Classical Music: Your "Must Have" List

[Willow]

I would suggest for those who like strings, to give Paganini a listen, that guy was a freak on the violin.

[John30_30]

I would suggest for those who like strings, to give Paganini a listen, that guy was a freak on the violin.

The original rockstar shredder. And like those guys, a comparative lightweight, no substance, just riffs.

[Kenneth Swauger]

Hello,
In music there seems to be periods of time where a virtuoso comes along who has such technical skill that composers are spurred to write more advanced music. In the case for Paganini his violin playing inspired composers such as Berlioz and Schumann to try and increase their level of expression.
Enjoy, Ken

[John30_30]

Hello,
In music there seems to be periods of time where a virtuoso comes along who has such technical skill that composers are spurred to write more advanced music. In the case for Paganini his violin playing inspired composers such as Berlioz and Schumann to try and increase their level of expression.
Enjoy, Ken

That's true, Ken. Young Franz Liszt was impressed by Paganini's caprices, fortunately way more than me. :D

btw, Ken, you know the story of how the impressionable young Schumann developed a mechanism to exercise and develop his fingers for added "Paganini-type" dexterity? He ruined one of his fingers completely, and was finished as a performing pianist.

[Kenneth Swauger]

Hello,
From what I gather the more likely reason for the problems with his hands was due to treatment for a syphilitic sore, rather than the hand strengthening machine. In any event, certainly a tragedy.
Regards, Ken

[reberly]

Micah had a great post many years ago in this thread. I just added all his suggestions to my pandora.com account. Got to love pandora.com for listening to new music you dont want to purchase, "yet"

[Kenneth Swauger]

Very cool! What have you listened to?
Regards, Ken

[John30_30]

Yes, it's speculative what actually caused it, although he was apparently in his early 20's when it occurred.
However, if he was seriously syphilitic, it doesn't seem to have hampered his composing abilities nor his eligibility in regards to marrying Clara Wiecke Schumann.
And it's possible the injury drove him more toward composition, which is our benefit.
Otoh, the man attempted suicide and ended up institutionalized, which would go hand-in-hand with advanced syphilis.
Wonderful composer. I have to say I love Schumann's work.

[reberly]

Very cool! What have you listened to?
Regards, Ken

I'll report back in a few days to what I liked so far. For now, "Wow" is all I have to say with listening to my Lsi15's and classical music. It really demonstrates what the speaker can do. Volume is your friend for sure w/ this style music as someone suggested.

Oh pandora.com has a fun feature where you can add friends and see what they are listening too. Could be a fun way for us polkie's to learn and listen to new music

[Willow]

That's true, Ken. Young Franz Liszt was impressed by Paganini's caprices, fortunately way more than me. :D

btw, Ken, you know the story of how the impressionable young Schumann developed a mechanism to exercise and develop his fingers for added "Paganini-type" dexterity? He ruined one of his fingers completely, and was finished as a performing pianist.

One of my favorite is "les préludes" by Liszt.

[coolsax]

Now I didn't have a chance to pick anything up, but I noticed this week that at Halfprice Books, a lot of the New sealed Classical CDs they have are from the Naxos label and are generally 7 bucks and under.. thought people might like to know since Micah was high on them in one of his early posts as cheap well recorded CDs. So check it out if you have a Halfprice Books nearby.

[jetblack1]

If I were to pick one, it would be Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusic. This was the party music for the folks in the 1700's.

[warren]

party music for the folks in the 1700's.
Man that was a thy slapper, loved it!!!!!! Funny!!!!

[lanion]

Rachmainoff's Symphonies 1 and 2, Vespers, and Piano Concerto #2.

Brahms, Mozart, and Verdi's requims.

Elgar's cello concerto

those are most important to me.

[John K.]

Lanion, the Rachmaninoff symphonies(including the 3rd)are favorites of mine and I have complete sets by Ashkenazy, De Waart, Jansons, Ormandy and Slatkin, plus other discs of the individual symphonies. I'd like to especially suggest the 2-disc Ormandy set available for about $10 shipped from sellers here to you or anyone else who don't have the terrific performances of the Philadelphia Orchestra in these masterpieces.

I also like the Elgar Cello Concerto, but my favorite cello concerto is the magnificent Dvorak, available here in the great performance by Fournier and Szell, with the haunting Schelomo and the Kol Nidrei also included, for about $6.50 shipped. As the Amazon editorial reviewer comments, how peculiar it is that in so much of classical music recording there's no correlation at all between quality of performance and price.

[Ern Dog]

Another Big Rachmaninoff fan here. I found that "The Symphonies" box set by Ashkenazy didn't do it for me. The recordings sounded too thin for me and the pacing was too fast. My favorite Rachmaninoff recording is "Symphonic Dances" on the Reference Recording label. This recording won awards for it's to notch engineering.

[John K.]

I'll bring to the attention of our members a 2-disc collection of glorious music in excellent sound, available at ridiculously low prices of about $10 up from Amazon sellers and other sources. Prokofiev used his musical imagination on the happy themes of Cinderella to produce exciting and beautiful music for the staging of the ballet. This is usually enough to fill a set, but here Glazunov's musical traversal of The Seasons, which I(gasp!)actually prefer to listen to rather than Vivaldi's very different Four Seasons, is performed wonderfully to add to the musical enjoyment. Terrific performances and sound; enjoy.

