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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
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,578 posts
 
How do you even make a stab at the Top 5 masterpieces of all time?

I can recommend 5 works that I have listened to a lot over the years:

Composer: Mozart
Conductor: Rene Jacobs
Label: Harmonia Mundi (CD)

1 - Le Nozze de Figaro (Opera)
2 - Don Giovanni (Opera)

Composer: Various
Performer: Placido Domingo (Carlo Maria Giulini)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon (CD)
1 - Opera Gala (Opera)

Composer: Stravinsky
Label: Columbia (vinyl, 1964 release)
1- Le Sacru du Printemps (Symphonic)
Three Favorite Ballets: Stravinsky Conducts Firebird, Petruska, and the Right of Spring

Composer: Beethoven
Conductor: Fritz Reiner
Label: RCA Victor (CD)
1 - 7th Symphony (Symphonic)

Rich
eelii08 OP
169 posts
 
I know saying the top 5 of all time is almost an impossible. That is not the point. It is to help people who wants to start, with 5 of the top masterpieces that you really like, or that made you engage or whatever. A place from which safely start. Brademburg concerto or Messiah could very well also be in my list. And others.

The second part of the question is intended to help expand collections. If I see someone posting 3 composers I like, chances are I will like the other 2 if I dont know them that well and may want to explore.

Keep them coming. Thanks
almarg's avatar
almarg
8,673 posts
 
5 of the top masterpieces that you really like, or that made you engage ....
Here are six, in no particular order:

1)Dvorak, "New World Symphony," Jascha Horenstein conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Chesky CD31. Incredible sonics, great performance, great music. Recorded in 1962!

2)Chopin, "Piano Sonata in B Minor, Op. 58," Hyperion Knight, Piano; Wilson Audio WCD-9129. Perhaps the best sonics of any recording of solo piano in my experience; incredibly beautiful music; excellent performance. Out of print and very hard to find, though.

3)Brahms, "Symphony No. 1." My favorite symphony. Two recommendations:

-- For performance + sonics: Jascha Horenstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra; Chesky CD19. Recorded in 1962.

-- For one of the greatest performances ever, IMO, in primitive but listenable sonics (transcribed from 78 rpm disks): Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1940. Can be downloaded or listened to here.

4)Beethoven, "Symphony No. 6" (The Pastorale), Bruno Walter conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1958. I have an imported remastered edition, Japanese CBS/Sony 20AC1811, which has nice sonics. Considered by many to be the definitive interpretation of this beautiful work.

5)Moussorgsky/Ravel, "Pictures at an Exhibition," Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, Telarc 10042. Wonderful!

6)Prokofiev, “Romeo and Juliet” (excerpts), Erich Leinsdorf conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Sheffield Lab 10043-2. Dry ambience, excessively bright string sound, but if your system does not tend towards brightness, and can handle ultra-wide dynamic range, you will find this to be an amazing recording of very engaging music.

Regarding question (C), I have about 600 classical recordings.

Regards,
-- Al
eelii08 OP
169 posts
 
Will try to find the Chopin piano sonata recording. Looks good!

Thanks
donjr
1,311 posts
 
I understand what you were trying to do with this post. Ive been lazy about getting myself into this because I get a little over the top with my research and classical really seems to me to be a never ending research project. I spent two solid years on tropicalia, samba and bossa Nova and my brain almost exploded. It got to the point that I was drilling down into performers lives. I had to eventually ask myself what importance it was to my enjoyment of Clube da Esquina that Milton Nascimento's mother passed away and he was raised by the family that employed her. I do look forward to this but I need to be cautious.

I remember in the late 80's I was staying at my parents house because they were traveling and it was a lot nicer than my apartment. I decided to play a Rachmaninoff album. I cant remember which one but all of a sudden I heard the mid 70's pop ballad "All By Myself ". My jaw hit the floor. I never would have imagined a pop artist would have written a song around classical music. That was the day I told myself I would someday get myself into classical.
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