Great Performances, regardless of sound quality/format

RBFC · Aug 17, 2010

I thought it'd be interesting to share our recordings that are special to us, regardless of format or absolute sound quality.

First, Otto Klemperer's conducting of the Wagner Overtures (a common collection disc among labels) is something that completely commands my attention at every listen. My favorite from the disc is the Rienzi overture. Klemperer enters the first theme very gently with smooth, almost waltz-like build-up from the strings. The tension and power builds tremendously from there. Klemperer produced a famous series of recordings for EMI of Wagner's orchestral music and the overtures were an incredible portion of that work.

Sound quality won't be mistaken for a first-rate winner on the CDs, with diminished bass and dynamic range and analog tape noise. The playing and the performances are the stars in this one. Sound is still quite good, so we're not quite at the 8-track fidelity level!

http://www.amazon.com/Otto-Klempere...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1282102546&sr=1-1

My second prize, not available as far as I know, is a cassette recording by NHK of Japan from a radio broadcast. The final recorded performance of George Szell leading the Cleveland Orchestra contains a reading of the Sibelius Symphony #2. The cassette medium obviously imposes its limitations, but you can hear the stunning power of the great master pouring his soul into leading the music. As a great fan of Szell, this recording has special meaning. I still remember seeing him lead the Cleveland Orchestra in Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. It was like Elvis walked out when Szell took the stage. The audience didn't behave like snooty snobs, that's for sure! I was about 10 years old at the time, and it was just about the greatest thing I'd ever seen up to then (and still).

So, what recordings do you folks hold dear, and why?

Lee

Old Listener · Aug 18, 2010

lots of great performances

RBFC said:
... First, Otto Klemperer's conducting of the Wagner Overtures... Klemperer produced a famous series of recordings for EMI of Wagner's orchestral music and the overtures were an incredible portion of that work.
...
My second prize, not available as far as I know, is a cassette recording by NHK of Japan from a radio broadcast. The final recorded performance of George Szell leading the Cleveland Orchestra contains a reading of the Sibelius Symphony #2.
... As a great fan of Szell, this recording has special meaning.

I've been following leads and acquiring classical music recordings for decades. So much pleasure in listening to so many of them. I couldn't begin to pick one or a few recordings.

---
Lots of great Klemperer recordings. I like the EMI Haydn symphonies set - especially # 100 and 102. The Mozart symphonies on testament and EMI are very good too.

Szell is very much to my taste. The Beethoven and Mozart original jacket sets have better sound than any previous versions I've heard including LPs. The recent releases of the Haydn sym 93-99 are my favorites for those symphonies and the remasterings are a big improvement over the Essential Classics and Odyssey sets. The Beethoven and Brahms concerti sets with Fleisher are just wonderful. The Mozart concerti with Casadesus, Fleisher (25) and Rudolf Serkin (19,20) are great too. Did I forget the Dvorak Slavonic Dances and Symphonies 7-9?

I've loved the Grumiaux / Galliera performance of Beethoven's violin concerto for over 40 years. I only go back about 20 years with the Grumiaux / Davis performances of the Mozart violin concerti but they are golden too.

The Bruno Walter Beethoven 6th symphony (the late stereo one) is another 40 year favorite.

Some Fruhbeck de Burgos recordings from the 60s and 70s are special favorites: Orff - Carmina Burana, Falla - Three Cornered Hat and Falla - El Amor Brujo.

And I've barely started.

And then there are all the Broadway music recordings that John McGlinn did. And the Broadway standards done by John Morris with William Bolcom.

Bill

Kal Rubinson · Aug 18, 2010

RBFC said:
First, Otto Klemperer's conducting of the Wagner Overtures (a common collection disc among labels) is something that completely commands my attention at every listen. My favorite from the disc is the Rienzi overture. Klemperer enters the first theme very gently with smooth, almost waltz-like build-up from the strings.

Bingo! And he also doesn't lose control or composure in the allegro conclusion. One of my favorites, too. And while we are on Klemperer, let me add the aria from Beethoven's Egmont with Nilsson that is on his last EMI recording of the 9th Symphony. Absolutely thrilling!

I also second the Walter/Pastorale and the de Burgos/Carmina. But while I love the Grumiaux/Galliera, my favorite Beethoven VC is the ancient Oistrakh/Gauk performance available only on sandpaper LPs or transcriptions from them.

Kal

Phelonious Ponk · Aug 18, 2010

The Bruno Walter conducted Beethoven symphonies (Mahler too). Layla and Assorted Love Songs. Charlie Parker. Just about any Charlie Parker. A bit too early for the analog beauty of Kind Of Blue, for example, but the performances easily trump the limitations of the technology.

P

RBFC · Aug 19, 2010

Bill,

Your comment spurred me to relisten to Szell's Slavonic Dances recording on Sony Classical CD CBS/SONY CSCR 8204 Japanese Import (not sure if this one's available anymore)

Here's the reissue on Essential Classics:

http://www.amazon.com/Dvorak-Slavon...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1282278134&sr=1-2

Don't have the reissue, so can't comment on the relative sound quality. Performance quality is off the grid.

Lee

Old Listener · Aug 20, 2010

Kal Rubinson said:
But while I love the Grumiaux/Galliera, my favorite Beethoven VC is the ancient Oistrakh/Gauk performance available only on sandpaper LPs or transcriptions from them.

When I was living in a graduate student dorm 40+ years ago, several of us shared a love for classical music. We each had an LP of the Beethoven VC. I had the Grumiaux/Galliera, another person had the Francescatti/Walter and a third guy had the Heifetz/Munch recording. I liked them all. Over the years, I've acquired each recording for my use.

The Grumiaux/Galliera Philips LP had a lovely warm sound but the noisy surfaces limited dynamic range and listening pleasure. (I think I read that the US pressings were lousy.) The cheap Philips CD is less warm sounding but lacks the noise problems. Same great performance.

Bill

treitz3 · Aug 15, 2012

Nils Lofgren Acoustic LIVE
Mark Knopfler LIVE in Bergen June 2010
Little Feat Waiting for Columbus
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia...I know you know what I'm referring too.

There's one more. Led Zep. Not on an album. It was a performance I saw only once on TV with a full orchestra many, many, many moons ago. Haven't seen it since but the performance was great...or as I would say, outstanding. Even after all of these years.

Tom

GaryProtein · Aug 16, 2012

Phelonious Ponk said:
The Bruno Walter conducted Beethoven symphonies (Mahler too). . . . . the performances easily trump the limitations of the technology.

P

I totally agree.

Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini were geniuses.

It's too bad they, and present day technology weren't contemporaneous.

astrotoy · Jan 4, 2013

Two of my favorites, both mono recordings - Richter playing Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition in a live concert in Sophia Bulgaria in 1956 (IIRC), and Ginette Neveu playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with Schmidt-Isserstedt conducting - another live radio broadcast from 1948 (not the studio recording), shortly before her untimely death.

Larry

LL21 · Jan 5, 2013

Furtwangler - Beethoven 5th 1943 live Berlin
Sokhiev - Mussorskgy Pictures at an Exhibition Toulouse Orchestra
Starker - Bach Cello Suites
Pletnev - Scarlatti Piano works
Suzuki - Bach Cantatas
Harnoncourt - Beethoven's 9th Symphony
Gould - Bach Goldberg Variations 1981
Moravec - Chopin Nocturnes
Von Karajan - Beethoven's 1st, 7th Symphony
Bernard Roberts - Bach Partitas
Hogwood - Handel's Messiah Academy Ancient Music
Richter - Beethoven piano works
Rostropovich - Bach Preludes (cello and organ)
Xavier de Maistre - Concerto de Aranjuez
Endellion Quartet - Beethoven String Quartets
Apponyi - Haydn String Quartets

Old Listener · Jan 5, 2013

lloydelee21 said:
Furtwangler - Beethoven 5th 1943 live Berlin
Xavier de Maistre - Concerto de Aranjuez

harp?

> Apponyi - Haydn String Quartets

Op. 33. Yes, yes, yes!

Bill

LL21 · Jan 6, 2013

Old Listener said:
harp?

> Apponyi - Haydn String Quartets

Op. 33. Yes, yes, yes!

Bill

Yes, Xavier de Maistre subsitutes the guitar in Concerto de ARanjuez with harp...nice touch. Maria de Robles also does it. Also very nice.

Apponyi Quartet did a nice job with Boccherini String Quartets as well...having since acquired nearly 8 CDs of Boccherini's other works, i am now starting to look at the Brilliant Classics 37-CD compilation of nearly all his work plus a separate 8CD set of all his symphonies...i listened to a few and liked them. Not the same for me as Haydn, Bach or Handel...but i do enjoy listening to Boccherini, Vivaldi, Telemann, as well as Corelli, etc.

