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[Robin L]

I picked up a used copy of this 2nd symphony a couple of days ago. The SACD layer is excellent and the integration of the organ in the finale is suitably impressive. That said the standout feature of this recording is the singing of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who here bested my former favorite (Crista Ludwig) with her reading of "Urlicht." Anyone interested in beautiful, sensitive, INTELLIGENT singing must hear it.

Have it, it's really good. Heard Tilson Thomas/SFS perform it in concert, front row of Davies right in front of the first cello. It was one of the most overwhelming concert experiences of my life.

Also have two CD recordings of Bernstein's, his Columbia/Sony and DGG recordings with the NYPO. Got the first Bernstein recording when I was in high school, and it left a deep impression on me. Have the Bruno Walter/NYPO recording on Sony, the Channel Classics Ivan Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra SACD and the Gilbert Kaplan/VPO DGG SACD as well. I'm surprised at how well Kaplan directs the symphony. Just shows you what true obsession can do. I'll be getting rid of the Chailly/Concertgebouw CDs on Decca. It's underpowered and I need the shelve space. I have the greatest attachment to Bernstein's first recording for Columbia/Sony and find it has the most impact in the first movement of all the recordings I have heard. But of course, that's what first impressions will do.

 

[Titurel]

Have it, it's really good. Heard Tilson Thomas/SFS perform it in concert, front row of Davies right in front of the first cello. It was one of the most overwhelming concert experiences of my life.

Also have two CD recordings of Bernstein's, his Columbia/Sony and DGG recordings with the NYPO. Got the first Bernstein recording when I was in high school, and it left a deep impression on me. Have the Bruno Walter/NYPO recording on Sony, the Channel Classics Ivan Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra SACD and the Gilbert Kaplan/VPO DGG SACD as well. I'm surprised at how well Kaplan directs the symphony. Just shows you what true obsession can do. I'll be getting rid of the Chailly/Concertgebouw CDs on Decca. It's underpowered and I need the shelve space. I have the greatest attachment to Bernstein's first recording for Columbia/Sony and find it has the most impact in the first movement of all the recordings I have heard. But of course, that's what first impressions will do.

I heartily agree with your assessment of first impressions. I can't hear La Boheme without Serafin inside my head, nor Missa Solemnis without the Red Baron, whose rather insane reading of The Planets shattered the 30 year choke hold Boult had on it and me. (Litton with Bergen is my present The Planets of choice.)

The Litton DSO Mahler 2nd is worth at least one listening and Zubin Mehta's reading with the Vienna Phil. is worthy of many visits and could easily justify its space on anyone's shelf.

 

[Petrushka]

I'm hunting down specific pieces and specific performers. Have a lot of background in recordings of all sorts of classical music, but there's a few holes. Today I'll be listening to Haydn piano sonatas, a corner I haven't explored very much before. Right now, I am checking out an album of Sviatoslav Richter performances of Haydn sonatas on Decca with better sound than he usually gets. I also have only heard a few Haydn string quartets. I was involved in the California Renaissance Faires in the 1970s and recorded a number of Medieval groups in the 1990s. So, I've had a fair amount of exposure to pre-baroque music, not to mention exposure to plenty of obscure Baroque music thanks to being the recording engineer for the San Francisco Early Music Society in the 1990s. I can strongly recommend Biber's Sonata Representativa:

I’m a fan of Richter. But all my life I have been unable to buy new CDs, so my knowledge is limited to what I’ve found used.

I don’t know enough to search for anything specific. I appreciate mixes being suggested.

 

[Robin L]

I’m a fan of Richter. But all my life I have been unable to buy new CDs, so my knowledge is limited to what I’ve found used.

I don’t know enough to search for anything specific. I appreciate mixes being suggested.

You have Spotify? I wouldn't recommend mixes - I go for works in full. But two I've heard recently that are particularly striking are his studio recording for RCA Victor of Beethoven's Appasionata (#23) sonata. His recording of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Stanislaw Wislocki for DGG is the best version I've heard. His Schubert is always interesting, but some might find his version of the B flat sonata too slow in the first movement. His version of the D. 958 in C minor has no such issues. This reminds me I have to hear his version of the A Major, D. 959 sonata. A lot of his Beethoven is good, but many of his recordings are "live" and sonically subpar. I've got the Praga issue of Richter live in Prague featuring Beethoven's sonatas 27, 28 and 29. The Hammerklavier performance is very impressive, sound is decent.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I have the greatest attachment to Bernstein's first recording for Columbia/Sony and find it has the most impact in the first movement of all the recordings I have heard. But of course, that's what first impressions will do.

I grew up on that one, too. Still, I grab a listen to every new one that comes along, especially in MCH.

