essential 100 classical albums (1984 edition)

[Henritus]

My first post.
This is from the premier issue (March 1984) of a Korean music magazine called 'Auditorium' (yes I'm originally from South Korea). They basically selected 100 essential classical repertoires (from NYTimes), and cross matched the list with best 500 recordings selected by a Japanese music magazine (called Modern Music and Record Arts). I don't believe this 24 year old list will give us any CD buying guidence. But I thought it might be fun for some of the younger generations, and Non-asians to look back and see what those weird old classical music loving asian nerds liked. Most of the recordings should be very familiar, but some of them are not very well recognized in the west. For example, while Leopold Wlach is almost a forgotten name here in the US, but the Japanese music lovers are still very loyal to his recordings. Here's the list.

(composer, title, performer, label)

Symphonies
=========
1) Beethoven 5th, Karajan, BPO, DG (70s cycle)
- what no Kleiber?

2) Tchaikovsky 6th, Karajan, BPO, DG (1976)

3) Beethoven 9th, Furtwangler, Beyreuth Festival, EMI

4)Schubert 8th, Walter, NY Phil, Columbia

5) Mozart #40, Furtwangler, VPO, EMI

6) Brahms 4th, Walter, Columbia SO, Columbia


7) Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Munch, Paris SO, EMI
- no not the Munch's 50s recording with Boston SO. I think this Paris recording has a lot more energy. Others may disagree.



Brahms 1st, Karajan, BPO, DG (60s cycle)


9) Beethoven 3rd Eroica, Furtwangler, VPO, EMI

10) Dvorak 9th, Giulini, Chicago SO, DG
-I think this rarely makes anyone's top pick. Although Giulini is one of my favorate conductors.


11) Beethoven 6th, Bohm, VPO, DG

12) Mozart #41, Abbado, London SO, DG

13) Mahler 1st, Abbado, Chicago SO, DG

- I never understood this choice. This is very weak and uninspired performance in my opinion (and disappeared from the catalogue very soon). Maybe those editors were enarmoured with new digital sound.

14) Shostakovich 5th, Kondrashin, Moscow PO, Eurodisc


Concertos
==========

15) Dvorak Cello concerto, Fournier, Szell, BPO, DG
-I believe this recording has a ton of fans. wonder why this isn't one of those DG's originals.

16) Beethoven Violin concerto, Oistrakh, Cluytens, French National Radio O, EMI
- You will see Oistrakh's name a lot more later.

17)Mendelssohn Violin concerto, Stern, Ormandy, Philadelphia O, Columbia
- so so sound, great performance, but honestly I've never really heard bad recordings of this concerto.

18) Tchaikovsky violin concerto, Heifetz, Reiner, Chicago SO, RCA
- wouldn't you agree? This is a truly great performance. Wonderful sound too (especially SACD).

19) Vivaldi four seasons, Ayo, I Musici, Philips

20) Rachmaninov Piano concerto #2, Ashkenazy, Previn, London SO, Decca
- um... for some reason, lot of critics love this recording. I like the original Jacket cover though (the one with a rose on the keyboard, or was it a wine glass?)


21)Beethoven Piano concerto #5, Gulda, Stein, VPO, Decca
- you'll see Gulda bias some more

22) Paganini violin concerto #1, Accardo, Dutoit, London PO, DG
Not a Paganini fan here, but I have a friend who worships this album.


23) Tchaikovsky piano concerto #1, Argerich, Kondrashin, Bavarian Radio SO, Philips
- no complaints here.

24) Brahms violin concerto, Oistrakh, Szell, Cleveland SO, EMI
- I think Brahms violin concerto is very well served in the catalogue. - Heifetz, Milstein, Menuhin, Stern, and Oistrakh (with Klemperer) to name a few, are all great performances in my opinion.

25) Chopin Concerto #1, Argerich, Abbado, London SO, DG
- Amazong performance, but too fast for my taste.

26) Mozart violin concerto #5, Mutter, Karajan, BPO, DG
- no problem with this pick, although I'd rather choose Grumiaux

27) Boccherini cello concerto B min. Fournier, Baumgartner, Lucerne Festival strings, DG
- never heard this one. Who would've thought, Boccherini making the top 100 list.

