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Help for a classical newbie - best recordings of a few pieces?

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17K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  djmomo17  
#1 ·
Hi guys, just discovered this forum, but instead of posting in the introductions section, I thought I'd start here, since I had a few questions I was wondering if more knowledgeable people could help me with.

I've been just getting into classical music recently (I say recently, it's really been over the past year and a half or so, I just don't get much time to devote to it being a college student right now). My interest was first sparked by some pieces I heard on public radio, and I've been trying to expand my CD collection lately with recordings of some of my favorite stuff.

As a newbie to all this, though, I find it a bit maddening how many different versions of recorded works there seem to be out there. It's frustrating when you have a limited amount of money to spend, and you want to buy the best recording of something you can in terms of performance and sound quality but you don't know whether to go with the Duo version or the Naxos version or the Itzhak Perlman version or the shiny new Deutsche Grammophon version with the picture of the shapely female violinist on the cover.

Being able to hear clips on Amazon and iTunes helps, and sometimes I'll download some stuff via p2p or torrents before I buy it on CD, but it's still hard to navigate everything there is out there. I've also encountered the Penguin guide to classical recordings, which would seem like a big help, but the reviewers on Amazon seem to accuse it of having a bias toward British recordings, and other similar published guides seem to have their shortcomings, as well.

So I thought I'd ask you guys about the merits of different recordings of a few works I've been looking at lately, since a lot of people here seem to be really knowledgeable about this stuff and probably own hundreds of these recordings. I understand a lot of this stuff is subjective, but just some personal recommendations would be great. I'm looking for performances that are played skillfully and distinctively, that reflect the character of the original piece, and that have good recording quality (more newly and better recorded releases being preferred if the performances are just as good or better than older ones--I like to rip my tracks at lossless quality, but I don't have a hi-fi system or anything).

Mozart's Violin Concertos
I've heard the versions of these by Arthur Grumiaux on the Philips Duo label, which seem to be well-recommended and sound really good to me, from what I've heard of them. There's also versions just out from Antoine Tamestit, Renaud Capuçon & the Scottish Chamber Orchestra that seem really nice. Then there're older versions, including one by Perlman, and a newer one by Anne-Sophie Mutter. What are the differences between them, and which ones are recommended?

Fantasia On "Greensleeves"
I have a version by Christopher Warren-Green & London Chamber Orchestra I downloaded from iTunes from a compilation album. Can anyone suggest a good version, perhaps one on a cd with some other stuff by Vaughan Williams?

Johann Stamitz's Symphonies
I have D Major, E Flat Major, G Major, A Major, and B Flat Major on a CD from Naxos performed by Donald Armstrong & New Zealand Chamber Orchestra. These seem to be pretty good; are there any better versions out there?

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
A have an mp3 of the version by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta with Gary Graffman on piano that's on the soundtrack for the 70s film Manhattan. What's a CD to buy that has a good version of Rhapsody in Blue with some other stuff by Gershwin?

Peer Gynt Suite
What's a good version to get? Von Karajan's version with Berliner Philharmoniker on D-G sounds nice.

Bach's Violin Concertos
I have the CD of Perlman and Zukerman's versions with the English Chamber Orchestra on EMI. Are there other versions that could be suggested, maybe some more newly-recorded ones?

Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante In E Flat Major
I have a version by Julia Fischer that sounds okay, but I keep reading reviews about a muddy sound quality of the recording, and the more I listen to it, the more I hear it. Grumiaux seems to have some decent versions, and the aforementioned Antoine Tamestit, Renaud Capuçon & the Scottish Chamber Orchestra have a new version, too. What are some of the best recordings?

Vivaldi's Lute and Mandolin Concertos
I have a collection of these on the D-G label featuring Paul Kuentz and Narciso Yepes; I believe they were recorded in the 70s. Can anyone suggest some more newly-recorded versions?

Pachebel's Canon
Yeah, a newbie favorite, but what's the best version to own? I have an mp3 of a version by Sir Neville Marriner & Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields from a compilation.

Dvorak's Piano Trios
Dvorak's become one of my favorites, and I really like these piano trios. The Suk Trio versions are well-reputed, and sound good from what I've heard, but there's also versions from Trio Fontenay, other older versions by the Beaux Arts Trios, and various other newer versions by different groups. What's a good one to get, maybe one that's been recorded fairly recently and has great sound quality?

Okay, that got kind of long, sorry. Thanks in advance for the help!
 
#5 ·
It's all in good fun my friend...and welcome by the way.

Looks like you are making a good effort to really get to know classical music. You'll definitely learn a lot in this forum, and I guarantee you that your collection will grow exponentially after you start getting the suggestions from other members.

What period of music are you finding the most pleasure in?
 
#4 ·
For The Vaughan Williams Fantasia On Greensleeves I would recommend this recording:

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This is one of the nicest discs I own and as well as a great Greensleeves Fantasia has excellent verions of Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Elgars Introduction & Allegro :).

For the Peer Gynt I would recommend another EMI Great Recodings of the Century Disc:

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I dont think you could go wrong with the Karajan version either as that has some great reviews on Amazon!.
 
M
#6 ·
C71 said:
For The Vaughan Williams Fantasia On Greensleeves I would recommend this recording:

Image


This is one of the nicest discs I own and as well as a great Greensleeves Fantasia has excellent verions of Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Elgars Introduction & Allegro :).
Click to expand...
Indeed. You might buy it for Greensleeves Fantasia, but then you'll be so very glad you discovered Thomas Tallis Fantasia ... one of my favourite pieces of music, and perhaps one of the best pieces of music ever written in my opinion. Another source for great versions of both can be heard here:

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#8 · (Edited)
Oh boy another recommendations request! Okay (sighs), I'll help you, but only just this once. :p

Since the Romantic and Modern classical periods are my forte, I'll help you with the Vaughan Williams, Grieg, and Gershwin.

My first Vaughan Williams recording was the following:

Neville Marriner/Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
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Once you get this recording move on to this box set:

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This will be a good Vaughan Williams starter pack for you. :D

Now to move onto the next request of Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite." Go ahead and invest in this set:

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This particular Grieg box set has all of his orchestral music plus the complete "Peer Gynt," which is the best way for you to hear it in my opinion. There is also a set on Deutsche Grammophon with Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orch., but I find the Ruud and the Bergen Philharmonic to be better performed and the audio quality is also better.

Next, Gershwin. You can never go wrong with this one:

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Good luck and don't be afraid to take the plunge and do some exploring yourself. Sometimes it is best to discover what you like.

Apart of listening to classical music is becoming aware of its history and with the conductors and orchestras. You will find that there are many different ways to approach a composer, but there is never a wrong way. You may like an interpretation better than another one, but that's only natural and at this point it comes down to your own personal preference.

Happy exploring!
 
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#9 ·
Thanks for the suggestions, Mirror. Ruud's versions of Peer Gynt sound pretty good, but I might wait and compare other versions of some of Grieg's other work instead of going for the big box set now. So that leaves me with the choice of either this disc, which includes the suites and three other pieces, or this set, which has the entire Peer Gynt but also has a lot of dialogue (I think this is what's on the box set--the actors don't actually talk over any of the music on this version, do they? If not, I guess I could just program out the dialogue..).

As for Rhapsody In Blue, I think I might've actually grown to prefer the version with strings, though that might just be from being used to it. It seems to have more of a build up to me, and more fullness. Apparently, Gary Graffman's version is used on TV and in commercials and stuff a good bit; maybe I've just subconsciously grown used to it from the United Airlines commercials through the years.
 
#11 ·
K, thought you might be able to clear up for me whether the full version of Peer Gynt by Ruud you referenced had dialogue over the music or not, but whatev.

Didn't mean to seem like I was blowing off your suggestions if I did, because Ruud's version of Peer Gynt does seem like a good one, and I like the idea of a recording by an authentically Scandinavian orchestra and conductor.
 
#14 ·
A good bit of my collection is just based on what I happen to hear and like on the radio when I'm able to listen to our station's midday classical music show. So some of my collection probably seems fairly random for a classical music newbie; I similarly discovered Poulenc's Les Biches by chance. So I think I must've heard one of Stamitz's symphonies one day and checked out more of his work. I've found it to be good study music (I guess being more from the Classical period, it has that stately, elegant quality that Mozart and others seem to have).

I think his Symphony In E Flat Major and his "Mannheim" symphonies are my favorites of his works that I've heard; but I really like everything on the Vol. 1 CD of his symphonies form Naxos. The performances on this disc are good, too; I was just wondering if there were any performances that were considered definitive, but it doesn't look like it, since they seem to be fairly obscure as you say.
 
#16 ·
For Rhapsody in Blue I highly recommend checking out the Tilson Thomas recording with the Gershwin-recorded piano roll. It's as close to Gershwin himself playing it with a modern orchestra as possible. It's also impossibly fast!
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You didn't mention Beethoven but if you want to get a modern and sleek set of the 9 symphonies you can't go wrong with Zinman, Gardiner or Järvi . Reduced forces but very "contemporary".

http://lvbandmore.blogspot.com/
 
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