 sound, my favorite is the wonderfully spirited and nuanced classic recording by Peter Serkin, Alexander Schneider, Michael Tree, David Soyer, and Julius Levine, on the Vanguard label.

[Bob Stern]

12 hours ago, AnotherSpin said:

Schubert's Quintet (D.956) is one of my few very favorite pieces of classical music. Naturally, I am trying to get as many various interpretations of it as I could. One of the recent is hirez recording from Quatuor Ebène, coupled with several lieder performances with Matthias Goerne.

 

+1 for Schubert's string quintet being one of the absolute masterpieces of classical music.  Like the Beethoven late quartets, no single performance seems to capture everything.

 

Is the Ebène one of your top 3 favorites as a performance, disregarding SQ?   What are your other favorites?  I suppose mine is the 1952 (monaural) by Stern, Katims, A. Schneider, Casals & Tortelier.

[Bob Stern]

2 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

what would be your recommended performance of his 'Death and the maiden'

 

Alban Berg String Quartet, 1997.  (I include the date because they probably recorded it multiple times.)  More variety of expression than the Takacs.

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, AnotherSpin said:

I was trying very hard to appreciate this opera [Pelleas & Melisande], no success as per now.

 

Same here.  Pelleas is much more abstract and non-melodic than Debussy's instrumental music.

 

Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmelites" is a more inviting entry point for modern French opera.  Berlioz' "Les Troyens" is an interesting opera to explore.  It's long and not uniformly inspired, but the best parts are wonderful.

 

On the whole, I must admit I vastly prefer Italian opera.

[Bob Stern]

4 hours ago, EuroChamp said:

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.77:

Arthur Grumiaux, New Philharmonia Orchestra (Colin Davis)

 

That's my favorite, too!  It isn’t mentioned that often in "best of" lists.

[Bob Stern]

Bartok #2 — Gil Shaham w Boulez & Chicago Sym on DG is fantastic.  Surprisingly good SQ too.

 

Even though you're happy with your Sibelius recording, you must get Heifetz' unique combination of fire and ice.  I have the stereo recording with Hendl conducting.  Even if you normally consider Heifetz too fast or glib, this one is exceptional.

 

Heifetz also did a fascinating, idiosyncratic Brahms with Reiner.  Very interesting ideas.  Definitely not glib.

[Bob Stern]

15 hours ago, Musicophile said:

Wand is so much more than safe.

This guy spent most of his life on Brückner, recording nearly three complete cycles. There is so much nuance and insight there.

 

Some critics admire Wand and others consider him overrated.

 

I love Wand's 7th with Berlin Phil, but I find him dull in the 8th with both the Berlin Phil and Munich Phil (2000 on Profil).

 

In the 8th, Barenboim/Berlin Phil is more nuanced in the soft parts and much more ecstatic and grand in the loud parts than Wand.

 

Haitink's 9th with LSO is very good.

[Bob Stern]

Bruckner's 4-minute "Ave Maria" for a cappella chorus is a beautiful gem.  It's only $1 as track 9 of this album:

 

http://www.eclassical.com/harmonia-mundi/christmas-noel-weinachten.html

[Bob Stern]

19 hours ago, Dave G said:

Bartok, at least his string quartets.

I recommend as the most approachable Bartok:

3rd piano concerto

Concerto for Orchestra

Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta

Violin Concerto #2 (especially Gil Shaham w Boulez)

[Bob Stern]

On 7/30/2017 at 6:30 AM, AnotherSpin said:

Barber, Bartok, Sibelius, Faure, Poulenc...

17 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

I'm not that familiar with their music. Will check them out. Would you recommend some of their compositions/performances in particular?

 

Barber:  Violin Concerto, Essays 1 & 3 for Orchestra.  My favorite is Slatkin, St Louis, 1986-88 on EMI, with Elmar Oliveira in violin concerto.  If you like those, listen to his Cello Concerto (Poltera), Piano Concerto (Browning), and String Quartet (Emerson Qt).

 

Barber's songs include some of his best pieces.  His best is "Knoxville, Summer of 1915".  Perhaps the most famous & dramatic recording is Leontyne Price w/ Schippers (RCA 1968), but SQ should be better with the more straightforward performance by Dawn Upshaw & Zinman.  In the non-orchestral songs I like the recording by Cheryl Studer and Thomas Hampson, with Barber specialist John Browning on piano.

 

Sibelius:  Violin Concerto by Heifetz.  Symphonies 2, 5, 7.  I love Bernstein/Vienna with 5 & 7 on one CD.  In #2 I prefer Ashkenazy, Segerstam or Mehta.  #2 is Sibelius' only romantic symphony, and I dislike Vanska's anti-romantic approach, which is better suited to #4.

 

Faure:  His most famous works are the Requiem and two very short works: Pavane (for orchestra) and Sicilienne (for cello & piano).  I also love:

Cello Sonata #1

Piano Quartet #1 by Rubinstein & Guarneri Qt.

Piano Trio, op 120 by Shaham, Eguchi & Smith on Shaham's label Canary Classics.

 

Poulenc:  A strange choice, IMO.  Much of his music schizophrenically alternates between being lovely and garish.  His most famous pieces, the Gloria and Stabat Mater, exemplify this.  I'd be interested in AnotherSpin's favorite Poulenc pieces.  Sharon Bezaly made a great recording of the flute sonata.

 

[Bob Stern]

Nielsen's symphony #4 should be added to the list of essential 20th century pieces.  If you like that, try 3 & 5.  Bernstein & Dausgaard are great in the symphonies.  

 

Other great pieces by Nielsen:

 

String Quartets 1 & 4 by Danish String Qt (Dacapo label).

 

"Pan & Syrinx" is gentle & pretty.

 

Snefrid Suite and Helios also are very good.

