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Top 5 Classical recordings

HI all,

I was wondering how many of the AuidogoN fellows engaged in Classical Music would like to have a Thread to share top picks and recommendations, that hopefully will be useful for those looking to start or otherwise expand a collection.

In order to be of help not only to people already into it, but also newcomers, I would ask a double question:

A.- If you were to recommend a top 5 list of masterpieces of all time, to a person looking to get into classical music with no knowledge at all, which would be you recommendations?

B.- Your favorite 5 composers and his 5 top masterpieces.

I know just 5 may be very hard, for question one specially, but to keep it simple and of help to others I thought it may be a good number. And will be easier to to average in the different responses.

Also please provide a recommended recording of each piece if possible.

Lastly I would ask to indicate the number of disks each one owns of the category. It can be interesting to see if the responses changes with the experience of the individual. I don't mean an specific number... don't wanr anyone counting for 3 days 3,543 discs... but maybe a range like:

C.-

1.- < 10
2.- > 10 - < 100
3.- > 100 - < 1000
4.- > 1000

What do you think?

I will start myself:

A.-

1.- Mozart, Piano concerto No. 20 & 21:

Recommended recording: Mozart Piano Concertos 20-25, Decca, Vladimir Ashkenazy, ASIN: B0000041LF

2.- Beethoven, 5th symphony

Recommended recording: DG, Carlos Kleiber ASIN: B000001GPX

3.- Vivaldi, 4 seasons

Recommended recording: DG, Anne-Sophie Mutter ASIN: B00002DE2L

4.- Schubert, Trout Quintet

Recommended recording: DG, Amadeus Quarter, Emil Giles ASIN: B000001GXF

5.- Brahms, Piano trio no. 1

Recommended recording: Phillips, Beaux arts trio (complete trios), ASIN: B00000416K

B.- (in no particular order)

1.- Schubert

a) String quintet D956.

Recording, DG Late sting quartets, string quintet, Emerson Sting quartet. (Trio series). ASIN: B0001ZWGI8

b) String quartet death and the maiden D810

Recording, DG Late sting quartets, string quintet, Emerson Sting quartet. (Trio series). ASIN: B0001ZWGI8

c) Symphony no. 9 the great

Sony Classical. Bernsein century. Symphony no 8 and no. 9. New York Philharmonic and Bernstein. ASIN: B00003WGO4

d) Piano quintet The trout D667

DG, Amadeus Quarter, Emil Giles ASIN: B000001GXF

e) Piano trio in E flat D929

Decca. Schubert complete trios. Beaux arts trio, Grumiaux trio. (Duo series). ASIN: B00000417B

2.- Tchaikovski

a) Violin concerto no 1

Living stereo. Brahms/Tchaikovsky Violin concertos. Heifetz/Reiner. ASIN: B0009U55RE

b) String quartet no 1

DG Masters. Dvorak American quarter / Tchaikovsky quartet no 1 / Borodin Quarter no 2. Emerson String quartet. ASIN: B000001GO3

c) Piano concerto no 1

Living Stereo. Tchaikovsky piano concerto no 1 / Rachmaninov piano concerto no 2. Van Cliburn. ASIN: B0002TKFRC

d) Trio for piano op 50

DG. Shostakovich - Tchaikovsky trios. Argerich, Kremer, Maisky. ASIN: B00000JSAC

e) Symphony no 6 Pathetique

DG, Tchaikovsky symphonies No 4, 5 & 6, Karajan. ASIN: B000001GYJ

3.- Dvorak

a) Cello Concerto. DG. Dvorák: Cello Concerto, Op. 104 / Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, Op. 33. Rostropovich. ASIN: B000001GQ8

b) Quarteto Americano. DG. Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Borodin: Quartets. Emerson String quarter. ASIN: B000001GO3

c) New world symphony. Dvorák: Symphonies 8 & 9 / Kubelik, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. DG. ASIN: B000001GQ7

d) Piano Quintet. Dvorak: Piano Quintet, Op. 81/ String Quartet No. 10, Op. 51. Decca. Tacaks quartet & Andreas Haefliger. ASIN: B00001IVQR

e) Slavonic Dances. Sony. Cleveland Orchestra and George Szel. ASIN: B00005YD5H

4.- Rachmaninov

a).- Piano concert no 3. Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 / Ashkenazy, Kondrashin. Decca. ASIN: B00001IVQT

b) Piano concert no 2. Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 / Ashkenazy, Kondrashin. Decca. ASIN: B00001IVQT

c) Symphony no 2. Rachmaninov: The Symphonies. Ashkenazy. Decca. ASIN: B0000042HY

d) Piano sonata no 2. Horowitz Plays Rachmaninoff/Concerto for Piano in Dm; Sonata for Piano No2/Vladimir Horowitz. RCA. ASIN: B000003ER1

e) Piano concerto no 1. Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 - 4, Decca, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andre Previn, ASIN: B00000427L

