Classical ♫ Music only | Some you listen now or recently, some you love...

[Andolink]

Best performances and recordings of these works I’ve heard - -

 

[Andolink]

One of my most beloved recordings which has been a part of my collection since near the beginning of the CD era (1984).

 

[Andolink]

Ignazio Cirri (1711-87): Six Sonatas for harpsichord and violin, Op. 2

 

[Andolink]

Another winner from Audax featuring lesser known mid-18th century German based composers - -

 

[Robin L]

Used copy, VG condition, from Ebay. $20 + shipping and handling, making it just shy of $30. All nine completed symphonies and the adagio from the incomplete 10th, plus Janet Baker in the Kindertotenlieder. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra is in all the symphonies save the 8th (with the London Symphony Orchestra), the Israel Philharmonic is in the Kindertotenlieder.

This was the pioneering first complete cycle of Mahler's symphonies, recorded in the 1960s. The sound quality was variable to begin with, but there was a remixing made in the early 2000s that improved sound overall. Some of the symphonies - the 7th and 3rd most notably - already had excellent sound. Some had problems that are not entirely ironed out, the 2nd and 8th in particular. The adagio from the 10th (recorded in 1975) has the best sound and a remarkably intense performance.

What is notable about this set is just how many performances are really excellent, some as good as it gets. In the latter category I would include Bernstein's first try at the "Resurrection" symphony and the 7th. Bernstein recorded the 2nd symphony three times - the second recording was with the London Symphony Orchestra in Ely Cathedral. That recording was conceived as a video and is still available as such. It also somehow "escaped" to YouTube. A very good performance with more sound issues than the sonically problematic first recording for Columbia records. The third recording was also with the New York Philharmonic, taken from "live" performances and issued by DGG. The sound quality is better, but the performance is noticeably heavier. The performance of the 3rd is also very good, as are the 6th, 9th and the adagio from the 10th. The 1st is a good performance, but Bernstein recorded a better performance later with the Concertgebouw. There are issues with both of Bernstein's recordings of the 4th symphony. This recording of the 5th is lackluster, especially when compared to Bernstein's explosive re-recording with the Vienna Philharmonic. The recording of the 8th is something of a mess, but I have yet to be convinced by the work anyway.

I've had this set for about a month now and keep returning to the performance of the 7th symphony. I've read that the work is "difficult" and "unloved", but somehow I find this performance accessible and "loveable". This performance has been issued separately quite some time ago on a single mid-priced disc and is worth a listen. As the sound quality was excellent to begin with, the older iterations should also sound excellent. This remastered edition of the symphonies has been issued in three packages - this one, one marked "Carnagie Hall Presents" and a third with generic black and white packaging. There is another, earlier, package that has an amber and lavender close-up of Bernstein's face. That issue does not have the remastering work of the latter three.

 

[MRC01]

One of my most beloved recordings which has been a part of my collection since near the beginning of the CD era (1984).
[Monteverdi]

My introduction to Monteverdi was this album:

I loved it so much - both performance & recording - that I got the rest of the series. Delitiae Musicae & Longhini also performed Gesualdo's madrigals and I got that complete set too. Excellent!

Naxos recordings are all over the map in quality, some excellent, some terrible, most are mediocre. I rate these as excellent, a pleasant surprise.

 

[Titurel]

I have four different videos of Der Rosenkavalier, including, of course, the classic Schwartzkopf/von Karajan performance from 1961.

 

[Robin L]

Naxos recordings are all over the map in quality, some excellent, some terrible, most are mediocre.

Nigel North's complete Dowland for lute is excellent in all regards:

 

[Lukasjr]

 

[Lukasjr]

 

[bevok]

Some beautifully recorded harpsichord in this new release, Christophe Rousett with Couperin on an historic instrument from the Musee de la Musique.

 

[RayDunzl]

Sonate No. 14, “Moonlight” 3rd Movement

Download and print in PDF or MIDI free sheet music for Piano (Solo)

musescore.com

 

[RayDunzl]

Here's some Bach on an instrument with which I am not familiar.

Note that her left hand is sometimes plucking strings, sometimes bending strings "sharp" behind the tuning bridges, and sometimes moving the bridges themselves to alter the key as necessary.

Look like it could cause back pain after too much practicing and performance.

 

[Doodski]

Here's some Bach on an instrument with which I am not familiar.

Note that her left hand is sometimes plucking strings, sometimes bending strings "sharp" behind the tuning bridges, and sometimes moving the bridges themselves to alter the key as necessary.

Look like it could cause back pain after too much practicing and performain.

