Best Symphonic Recordings

[Kal Rubinson]

I love the sound of the recent Currentzis Beethoven's Fifth although YMMV.

I have not liked the sound or the performance of any of Currentzis' recordings. The only thing I've enjoyed was his Verdi Requiem with the BPO (available from BPO's Digital Concert Hall and YouTube).

 

[Robin L]

The Boult/EMI is a classic in every way but, as should be evident, I want everything, especially blockbusters, in modern multichannel.

Have to wonder if there's a multichannel source for Boult's last recording. Almost was digital, I guess the machine at the studio wasn't functioning that day. If the Boult/LPO recording is multichannel, there could be a surround mix. Of course, that depends on the willpower of the folks at Warner Brothers.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Have to wonder if there's a multichannel source for Boult's last recording. Almost was digital, I guess the machine at the studio wasn't functioning that day. If the Boult/LPO recording is multichannel, there could be a surround mix. Of course, that depends on them willpower ofm the folks at Warner Brothers.

Warner has not been supportive of multichannel but that might change if ATMOS continues to expand.

 

[Aaron Garrett]

I have not liked the sound or the performance of any of Currentzis' recordings. The only thing I've enjoyed was his Verdi Requiem with the BPO (available from BPO's Digital Concert Hall and YouTube).

It's definitely divisive! You don't even like his Mozart operas?

 

[BolusOfDoom]

Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Orchestra’s ‘86 recording of Holst’s The Planets is just about perfect. The dynamics, the pace, the hall, everything.

 

[Robin L]

Led Zeppelin type of guy asks: Can you point me to a great classical piece on Tidal Hifi that is recorded and performed very well. Total classical newbie here, so please give me a easy to digest "gateway drug"

Not so newbie, but neither is "Trampled Underfoot": Stravinsky's Rite of Spring". Tidal has the 100th anniversary edition, ten [as I recall] different performances, from Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra from the 1930's to recent digital productions, including Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. I'd provide a link, but haven't been on Tidal long enough to figure that one out. Meanwhile, from YouTube:

 

[Kal Rubinson]

It's definitely divisive! You don't even like his Mozart operas?

I have enjoyed his Nozze di Figaro but its not a favorite. His Mahler, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were irritating and the, imho, crude sound does not bode well for the others. I have not yet heard his Les Noces (a favorite of mine) and Tchaikovsky VC with Kopachinski (another favorite), his Sacre nor his Shostakovich but I am looking forward to trying them.

 

[Aaron Garrett]

I have enjoyed his Nozze di Figaro but its not a favorite. His Mahler, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were irritating and the, imho, crude sound does not bode well for the others. I have not yet heard his Les Noces (a favorite of mine) and Tchaikovsky VC with Kopachinski (another favorite), his Sacre nor his Shostakovich but I am looking forward to trying them.

One man's crude is another man's bracing. My guess is you won't care for the Tchaikovsky VC but I'll be curious to know. I love her playing in general, we live in an age of amazing violin virtuosos and for me she is near the top, but it's not my favorite. Ibragimova's new Shostakovich is incredible.

 

[TimF]

"Much of a Muchness", that's what we got here. I've got a couple of the Osmo Vanska Beethoven Bis issues, along with the much older Bis recording of Sibelius Symphonies 6, 7 & Tapiola [really grand]. I'm one of those chasing everything in Standard repertoire, have been for something like 50 years. Now that I've got a good sounding computer based system, I'm streaming Amazon music and YouTube. There's two other Beethoven Symphony Cycles, of very high technical quality, that I've been listening to recently via Apple Lossless files of the CDs ripped to a tiny 512gb flash drive.

John Eliot Gardiner, leading the Orchestre Révolutionnaire Et Romantique on Archiv is the most fully realized set of Beethoven Symphonies on original Instruments, at original tempi and pitch. There's no bobbles, barnyard noises or caterwauling going on, this is very edgy and coherent playing.

Riccardo Chailly leads the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra using the more or less standard Peters edition, working with a traditional orchestra with a long history with the repertoire. He's also performing using Beethoven's [fast] metronome markings, very successfully. Sound quality is excellent, there's a touch of limiting on the peaks compared to the Vanska sound capture but tone quality, perspective and hall sound are TOTL:

Regarding

"Much of a Muchness", that's what we got here. I've got a couple of the Osmo Vanska Beethoven Bis issues, along with the much older Bis recording of Sibelius Symphonies 6, 7 & Tapiola [really grand]. I'm one of those chasing everything in Standard repertoire, have been for something like 50 years. Now that I've got a good sounding computer based system, I'm streaming Amazon music and YouTube. There's two other Beethoven Symphony Cycles, of very high technical quality, that I've been listening to recently via Apple Lossless files of the CDs ripped to a tiny 512gb flash drive.

John Eliot Gardiner, leading the Orchestre Révolutionnaire Et Romantique on Archiv is the most fully realized set of Beethoven Symphonies on original Instruments, at original tempi and pitch. There's no bobbles, barnyard noises or caterwauling going on, this is very edgy and coherent playing.

Riccardo Chailly leads the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra using the more or less standard Peters edition, working with a traditional orchestra with a long history with the repertoire. He's also performing using Beethoven's [fast] metronome markings, very successfully. Sound quality is excellent, there's a touch of limiting on the peaks compared to the Vanska sound capture but tone quality, perspective and hall sound are TOTL:

Regarding Vanska Beethoven symphonies recordings with the Minnesota Orch. Well recorded, I think; and well performed. But...in my opinion the interpretation is too refined. Once musicians have learned to play R. Strauss, R. Vaughan Williams, and early twentieth century works do they have a tendency to play works from the time of Napoleon like late nineteenth century or early twentieth century works. Are the Vanska Beethoven symphony recordings making Beethoven a bit too much like Sibelius or R. Strauss? Alternatively, perhaps for fifty years Beethoven symphonies have overemphasized sturm and drang to the point of caricature?

 

[Robin L]

Haven't seen any Bruckner mentioned so far. Maybe the one composer of big orchestral scores most akin to metal. The incomplete 9th symphony is very powerful and quite dark. Nicholas Harnoncourt transitioned from an early-music specialist to standard orchestral repertoire, being quite good at Beethoven and better than that at Bruckner, particularly on this occasion. There is a surround SACD of this floating around:

 

[Kal Rubinson]

There is a surround SACD of this floating around:

Yes, both the 9th and the 5th on SACD.

 

[Robin L]

I'd be interested into a written resource about that. The fastidious chore that is locating the best versions of every classical work is what actually prevents me from spending my time searching for more.
And to avoid any subjectivity, I'm not talking about the best performance (though it obviously matters) but the best recording; good dynamic range (not too high, not too low), low background noise and proper mixing.

HIFINews has regular reports concerning high-def recordings of classical music, with indications of dynamic range, actual frequency response and noise.

 

[wemist01]

I think very highly of BIS recordings. Whatever anyone else says, Osmo Vanska is a top conductor just as much as Riccardo Chailly or Gustavo Dudamel, and many of the recordings that Vanska has done with the Minnesota Orchestra are first-rate.

I think Vanska is a fine conductor in the right repertoire, but I found his previously-mentioned Beethoven generally cold. To me he's not worth the attention as a top choice unless your sole interest is new recordings in excellent technical sound. But that doesn't mean you're getting a great-sounding orchestra like NDR Hamburg under Wand, speaking only of Beethoven and recordings that sound wonderful both technically and as a record of orchestral performance.

 

[wemist01]

"John Eliot Gardiner, leading the Orchestre Révolutionnaire Et Romantique on Archiv is the most fully realized set of Beethoven Symphonies on original Instruments, at original tempi and pitch. There's no bobbles, barnyard noises or caterwauling going on, this is very edgy and coherent playing.

