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Too obvious a thread? Your best 5 records please

3K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  Mirror Image 
#1 ·
Hi there,

I have been transferring my CD collection to computer over the last weeks and now I am noticing gaps in my collection - composers or works that I never got around to. Maybe someone will shed light on a recording I don't have that is good enough to be put in their top 5 recordings. I refer of course to music and performance. If you could limit yourself to single or double CDs only.

It is in no particular order and yes, this aint easy to do I admit but let's say it gives a good idea...

here is mine:


Rite of Spring and Poem of Ecstasy (Gergiev)

Das Lied von der Erde (Klemperer)

Ravel Complete Piano Music (Lortie)

Bach Violin Concertos (Manze and Podger)

Rachmaninov 3 and Tchaikovsky 1 (Argerich live)
 
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#19 ·
Anything is possible, but it's a daunting to task to compile a list of favorite recordings, but here are a couple of mine (off the top of my head):

1. Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe, Charles Dutoit, Montreal Symphony Orch., Decca

2. Bartok: Cantata Profana, The Wooden Prince, Pierre Boulez, Chicago Symphony Orch., Deutsche Grammophon

3. Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orch., RCA

4. Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Symphony In C, Symphony In Three Movements, Symphony of Psalms, Igor Stravinsky, Sony

5. Delius: Orchestral Works, Sir Charles Mackerras, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Decca

6. Rachmaninov: The Symphonies, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Royal Concertgebouw Orch., Decca

7. Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos 1-5, Charles Dutoit, Pascal Roge (piano), Decca

8. Bruckner: Complete Symphonies, Gunter Wand, Cologne Radio Symphony Orch., RCA

9. Bruckner: Complete Symphonies, Riccardo Chailly, Berlin Radio Symphony Orch., Royal Concertgebouw, Decca

10. Mahler: Complete Symphonies, Gary Bertini, Cologne Radio Symphony Orch., EMI

11. Nielsen: Complete Symphonies, Herbert Blomstedt, San Francisco Symphony Orch., Decca

That's all for now.
 
#9 ·
Following the 'pop into your head' approach ( :) ) I offer these, though I don't actually know if all of them are available right now.

1) Rubinstein/Shostakovich: Piano Quintets, performed by the Pihtipudas Quintet
2) Bruckner: Symphony #8, performed by the Amsterdam Concertgebouw under Bernard Haitink (the earlier recording)
3) Mahler: Symphony #6, performed by the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell
4) Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, performed by the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner (though I do have to say, having heard both, that the LP sounds better than the CD)
5) Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen, performed by various soloists and the Vienna Philharmonic under George Solti
 
#11 ·
The Solti Ring was the first complete studio recording, made when stereo LPs themselves were fairly new, so they made incredible efforts to achieve something remarkable (I recommend John Culshaw's book Ring Resounding, which is an informative and often entertaining account of the recording process by someone intimately involved with it). There are six complete studio recordings of Der Ring des Nibelungen; this is still considered by most listeners and critics to be the best.

You're right about the Szell/Mahler; there are a few audible coughs and such sounds, but they are very minor blemishes on what you quite accurately describe as "electric." It's an intriguing performance in many ways, not least because this isn't the sort of music most people would associate with Szell (he also recorded the 4th symphony and the first movement of the 10th, as well as some of the Wunderhorn songs). Thinking about Szell reminds me of another recording I'd place at the top of my list: the Brahms first piano concerto with Leon Fleischer: absolutely stunning.

I know of no performance led by Reiner that isn't among the best available. I just looked up the Reiner/Strauss and discovered that the coupling of Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben is on sale ( http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical...09A14491C0DAE3D24FA1491DDF77403?album_id=1701 ); you may want to get it. I also highly recommend Reiner's La Mer and Isle of the Dead.
 
#14 ·
I can only think of one:

Dvorak symphonies no 7,8 & 9 + Symphonic variations - Koninklijk Concertgebouw Orkest with Sir Colin Davis
 
#16 ·
mmk, I can think of 5 of my favorite:

Wagner - Tristan und Isolde (Bohm, Windgassen, Nilsson)
Tchaikovsky - Pathetique Symphony (Berlin Philharmonic)
Chopin - Preludes (Maurizio Pollini)
Haydn - Complete Symphonies (Adam Fischer)
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 3 (Ashkenazy)
 
#17 ·
1.) Mahler 2nd - Bernstien 1963 recording with Jennie Tourel, Lee Venora, and New York
Philharmonic (Sony)
2.) Mahler-Cooke: Symphony 10 - Kurt Sanderling, Berlin Symphony Orchestra (Berlin
Classics)
3.) Beethoven Symphony 3 "Eroica" - Karajan, Berlin Phil. 1963 Recording (DG)
4.) Tchaikovsky: Symphony # 6 "Pathetique" - Svetlanov, USSR Symphony Orchestra,
1967 Melodiya Recording
5.) Liszt: "Les Preludes" - Arthur Fiedler, Boston Pops (Last available on RCA Living
Stereo CD)
 
#18 ·
Here goes my list - these are not recordings of my top pieces, but the recordings of works that I can't even imagine to enjoy more with other performers:

Beethoven Piano Concertos (Zimerman, Bernstein)
Berlioz SF (von Karajan)
Rachmaninoff No. 2 (Rubinstein)
Mozart Symphonies 38-41 (Johann Nicolaus count de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt)
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky No. 1 (Argerich, Chailly)
 
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