The guzheng, also known as a Chinese zither, is a Chinese plucked string instrument with a more than 2,500-year history. It was the most popular instrument in China.

 

[Titurel]

Many recording of the Missa almost ignore the singers, concentrating on the orchestra. If anything, this recording errs in the other direction, almost ignoring the orchestra, while highlighting the chorus and the astoundingly good quartet instead. (I heard Moser at The Bayerische Staatsoper in 1976, where she absolutely stopped the show.) Bernstein really gets it right, here. I may like this Missa even better than the 1966 von Karajan recording.

 

[Timcognito]

Not much of a classical music lover, but a casual listener. Found this one recently, played the whole release and a couple of times since.

 

[Robin L]

Many recording of the Missa almost ignore the singers, concentrating on the orchestra. If anything, this recording errs in the other direction, almost ignoring the orchestra, while highlighting the chorus and the astoundingly good quartet instead. (I heard Moser at The Bayerische Staatsoper in 1976, where she absolutely stopped the show.) Bernstein really gets it right, here. I may like this Missa even better than the 1966 von Karajan recording.

I know there are those who question Beethoven's metronome indications. Some are dubious. However, the one work of Beethoven's that is transformed by these faster tempos is the Missa Solemnis. I remember recording the San Francisco Bach Chorus, back in the mid 1990s, in an Historically Informed Performance that used much quicker tempos than I had heard before, with everything opening up in a way I had not heard before. This performance, with David Zinman directing the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and soloists, is in the same spirit, to similar effect:

 

[Robin L]

Managed to find all the Osmo Vänskä/Minnesota Orchestra recordings of Beethoven's symphonies used, initially by luckily encountering them in used record stores or libraries, later via Ebay. As it turns out the cycle is still in print as SACDs and the set sells as five for the price of two. It has received a lot of critical praise for the high quality of the ensemble and intelligent tempos, neither rushed nor dragged. Supposedly an example of historically informed performance, it is nowhere as extreme as John Eliot Gardiner or even David Zinman. At the same time, it sounds a bit anonymous compared to some other recordings. One of the main attractions is supposed to be the 5.1 sound. I have a SACD player but do not have a 5.1 system. What I note in particular is that the recording is at an unusually low level, at least the Redbook layer. The DSD layer is not quite as low in level. The Redbook layer is so low as to have the quietest passages swallowed up by ambient sounds in the house. The DSD layer doesn't seem to suffer from this as much. For those of you looking for uncompressed recordings, this would be quite a treat.

I'm going to have to hear these recordings some more before coming to any final conclusions. Overall this is one of the best sets I've heard so far, including Karajan's first Berlin Philharmonic set, Klemperer's Philharmonia recordings, Bernstein's Vienna Philharmonic live recordings, Harnoncourt's Chamber Orchestra of Europe recordings and those of David Zinman with the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich. The highlight, so far, has been an Eroica that reminds me of Szell's classic recording.

 

[Titurel]

I know there are those who question Beethoven's metronome indications. Some are dubious. However, the one work of Beethoven's that is transformed by these faster tempos is the Missa Solemnis. I remember recording the San Francisco Bach Chorus, back in the mid 1990s, in an Historically Informed Performance that used much quicker tempos than I had heard before, with everything opening up in a way I had not heard before. This performance, with David Zinman directing the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and soloists, is in the same spirit, to similar effect:

View attachment 383020

Thanks I'll definitly give it a listen. As someone who did a fair number of "historically informed performances," I'm no longer a big fan. Practitioners of HIP too frequently ignore or under-value the impact of venue, imposing tempi that worked well in the original sub-1000 seat venue on c. 3000 seat modern auditoriums. Decay time (and host of other considerations) almost always trumps scholarship. As a point of reference, the Eroica was premiered in a room which held an audience of 100 + 70 musicians. It would be tough to translate that aesthetic (and impact) even to a modern chamber music venue, let alone to a modern concert hall.

 

[Elkerton]

I know there are those who question Beethoven's metronome indications. Some are dubious. However, the one work of Beethoven's that is transformed by these faster tempos is the Missa Solemnis. I remember recording the San Francisco Bach Chorus, back in the mid 1990s, in an Historically Informed Performance that used much quicker tempos than I had heard before, with everything opening up in a way I had not heard before. This performance, with David Zinman directing the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and soloists, is in the same spirit, to similar effect:

View attachment 383020

I'll have to have a listen to the Zinman- thanks!
The only version I return to, and I also have the Bernstein, is Levine's. It has, for me, the requisite grandeur: