My Essential Classical Albums.

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1 hour ago, AnotherSpin said:

This is the beauty of classical music where we would have not a single best performance, but a luxury of at least several...)

 

I like Michelangeli approach in selecting just a few pieces to perform for entire life, like 3d Beethoven sonata. It seems to me Argerich is doing something similar, even if in a wider extent. 

 

I have just found another Ravel PC in my library, this one by Ivan Moravec with Prague Philharmonia directed by Jiri Belohlavek on Supraphon:

 

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2 hours ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

Well... I do not think it makes a sense to dismiss this or that musician just because his/her look doesn't come up to this or that expectation. Some are wearing strange dresses, some may even look strange. Anyway, music comes through ears, not eyes.

 

 

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What are your performance suggestions for some of these great violin concertos?

 

For Bruch, Mendelssohn, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky I am happy with the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

But about Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms & Mozart?

 

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3 minutes ago, EuroChamp said:

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64:

Ruggiero Ricci, London Symphony Orchestra (Pierino Gamba)

Hilary Hahn, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (Hugh Wolff)

Henryk Szeryng, London Symphony Orchestra (Antal Dorati)

Erick Friedman, The London Symphony Orchestra (Seiji Ozawa)

Jascha Heifetz, Boston Symphony Orchestra (Charles Munch)

 

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26:

Jascha Heifetz, New Symphony Orchestra of London (Sir Malcolm Sargent)

 

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto In D Major, Op.35:

Ruggiero Ricci, London Symphony Orchestra (Sir Malcolm Sargent)

 

Beethoven: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op.61:

Zino Francescatti, Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Bruno Walter)

Jascha Heifetz, Boston Symphony Orchestra (Charles Munch)

 

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

Arthur Grumiaux, New Philharmonia Orchestra (Colin Davis)

 

 

Which Mozart concerto do you mean?

Of course very influenced by my knowledge and the bias to the Golden Age recording.

 

Cheers,

Bernhard

 

Mozart VC3 please, but you can suggest others.

To be honest I listen mainly to Romantic music...

 

I am also partial to that era of recording and have both LvBs, the Brahms, the Bruch and a couple of the Mendelssohn's you've mentioned.

 

Thanks,

Ricardo

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I must also add three second tier Violin Concertos that I really enjoy:

 

 

 

 

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Just now, EuroChamp said:

 

I am sure, they are great. But I do not even know all three of them ... (

 

For the Mozart VC3, I would select the Isabelle Faust, Il Giardino Armonico (Giovanni Antonini) from 2016.

All in all I have 11 versions in my database.

 

 

Eleven, wow.

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8 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

I couldn't tell you definitively, but I do love the Chung recordings. I have this one:

 

 

Regarding the Sibelius, I don't have the Kavakos, but your mention of it will make me seek it out. I've seen Leonidas Kavakos perform it with the Berlin Philharmonic on the Digital concert hall, and he was amazing.

 

I listened to him live playing Sibelius with Philadelphia some years ago. Wonderful!

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6 hours ago, austinpop said:

I do have the Hendl, and other Heifetz recordings.

 

But I have to admit, I tend to favor recording fidelity over "musicality," as I am no expert. Therefore I find the Heifetz recordings hard to listen to due to their poor SQ.

 

Yes, Heifetz's violin sound harsh and toppy due to mic closeness and frequency response, which is a pity.

Apparently he used to call it "High-Phoey" 

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59 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

I've just heard fragments of Bruckner 8 and 9th symphonies. Think I'm hooked.

Some Bruckner symphonies recommendations, guys.?

 

4th - Wand/Kolner

7th - Blomstedt/Dresden

8th - Wand/Kolner

9th - Giulini/Wiener

 

I really like the seldom mentioned Tintner's recordings for Naxos (4th, 5th, 7th, 9th).

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27 minutes ago, Musicophile said:

 

First of all Wand: https://musicophilesblog.com/2015/09/11/my-favorite-bruckner-gunter-wands-late-recordings-with-the-berlin-philharmonic/

 

 

Other ones to note:

 

Abbado's last recording with the Lucerne Festival

 

Jochum with Staatskapelle Dresden

 

 

 

I must give those Berliner recordings a listen but I already have so many recordings of my favourite Bruckner symphonies that I always wonder if I need more.

The 7th is my preferred work, maybe I'll try that one... 

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I have this concert in CD but I think it was also released in DVD:

 

 

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I have several recordings of the 7th.

My favorites, in alphabetical order, are:

 

Blomstedt/Dresden

Giulini/Wiener

Matačić/Česká

Tintner/Scottish

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9 minutes ago, Musicophile said:

The 8th coincidentally  is my least favorite Bruckner symphony, I don't listen to it very often. 

+1

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12 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

This is philosophical concern. I believe modern man owns much more than might be needed for happy life. Even more, all those possessions make hem/her less happy in most of the cases. The easy way out may be an abandon of practically all and everything, which is not an option for most of us, I guess. What to do?

 

I try to restrain myself from buying yet another version of symphonic works I already own but it is hard work.

Solo and duo recordings generally gather different pieces, so there's a chance of finding new material, and live recitals are always interesting to listen to.

I have also been looking at period instruments.

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Wagner's Ring... Without Words.

I enjoyed listening to the (then) local orchestra play Maazel's suite of The Ring's essential moments and later bought the CD:

 

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I'd add Simeon Ten Holt's "Canto Ostinato":

 

 

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Some more suggestions:

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, sphinxsix said:

This is a beautiful minimalist piece. I listened to fragments of 3 different performances yesterday for almost an hour and a half! Haven't decided which one I like best yet. What's your favorite version?

 

I remember listening to a four piano and a two piano version and settled for the latter:

 

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What are your preferred recordings for the following bunch of cello concertos:

 

——— Dvorak

 

——— Elgar

 

——— Prokofiev

 

  ——— Schumann

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Kocsis "Vocalise for piano" adaptation

 

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My favourite Pélude: Op. 32 No. 5 in G Major

 

 

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6 hours ago, Musicophile said:

O

Oops, didn't read this correctly. I thought you referred to my Martha Argerich post playing concerto 3, but I assume you referred to this post instead:

 

 

So indeed, this one is great. Daniel Trifonov's recent album is also very good, with the Chopin and  the Corelli variations being solo (I particularly like the Corelli).

 

 

Sudbin does a great overview of the solo works, including sonata no. 2

 

 

Alexandre Kantorow gives a very good performance of sonata no. 1 here:

 

 

And finally, this was my very first Rachmaninov solo album, and I still like it today. Beate Berthold isn't very well known but she does a fine job here:

 

 

This was my first one:

 

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1 hour ago, Musicophile said:

Interesting, never heard of her. Is it good?

 

I still enjoy it. Also have an all Scriabin from the era.

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1 hour ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

You never know what you may expect from a person who loves balalaikas. Absolute and indisputable winner in the category "the cheesiest instrument ever".

 

Hmmm... What about this?

 

 

http://www.walterwillems.com/show_image.php?id=120

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A couple more for the pot: