Top 10 Classical Records

[Aeglos]

I understand that this will probably have a sparse response but any response would be great because i am particularly interested in any correlation in taste. Ideally this is a work/version inquiry - e.g. in the unlikely event that Bruckner's 6th is a favourite of yours it makes all the difference in the world if its Blomstedt's or Klemperer's version you prefer, etc - but if its just a piece that you know or love that's good too.

 

No particular order...

 

 

Schubert, Piano Sonata D. 960, etc - Stephen Kovacevich

Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring - Kirov/Gergiev

Reich, Proverb, Nagoya Marimbas, City Life - The Steve Reich Ensemble/Paul Hiller etc

Bruckner, 8th Symphony - VPO/Karajan

Mahler, 9th Symphony - BPO/Karajan (n.b. not a mad Karajan fan but these two interpretations are magnificent)

Shostakovich , Violin Concerti 1 & 2 - Vengerov, LSO/Rostropovich

Schubert, Winterreise - Schreier/Richter

Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Mompou - Arturro Benedetti Michelangeli

Schubert. String Quintet, 5th Symphony - Casals, Stern, Tortelier et al

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 - Horowitz, NYPSO/Barbirolli (n.b. these are the live Carnegie Hall recordings from '40/'41)

[noyes]

Mozart - Complete Piano Sonatas - Jeno Jando

Bach - Goldberg Variations - Wanda Landowska (1933)

Beethoven - Complete Piano Sonatas - Claudio Arrau

Paganini - 24 Caprices - Itzach Perlman

Chopin: Waltzes; 4 Scherzos; 26 Preludes - Vladimir Ashkenazy

 

etc

[deepseacatfish]

Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring - Kirov/Gergiev

Yes, though I'm not sure if there is a particular version I am attached to.

 

I don't have 10, but here are a pair I really enjoy:

Steve Reich-Music for 18 Musicians--(1998 version on Nonesuch, very pristine sound, good recording, lots of liner notes)

Terry Riley-In C (this is the version with the brownish cover, it counts Terry Riley among the performers)

[So Long]

AM

BT

MA

ST

MA2

YHF

AGIB

KT

SBS

...Abbey Road

[HighFives]

Gavin Bryars - The Sinking of the Titanic

[WaronWar]

I got my first classical CD a couple of months ago Steve Reich's "Music For 18 Musicans," and I am throughly enjoying it to say the least.

[people are leaving]

Gavin Bryars - The Sinking of the Titanic

 

An amazing, ghostly tapestry of eerie echoes, distant sounds and interjected rifts representing the band that was playing even as the boat sank. This is a masterpiece that rewards repeated listenings.

 

Tweedy would be all over this.

[Aeglos]

I'd somehow forgotten about Gavin Bryars. I used to love Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet. I need to look into his work.

 

Good to see the Reich. I'm wondering if people here are discovering him through Kotche's interest.

[Deaf Ro]

Nice thread. The classical peeps are definitely in the minority here but are an enthusiastic bunch.

 

Here is a half-classical blog I maintain with lots of mp3s of favorite recordings: http://www.goodvibrato.org

 

I have way too many favorites to name a top 10 but here's a few off the top of me head:

 

Glenn Gould: Bach French Suites, Goldberg Variations, WTC, Preludes Partitas & Fugues

Radu Lupu: Schumann & Schubert piano music

Keith Jarrett: Handel & Shostakovich Piano Music

Terry Riley: "In C" (any version, although I have been enjoying the Bang on a Can reading of late)

Wilhelm Kempff: 1963 Queen Victoria Hall Recital (BBC Legends series)

Artur Schnabel: Beethoven piano sonatas

Pierre-Laurent Aimard: anything, but the Ligeti piano music, Mozart concertos, and Carnegie recital are recent faves

Sviatoslav Richter: anything, but Beethoven/Bach/Mozart esp.

Mozart Divertimento - Kremer, Ma, Kashkashian

Itzhak Perlman - Beethoven Violin Concerto

Peter Serkin - Beethoven piano music and Messiaen Vingt regards...

Jordi Maso - Mompou piano music

Alicia de Larrocha - Granados piano music

Yo-Yo Ma - Bach cello suites

Keller Quartet - Bach Art of Fugue

Richard Goode - Mozart piano concertos

Steve Reich: Music for 18

John Adams: Chairman Dances, Violin Concerto, Grand Pianola Music, etc

Charles Ives: string quartets, violin sonatas, symphonies

 

 

 

And I will wholeheartedly second the recommendation for "The Sinking of the Titanic" - I have been obsessed with this piece for months.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I really like Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending. The version I have features a pretty hot young violinist, but I can't remember her name offhand, sorry.

Big fan of Mozart and Schubert, too, though I can't recommend specific work/version combos.

For something more modern and less "soothing," may I recommend Arnold Schoenberg? Great composer, not someone you always find in the classical section at Borders.

[bjorn_skurj]

Mahler's 1st and 9th

Bach's Mass in B Minor - holy shit, is that the soundtrack to God or what

Dvorak's 9th

Beethoven's 9th - would love to hear this live

Richard Strauss - a bunch of stuff, but nothing gets me quite like "Four Last Songs"

Wagner, guiltily

R.V. Williams' variations on a theme by Thomas Tallis

[oatmealblizzard]

Here is a half-classical blog I maintain with lots of mp3s of favorite recordings: http://www.goodvibrato.org

Great site.

 

And nice thread. I am a fan of Gould's Goldberg Variations and Reich's Music for 18 Musicians as well. And the Gavin Bryars piece "The Sinking of the Titanic" is one of my favorite pieces of music, well, ever probably. I hadn't listened to it in a while, but this thread as lead me to spin it a few times tonight. So wonderful.

 

Lots of interesting sounding things mentioned so far. Classical music is sooo vast and, often, unfamiliar that it can really be intimidating at times. But this thread has some nice suggestions I'll be investigating further for sure.

[Deaf Ro]

All you fans of Steve Reich and Gavin Bryars and "The Sinking of the Titanic" absolutely *must* check out a composer named John Luther Adams and an album of his called "The Light That Fills the World." I cannot recommend it strongly enough. Here is one of its three movements:

 

http://goodvibrato.org/?p=49

 

Some other favorites/recommendations

 

Takacs Quartet - any string quartet recordings by Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Haydn, Schubert, etc

Arditti Quartet - amazing modern/contemporary music group, their recording of Webern/Berg chamber music is great

Leon Fleisher - a pianist with many wonderful recordings - "Two Hands" and "The Journey" esp.

Erik Satie piano music (Reinbert de Leeuw, performer)

Borodin Quartet - Shostakovich piano music

Rudolf Firkusny - Janacek piano music

Samson Francois - Chopin and Debussy piano music

Vladimir Horowitz playing Scarlatti (or most anything)

Rosalyn Tureck playing Bach

Louis Andriessen - "Workers Union" (look for the Bang on Can recording, and for that matter any BOAC recording)

Walter Gieseking playing Debussy, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, or really anything

Quatuor Mosaiques (an "authentic"/period-instrument group) - any of their Haydn quartets are great

Alfred Brendel - Haydn, Schubert, and Beethoven piano music

Beaux Arts Trio - anything, but their Haydn is classic

Charles Rosen - Elliott Carter piano music (also Bach/Beethoven/Mozart et al but not everyone plays Carter)

Bartok Plays Bartok (piano music) - historical recordings, really cool

Daniel Barenboim - almost anything as a pianist, too many recordings as a conductor

John Field - sort of a forgotten composer, look for a recording of his piano nocturnes (John O'Conor's recording is v. good)

 

Composers not to snooze on: Ligeti (first and foremost), Terry Riley, Conlon Nancarrow, Alban Berg, Arvo Part, Anton Webern, Charles Ives, Arnold Schoenberg, Bartok, Granados, Boulez (some), Stockhausen (some), Messiaen (most), Debussy (all), Janacek, Morton Feldman, Szymanowski, William Bolcom, Darius Milhaud, Osvaldo Golijov, Kaija Saariaho, Lee Hyla, Leon Kirchner, Martin Bresnick, Michael Gordon, you get the point.