 

[Robin L]

I grew up on that one, too. Still, I grab a listen to every new one that comes along, especially in MCH.

Mahler's Second Symphony is particularly well represented on SACD. I'm currently down to two channels because of reduced living space but five years ago I had a 5.1 system with multiple subwoofers. Probably not up to the kind of gear you use - got mine used and cheap. But still, quite good with the right recordings.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Mahler's Second Symphony is particularly well represented on SACD. I'm currently down to two channels because of reduced living space but five years ago I had a 5.1 system with multiple subwoofers. Probably not up to the kind of gear you use - got mine used and cheap. But still, quite good with the right recordings.

Good MCH makes a big difference. OTOH, I've been in Row D Orchestra for the M3 and the M6 this season and I can'y play any Mahler at home for weeks after.

 

[Petrushka]

You have Spotify? I wouldn't recommend mixes - I go for works in full. But two I've heard recently that are particularly striking are his studio recording for RCA Victor of Beethoven's Appasionata (#23) sonata. His recording of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Stanislaw Wislocki for DGG is the best version I've heard. His Schubert is always interesting, but some might find his version of the B flat sonata too slow in the first movement. His version of the D. 958 in C minor has no such issues. This reminds me I have to hear his version of the A Major, D. 959 sonata. A lot of his Beethoven is good, but many of his recordings are "live" and sonically subpar. I've got the Praga issue of Richter live in Prague featuring Beethoven's sonatas 27, 28 and 29. The Hammerklavier performance is very impressive, sound is decent.

When it comes to old music, complete works can be five to ten minutes. Spotify shows you what you ask for. If you search for renaissance, you get albums, playlists, radio stations, and user mixes

 

[Robin L]

When it comes to old music, complete works can be five to ten minutes. Spotify shows you what you ask for. If you search for renaissance, you get albums, playlists, radio stations, and user mixes

I guess I've been at this long enough to know most of the names in most of the categories. BTW, Sviatoslav Richter didn't record Schubert's A Major D. 959 sonata, which makes no sense to me. I usually look up a specific work or a specific performer to find what I'm looking for. But I've been looking up recordings for customers over the 30-some-odd years I've worked in stores that sold recorded music.

 

[TimF]

I recently bought the double cd recording of Albeniz Iberia for solo piano played by Marc Hamelin. It is a difficult piece, and it is supposed to have a certain Spanish styling that not all pianists make credible. I think Hamelin does an exemplary performance. I rate his performance second only to Alicia de Larrocha. I recommend this cd.

 

[Petrushka]

I’m going to back out of this as gracefully as possible. For mostly economic reasons, I have much less exposure to recordings than many of the people here, and I have never been able to afford a live concert.

For many years my only source other than my own CDs has been XM. I’m kind of tired of warhorses and the great composers. I’m looking for music and composers I’ve never heard of.

Of the popular and overplayed composers, I still love Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Satie, and Vaughan Williams. I have opinions about artists and performances, but at the moment, I’m not interested in hearing the same recording more than once.

Of pianists, I like Horowitz, Richter and Gould, and people who seem influenced by them. I’m afraid I don’t know any names.

 

[Jim Taylor]

. I’m looking for music and composers I’ve never heard of.

Hugo Alfven
Max Bruch
Ferruccio Busoni
Luigi Cherubini
Carl Czerny (prolific pianist, but some view him as "dry")
Johann Franck (not Cesar)
Frank Bridge
Louis Glass
Asger Hamerik
Jan Vaclav Vorisek
Vasily Kalinnikov
Johann Kolliwoda
Franz Krommer (The Clarinet King )
Franz Lachner (one of my faves)
Witold Maliszewski
Ernest Mielck (a hidden gem!)
Moritz Moskowski
Zygmunt Noskowski
Friedrich Witt
Granville Bantock
Arnold Bax
Benjamin Godard
Bernard Zweers
Franz Berwald
Ignacy Dobrzinski
Felix Draeseke
Robert Fuchs
Florence Price
Grzegorz Fitelberg
Joachim Raff
Joseph Ryelandt
Mieczyslaw Karlowicz
Erkki Melartin
Paul Wranitsky
Sigismund Thalberg (especially his music for piano)
Theodor Gouvy
Theodor von Schacht
Alberto Franchetti
Carl Reinecke
Anton Eberl
Felix Woyrsch
Gaetano Valeri
Alexandr Glazunov
Johann Fledmayer
Johann Rufinatscha
Josef Jonsson
Karel Kopriva
Luigi Gatti
Rued Langgard
Theodore duBois


Got'em all ... love'em all.

Jim

 

[Robin L]

I’m going to back out of this as gracefully as possible. For mostly economic reasons, I have much less exposure to recordings than many of the people here, and I have never been able to afford a live concert.

