Classical Music for Aficionados

Here are some of my favorites:

Charles Ives Symphony No. 2 - NY Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein

Bernstein’s Mass - Sony Classical remastered 1971 recording conducted by Bernstein at the Kennedy Center

Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 - Royal Philharmonic conducted by Charles Mackerras

Respighi’s Pines of Rome - Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Norichika Iimori on the Exton label.  

Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis - NY Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein on Deutsch Grammophone

newbee,

I just got the Sheppard disc.  Very enjoyable.  Great program.
The Gershwin especially, is played with great panache. 
He has a phenomenal technique.  I don’t see why he’s not better known.

acman3.  Sorry for the typo.  Damn spell corrector!!!

amman3,

Thanks a lot for your feedback.
  It’s very encouraging!

The complete John O’Conor recordings of all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas on Telarc. Brilliant.

The Planets, Holst, Montreal Symphony, Dutoit, London

Anything by Martha Argerich, especially her live recording of Rach #3 Radio Orchestra Berlin, on Decca.

Barenboim, Chicago Symphony, Saint Saens #3 organ on DG

Keep classical alive (and jazz and rock too)

FYI , you are all doing a great job. I have really learned about a lot of great music. Classical is overwhelming in shear volume to the novice, and you are doing a service to us real  Newbees . 

Remember, people are listening and learning even if not participating.

Also, if you have a lull it is ok. Have fun!

rvpiano, FWIW you can google 'Michael Sheppard, pianist' and you will get several hits which will give you some background on him and this disc. These are for the most part transcriptions (for which I'm a sucker, especially the music of Liszt, Prokofiev, and Wagner) but they are more original in their selection than most and some are Sheppard's own transcriptions. I hope you enjoy.

newbie,

  You’re right, it is a heavy lift trying to keep this thread going.  But, we got off to a good start.  Just have to get the more reticent to participate.

 I’lm going to get the piano record you recommend. I’ve never heard of Michael Sheppard.  Have to give him a try.

P.S .  I payed 10 bucks for this fantastic DVD on Amazon . bought 2 just in case .

.
I’ll look to the Melartin newbee , The Tampere. like the other "minor"
Finnish bands, are very good , like everything else in Finland .
During Holy Week, as is my custom , I listen exclusively to
religious music ,about half early music . Dufay, Ockeghem , Palestrina. Monteverdi, etc and IMO the greatest of them all , Josquin des Prez .

Of course the other half is devoted to, you guessed it , J.S Bach .
The Cantata’s are the main course but I end up with the piece my
favorite conductor , Herbert Blomstedt, convinced me is Bach’s greatest
work , his Mass in B minor .
I listen to it on DVD with headphone system on my trusty 50" Samsung Plasma with the great Blomstedt conducting an Orchestra he loved and who loved him , the Leipzig Gewandhaus .
I don’t think the Mass could be played or sung better than on this EuroArts 2005 DVD , recorded in Bach’s own Church , the St. Thomas .
To watch a great conductor conduct a great orchestra with no baton and the
least amount of hand beats needed is a uplifting in and of itself !
The extra bonus of Blomstedt expounding why he thinks the Mass in B minor is Bach’s best is a treat not to missed !
Blomstedt himself is a devout Christian and yes, that does make a difference .

RV, FWIW you've got a tough job ahead of you if you want to keep this going. Just not that many classical music enthusiasts on this site, especially ones that will actively participate. 

Since you are a professional pianist I thought I would mention a compilation solo piano CD that I not only enjoy totally, but that I also you as a reference for my system. "Michael Sheppard plays Rodgers, Hough, Barber, Sheppard, Crumb, Corigliano, Wild, and Balcom, on Harmonia Mundi. I just don't tire of it. This is very accessible music for anyone who is a bit venturesome.

In the same vein, but for full orchestra, another modern piece that is not only accessible but very enjoyable. Erkki Melartin's Violin Concereto on Ondine. The Tampere Phil conducted by Leif Segerstam.  Hard not to like this piece.

I would like to revive this thread before it dies out.

 I was just listening to the “Decca Sound” box which has a  section of classic performances issued on Decca.  The first two I listened to were “knock your socks off” sounding blockbusters from the Decca catalog:  The Alpine Symphony with Blomstedt and Mahler’s 8th with Solti. Then, rummaging through the collection I selected theShostakovich 5th with Haitink.  As I listened I noticed the sound was markedly wrong compared to the first two.   The Haitink was, sure enough, a digital original — completely wiped out of sonic excitement.
Not that all digitals are bad.  Some are spectacular.  But it’s interesting that Decca didn’t do a better job of mastering for the “Decca Sound.”

