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2M views 17K replies 929 participants last post by  Neo Romanza 
#1 ·
Again the same vien as the listening thread, this works well on other forums and I have had some fantastic discussion in such threads. Simply post what you have been buying or are considering buying!

For me..




 
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#5 ·
I wish I knew how to use the internet properly. But don't have a scanner at home and wouldn't know how to post pictures of anything on the net anyway.

Anyway, one CD which I listened to in Virgin Megastores in Leeds which will definitely be on my shopping list in the new year is by Szymanowski - some piano music of his. Rather good. He is very underrated.

I spent more time listening to pop music but hey I'm sure I'll be forgiven :p
 
#6 ·
I wish I knew how to use the internet properly. But don't have a scanner at home and wouldn't know how to post pictures of anything on the net anyway.

Anyway, one CD which I listened to in Virgin Megastores in Leeds which will definitely be on my shopping list in the new year is by Szymanowski - some piano music of his. Rather good. He is very underrated.

I spent more time listening to pop music but hey I'm sure I'll be forgiven :p
Re your last sentence, me too. I used to love pop, metal, rock, and country too. I still like a lot of it. My next concerts are Deep Purple and a Pink Floyd tribute band. I hasten to add, followed by Sleeping Beauty and Romeo & Juliet.

So don't feel you're somehow unique. I reckon most people who like classical like at least one other type of music. I bet too that most started out liking some kind of pop/rock. It's just that when you really do get the "classical" bug it can take over, sometimes completely.

You mention piano music. I hope you have seen the relevant threads elsewhere here. There are many recommendations there from various people who especially like the piano genre. Some pieces you most probably know, but there will be others (I guarantee it) you won't have heard of. It's all good stuff, and far better than taking pot luck.

The bad news with classical music is that it's in fixed supply (ignoring all the so-called modern classical "music"). The good news is that there's plenty of it. Just when you've exhausted Bach, there's Mozart. And it gets better: there's Beethoven and Schubert. Then Chopin, Schumann, Wagner, Brahms. It's a bit downhill after that but it's not bad (only joking you Mahler fans, not to mention Debussy fans!)

Topaz
 
#8 ·
I just brought a Naxos CD with some music by Howard Hanson - I already have his Romantic and Nordic symphonies and I like them though I don't listen to them that often nowadays. So I thought I'd give it a try. And after one listen I think it is one of my favourite classical CDs. The pieces on there are:
Concerto for Organ Harp and Strings
Nymphs and Satyr Ballet Suite
Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Youth for Piano and Strings
Serenade for Flute, Harp and Strings
Summer Seascape No 2 for Viola and Strings
Pastorale for Oboe, Harp and Strings.

There are a lot of little known American mainly 20th century composers that Naxos have done recordings of their music. Most that I've heard haven't really done much for me but Hanson is a definite exception. I think his music is lovely. Money very well spent.
 
#9 ·
My latest purchases as of last Night:

1) Highlights from the Messiah, performed by the Union Symphony and Chorus. I allready have a complete Messiah as well as a few other Highlight-style versions myself. I shall probably gift this.

2) A Cd containing Tchaikovsky's Symphony for Strings (Moskow Soliosts), Concert Fancasy for Piano and Orchestra (Barry Doublas and the Philharmonia), Aria from Eugeve Onegin (Placido Domingo and the Royal Philharmonic), and Serenade meancolique (London Philharmonic).

3) Verdi's Aida by the Sophia Philharmonic.

4) Samual Barber' Adagio, First and Second Essay's, School for Scandal Overature, and more by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
 
#10 ·
modern music


Harrison Birtwistle: Earth Dances. Boulez, conductor.
Have somebody heard music of this composer? I've only heard some short clips on the internet, but it moved me very much. The music is dynamic, powerfull and full of rhythm.


This one I bought from amazon. The composer is Bruno Maderna, born in Venice and who lived from 1920 to 1973. He was also a conductor and started touring as violinist and conductor when he was 7. His work Aura is great.


Brahms: Piano Concerto No 1 - Krystian Zimmerman/Berlin Philharmonic/Simon Rattle
I think the no 2 concerto is much better than this first one.

Does anyone know these recordings?
 
#12 ·
I'm surprised this thread hasn't picked up!

Here are my most recent purchases:

The complete string quartets of Beethoven by the Alban Berg Quartet (I've listened to the early quartets, and I like 1 and 6.)

The Glory of Rostropovich - it's basically 8 CD's of Rostropovich playing and conducting, from Baroque to 20th century, with a fairly large gap in the Classical. (Site)

Vieuxtemps violin concertos 5, 6 and 7 - Misha Keylin (Naxos)
 
G
#15 ·
The Maderna is a sweet disc. I have the first issue, from 1980. I was very pleased when DG decided to reissue this. (Now all my friend's have that reissue. I mean it. All of them. They had a simple choice. Buy the cd or cease being my friends. So all of my remaining friends, both of them, have this.)

There's another thread called "most underrated..." that ChamberNut just started. Maderna would be a good choice for that, as his work covered both acoustic and electroacoustic music, and is consistently good, and his conducting of Mahler's symphonies is very interesting.
 