28) Mozart piano concerto #20, Gulda, Abbado, VPO, DG
- and more Guldas coming. (I absolutely love Curzon/Britten version though.)

29) Mozart clarinet concerto, Leister, Karajan, BPO, EMI
- Karajan provides super grand orchestral sound. Not sure this this is what Mozart had in mind...

30) Haydn cello concerto #1, Yo Yo Ma, Garcia, English CO, Sony
- Yo Yo Ma's Haydn sounded very fresh here when I heard it some 20 years ago. Haven't heard this music for a long time since.

31) Bach Brandenburg Concertos, Karl Richter, Munchen Bach orchestra, DG
- Never had a chance to hear this (Amazon has DVD version)


32) Rodrigo Guitar concerto- Aranjuez, Yepes, Alonso, Spain Radio SO, DG
- I dunno about this... orchestra sounds like high school band here.


33) Mozart piano concerto #21, Lipati, Karajan, Lucerne Festival O, EMI


34) Beethoven piano concerto #4, Pollini, Bohm, VPO, DG
- I think Pollini/Bohm's 3,4,5 are relatively under appreciated.

35) Schumann cello concerto, Rostropovich, Bernstein, French National SO, EMI

36) Mozart Piano concerto #27, Gulda, Abbado, VPO, DG
- more Gulda.

37) Mozart Piano concerto #23, Pollini, Bohm, VPO, DG

38) Saint Saens violin concerto #3, Grumiaux, Rosenthal, Lamoureux O, Philips

39) Bruch violin concerto #1, Grumiaux, Wallberg, Philharmonia O, Philips
- my fovorate is Chung/Kempe. But Grumiaux is very nice too. Just hasn't been as easy to find in the US until now.


---to be continued.

[Drasko]

32) Rodrigo Guitar concerto- Aranjuez, Yepes, Alonso, Spain Radio SO, DG
- I dunno about this... orchestra sounds like high school band here.

Yepes recorded the piece at least four times and you picked probably the weakest of them all, orchestra is not very good and Yepes is autopiloting. His first two recordings with Argenta are dificult to find but his last one, with Garcia Navarro conducting Philharmonia is excellent, better in every respect than the one with Alonso, I have no idea why DG consistenty kept reissuing the Alonso one.

 

[MishaK]

Yepes recorded the piece at least four times and you picked probably the weakest of them all, orchestra is not very good and Yepes is autopiloting.

...and that's being generous! More like not together and out of tune to the point of causing physical pain.

[Henritus]

...and that's being generous! More like not together and out of tune to the point of causing physical pain.

Darn, you heard that cd too. Maybe we can gather more victims and start a group therapy. 
Honestly, why DG keep reissuing this one? And how come those Japanese editors say this is the greatest Aranjuez. Am I missing something? Maybe a conspiracy theory?

[Henritus]

Chamber musics
=============

40) Schubert string Quartet #14, Melos Qt, DG

This recording is okay, but I think this music could've sound a lot more sadness and tragedy.

41) Brahms clarinet Quintet, Leopold Wlach, Vienna Konzerthaus Qt, Westminster

It's 1952 mono. But it still sound fresh and clear. Perhaps recording volume was set too high.  I think there are many other alternatives that sound much better than this, but  still...

42) Haydn string qt #67 "Lark", Smetana Qt, EMI


43) Beethoven string Qt #15, Budapest qt, Columbia

44) Dvorak string qt #12 "America", Smetana qt, Denon

45) Mozart clarinet quintet, Leopold Wlach, Vienna Konzerthaus Qt, Westminster
- see above Brahms quintet

46) Beethoven string quartet #14, La Salle Qt, DG
-this album is all but disappeared now. La Salle Quartet was fairly active and well received in the 70s right? Maybe they were overshadowed by Alban Berg, I can only guess.

47) Brahms string sextet #1, Amadeus quartet+, DG

[jlaurson]

Chamber musics
=============


46) Beethoven string quartet #14, La Salle Qt, DG
-this album is all but disappeared now. La Salle Quartet was fairly active and well received in the 70s right? Maybe they were overshadowed by Alban Berg, I can only guess.

au contraire. It was part of DG's complete Beethoven Edition and is still widely available used.


Beethoven Edition, Late String Quartets, La Salle Quartet

Their 2nd Viennese School set for DG still goes strong, ditto their recording of Ligeti which was re-released.