Ijcazador, If you haven't already heard this, you might like John Ogdon and Brenda Lucas doing some of Rachmaninoff's music for 2 piano's. On ASV CDDCA636. Suite #1, Suite #2, Prelude in C minor Op3 No2, and Russian Rhapsody. 

FTM
When I listed my favorite classical pianists, somehow I left John Ogdon off the list.  I especially treasure his Rachmaninoff.  I am not really a big fan of Rachmaninoff, but I love the Preludes and the Corelli Variations.
Also, when I mentioned Komitas, I left the best recording off the list.
Grigory Sokolov plays Komitas, Six Dances for Piano on his "Live in Paris" recording,  wwwnaiveclassique.com.
Review of a book about Ogdon here:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/apr/07/john-ogdon-biography-piano-man

Looking through my Schumann Symphony collection I found a set I forgot I had (normal these days).
Sounds like the original version and not like someone thinking they knew better
than Schumann !
Haitink /Concertgebouw/ Phillips 416 126-2 Excellent sound , far more natural than most CD’s . Just wonderful performances . Schubert, Schumann and Brahms , three birds of a feather, flying together . Thank you , God .

Are you sure this performance is on Blu-ray?  Can’t find it anywhere.

Mahler 4th Bluray Fritz Reiner

"It’s only right, then, that we mark Johann Sebastian’s 333rd birthday not with the usual seriousness and solemnity, but with the exuberance of the season: this composer and his musical wife knew not just how to make babies, but also how to sing about sex."
 https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/03/23/bach-and-the-erotics-of-spring/

I believe the best thing you can do is go to as many LIVE classical concerts as humanly and financially possible .
$ 1000 dollars worth of symphony tickets will give you better sound at home than a new $ 1000 whatever will .
Train 'da brain .

I don’t think there’s anything you can do about differences in hearing. Not only is frequency response different among everyone but that frequency response keeps changing with age for all of us. So it does not matter how slightly different our heads might be physically. And we all have different listening skills. And the sound changes with the weather and time of day and many other reasons, anyway. All anyone can do is improve his playback system and try to get the best sound he can.

@geoffkait , 
Yes, I do recall those efforts, but I was trying to imply that there is no microphone that will reproduce what each set of ears will. My hearing and your hearing may be completely different, just as our eyes will respectively see an image differently colored(colorblindness notwithstanding). That being said, there is no way a recording will fulfill each individuals expectations of a live performance.
@schubert ,
Yes, I agree with your post. And, I often find myself thinking how composers lived and how the times they lived in influenced their work.

One of my favorites is the 2nd movement of the Beethoven Ninth symphony.
It still seem so avant garde, but to think it was written in the 19th century...
I would have loved to be in the audience when it premiered.
And, Beethoven was completely deaf at that point...
(But, I bet he could still 'hear' it)!
B

A trite expression comes to mind regarding the music/sound discussion.
“putting the cart before the horse” sums it up well.

Yup, brain is on the job .
I believe I ,as a historian, have the good fortune of being able to put myself in the time and place of almost any  European composer from
1200 on . To me that helps a lot in understanding .

 

It’s really amazing how that works.
 The imperfections melt away as you get into the music.

agree with these comments
now listening to casals/serkin beethoven sonatas
if i listen for them, i can hear imperfections
but then that casals tone takes over, and i am gone
I have a picture of casals thibaud and cortot in their young prime
they are so certain of themselves, and they have so much reason to be
it has not gotten any better
technically perhaps yes maybe it has
but the musical essence is total
and that is what i hear

Upon reflection this what I think . All the physics are irrelevant, the psyche rules .
A 90 year Maestro who , given a hearing test, is doing good to hear
5000Hz . Yet he ,while conducting, hears the symphony as well as he did
at forty . The brain has a vast store of memory that can, and does, make
him hear that symphony as real as he ever did . The brain is always
looking to maintain a stasis as job # 1, and for that particular brain not to do so brain knows would be a major upset to its apple-cart .

Not speculation but research done at Cambridge, the worlds leading University on all things neurological .

Now I’m not Herbert Blomsted, who at 92 is still in demand ,
but I’ve heard him conduct many times and all told have heard well over a thousand live symphonic events .
I am certain the Brahms 1 I played a few weeks ago sounded very close
to the one I heard live a few hours before . And often does .
I do speculate my brain has  enough memory and knows where my passions lie to make sure that happens because at nearly 84 its not looking to upset its apple-cart .