Just remember - being able to stream music takes a lot of those economic reasons out of the equation.

For many years my only source other than my own CDs has been XM. I’m kind of tired of warhorses and the great composers. I’m looking for music and composers I’ve never heard of.

Of the popular and overplayed composers, I still love Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Satie, and Vaughan Williams. I have opinions about artists and performances, but at the moment, I’m not interested in hearing the same recording more than once.

Of pianists, I like Horowitz, Richter and Gould, and people who seem influenced by them. I’m afraid I don’t know any names.

If you stick around here, you'll learn about a lot of composers and performers that aren't overplayed.

 

[mSpot]

I picked up a used copy of this 2nd symphony a couple of days ago. The SACD layer is excellent and the integration of the organ in the finale is suitably impressive. That said the standout feature of this recording is the singing of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who here bested my former favorite (Crista Ludwig) with her reading of "Urlicht." Anyone interested in beautiful, sensitive, INTELLIGENT singing must hear it.

I was at this performance, at one of the concerts from which this recording was made in 2004. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's singing was sublime and one of the most magical moments I've experienced in live performance. Just two years later, I was saddened to learn of her death.

If any of you have an opportunity to attend a live performance of the Mahler 2nd, don't miss it. The sonic forces are not something that can be reproduced at home.

 

[Robin L]

I was at this performance, at one of the concerts from which this recording was made in 2004. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's singing was sublime and one of the most magical moments I've experienced in live performance. Just two years later, I was saddened to learn of her death.

If any of you have an opportunity to attend a live performance of the Mahler 2nd, don't miss it. The sonic forces are not something that can be reproduced at home.

When I was recording early music concerts for SFEMS I had a number of opportunities to record Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, marvelous singer.

If you take advantage of an opportunity to attend a concert of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, be sure to get a good seat. I've been to several, but the SFS performance was sonically so much more powerful thanks to getting a really good spot to hear it.

 

[Leporello]

Brilliant Mahler 5th arrangement:

 

[Robin L]

Going down the rabbit hole of recordings of J. S. Bach's Das Wohltemperiete Klavier again. I know the first recording I heard was Wanda Landowska's weirdly Gothic set for RCA Victor, many moons ago. I've gone through many more since, including Davitt Moroney's relatively sane harpsichord account for Harmonia Mundi, Glenn Gould's notably eccentric set on his specially prepared piano (don't ask) for Columbia, Edwin Fischer's pioneering but scandalously messy account for HMV in the 1930's. There are many others I've heard, too many to number or account. But there's two sets, both from the "Russian School" I keep returning to, two sets with much in common. Sviatovslav Richter's set, originally for Europadisc, as far as I can tell, has been reissued by RCA, Melodiya, Alto and other labels. It fairly well known, as far as such recordings go. Samuel Feinberg's set should be much better known. It shares many of the good qualities of Richter's set. The sound isn't quite as good as Richter's, but it isn't bad. I find both sets much to be preferred to Glenn Gould's much better-known set.

Now that I've got Tidal, I'm going to explore other sets, like Angela Hewitt's. But meanwhile:

 

[Mayan]

 

[Robin L]

Having Tidal reminds me of when I would visit Fresno State College's extensive music library back around 1970 or so. They had over 30,000 LPs at the time, mostly (but not entirely) Classical. I've been listening to Radu Lupu and Alfred Brendel in particular. Always had a high opinion of Radu Lupu's work, but didn't know he made only a few recordings, comparatively speaking. His complete solo recordings are only ten CDs. Fortunately, that includes 9 Schubert sonatas and all the impromptus. Wonderful performances, predictably.

Alfred Brendel seems a bit hit and miss for me. Much of his Beethoven seems to lack required energy. I heard his collection of Haydn sonatas and determined that I really need to hear other pianists performing that music, as my reaction was lukewarm. On the other hand, found his performances of Mozart and Schubert to be exceptionally fine.

About 50 years ago found Agustin Anievas' recording of Chopin's Etudes, and still find it one of the best, exceptionally well recorded for its time. I had to go through several menus to find it in Tidal, but I did, and it was just as fine as I remembered. Sound quality is predictably better on Tidal:

 

[Titurel]

Fearless playing of these scores and the sonics are superb. (SACD). I'm fond of the Bergen Phil. and their recordings seldom disappoint.

Feeling my Stravinsky library was a little sparse, I ordered 5 more Petruskas and boatload of other Stravinsky ballet scores last night. The conductors are Bernstein, Chailly, Ancerl, Monteux, and Abbado. Unfortunately, CDs of the much lauded Ozawa reading are as rare as hen's teeth and twice as expensive.