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Recommendations Please!

16K views 199 replies 17 participants last post by  AfterHours 
#1 ·
I would very much appreciate your assistance in finding better recorded performances than those I've listed on my "Greatest Classical Music Works - Best Recorded Performances" list over on besteveralbums.com.

To visit my list, go here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=458120#458120

This list is updated pretty frequently, so be wary of changes. I will notify of any Classical Works added to it and updated recordings right here on this thread (as well as on its besteveralbums.com thread). This will make it much easier to keep track of.

There are so many experienced, knowledgeable users on this site and I'd love to hear from you about any recordings of these works that might be better than those I've already provided. Feel free to post recommendations, or just discuss them, or anything related to any of them. Though I've been quite meticulous with my choices, I am always looking to improve them (wherever possible).

Note: in cases where you feel there is NOT a better choice than what I've provided, feel free to recommend a "best HIP performance" (where the selection I've made is with modern instruments), or a "best modern performance" (where the selection I've made is HIP). I will very likely be branching out to including at least one of each, so this would be most helpful.

Please note that this is not my entire list of "Greatest Classical Works". It is just those I've updated onto that list so far. There are at least 100+ additional works that I've already heard, yet to be added, but which are deserving of being on such a "Greatest of All Time" list -- so again, this will be expanded pretty consistently as I revisit them and/or simply determine their ranking. And then of course, there will be brand new additions of works I've recently discovered.

Also, if you have any questions about my criteria or choices, feel free to ask.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Hmmm, interesting... I've never had a single problem or heard of that with besteveralbums.com. It's a large site, been around for several years, probably similar in size and users (at least) to this one, so I would doubt that it's a real issue.
 
#4 ·
Just glancing through your list there is a definitely a good deal we would disagree on and I would make different suggestions too, but one right off the bat is that Solti Schubert 9th...ugh!

Solti takes the exposition repeat in the finale and no where else which makes absolutely no sense and throws the entire Symphony off balance in my opinion. Not to mention he took some nut job's idea in the late 70's that Schubert’s long accent marks were really decrescendos which is utter nonsense!

To hear how Schubert's 9th should go I would recommend two recordings, one with repeats and one without.

#1. Charles Munch/Boston Symphony Orchestra. (without repeats)
#2. Riccardo Muti/Vienna Philharmonic (with repeats)

Either of those recordings are infinitely better than the Solti one.
 
#13 ·
Just glancing through your list there is a definitely a good deal we would disagree on and I would make different suggestions too, but one right off the bat is that Solti Schubert 9th...ugh!

Solti takes the exposition repeat in the finale and no where else which makes absolutely no sense and throws the entire Symphony off balance in my opinion. Not to mention he took some nut job's idea in the late 70's that Schubert's long accent marks were really decrescendos which is utter nonsense!

To hear how Schubert's 9th should go I would recommend two recordings, one with repeats and one without.

#1. Charles Munch/Boston Symphony Orchestra. (without repeats)
#2. Riccardo Muti/Vienna Philharmonic (with repeats)

Either of those recordings are infinitely better than the Solti one.
I do disagree that it "throws the whole symphony off balance" and I think it's an outstanding performance in every way, but thank you for the recommendations. I've heard Munch's, which is fantastic, and I've considered for the position before. I am not sure if I've heard Muti's before... I'll revisit #1 and check out #2.
 
#6 ·
I will go through the whole list on ones I feel I can make suggestions on if you want, but I will suggest a few that are empty right now instead:

Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde
Karl Bohm/Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

Sibelius: Symphony #2
George Szell/Concertgebouw Orchestra

Bruckner: Symphony #8
Lorin Maazel/Berlin Philharmonic or Herbert Von Karajan/Vienna Philharmonic

Shostakovich: Symphony #7 "Leningrad"
Leonard Bernstein/Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Hindemith: Mathis der Maler
William Steinberg/Boston Symphony Orchestra

Mozart: Symphony #39
Karl Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic

Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5
George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra

Bernstein: Symphony #2 "Age Of Anxiety"
Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Piano: Philippe Entremont)

Schumann: Piano Concerto
Radu Lupu/Andre Previn/London Symphony

Holst: The Planets
Herbert Von Karajan/Vienna Philharmonic

Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition
Fritz Reiner/Chicago

Beethoven: Triple Concerto
Herbert Von Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (Oistrakh/Rostrapovich/Richter)
 
#15 ·
Thank you, I probably already agree with you that Bohm/Bayreuth is the best Tristan. What a performance! Just one of the more difficult selections so I haven't updated it yet.

Of those you list, I haven't heard the following recordings:

Sibelius: Symphony #2
George Szell/Concertgebouw Orchestra

Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5
George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra

Schumann: Piano Concerto
Radu Lupu/Andre Previn/London Symphony

So I will check those out, and revisit the others as necessary. Lots of listening in my future -- as always :)
 
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#7 ·
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor "Pathetique" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1798)
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major "Hammerklavier" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1818)

Best HIP Recording: Ronald Brautigam (he has recorded all the 32 but these ones are really stunning, from the first chord of the Pathétique)

Also I noticed a complete absence of Debussy, Ravel and other French warhorses such as Franck's violin sonata and Dutilleux’s Métaboles
 
#16 ·
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor "Pathetique" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1798)
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major "Hammerklavier" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1818)

Best HIP Recording: Ronald Brautigam (he has recorded all the 32 but these ones are really stunning, from the first chord of the Pathétique)

Also I noticed a complete absence of Debussy, Ravel and other French warhorses such as Franck's violin sonata and Dutilleux's Métaboles
Yes, there are several missing Classical Works that will be added in the future, perhaps those among them? I'll see...

Great recommendation on Brautigam's Beethoven Piano Sonatas! He really does do such an excellent job with an extremely difficult task. I'll revisit those two out in particular.
 
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#9 · (Edited)
Also ones I will agree on:

Dvorak: Symphony #9 “From The New World”
Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Definitely my desert island recording of this work)

Brahms: Requiem
Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra (Again, definitely my desert island recording)

Brahms: Symphony #3
Gunter Wand/NDR Symphony Orchestra (Great, but so are Walter, Levine, Klemperer, Abbado)

Ives: Symphony #4
Michael Tilson Thomas/Chicago Symphony (Again, tops for me)

Beethoven: Symphony #3 "Eroica"
Pierre Monteux/Concertgebow (This one is indeed fine, but equal or better are Szell, Munch, Wand, Dohnanyi)

Mahler: Symphony #5
Leonard Bernstein/Vienna Philharmonic (Wonderful, but so is Karajan/Berlin and Levine/Philadelphia)

Beethoven: Symphony #7
Manfred Honeck/Pittsburgh (A great new recording but Szell, Bernstein, Kleiber, Dorati, Wand are all equally amazing)

Schubert: Symphony #8 “Unfinished”
Eugen Jochum/Boston Symphony (Unfortunately forgotten by most...what a performance!)

Liszt: Faust Symphony
Leonard Bernstein/New York (Both this one and Bernstein/Boston are top of the heap for me)

Concertos and Solo works are harder for me because Soloists each have a different voice and can be far more personal...but I will agree that many listed are great recordings like:

Beethoven Sting Quartets by The Alban Berg Quartett are all excellent.

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas by the likes of Maurizio Pollini and Annie Fischer are excellent.

Mozart Concertos by the likes of: Alfred Brendel, Andras Schiff, Rudolf Buchbinder are all excellent.

Brahms: Piano Concerto #2
Sviatoslav Richter/Erich Leinsdorf is great for Richter's viewpoint but Fleisher, Serkin, Gilels, Katchen are all great and have a more classical viewpoint.

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1
Argerich/Abbado is great but there are other great ones as well.

Brahms: Piano Concerto #1
Rudolf Serkin/George Szell is a great one but again there are several others with equally valid viewpoints that are just as great in my book.
 
#18 ·
Also ones I will agree on:

Dvorak: Symphony #9 "From The New World"
Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Definitely my desert island recording of this work)

Brahms: Requiem
Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra (Again, definitely my desert island recording)

Brahms: Symphony #3
Gunter Wand/NDR Symphony Orchestra (Great, but so are Walter, Levine, Klemperer, Abbado)

Ives: Symphony #4
Michael Tilson Thomas/Chicago Symphony (Again, tops for me)

Beethoven: Symphony #3 "Eroica"
Pierre Monteux/Concertgebow (This one is indeed fine, but equal or better are Szell, Munch, Wand, Dohnanyi)

Mahler: Symphony #5
Leonard Bernstein/Vienna Philharmonic (Wonderful, but so is Karajan/Berlin and Levine/Philadelphia)

Beethoven: Symphony #7
Manfred Honeck/Pittsburgh (A great new recording but Szell, Bernstein, Kleiber, Dorati, Wand are all equally amazing)

Schubert: Symphony #8 "Unfinished"
Eugen Jochum/Boston Symphony (Unfortunately forgotten by most...what a performance!)

Liszt: Faust Symphony
Leonard Bernstein/New York (Both this one and Bernstein/Boston are top of the heap for me)

Concertos and Solo works are harder for me because Soloists each have a different voice and can be far more personal...but I will agree that many listed are great recordings like:

Beethoven Sting Quartets by The Alban Berg Quartett are all excellent.

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas by the likes of Maurizio Pollini and Annie Fischer are excellent.

Mozart Concertos by the likes of: Alfred Brendel, Andras Schiff, Rudolf Buchbinder are all excellent.

Brahms: Piano Concerto #2
Sviatoslav Richter/Erich Leinsdorf is great for Richter's viewpoint but Fleisher, Serkin, Gilels, Katchen are all great and have a more classical viewpoint.

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1
Argerich/Abbado is great but there are other great ones as well.

Brahms: Piano Concerto #1
Rudolf Serkin/George Szell is a great one but again there are several others with equally valid viewpoints that are just as great in my book.
Thank you, I agree with your points, including the alternative selections you listed, most of which I've heard and are no doubt excellent.
 
#10 ·
I don't see any point in even thinking about a "best" performance when comparing different interpretations is often like comparing apples and oranges. With the history of recording as big and varied as it is, there are dozens of "bests" for most major works.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I'll only list the ones where I have listened to several performances and have a strong favorite:

  • Symphony No. 8 in C Minor - Anton Bruckner (1892): Wand/Berlin/RCA
  • Symphony No. 3 in C Minor "Organ" - Camille Saint-Saens (1886): Ormandy/Power Biggs/Philadelphia/Sony
  • The Planets - Gustav Holst (1916) - Dutoit/Montreal/Decca (Though Mehta/LA/Decca is very close here)

I do agree with bigshot above though that it's very hard to say what the "best" performance is since that is subjective. You can only poll favorites and say which is liked by the most.
 
#20 ·
Thank you very much! I've heard Dutoit's Planets (which is exceptional), but I don't think I've heard the others. Will check them out accordingly.

Re: favorties/best performance and what-have-you ... It's all subjective (or should be) :)
 
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#12 ·
Arguing about which version of anything is "best" is an exercise in futility. FWIW, the only choice of the original poster that I agree with is Annie Fischer's Hammerklavier, but even there, I could easily choose someone else's interpretation.

à chacun son goût, de gustibus non est disputandum, and all that.
 
#25 ·
For Beethoven's last 5 string quartets the Alban Bergs are certainly contenders, but their rather cool, clinical aspirations to perfection are clearly not the only approach to take. My favourites here are the Quartetto Italiano, who seem to me to give more personal readings, and the Talich Quartet on Calliope, who really do concentrate less on absolute accuracy and more on communicating the essence of the music, as they feel it. Their accounts are absolutely heart-felt.

For Beethoven's duo sonatas for piano and violin, alongside Melnikov and Faust I'd suggest Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich, who I'd suggest steal the top prize here, much though I do like Melnikov and Faust.


In Schubert's great quartets (No. 14 and 15) I'm not familiar with your choice (the Artemis Quartet) but an alternative is the Quartetto Italiano again. Their performances (recorded on Philips in the late 1960s) of both quartets are phenomenal in their grip and intensity. The recordings are good for their time, and still quite good by modern standards.

For Schubert's string quintet I own the Alban Berg / Heinrich Schiff recording but still swear by (and prefer) the Chilingirian Quartet with Jennifer Ward Clarke (EMI (CfP), 1981) whose performance, again, is remarkable for its pathos and sheer intensity, particularly in the first two movements. An almost forgotten master-recording.

In the piano quintet I like the vintage recording by the Beaux Arts Trio with Samuel Rhodes and Georg Hörtnagel.


For the Shostakovich string quartets 3 & 11 - the Borodin Quartet and the Fitzwilliam Quartet are both excellent and get very deep into this wonderful music. I've not liked anything very much I've heard the Emersons do, Webern excepted, but I haven't heard their Shostakovich, so perhaps I shouldn't comment.

For Bartok's 4th String Quartet you might try the Tokyo, Takacs or Keller Quartets, all of which are excellent.

One solo piano recommendation - if you haven't heard Wilhelm Kempff play Schubert's final piano sonata (D.960 in B flat) you really ought to! Heavenly lengths...

I've rambled enough.
 
#29 · (Edited)
For Beethoven's last 5 string quartets the Alban Bergs are certainly contenders, but their rather cool, clinical aspirations to perfection are clearly not the only approach to take. My favourites here are the Quartetto Italiano, who seem to me to give more personal readings, and the Talich Quartet on Calliope, who really do concentrate less on absolute accuracy and more on communicating the essence of the music, as they feel it. Their accounts are absolutely heart-felt.

For Beethoven's duo sonatas for piano and violin, alongside Melnikov and Faust I'd suggest Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich, who I'd suggest steal the top prize here, much though I do like Melnikov and Faust.

In Schubert's great quartets (No. 14 and 15) I'm not familiar with your choice (the Artemis Quartet) but an alternative is the Quartetto Italiano again. Their performances (recorded on Philips in the late 1960s) of both quartets are phenomenal in their grip and intensity. The recordings are good for their time, and still quite good by modern standards.

For Schubert's string quintet I own the Alban Berg / Heinrich Schiff recording but still swear by (and prefer) the Chilingirian Quartet with Jennifer Ward Clarke (EMI (CfP), 1981) whose performance, again, is remarkable for its pathos and sheer intensity, particularly in the first two movements. An almost forgotten master-recording.

In the piano quintet I like the vintage recording by the Beaux Arts Trio with Samuel Rhodes and Georg Hörtnagel.

For the Shostakovich string quartets 3 & 11 - the Borodin Quartet and the Fitzwilliam Quartet are both excellent and get very deep into this wonderful music. I've not liked anything very much I've heard the Emersons do, Webern excepted, but I haven't heard their Shostakovich, so perhaps I shouldn't comment.

For Bartok's 4th String Quartet you might try the Tokyo, Takacs or Keller Quartets, all of which are excellent.

One solo piano recommendation - if you haven't heard Wilhelm Kempff play Schubert's final piano sonata (D.960 in B flat) you really ought to! Heavenly lengths...

I've rambled enough.
Thank you for all of these!

Re: Alban Berg/Beethoven Late SQ ... I've never found performance that capture the shattering profundity and inwardness as these, but I will look into those you mention

Re: Kreutzer ... Yes, Kremer/Argerich are extraordinary. I've been listening to Classical since about 14, and your recommendation was one of my earliest favorites, so thanks for the dose of nostalgia -- I don't think I've heard it since -- will revisit :)

Re: Schubert Quintet/Alban Berg ... One of the recordings I wonder if it will ever be topped. Like with Beethoven, AB really reach the profound, inward depths of the work like no other, but I will check out your preference

Re: Piano Quintet ... I assume you are referring here to Schubert's "Trout"... Forellen is about as flawless as I can imagine, but I'd be overjoyed to find one equal or better

Re: Emerson/Shostakovich SQ ... They are second to none -- that I've heard. Ill give your recommendations a fair shot :)

Re: Bartok 4th SQ ... Thank you, I'll hunt them down. I've heard various renditions but remain undecided...

Re: Fleisher's is quite heavenly, elongated (without losing its place) and extraordinarily moving -- and beautifully idiosyncratic in its subtle articulations/phrasings. I've listened to Kempff's but, like many recordings, it's been quite awhile, so it could use a revisit
 
#31 · (Edited)
Well, if you think of any recommendations, by all means...! :)

... ...

On my OP it does state the following:

Note: in cases where you feel there is NOT a better choice than what I've provided, feel free to recommend a "best HIP performance" (where the selection I've made is with modern instruments), or a "best modern performance" (where the selection I've made is HIP). I will very likely be branching out to including at least one of each, so this would be most helpful.

I do think HIP sounds better for Mozart in general, and Bach, and Haydn -- actually, much of what came before Beethoven -- where such composer's often favored/rewarded more translucent textures between layers of instruments in their works (for instance, how such a sound illuminates Mozart's incredible ability to interlock varying harmonic parts and express emotional duality). But, that said, it does have to be performed exceptionally well to stand out, which is quite rare and very few have mastered, or even come close (but performances have been improving, generally, since the surge in HIP recordings in the late 80s and 90s).

An extraordinary example is those Staier/Concerto Koln Mozart Piano Concertos, which are undoubtedly the best I've ever heard, whether modern or HIP.
 
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#33 ·
TO ALL:

Okay, on my "Best Recorded Performances" list (at besteveralbums.com: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=458120#458120) I've now begun adding ratings of the selections on "Performance Quality" and "Sound Quality", including a brief explanation of the ratings scale in my message above the list. This may help in future recommendations. For instance: If you see that I give a certain performance a 9.5 or 10 you'll know that this is ideal or near-ideal to me for that particular work. Or if you see a work I rate 9.5 for "Performance Quality" but, say, a 7 for "Sound Quality", you'll know that if you recommend a similarly impressive performance, but with better sound quality, that there's a shot I could upgrade the selection if I agree with you.

Etc...
 
#35 ·
Added my selection for:

Tristan und Isolde - Richard Wagner (1859)

https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=458120#458120

Thank you realdealblues for the "nudge" to fill that one out. I also love Furtwangler's (Flagstaad's performance may never be surpassed) and the unique allure of Kleiber's (perhaps the best orchestration). Bohm's is probably the best of all worlds, and is of course better recorded and articulated than Furtwangler's 1952 rendition, so gets the nod (slightly) even if on any given day I might switch the two, and even at this moment, am not quite sure if I made the "best" choice.
 
#42 ·
#48 · (Edited)
Revised my selections for:

Symphony No. 9 in C Major "The Great" - Franz Schubert (1826) (previously was Solti/Vienna Phil)
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor - Johannes Brahms (1876) (previously was Karajan/Berlin Phil)

I've also added the "Performance" and "Sound" quality ratings for almost all the selections so far.

For my list, go here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15098&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Thank you realdealblues for inspiring this particular revisit of Schubert's 9th :)
 
#57 ·
I have a lot of recordings by Karajan that I love. Peer Gynt Suites, the filmed performances by Cluzot, the 60s Eroica, the Dvorak Slavonic Dances, Strauss, Bruckner, Wagner, and a fantastic La Boheme. I can't define any one single way of describing Karajan's recordings. The earlier EMI are nothing like the late period DGG, and Karajan with Berlin is different than Karajan with Vienna.
 
#62 · (Edited)
Fair enough, for me it depends on the work. Karajan was often absolutely a bit too single minded about how he recorded and I do agree with you there. However, his "weaknesses" can be marginalized on certain recordings: Tight and controlled can be a plus if we're talking about mounting, tunnel-visioned intensity in, say, Beethoven's 5th or 7th (certainly not his 80's recordings though). Tonal beauty and legato can be essential to bringing out the stream-of-consciousness and lyricism of Brahms' 2nd Symphony. Etc.

But regardless, none of these apply whatsoever to Karajan's Live Mahler's 9th, which is beyond astonishing. I'm not repeating this to "force" you to agree, but maybe to urge you to re-listen to it with as little bias as possible. I revisited it last night and was overcome by its depth of emotion and power. I don't know how Karajan/the BPO did it, but aside from the incredible direction, conviction and spontaneity in the playing of the Berlin Philharmonic, the sheer emotion and intensity and lyricism they display is ... overwhelming. Perhaps most amazingly, the tonal/sonorous character of the instruments sound like they are actually verging on death, "willing themselves to live", mustering their last efforts in each "collapsing/flailing" surge of momentum, reciting their last hymns in each lyrical passage -- not "death-stricken" in a "weakly played" way -- but playing as if their very lives do depend on it, evidenced in the actual, pained, last-ditch-effort and in the valedictory glory of their very sound/sonorities/tonal qualities, in the very essence of how they're captured. It is once-in-a-lifetime and inimitable. Perhaps my 9.5 rating of its "Performance Quality" is too low and needs to be upgraded to a 10 now.
 
#60 ·
A part of the reason why I'm not too big of a fan of Karajan recordings is that his later stuff on DG has pretty mediocre sound quality IMO. It's not just Karajan recordings that are like that, many/most of the DG recordings from the 1970s and 1980s sound pretty bad to me. I believe that they went with multi-miking which may have been a mistake. I've read that Karajan tried to control the audio engineering too even though he wasn't qualified to do so.

I'm not sure if recent re-mastering efforts have fixed any of these DG shortcomings from that era. Karajan and Abbado rarely are my preference anyway so I'm not that eager to find out, but I do like Boulez as a conductor and some of his older DG stuff sounds really weak to me compared to his older works with Columbia and others. I don't think that's on Boulez, I think DG's poor engineering has a lot to do with that.
 
#63 ·
A part of the reason why I'm not too big of a fan of Karajan recordings is that his later stuff on DG has pretty mediocre sound quality IMO. It's not just Karajan recordings that are like that, many/most of the DG recordings from the 1970s and 1980s sound pretty bad to me. I believe that they went with multi-miking which may have been a mistake. I've read that Karajan tried to control the audio engineering too even though he wasn't qualified to do so.

I'm not sure if recent re-mastering efforts have fixed any of these DG shortcomings from that era. Karajan and Abbado rarely are my preference anyway so I'm not that eager to find out, but I do like Boulez as a conductor and some of his older DG stuff sounds really weak to me compared to his older works with Columbia and others. I don't think that's on Boulez, I think DG's poor engineering has a lot to do with that.
I agree with this in various cases, especially his 80's Beethoven (yikes!), but only partially for his 70's renditions.
 
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#61 · (Edited)
Walter's Mahler 9th isn't overrated. It's a performance that symbolizes and expresses the end of an era. It's a performance that starts out uncomfortable, rightly so, and builds to incredible sadness.

The 70s was thirty years into Karajan's career. If you skip to the 70s, you are eliminating a lot of fantastic work. But if you judge performances by sound quality I can understand why you might not like Karajan's later work. And he didn't always conduct with his eyes closed sitting in a chair. Again, that is the later Karajan. There's a lot more to him than that. Look at Cluzot's film. That is Karajan at his prime.
 
#64 ·
We'll have to agree to disagree if we're talking about Walter's famous 1938 rendition. That doesn't mean I don't have sympathy for its WW II history however. I just feel it's a mediocre performance and a really poor recording (of course, being 1938), especially relative to incredible renditions like Karajan and Bernstein and Giulini, etc.

I do agree with your point of view re: Karajan :)
 
#69 · (Edited)
TO ALL:

Added my selection for:

Symphony No. 102 in B flat major - Franz Joseph Haydn (1794)

Revised my selections for:

Symphony No. 3 in C Minor "Organ" - Camille Saint-Saens (1886)
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor - Johannes Brahms (1888)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major - Johannes Brahms (1879)

List is here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15098&start=0
 
#71 · (Edited)
I've been revisiting/discovering various renditions of Brahms' Piano Quintet recently. My choice has long been Maurizio Pollini/Quartetto Italiano, which seemed a fairly clear stand out among many excellent possibilities, but lately I've also really taken to these two, perhaps just as much in their own ways:

Rubinstein/Guarneri Quartet: http://cdn-s3.allmusic.com/release-covers/500/0002/710/0002710253.jpg
Silke Avenhaus/Arcanto Quartet: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71-mDQ-uOLL._SY355_.jpg

Anyone have any thoughts on these? Or, perhaps your own preferences that differ?
 
#76 ·
Here are a few great performances to consider for your blank entries:

Mozart Symphony No. 39: Neville Marriner, ASMF
Schumann Piano Concerto: Alfred Brendel, Claudio Abbado, London Symphony Orchestra
Holst's The Planets: Andre Previn, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Beethoven Triple Concerto: Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim

I grabbed a few recommendations from your list, so I thank you for that.
 
#77 ·
Thank you very much! I hope you enjoy them. Feel free to provide feedback either way. Thank you for your recommendations. I don't think I've heard the Brendel Schumann Concerto, which surprises me. I've heard the rest, all of which are excellent, but I have not revisited any of them in a long while so should do so.
 
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#79 ·
Revised my selections for:

Piano Quintet in F minor - Johannes Brahms (1864) [previously Pollini/Quartetto Italiano]
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major - Antonin Dvorak (1887) [previously Pressler/Emerson]
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor "The Funeral March" - Frederich Chopin (1839) [previously Janina Fialkowska]

Ratings Upgrades:

Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910) / Herbert von Karajan - Berlin Philharmonic (1982) ... After revisiting this and various other substantial recordings, I upgraded the "Performance Quality" from 9.5 to a 10 because it now stands out as even more substantial and inimitable. There are others (Bernstein, Chailly, Giulini, Ancerl...) that approach, maybe even equal, the virtuosity and intensity of playing of Karajan's live rendition. However, I don't know of any that also boast such nuanced, detailed sound qualities from the instruments that they take on the very character of their parts and become the entire voice and visionary synthesis of Mahler. In their tonal colors and sonority, the very timbric detail of their play, one can experience such an astonishingly detailed, "death-stricken" assimilation of the work that it is most overwhelming and moving.

Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749) / Philippe Herreweghe - Collegium Vocale Gent (2011) ... Upgraded "Performance Quality" from 9.5 to 10. If you're familiar with other renditions and you've listened to this, no explanation for such a rating should be necessary. Considering how substantial a work the Mass in B Minor is, and just how incredible Herreweghe's rendition is in every way, this could be the single most impressive recorded performance in classical music history.

List is here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15098&start=0
 
#80 ·
Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749) / Philippe Herreweghe - Collegium Vocale Gent (2011) ... Upgraded "Performance Quality" from 9.5 to 10. If you're familiar with other renditions and you've listened to this, no explanation for such a rating should be necessary. Considering how substantial a work the Mass in B Minor is, and just how incredible Herreweghe's rendition is in every way, this could be the single most impressive recorded performance in classical music history.
Different strokes as they say. I'd give Herreweghe's recording an 8. I'll stay with Eugen Jochum/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on EMI.
 
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