YBMV (Your Brain Might Vary )

gdnrbob
Recorded music will never be equal to 'live' performance. Unless they can make a microphone that duplicates our individual ears, it seem we will have to accept that it comes pretty darn close.
'Suspending disbelief' is an interesting premise and one that I think has merit.

Apparently you’re not familiar with the monaural binaural recordings of yore that employed a dummy head microphone arrangement that simulated a human head and ears.  

I agree with rvpiano. Recorded music can be represented quite realistically at home if the music is small scale and the room pretty large. Reproducing the full dynamics of a symphony orchestra is just not on, and will never be, I fear. The best to hope for is a postage stamp version. In the meantime it helps to use a very powerful amplifier that can cope with the dynamic peaks and not compress them.

Recorded music will never be equal to 'live' performance. Unless they can make a microphone that duplicates our individual ears, it seem we will have to accept that it comes pretty darn close.
'Suspending disbelief' is an interesting premise and one that I think has merit.
B

schubert,  'just takes a thousand changes'

At least! :-) But you still need the 'perfect room', properly set up, and a perfectly recorded  piece of music. If that doesn't drill down the possibilities for obtaining the sound of real live music I must have missed something.

FWIW much as I love solo piano music I've yet to hear an accurate reproduction over an audio system. I'll defer on this to rvpiano  as he is, as I understand, a professional pianist.

Another similar observation - I really enjoy Sharon Isbin, one of our premier classical guitarists. I've heard her live in a specially designed recital hall where her unamplified instrument fills the hall (about 250 capacity) with crystal clear music.  I bought many of her recordings - too many actually. Not one of them came close to this live experience. 

I respectfully submit that perhaps you are really just suspending disbelief. :-)

The sheer physical size of an orchestra would seem to preclude  an achievable scale in your listening room.

It's not impossible if every item in your system does not get in the way of any other item . Just takes a thousand changes .

Schubert:

I agree, a high end system can come close to reality with small forces such as a piano, string quartet or a solo human voice.
The problem in reproduction arises with the addition of multiple instruments or voices.  The myriad of overtones projected by a full orchestra or chorus, for example, makes it impossible, at this point, to come close to reality in your listening room.
  I believe you have to resort to that “suspension of disbelief” and let your imagination fill in the missing partials.

That is not to say that a high end system cannot enhance the musical experience.
 Indeed, when you’re listening for the MUSIC, it can multiply your enjoyment to ecstatic levels.

Totally agree, newbee.  I’ve often wondered why I sometimes can get into the music better with my car radio than with my system, which is twenty times more expensive (at least.)
The reason is, I don’t care how it sounds.  I’m just listening to the music.
 I admit I have to make a conscious effort to NOT pick CDs and records for their sound quality, but for the music that’s on them.
  As you say, that is the downside of this hobby.  Ironically, if you’re not wary, it can be, and is, counter productive to the love and appreciation of the music.

If your System has no weak links you can come very close to live music .
Heard one of the greatest Brit pianists 2 weeks ago live , came home and played same music , only real difference was in volume and slight dynamic compression .
Ditto for a Brahms 1st a few weeks before that .
Synergy is everything .


I have maybe 20K in my entire system but it took a lot more than that and many years to get everything just right ,also, like anything , some luck . IMO much of it is impedence matching which is a cut and paste deal .

And yes it really doesn’t matter .

One of the downsides of elevating the performance level of an audio system is that one spends more time evaluating the system than actually listening to (and hearing) the music. Witness all of the devotion in this forum to components that are 'revealing' (uber revealing in fact) which are really doing nothing much more than presenting a sound which one would never hear in a live performance. I think (and have found) that a certain dumbing down of a system can often result in a sound that is reasonably listenable with most recorded music, not just the best recordings  over very high end systems. Since the system can no longer be expected to put a Bosendorfer in your room you stop trying to hear it and relax so you can (again) hear the music. IMHO/FWIW.

For those of us that sometimes have a problem with the sound of our systems (I know I do) I wrote this on another thread.

“When I listen just for the “sound” of my system I hear all kinds of abnormalities, but when I’m listening to the MUSIC instead of my SYSTEM everything seems to sound natural. It’s like the “suspension of disbelief” you adapt when reading a book or seeing a movie. I don’t think we can ever really match the sound of real instruments on our sets, so if we listen just for that we’re going to be very disappointed. However when we listen for the music itself, we’re not so much concentrating on the physical sound, but the musical message being expressed. So if we “suspend” the belief we’re listening to live instruments we can get into the music much more easily and the instruments sound just fine.”