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, AnotherSpin said:

It was named above.

Sorry; I see that now.  I originally saw only sphinx's quote from your post that included the composers' names without the pieces.

 

(Dipping into a long thread sporadically without reading all the posts can be dangerous!)

[Bob Stern]

16 hours ago, AnotherSpin said:

Dvorak is among great composers who didn't receive due attention in this tread yet (imho). Many know his New World symphony and Cello concerto, however he created a massive output of excellent music. Some additional recommendations may include all symphonies (box with Kertesz or more recent with Belohlavek, both are great), Piano and Violin concertos, string quartets (including famous American), Dumky trio, etc.

 

+1.

 

Isabelle Faust, whom I normally don’t like, has a wonderful recent recording of the "Dumky" Piano Trio with Queyras & Melnikov on Harmonia Mundi.

 

The Guarneri's performance of the "American" String Quartet is exceptionally nuanced.

 

I love the 8th Symphony by Szell/Cleveland.  It was his last recording (1970), and it is surprisingly relaxed and subtle, not like Szell's usual brisk style.  24/96 remaster.

 

To the neophyte, I'd caution that symphonies 1-6 and the piano and violin concertos are considered a step down from the other works recommended by AnotherSpin.  Unlike many composers, Dvorak got consistently better with age.  I like the late chamber music more than the mid-period symphonies, such as the last two string quartets op 105, 106, the 2nd piano quintet op 81, the 2nd piano trio op 87.  

 

The Requiem is excellent for those who like choral music.

[Bob Stern]

Jordi Savall has done many years of research on relationships between European and Middle Eastern early music and has published many recordings, often packaged with an elaborate hard-cover book discussing his findings.

 

https://www.alia-vox.com

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, sphinxsix said:

early Miles Davis CD editions with filtered (removed) noise didn't sound that good. The later remasters with clearly audible tape hiss had much more musical detail and nuance. Just check out 'Kind of Blue', 'Bitches Brew' or the original Sony masterings of 'Agharta' and 'Pangaea' versus later Japanese remasters

 

I enjoy the Pristine Classical remaster of Kind of Blue.  I haven’t heard the Japanese remasters, but I think Pristine does a perfect job of eliminating noise and notching out screechy treble while preserving detail and nuance.  But others have complained that Pristine reduced the treble too much.

 

Incidentally, when I apply parametric EQ during playback of screechy recordings, I usually use a notch at about 3.5 to 4 KHz to reduce screechiness without sacrificing "air", in contrast with a high frequency shelf or low pass filter.

[Bob Stern]

"The 4 Seasonings" by PDQ Bach.

[Bob Stern]

1 hour ago, rando said:

Looking for recommendations on the best Telarc has to offer from their heyday in the 80's.

 

I love the romantic sweep of Rachmaninoff sym 2 by Previn & Royal Phil, but some critics consider it too slow.

[Bob Stern]

7 hours ago, Musicophile said:

I'm not such a big fan of the Mazurkas, but Rubinstein is a safe bet.

 

Your impression of the mazurkas might improve if you try Rubinstein's 1952 recording (volume 27 in RCA's Rubinstein Collection issued in 2001).  It's much more varied and spontaneous than his stereo recording.

 

+1 re Zimerman's Ballades and concertos.

 

Don’t overlook the cello sonata, which is a late, mature work.  One good recording is Du Pre & Barenboim.

[Bob Stern]

As an introduction to Strauss, I would not recommend Alpine Symphony or Sinfonia Domestica.  The consensus is these are not his best works.

 

The two Strauss pieces similar to Metamorphosen are:

(1) the string sextet that opens his last opera, Capriccio.  You should be able to find the sextet without buying the opera.

(2) Death and Transfiguration (shown above).

 

His best orchestral works are Ein Heldenleben, Don Quixote, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan, and Till Eulenspiegel.  None of them are elegiac like Metamorphosen.  Don Quixote and Till Eulenspiegel are jocular, the others are dramatic/heroic.

 

A completely different aspect of Strauss is the lovely tunes in his operas.  If you're averse to vocal music, try the orchestral suites or "symphonic syntheses" from his operas such as Rosenkavalier and Frau Ohne Schatten.

[Bob Stern]

Ashkenazy is another touchstone in the Shostakovich op 87 preludes & fugues.  Ashkenazy is more varied and dramatic.  Jarrett often is playful, which is an unusual perspective.

 

(I mention the opus number because Shostakovich also wrote a set of 24 preludes, opus 34, without fugues.)

[Bob Stern]

On 11/28/2018 at 5:34 PM, sphinxsix said:

Can someone recommend some Manuel de Falla recordings? Heard a very beautiful composition by this Spanish composer on the radio

 

Was it a piece for guitar, piano or orchestra?

 

Falla's famous guitar piece is "Homenaje" (sometimes called by its full name "Homenaje sur Le Tombeau de Debussy").  It's only 3 minutes long.  Pepe Romero's 1994 album entitled "Noches de España" includes Homenaje along with equally good pieces by other Spanish composers.  It's my favorite Pepe Romero album.

 

Falla's best orchestral piece is the flamenco ballet "El Amor Brujo".   My favorite performance by far dates from 1963 with Reiner conducting the Chicago Sym.  (Leontyne Price is the excellent soprano, but there are only two songs, 2 minutes each.)  There's a superb film of the ballet directed by Carlos Saura.  (If you like that, watch Saura's first flamenco film, Blood Wedding.)

 

For a gentle, subtle approach to Falla's ballets, try Juanjo Mena conducting "El Sombrero de Tres Picos".  The Chandos album also has a delicate performance of Nights in the Gardens of Spain and an orchestration of "Homenaje".

 

Falla's most famous vocal piece is "7 Canciones Populares".