#17 ·
Bach - Cello suites - Fournier

Bach - English suites 2,4 and 6 - Gustav Leonhardt on the clavecin (is that a clavichord?) [I was looking for Gould or Perahia, but lucky me, the CDs were all HIP. ]

Mendelssohn - Piano Concertos - Perahia, ASMF, Marriner

Scuhbert - Fantasy in C 'Wanderer', Piano sonata No.21, D.959 - Perahia

Scuhbert - Symphonies 8 and 9 - NYPO, Bernstein [This has been a 'to-buy or not-to-buy' CD for a long time]
 
#21 ·
Is it the Philips 2 CD set? I was about to buy that, but since I had already taken many solo and solo-piano works, I didn't get it.
 
#23 ·
The last classical CD I bought was (unfortuantely) titled something like "Chopin's Greatest Hits." I typically dislike "greatest Hits" collections, but I bought this one because the second disc contained both of his two piano concerti.

I already had the rest of the tracks on it as I had the Complete Piano Works box set by Vladimir Ashkenazy. So, it was worth the $6.00 to get the concerti.
 
#24 ·
Found a copy of great CD's at a used CD store on the weekend:

Schubert - Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"; Symphony No. 9 "The Great" (Herbert von Karajan and Berlin Philharmoniker) EMI Classics label

Mozart - Symphony No. 40; Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter" (George Szell and Cleveland Orchestra) CBS Records

also, a few taken out at the library:

Sir Arnold Bax - String Quartets No. 1 & 2 (Maggini Quartet) Naxos label

Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz.106; Concerto for Orchestra Sz.116 (James Levine and Chicago Symphony Orchestra) DG label

Finally, I have the full length symphonies of these famous Schubert and Mozart pairs in my permanent collection. :D
 
#25 · (Edited)
Last couple of weeks:

Beethoven / Brahms Triple Concerto / Brahms - Double Concerto (Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter - Karajan/ Szell)
Leoncavallo "Pagliacci" (Pavarotti, Freni, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Patane)
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (19/4/1942) (Berger, Pitzinger, Rosvaenge, Watzke, Berlin Philharmonic, Furtwangler)
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (03/2/1952) (Guden, Anday, Patzak, Poell, Vienna Philharmonic, Furtwangler)
Ponchielli La Giaconda (3xCD) (Caballe, Pavarotti, Baltsa, Milnes, Ghiaurov, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Bartoletti)
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (29/7/1951) (Schwarzkopf, Hongen, hopf, Edelmann, Bayreuther Festspiele Furtwangler)
Beethoven Symphony No 9/Prometheus Overture Op.43 (Lovberg, Ludwig, Kremett, Hotter, Philharmonia Chorus/Orchestra, Klemperer)
Various Furtwängler - The Complete Pre-War Studio Sessions 1926-42 (6xCD), Berlin Philharmonic
Chopin Chopin (5xCD) Rubinstein / London Symphony Orchestra Barbirolli, John
Various Furtwängler - The Unforgettable Columbia Records (1949-1954) (6xCD) Philharmonia Orchestra with Edwin Fischer / Vienna Philharmonic
Beethoven Piano Works Volume 5: Sonatas 14-16 (Schnabel)
Beethoven Piano Works Volume 3: Sonatas 7-10 (Schnabel)
Brahms The Late Piano Music - Kovacevich / Varsi (2xCD)
Brahms Furtwangler conducst Brahms - The Complete Symphonies etc (4xCD)
 
#26 ·
I spat out a considerable amount of money last week. But I can't complain.

Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies (on 12CDs, Rostropovich, Warner Classics label)

Shostakovich - Cello Concertos 1 & 2, Strauss - Romanze for Cello and Orchestra (Arto Noras cello, Rasilainen conducting)

Berg/Janáček/Hartmann: Violin Concertos (Zehetmair violin, Holliger conducting)

Beethoven: Symphonies 2 & 6 (Menuhin)

Debussy: Jeux, Khamma, Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien (Conlon)
 
#28 ·
On the recommendation of Az, we (Mrs. Phil & I) took a run up to J&R Music in New York yesterday.

On the recommendation of Sr. M, I spent more than half-a-day's pay on the Keilberth Die Walkure. ($$$$... but I think it'll be worth it.:) )

I also added to my Dvorak supply by picking up the Kubelik Complete Symphonies. (To me, the Kertesz cycle was priced to the point of consumer resistance.:p) Also, I added a Naxos Dvorak Violin Concerto/Glazunov Violin Concerto (Kaler/Polish NRSO). Kind of embarrassing that I had the Glazunov study score, but not any recording of it.:eek:

Lots of good ideas were found here, and not in the pages of some "authoritative" review guide. So... thanks Az, thanks Sr. M, and thanks to Maestro K for aiding in my willingness to explore more Dvorak.
 
#29 ·
On the recommendation of ChamberNut, I picked up the Schumann Complete Symphonies (Zinman/Zurich). How could I go wrong at that price?:)

So far, I like it better than the Beethoven Overtures discs by the same musicians.
 
#32 ·
Tchaikovsky Serenade for String Orchestra in C major, Op. 48
It has a very beautiful waltz, one of my favourites. But works for string orchestras can be a bit too much for me to listen to at times...it's like eating too many sweets.
 
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