Anyone into Komitas?
He was an Armenian priest, composer, and pianist, nearly killed by the Turks.   Much of his music is based on Armenian folk tunes.   Some people today associate his music with Gurdjieff.  His background included classical training in Germany.
Recordings I have are

Komitas Piano Works (Armen Babakhanian) 2006 (2 cds)

Komitas - Piano and Chamber Music 2017
KOMITAS (KOMITAS VARDAPET) (1869-1935)
PIANO AND CHAMBER MUSIC
SEVEN FOLK DANCES • SEVEN SONGS
TWELVE CHILDREN’S PIECES BASED ON FOLK-THEMES
MSHO-SHOROR • SEVEN PIECES FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO
MIKAEL AYRAPETYAN, piano
VLADIMIR SERGEEV, violin
Catalogue No.: GP720
Recording date: 15 December 2013
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Moscow State University of Culture and Arts, Russia

Komitas - Levon Eskenian, The Gurdjieff Ensemble
2015 ECM Records GmbH, Munchen
on original Armenian instruments


Zemphira Barseghian, recorded at Harvard, 1993, MEG Recordings
(piano, also other composers)

Komitas, many compositions of all sorts
Diocesan Records, NY 1970, DR-631, Distributed by Garni

Yes I like Anderszewski, a lot

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791
1] Fantasia in c minor K475 .
Fantaisie en ut mineur . Fantasie in C-Dur 13:18
Piano Sonata No. 14 in c minor K457
Sonate pour piano en ut mineur . Klaviersonate in C-Dur
2] I. Allegro 8:08
3] II. Adagio 8:44
4] III. Molto allegro 5:49
Robert Schumann 1810-1856
Fantasie C-dur, Op. 17
Fantasia in C major . Fantaisie en ut majeur
5] I. Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen 12:09
6] II. Mäßig, durchaus energisch 8:17
7] III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten 11:30
Thema mit Variationen in Es-Dur WoO 24 . Geistervariationen
Theme and Variations in E-flat major . Ghost Variations
Thème et Variations en mi bémol majeur . Variations “fantômes”
8] Thema - Leise, innig 2:02
9] Variation I 1:30
10] Variation II - Canonisch 1:38
11] Variation III - Etwas belebter 1:39
12] Variation IV 2:06
13] Variation V 2:13
TT: 79:14
Parlophone 2017

Bach English Suites 1, 3, & 5
Warner Classics

Chopin
3 Mazurkas Op 59
3 Mazurkas Op.63
Ballade No. 3, No 4,
Polonaise No 5, No 6
Mazurka Op 68 No 4
Virgin Classics

All excellent, would download more if I could find

Piotr Anderszewski
I just found him through Spotify.
Wow.
Has anyone else listened to him?
B

One of the most neglected modern pieces for viola.
Kammermusik for Viola and Orchestra Op.48/ Paul Hindemith
Werner Albert/ Queensland SO/CPO 999 492-2

Also has 3 more viola pieces including the "Schwanedreher" Viola Cnt .

Another seldom heard in US is Walton's Viola Concerto . Outstanding CD  on ASV by Helen Callus /New Zealand SO/ Taddei

Yup, the Davis, Imai version was the first one I ever listened to. I really loved it.
B

Great violin/violin and violin/cello duet recordings:

19. Duets for Two Violins, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zuckerman
This is just a wonderful album. Highly recommended for those who love the violin.

20. Duets for violin/cello, Mozart, and Beethoven, Boris Abramov & Carmine Miranda, a bit too compressed but still nice

20. Viola - I used to be the first viola in an orchestra - everyone's least favorite instrument, but Harold in Italy by Berlioz is great (supposedly commisioned by Paganini):
20.1 Nobuko Imai, Sir Colin Davis & London Symphony Orchestra - my favorite
20.2 Gérard Caussé, John Eliot Gardiner & Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique - an odd version
20.3  Donald McInnes, Leonard Bernstein & Orchestre national de France, flamboyant 

I remember the David Oistrakh recording. It was on a small label classical company that I can't remember. They rereleased a number of Melodia (sp?) recordings.
In any case, it gave me goosebumps.
B