Keith_W · Jan 6, 2013

My favourite Beethoven piano sonatas was recorded by this noted Beethoven pianist:

OOPS!! Wrong image!!!

Can't deny that Schnabel looks a lot like Stalin. But anyway ... that's whom I am listening to tonight.

LL21 · Jan 6, 2013

Keith_W said:
My favourite Beethoven piano sonatas was recorded by this noted Beethoven pianist:

OOPS!! Wrong image!!!

Can't deny that Schnabel looks a lot like Stalin. But anyway ... that's whom I am listening to tonight.

Have you compared Schnabel with Richter on Beethoven? I finally managed to find Richter in Prague, the complete set of Beethoven works...fantastic. Just curious.

Keith_W · Jan 6, 2013

lloydelee21 said:
Have you compared Schnabel with Richter on Beethoven? I finally managed to find Richter in Prague, the complete set of Beethoven works...fantastic. Just curious.

It is my life's work to find and listen to performances of Beethoven piano sonatas, so of course I have

There are several problems with Richter:

- he never recorded a complete collection of Beethoven piano sonatas,
- he did not like to make studio recordings, so his best work are found on bootlegged live performances,
- he had a habit of wandering around the world like a nomad giving concerts in obscure places because "music should be given to those who love it"

While one can talk about Gilels, Arrau, Schnabel, and Brendel having left recorded legacies, one can not say the same about Richter's Beethoven sonatas. Re: the collection you speak of, I own several discs in that series. Unless I am greatly mistaken, that particular series lacks the greatest (IMHO) sonata of all - No. 32, Op. 111, although No. 29 (The Hammerklavier) comes close. If you want to hear Richter play the Op.111, there is a nice recording of it on Youtube. Otherwise, if you are a Richter enthusiast and want to build a Richter discography, you will be buying discs from multiple labels of varying quality. Some of the bootlegged performances are amazing, but ... they sound awful.

Don't get me wrong, I really love Richter and I think he was the greatest pianist of the 20th Century. However, he and Schnabel are completely different pianists. Schnabel was plagued by his poor pianism, but by no means did he allow that to restrict him. It is quite amazing to hear him tackling the sonatas at speeds his fat fingers were unable to play, and you expect a train wreck to happen but he somehow manages to hold it all together. Schnabel (and to a lesser extent, Richter) came from an age where you were expected to take license with the score, and Schnabel definitely does. He leaves out notes. If you ever wonder why Schnabel sounds so sonorous, it is because he is playing the bottom notes only of a massive chord because his fingers can't reach the top notes. Having said that, Schnabel is a first rate musical philosopher and listening to him gives you insights that sterile modern readings (e.g. Paul Lewis) can not deliver.

Richter on the other hand, has a certain hypnotic quality. His reading sounds as if he is taking the sonatas at breakneck speeds, but those speeds are slow compared to Schnabel. Unlike Schnabel, Richter was gifted with superb hands and technique. For example - compare how Schnabel and Richter tackle the opening movement of the Hammerklavier. A minute or so into the movement, there is a magical moment where it seems as if the stars are sprinkling angel dust unto the Earth. Schnabel makes it sound frantic, Richter makes it sound ethereal. Likewise, there is a moment at the 11 minute mark in the Op.111 where mankind seems to have lost his earthly bounds and is reaching for heaven. Schnabel has a definite pulse, the way the bass rolls sounds like a human heartbeat. Richter on the other hand, sounds as if he is in a trance.

Oh yes. Beautiful as Richter's tone is, he can not match Schnabel. There is something about the way he plays trills that is simply enchanting.

I could go on and on but I sense this post is long enough.

LL21 · Jan 6, 2013

Keith_W said:
It is my life's work to find and listen to performances of Beethoven piano sonatas, so of course I have There are several problems with Richter:

- he never recorded a complete collection of Beethoven piano sonatas,
- he did not like to make studio recordings, so his best work are found on bootlegged live performances,
- he had a habit of wandering around the world like a nomad giving concerts in obscure places because "music should be given to those who love it"

While one can talk about Gilels, Arrau, Schnabel, and Brendel having left recorded legacies, one can not say the same about Richter's Beethoven sonatas. Re: the collection you speak of, I own several discs in that series. Unless I am greatly mistaken, that particular series lacks the greatest (IMHO) sonata of all - No. 32, Op. 111, although No. 29 (The Hammerklavier) comes close. If you want to hear Richter play the Op.111, there is a nice recording of it on Youtube. Otherwise, if you are a Richter enthusiast and want to build a Richter discography, you will be buying discs from multiple labels of varying quality. Some of the bootlegged performances are amazing, but ... they sound awful.