[Renfield]

Interesting to note how they picked the 1977 Karajan Beethoven 5th, versus the 1963 one. I wonder why exactly...

I half-suspect they just looked for the most high-fidelity Karajan 5th available at the time.

(They couldn't have picked the 1984 one, as that would have just been issued.)


But in general, I'm surprised by how many of the items in this list I concur with. Maybe I should have been asian!

[Henritus]

au contraire. It was part of DG's complete Beethoven Edition and is still widely available used.


Beethoven Edition, Late String Quartets, La Salle Quartet

Their 2nd Viennese School set for DG still goes strong, ditto their recording of Ligeti which was re-released.

Nice to know those are still available... However, $87 for 3 CDs is a little crazy.

[Henritus]

Interesting to note how they picked the 1977 Karajan Beethoven 5th, versus the 1963 one. I wonder why exactly...

I half-suspect they just looked for the most high-fidelity Karajan 5th available at the time.

(They couldn't have picked the 1984 one, as that would have just been issued.)


But in general, I'm surprised by how many of the items in this list I concur with. Maybe I should have been asian!

Probably you're right here. Also the same reason might apply to Abbado's Mahler 1st.

[Henritus]

Maybe I should have been asian!

Maybe you've eating too much sushi? 

[Daverz]

Were they getting kickbacks from Universal?

I thought of making my own list, but lately I've been thinking that I need to reevaluate all my favorites.  Also, most of these warhorses are not my bread and butter.

Some alternates:

Beethoven VC: Francescatti/Walter
Brahms VC: Szeryng/Monteux; Kogan/Kondrashin
Beethoven PC4: Moravec/Turnovsky (maybe not the greatest orchestral accompaniment)
Mozart PC20: Serkin/Szell
Chopin PC1: Gilels/Ormandy
Rodrigo Aranjuez: Romero/Previn (many other nice ones, I'm sure)
Dvorak S9: Kertesz/VPO
Dvorak CC: Rostropovich/Boult; Sadlo/Neumann
Mendelssohn VC: Campoli/Boult
Brahms S4: Reiner/RPO

[knight66]

The balance between the number of symphonies,14, and the number of concerto recordings, 25, looks a bit odd. No Bruckner, Mendelssohn or Schumann symphonies. The Abbado Mozart 41 seems an odd choice.

The Chamber music selection is skimpy. I see, no room was made for 'Death and the Maiden', but then our own member here 'Mozart' recently claimed that is was no masterpiece.  (He also started this vital topic for us.)

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,10243.0.html

Anyway; these lists always throw up some choices any of us are going to wonder about and 100 is not many pieces to spread across the repertoire.

Mike

[Henritus]

The balance between the number of symphonies,14, and the number of concerto recordings, 25, looks a bit odd.

Yes, indeed. The article starts with a survey result stating that, to their surprise, more people prefer to listen to concertos to symphonies (it also says that this is a shift of a trend, but then again it is 1984 we are talking about).

The Chamber music selection is skimpy. I see, no room was made for 'Death and the Maiden', but then our own member here 'Mozart' recently claimed that is was no masterpiece.  (He also started this vital topic for us.)

Oh come on, Mike. Death and Maiden was at the top of the chamber music list (performed by Melos quartet). I don't know how you missed that. Perhaps the CD cover of trout fishing misled you?

[Henritus]

Hope you all had wonderful holidays.

==============
Orchestral pieces
==============


48) Wagner: Tannhauser overture, Solti, VPO, Decca

- I confess. I'm not a big fan of Solti. His earlier Mahler 1st with LSO was an exception though.


49) Mozart: serenade #13 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusic", Walter, VPO, EMI
- Never heard of this. It seems like an old SP recording. I wasn't very impressed with his Later one with Columbia SO.


50) Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps, Abbado, LSO, DG

- I think Abbado/LSO's Firebird (suite) is magical. However, there are just so many better, more powerful, wild Le Sacre's  than Abbado's.


51) Bizet: L' Arlésienne (suite #1 & 2), Cluytens, Paris Conservatory Orchestra, EMI

- Any five year old kid would love this music, don't you think? Honestly, I haven't heard a bad performance of this delicious piece.


52) Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals, Previn, Pittsburgh SO, Philip



53) Ravel: Daphnis Et Cloe, Ansermet, L'Orch De La Suisse Romande, Decca

- Isn't SRO generally considered a 'Rec' team? I'm very happy with Cluytens, Martinon, Munch's version already. I'd love to know if any of you have any opinions on Ansermet's Daphnis.


54) Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies #2, Karajan, BPO, DG

- Well, it's an popular orchestral showpiece. It has to be Karajan, right?


55)Bartok: Music for strings percussion & celesta, Boulez, BBC SO, CBS

- I rather have Reiner, Bernstein, or (even) Solti than Boulez's. Moreover, isn't "Concerto for orchestra" more recognized Bartok's work?


56) Rossini: William Tell Overture, Toscanini, NBC SO, RCA

- I'm not sure Toscanini would still be considered one of the greatest if he were born 50 years later. This is, of course, my totally biased personal opinion.


57) Grieg: Peer Gynt suite #1 &2, Karajan, BPO, DG

- Somehow I now have all three Karajan's recordings (VPO version on LP, analogue BPO version on cassette, and digital BPO version on CD). My personal favorate is the earlier Decca version with VPO.


58) Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition, Giulini, Chicago SO, DG

- I love this recording. I remember they used to play this album almost every other day on classical FM when it was first issued in Korea.


59) Debussy: La Mer, Martinon, French Radio SO, EMI

- My friend used to say "Bernstein for Gershwin and Martinon for Debussy/Ravel". I don't really believe this idea though, especially the latter part.


60) Britten: Young person's guide to the orchestra, composer, LSO, Decca

- And "Britten for Britten" 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Oh come on, Mike. Death and Maiden was at the top of the chamber music list (performed by Melos quartet). I don't know how you missed that. Perhaps the CD cover of trout fishing misled you?

Well, you edited that chamber post a few minutes ago. What did you edit?

[Henritus]

Well, you edited that chamber post a few minutes ago. What did you edit?

I had a typo: qartet => quartet.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Okay. Thanks.

[jwinter]

Interesting to note how they picked the 1977 Karajan Beethoven 5th, versus the 1963 one. I wonder why exactly...

I half-suspect they just looked for the most high-fidelity Karajan 5th available at the time.

(They couldn't have picked the 1984 one, as that would have just been issued.)

Give that one a try if you haven't.  FWIW, I've long thought Karajan's 1977 5th to be the best 5th I've ever heard.  To my ears he perfectly captures the essence of the piece -- he molds and shapes the all-important rhythm in a way that's truly masterful, and the BPO provide all the power one could ask for.  There are only perhaps half a dozen works where I have a clear, absolute favorite recording -- this is one of them.  I much prefer it to Karajan's other 3 recordings (though they are all similar in conception, the '77 nails it IMO).

Otherwise, I have to agree with others that it's an odd list, but then these things always are.  To take an already mentioned example, I can think of at least 25 conductors off the top of my head whose Mozart I'd rather hear than Abbado's -- and I like many of Abbado's recordings.

[Renfield]

Give that one a try if you haven't.  FWIW, I've long thought Karajan's 1977 5th to be the best 5th I've ever heard.  To my ears he perfectly captures the essence of the piece -- he molds and shapes the all-important rhythm in a way that's truly masterful, and the BPO provide all the power one could ask for.  There are only perhaps half a dozen works where I have a clear, absolute favorite recording -- this is one of them.  I much prefer it to Karajan's other 3 recordings (though they are all similar in conception, the '77 nails it IMO).

I have indeed - and I'm aware of it having many fans. However, and even though I fully agree with you that it's by far the most accomplished recording he did, of the 5th, the most well-crafted, I still can't find a reason to prefer it to the '63 or '84 accounts.

The '63 is worlds apart in sheer force, if not as polished, and highly distinct for that. And the '84 seems to be going somewhere far more than the '77, to my ears, with similar orchestral aplomb, albeit a few rough edges. (The latter is my personal favourite 5th.)


Re the list:

It's interesting that a Toscanini/NBC William Tell overture is in, and their phenomenal recording of the Forza del Destino overture is not!

[DavidW]

As far as the list goes I think I've seen more variety in a Best Buy!   That is to say the list is narrow (lacking in diversity in every way) to the point of it being stupid and useless.