[domflane]

Great thread, I loved Micah's post.
It seems that many of us have similar taste. Holst's Planets is fantastic. The chorale from "Jupiter" is one of the most moving passages I have ever heard. Check out the The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps playing their version of the planets from their 1995 season.
I'm also a big fan of most of Copland's work, especially Appalachian Spring. Another amazing melody that could bring you to tears. Not to beat Drum Corps to death, but The Cadets Appalachian Spring show from 1987 is really powerful, as is the version performed by broadway show "Blast". I love different adaptations of classic melodies played with the non traditional instruments.
Chalk me up as another Rachmaninoff fan, especially the Piano Concerto #2. Simply amazing stuff that I could listen to anytime.
I couldn't make a list without Beethoven, so I vote for his piano sonatas, notably #'s 8 and 14, or "Pathetique" and " Moonlight". Any capable piano recording will do, as they're perfect just the way they are. Billy Joel's "This Night" from his "Innocent Man" album has a great quote from Pathetique that is instantly recognizable and is a great tribute to the greatest composer who ever lived.
Alright, that does it for me. Classical music is great. There is no better way for a composer to express himself than by utilizing the power of an entire orchestra or a grand piano. No lyrics necessary . .

[fx20]

I think these are must have in term of performance and sound quality:

Carlos Kleiber, Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mozart: Piano Concertos 20-25
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

There are also affordable if you them from amazon, my $0.02.

[John K.]

To follow along with my preceding recommendation which included Prokofiev's Cinderella, his music for Romeo and Juliet should certainly be included in any classical collection. I'll suggest the remastered disc of the performance by Michael Tilson Thomas with the San Francisco Symphony, a highly energetic performance in fine sound available here and from other sources for just a few dollars.

[Bryan G.]

For anyone who's spent a lot of time worrying about getting the low frequencies just right in their systems, I think some Double Bass Concertos might be in order..

http://www.amazon.com/Double-Bass-Co...dp/B00004YYQ4/

If you don't know Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, check out his Harp Concerto as well..

[LeftCoast]

Joaquin Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez performed by Academy of St. Martin in the Fields featuring Pepe Romero on guitar.

Don't bother with the version with Paco de Lucia on guitar. The experiment with having this great flamenco guitarist play classical doesn't work as intended.

Ravel - Bolero Best version is with Zubin Mehta conducting.

[fatchowmein]

Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major for Strings and Continuo conducted by Jean-Francois Paillard, 1977. If you're looking for wedding music, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a powerful, orchestral version of this overplayed classical piece, your search is over. Toss the other copies. Absolutely delightful.

This monster weighs in at over 7 minutes! I have not yet listen to the other 20 tracks.

http://www.amazon.com/Pachelbel-Cano...4274937&sr=8-1

[John K.]

Another essential item for a classical collection is a recording of the set of three Roman Poems, the Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals, composed by Ottorino Respighi. This is all very colorful music, without a hint of any "modernistic" compositional techniques which have often polluted 20th century classical compositions. Moods vary from great beauty and gentleness, as in Fountains, to the noisy violence of the arena depicted in Festivals. The suggestion is the exciting recording by Batiz with the Royal Philharmonic available in fine sound from sellers here and from other sources for a remarkably low cost, again illustrating the fact that in audio you frequently don't "get what you pay for".

[John K.]

I've previously suggested the excellent Ormandy set of the Rachmaninoff symphonies, and equally rewarding listening can be found in his piano concertos. The late Earl Wild, who passed away earlier this year at age 94, recorded very high-powered performances of the four concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini which have been remastered in excellent sound. Power and beauty abound in these performances, and should be a part of every collection. Available here and other usual sources for only about $17 plus shipping for the 2-disc set.

[John K.]

A recording of the Brahms Hungarian Dances should be a must for every collection and my favorite has Istvan Bogar conducting the Budapest Symphony. A Hungarian conductor and players seem to impart an added zest to these pieces influenced by Hungarian folk and gypsy melodies. Excellent performances and sound to provide a lifetime of listening pleasure, available from sellers here for just a few dollars.

[John K.]

The Brahms Hungarian Dances were an artistic(and financial)success and Brahms's publisher, Simrock, who also was Dvorak's publisher, suggested that he should also compose something on dance themes. The resulting Slavonic Dances, while different, were equally delightful and those who enjoy the Hungarian Dances will probably also enjoy the Slavonic dances, and vice versa. Levi's Telarc disc is excellent both in performance and sound and is available from sellers here for about $9, shipped.

[Danny Tse]

I am just getting into classical music, but this below SACD is a "must own"....



In fact, I am going to start buying up those "Living Stereo" SACD titles. Not only are they relatively inexpensive, I read they contain fantastic performances with excellent recording quality.

I'd also recommend the below CD (it's also available on SACD and Blu-Spec CD)....



It's a little "out of the ordinary", but it's great music. The recording quality is so-so given that it was done in the 70s. However, the performance is awesome.

[Motzart]

I am just getting into classical music, but this below SACD is a "must own"....



In fact, I am going to start buying up those "Living Stereo" SACD titles. Not only are they relatively inexpensive, I read they contain fantastic performances with excellent recording quality.

ABSOLUTELY!!
I have a fair amount of the RCA LS SACD's now and they are fabulous even in non SACD.

I'd also recommend the below CD (it's also available on SACD and Blu-Spec CD)....



It's a little "out of the ordinary", but it's great music. The recording quality is so-so given that it was done in the 70s. However, the performance is awesome.

Like to know where you got that one.....love to add that to my collection!

[Motzart]

Here are a couple in my stash that are a must have but VERY RARE!



For Piano lovers I HIGHLY recommend these 2!
The 2 CD can be found cheap......the other takes a little hunting but can be found.



Here is my Complete Classical Collection online...have a look!
http://connect.collectorz.com/users/...&filterLetter=

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