Don't get me wrong, I really love Richter and I think he was the greatest pianist of the 20th Century. However, he and Schnabel are completely different pianists. Schnabel was plagued by his poor pianism, but by no means did he allow that to restrict him. It is quite amazing to hear him tackling the sonatas at speeds his fat fingers were unable to play, and you expect a train wreck to happen but he somehow manages to hold it all together. Schnabel (and to a lesser extent, Richter) came from an age where you were expected to take license with the score, and Schnabel definitely does. He leaves out notes. If you ever wonder why Schnabel sounds so sonorous, it is because he is playing the bottom notes only of a massive chord because his fingers can't reach the top notes. Having said that, Schnabel is a first rate musical philosopher and listening to him gives you insights that sterile modern readings (e.g. Paul Lewis) can not deliver.

Richter on the other hand, has a certain hypnotic quality. His reading sounds as if he is taking the sonatas at breakneck speeds, but those speeds are slow compared to Schnabel. Unlike Schnabel, Richter was gifted with superb hands and technique. For example - compare how Schnabel and Richter tackle the opening movement of the Hammerklavier. A minute or so into the movement, there is a magical moment where it seems as if the stars are sprinkling angel dust unto the Earth. Schnabel makes it sound frantic, Richter makes it sound ethereal. Likewise, there is a moment at the 11 minute mark in the Op.111 where mankind seems to have lost his earthly bounds and is reaching for heaven. Schnabel has a definite pulse, the way the bass rolls sounds like a human heartbeat. Richter on the other hand, sounds as if he is in a trance.

Oh yes. Beautiful as Richter's tone is, he can not match Schnabel. There is something about the way he plays trills that is simply enchanting.

I could go on and on but I sense this post is long enough.

Wow! Thanks for taking the time! Great read! My favorite all-round pianist is Horowitz. But i enjoy Richter, Pletnev (Scarlatti), Bernard Roberts, and Murray Perhaia as well as Angela Hewitt and Leif Andsnes (Grieg). I will look into Schnabel.

NMMark1962 · Jul 2, 2013

My favorite classical recordings..

Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique, Sir Georg Solti/CSO, Decca 1971 Krannert Center (one of K Wilkinson's greatest recordings with some of the best ever orchestral brass ensemble playing)
Holst, The Planets, Charles Duthoit/Montreal SO, Decca
Bruckner, Sym No. 8, Skrowachesky (poor spelling) and Montreal SO/Radio Broadcast...this was during the 1990-1991 school year and I and others were sitting in the music school's office after hours listening to this radio broadcast. We were all soiling our pants (both brass and woodwind players) listening to the totally stunning and totally unexpected brass sounds coming from an orchestra that excelled in Stravinsky, Ravel, Debussy, etc)....I would kill to have this performance on CD....

LL21 · Jul 3, 2013

NMMark1962 said:
My favorite classical recordings..

Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique, Sir Georg Solti/CSO, Decca 1971 Krannert Center (one of K Wilkinson's greatest recordings with some of the best ever orchestral brass ensemble playing)
Holst, The Planets, Charles Duthoit/Montreal SO, Decca
Bruckner, Sym No. 8, Skrowachesky (poor spelling) and Montreal SO/Radio Broadcast...this was during the 1990-1991 school year and I and others were sitting in the music school's office after hours listening to this radio broadcast. We were all soiling our pants (both brass and woodwind players) listening to the totally stunning and totally unexpected brass sounds coming from an orchestra that excelled in Stravinsky, Ravel, Debussy, etc)....I would kill to have this performance on CD....

Definitely agree on Dutoit and HOlst, Planets. my favourite. on Berlioz, I am not so familiar with Solti but love Sir Colin Davis and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Incredible expression, natural acoustic sound to recording. Also have janowski and Pittsburgh symphony orchestra on Pentatone...great sound, still definitely prefer Davis.

NMMark1962 · Jul 3, 2013

DOH.....I have two different recordings of the Davis/Concertgebouw and I agree that it too is a great recordings....still, for sheer visceral intensity, the Solti is still the most fun!!!

Cheers,

Great Performances, regardless of sound quality/format

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