Gardiner... I alternate from finding the goods crisp, direct and fairly exciting, to feeling he's simply beating time, not understanding where Beethoven has given his orchestra a chance to speak, so in turn the orchestra is giving him perfunctory, mechanical phrasing. And this cycle happens in fairly quick intervals. ("Edgy"??? Preposterous.) For my Beethoven I'll be reaching for Savall, Bruggen, or Fisher if I want a small ensemble, but more often reaching for the Blomstedt/Leipzig set. Chailly's set with the same orchestra reminds me of the vehicles in the last Mad Max movie, which is to say maximum intensity is often reached with mystery, joy and profundity well in the rearview mirror. Mind you, I'll take that over Jeggers any day. YMMV, of course.

 

[wemist01]

A recent surprise for me has been how excellent the offerings on BR Klassik have been. You want great recordings, a great sounding orchestra, and interpretations that stand up to scrutiny, the label has had a lot of winners recently. Here's three:
- Bruckner 8 with Jansons
- Schehedrin's Carmen Suite is a stunningly colorful update to Bizet's music, and this release stands up to Fiedler's recording on RCA quite well
- Blomstedt's last Mozart symphonies

I'm listening to Jansons' Also Sprach now. It's good, but hearing it reminds me of the best-sounding Strauss disc I've heard in the past few years- Nelsons' Also Sprach on Orfeo. Wow!

A final note on great-sounding recordings. I was listening to Nic Raine's El Cid soundtrack earlier today- man, does it sound good.

 

[Daverz]

Hard to ignore the kool-aid drinking in "As early as 2000 BIS was one of the first labels to start exploring the potential of DSD (direct stream digital) technology. [...] the quality of the sound reproduction even in 'ordinary' stereo mode, convinced us of the benefits of this technology".

I don't think Bis has recorded in DSD for a long time, if they ever did. They record in PCM and convert to DSD for SACD. Perhaps the SACD players of the time sounded better.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I don't think Bis has recorded in DSD for a long time, if they ever did. They record in PCM and convert to DSD for SACD. Perhaps the SACD players of the time sounded better.

BIS' file downloads of recent SACDs are 24/96.

 

[Robin L]

I don't think Bis has recorded in DSD for a long time, if they ever did. They record in PCM and convert to DSD for SACD. Perhaps the SACD players of the time sounded better.

If you wanted high-def or discreet surround at the start of the "Oughts", your options were DVD-Audio or SACD. DVD-Audio never took off. Now, if you want high-def, you can stream it. I'm not convinced that eating up bandwidth is the solution anyway. A good master tape and good mastering is what is really necessary for good sound.

 

[Robin L]

Gardiner... I alternate from finding the goods crisp, direct and fairly exciting, to feeling he's simply beating time, not understanding where Beethoven has given his orchestra a chance to speak, so in turn the orchestra is giving him perfunctory, mechanical phrasing. And this cycle happens in fairly quick intervals. ("Edgy"??? Preposterous.) For my Beethoven I'll be reaching for Savall, Bruggen, or Fisher if I want a small ensemble, but more often reaching for the Blomstedt/Leipzig set. Chailly's set with the same orchestra reminds me of the vehicles in the last Mad Max movie, which is to say maximum intensity is often reached with mystery, joy and profundity well in the rearview mirror. Mind you, I'll take that over Jeggers any day. YMMV, of course.

Who's Jeggers?
I've probably got too much Beethoven, multiple recordings of all the symphonies [and sonatas, and string quartets] from Toscanini in the 1930's to recordings from the present. As I'm more centered on interpretation than sound, there's a number of recordings that are essential to me that others would toss aside because of older sound. Szell and Cleveland in the Second Symphony and Bernstein's 1964 NYPO recording of the 7th are two examples. Furtwängler's1944 Bruckner 9th is an even more extreme example. Can't say I've heard JEG's or Chailly's versions as much as those two. I do think Beethoven knew what he was doing with his metronome markings and that rhetorical underlining in his music is too often overdone. As far as I can tell, most Beethoven performances are a touch too slow, if anything.

 

[Pluto]

Who's Jeggers?

Sir John Eliot Gardiner