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Classical Music for Aficionados

I would like to start a thread, similar to Orpheus’ jazz site, for lovers of classical music.
I will list some of my favorite recordings, CDs as well as LP’s. While good sound is not a prime requisite, it will be a consideration.
  Classical music lovers please feel free to add to my lists.
Discussion of musical and recording issues will be welcome.

I’ll start with a list of CDs.  Records to follow in a later post.

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique.  Chesky  — Royal Phil. Orch.  Freccia, conductor.
Mahler:  Des Knaben Wunderhorn.  Vanguard Classics — Vienna Festival Orch. Prohaska, conductor.
Prokofiev:  Scythian Suite et. al.  DG  — Chicago Symphony  Abbado, conductor.
Brahms: Symphony #1.  Chesky — London Symph. Orch.  Horenstein, conductor.
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat. HDTT — Ars Nova.  Mandell, conductor.
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. Analogue Productions. — Dallas Symph Orch. Johanos, cond.
Respighi: Roman Festivals et. al. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.

All of the above happen to be great sounding recordings, but, as I said, sonics is not a prerequisite.


rvpiano
craigl59
306 posts
 

Schubert:

Congrats on the Bach; they are major works with tremendous variety -- unfortunately I OD’d on them some time ago and have not been a listener since.

Just got the Buchberger recording of all the Haydn String Quartets -- 23 discs. They are period-informed performances with mostly strong violin playing.

However..

...some ripping problems into JRiver caused minor distortion. And, so, have been looking at ripping software apps that compare the rip to an online database to, supposedly, correct any variants.

The first of these I have looked at is Exact Audio Copy. Have not yet gotten it operational but thought I would check with this forum and see if anyone is using these kind of apps to improve their ripped files.

Any experts out there?

craigl59
306 posts
 

twoleftears:

Your description of the Scriabin has me interested. Could you expand on the relationship between colors and musical content? Were there cases where it made sense? Or did it appears artificial or contrived?

schubert
4,867 posts
 
craig59
I understand the OD part , but as a devout Anglican with a good command of German has never happened to me after 50 years  with Bach, esp. the cantatas , to me they are a form of prayer .

Someone who wrote great religious music in English and was born in same year as Bach is , obviously , Handel .
Among people I have known the most neglected of his works are some of his best works , The Chandos Anthems 1-VI .
Chandos Label(no coincidence) has nice box sets for good prices , perhaps the best readily available . After I listened to Vol 1 today, I went and dug out my Volume 1
LP on the Vanguard Everyman Classics label . The Vinyl was so much better the Chandos CD seemed like a toy and I have a modest TT set up .

I think I have said it before but again to all , if you ever run into ANY old Vanguard vinyl just buy it .
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
1,457 posts
 

Scriabin was very taken with that whole Symbolist doctrine (involving synaesthesia) of correspondences between the senses. See Rimbaud’s poem on the different "color" of each of the vowels of the alphabet.

This was in Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, years ago. There was definitely some correlation of the more obvious sort (darker sonorities, dark blue, brighter, yellow, louder, red, etc.), and it was interesting as a curiosity, but you ended up thinking about those possible correspondences rather than just immersing in the music.


P.S. D'Albert two piano concertos in the Hyperion 19C series last night.  Pleasant, but not compelling...

schubert
4,867 posts
 
One of the foremost pianists alive, Andras Schiff sees either keys or notes in colors . Was a few years ago since I heard the interview, but in any event he see music in color .
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