5.- Mozart

a) Piano concerto no 21. Mozart Piano Concertos 20-25, Decca, Vladimir Ashkenazy, ASIN: B0000041LF

b) String quartet no 14. (Hayden quartets). Warner Music. Alban Berg Quartet Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 14 - 23. ASIN: B000024MCP

c) Clarinet quintet. DG. Emerson String Quartet. Mozart / Brahms: Clarinet Quintets. ASIN: B00000IX73

d) Requiem. Mozart: Requiem / Tomowa-Sintow, Müller Molinari, Cole, Burchuladze; von Karajan. ASIN: B000001GK8

e) SYmphony no 41 Jupiter. Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 35, 36, 38- 41. DG. Karl Bohm. ASIN: B000001GQB

C) >100 - < 1000

Ok who is next... thanks
Eli
eelii08
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
Love Mahler, but I agree that it's not the composer to start with.
Eelii08, FYI, Bruckner was Mahler's teacher and mentor. If u like Bruckner, Mahler would be the next direction to go. However, each composer interprets Mahler very differently and the choice of favorite version has led to some very heated debates online. Mahler 1 and 3 are a good start. Mahler 6 is the "heavy metal" piece which I love.
Maybe I've said too much as I don't want to start debating Mahler performances on this thread.
newbee
4,093 posts
 
Lowrider, re Mahler and Bruckner. Bruckner can be a tough choice for a beginner, or even a novice, great though it is. I'll flesh out your recommendation for an introduction, and an inexpensive one, in an outstanding performance, Guilini's Symphony #9 with the CSO on EMI. A great place to start. I think other Bruckner, especially before #7, and #8, require a bit of musical savy.

I also agree with your view of Mahler 6, one of my long time favorites is by Thomas Sanderling and the St Petersburg Orchestra - no one does the last movement better IMHO. But that would not be my recommendation for someone just wanting to explore Mahler.

Eelii08, I have not previously posted for all of the reasons expressed by Learsfool and maybe a couple more. :-)

How ever, FWIW, something to consider for your list for a beginner would be Sibelius' Symphony #2. No one ever went to hell recommending Vanska on BIS, Ashkenazy & LSO, Davis & BSO, Bergland & Helsinki on EMI (though I prefer his with the CSO). There are many others.......... This is the more romantic side of Sibelius. Folks with a leaning towards something a bit more modern might love the 5th as well. For someone more advanced, like yourself perhaps, #4 is IMHO his finest. Herbert VK's 4 on DG is as unromantic in mood as it gets, yet I think is one of the finest 4's.

I think a good Mahler performance to start off with, especially in this forum (audio oriented) would be Mahler's 1st Symphony performed by Zander on Telarc. This recording includes an excellent performance of Songs of a Wayfarer. The 1st is very assessible, the Songs are beautifulfy sung by Christopher Maltman, and combined they make a winning combo, my favorite (not for #1 alone however).

FWIW, I contributed to a couple of other threads some years ago regarding classical music for beginners. You will find them under the "Music Forum' during 2005 and 2009, or you might more easily track them down under my Music Forum threads. Lots of recommendations there you might utilize for your upcoming beginners guide.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
Newbee, appreciate your comment and agree about Bruckner and Mahler for newcomers. I was directing my advice toward Eelii08... maybe I didn't make that clear.
mapman's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
mapman
15,679 posts
 
The 3rd was my incarnation with Mahler.

I used to record 6 hour chunks of public radio to VHS Hifi back in the 80's.

One day, I fell asleep while listening to 1 such tape but something I was hearing woke me up mesmerized in some kind of half dreamlike state. It was the opening movement of that Oslo Philharmonic performance of the Mahler 3rd I had recorded off of WLRH in Huntsville, Ala. I lay there mesmorized for a good 90 minutes or so and when it was done felt a spiritual cleansing of sort had occured. This was my conditioning to make a goal to soak in as much Mahler as I possibly can handle in my lifetime. Mahler is not something I would listen to regularly though in the same way that I would limit my time riding a roller coaster.

Dvorak, Sibelius Shostokovitch and Stravinsky would probably be my personal 6-8 choices in my list of favorite go to composers. A lot of Dvorak and Sibelius is quite digestible for a newbie. Shostakovitch and other better known 20th century composers a bit tougher to digest often.
eelii08 OP
169 posts
 
Thanks guys. I am not too familiar with Bruckner or Mahler. I will follow your recomendations and put it in my list of next listenings in order to expand. However, unless more people recommend them seems they would not make the cut for the short list of choices for starters, for what all of you say.

Newbee will take a look at your postings. Thanks.

Seems Sibelius is getting a lot of recomendations too. Can you give a list of 3 or 4 from him?

Shostakovitch I do like it but it is a bit hard at times. I very much like his piano trio. The live recording from DG with Argerich, Kremer and Maisky doing Tchaikovsky piano trio as well is just fantastic.
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