Ranking of 1 or 2 - best-recorded violin masterworks in my humble opinion, the second part (TMI) - I was told to move this post here

10. Mendelssohn Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64
10.1 Viktoria Mullova, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner
10.2 Anne-Sophie Mutter, Kurt Masur & Gewandhausorchester Leipzig

11. Aram Khachaturian, Concerto in D Minor
11.1 Itzhak Perlman, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra & Zubin Mehta
11.2 David Oistrakh, Philharmonia Orchestra

12. Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat Major for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, K. 364
12.1 David Oistrakh and Igor Oistrakh, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
12.2 Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta & Pinchas Zukerman, Philharmonic Orchestra

13. Vivaldi Violin Concerto 1 in E Major, Four Seasons
13.1 Itzhak Perlman, Philharmonic Orchestra
13.2 Sarah Chang & Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

14. Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
14.1 Jascha Heifetz, Walter Hendl & Chicago Symphony Orchestra
14.2 Midori, Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

15. Camille Saint-Saëns, Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61
15.1 Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim & Orchestre de Paris
15.2 Gil Shaham, Giuseppe Sinopoli & New York Philharmonic

16. Max Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26
16.1 Sarah Chang, Philharmonie, Kurt Masur  
16.2 Rachel Barton Pine, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Andrew Litton
16.3 Joshua Bell, Sir Neville Marriner & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields;

17. Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto, op. 14
17.1 Hilary Hahn, Hugh Wolff, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
17.2 Gil Shaham, André Previn & London Symphony Orchestra

18. Dvorak Violin Concerto A Minor, Op. 53
18.1 Julia Fischer,  Zinman, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich  
18.2 Anne-Sophie Mutter, Manfred Honeck & Berlin Philharmonic

More to follow, unless no one cares. Kind regards - Gerry

Great list Gerry !

If i had only one violin concerto to keep on the proverbial desert island , It would be the Elgar  with Menuhin/Boult  in mono or the later stereo .

Another very fine recording of the Elgar is Kang/Polish National Orch. on Naxos .

Ranking of 1 or 2 - best-recorded violin masterworks in my humble opinion, the first part (TMI) - I was told to move this post here

Folks-

I come from a different era, so this list is biased, and I have to correct what I may have posted earlier because I finally have a system that is amazing and can render PCM Redbook as DSD or DXD (dcs SACD/CD player ---> Audio Research GSPre ---> Audio Research GS150 ---> Wilson Audio WattPuppy 7). What is odd is that it corresponds what I loved most when I was a violin student at New England Conservatory / Berklee.

1. Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77:
1.1. David Oistrakh, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell;
1.2 Hilary Hahn, Academy of St. Martins in the Filed, Sir Neville Mariner (SCAD or High Resolution) tied with Itzhak Perlman, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Carlo Maria Giulini;

2. Brahms Double Concerto for Violin & Cello in A Minor:
2.1 Cleveland Orchestra, David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich & George Szell;
2.2 Mstislav Rostropovich, Itzhak Perlman, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Bernard Haitink;

3. Beethoven Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61:
3.1 Itzhak Perlman, Maria Giulini, & Philharmonia Orchestra;
3.2 Heifetz & Charles Münch;

4. Bach Violin Concerto in D Minor (after Harpsichord Concerto, BWV 1052):
4.1 Itzhak Perlman & Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - III. Allegro is one of the most amazing I have ever heard if you like baroque. Just astonishing, it sounds like he is breathing the music.

5. Bach Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings, and Continuo in D minor:
5.1 Akiko Suwanai, Chamber Orchestra of Europe & Volkhard Steude;

6.Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major;
6.1 Leonid Kogan, Philharmonia Orchestra & Kirill Kondrashin (if you can find the recording with the Orchestre de Paris it is incredible - best rendition in my opinion, I bet he is playing one of his Guarneri Gesù violins - just incredible sound;
6.2 Michael Tilson Thomas, Joshua Bell & Berlin Philharmonic - Phenomenal recording!;

7. Mozart Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Major, K. 211; Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Major, K. 207; Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219;
7.1 Anne-Sophie Mutter & London Philharmonic Orchestra;
7.2 Arthur Grumiaux, Sir Colin Davis & London Symphony Orchestra;

8. Niccolò Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Opus1;
8.1 Michael Rabin;
8.2 Ruggiero Ricci;

9. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
9.1 Nathan Milstein (1975);
9.2 Henryk Szeryng.

Thank-you - Gerry

Jacqueline Du Pré - Complete Emi Recordings  17 cds
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=177845