James Levine Recordings

[MN Dave]

What do you like, GMG?

[Sergeant Rock]

Five come immediately to mind:

Berg Violin Concerto with Mutter and the Chicago Symphony

Webern Six Orchestral Pieces Op.6 with the Berlin Phil

R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos with the Vienna Phil

Mahler Symphony #3 with the Chicago Symphony

Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen

Sarge

[MN Dave]

He's good at the thorny stuff, eh? I have a Wagner chunks disc that I enjoy.

[Sergeant Rock]

He's good at the thorny stuff, eh?

Very. I love his entire disc of the Second Viennese dodecaphonic dudes but that Webern really stands out.

Sarge

[Wanderer]

The following come readily to mind:

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Bizet: Carmen (Carreras/Baltsa)
Haydn: Die Schöpfung
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.3 (Volodos)
Schubert - piano duo with Volodos Kissin, Carnegie Hall 2005

[bhodges]

Very. I love his entire disc of the Second Viennese dodecaphonic dudes but that Webern really stands out.

Sarge

I agree: that recording is fantastic, and the Webern is probably the highlight. 

And for more Berg, there's this disc with Renée Fleming and the MET Orchestra.  And yes, Levine does not shy away from the thorny stuff, for sure. 

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

The new BSO release of Ravel's Daphnis & Chloé is sumptuous.

[Todd]

A few highlights for me:

Prokofiev - Symphonies 1 & 5

Cage, Carter, Babbitt, Schuller - Orchestral works (as good a disc of modern music as exists)

Mahler - 3, 5, 6, 9 from his incomplete RCA cycle

[Drasko]

Brahms' 3rd and Berg Concerto with Mutter

Schubert - piano duo with Volodos, Carnegie Hall 2005

Kissin, perhaps? If so, that one was bit steely for me.

[Mandryka]

Missa Solemnis with Cheryl Studer, Jessye Norman and Placido Domingo -- a really operatic reading which feels pretty good to me.

And a fantastic DVD of Ariadne with Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle and James King. It contains some nice bonus footage showing him in rehearsal at the piano with Jessye Norman. Scripted, no doubt. But amusing nontheless.

[Bunny]

His Brahms, both symphony cycles -- with the Chicago and the WP. 

[haydnguy]

I love this one very much. It gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it.

[Scarpia]

I can't recall any symphonic recordings from Levine in my collection, but I like all of the opera recordings I have with him, most of the DVDs from DG and the Met.  I also have a recording of him playing piano for a performance of the Mozart and Beethoven Piano and wind quintets, which is quite nicely done.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I love this one very much. It gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it.

I agree with this under-the-radar recording.

[listener]

a pianist in this Poulenc chamber music collection with the Ensemble Wien-Berlin

[knight66]

I think his Das Lied von der Erde with Norman and Jerusalem is very fine. Dramatic and lush. It is an excellent contrast to Klemperer's stoic take on the piece.

Mike

[Wanderer]

Kissin, perhaps?

Of course. Although it was somewhat closely-miked, I think it's a very impressive recital.

[Wendell_E]

I agree: that recording is fantastic, and the Webern is probably the highlight. 

And for more Berg, there's this disc with Renée Fleming and the MET Orchestra.  And yes, Levine does not shy away from the thorny stuff, for sure. 

--Bruce

I love both those recordings.  Too bad the telecast of the Met's Lulu production has never been released commercially, and a Wozzeck, videotaped in 2001, has never been shown at all.

I also like his Otello, both the RCA recording on CD (Domingo/Scotto/Milnes), and the DVD of the 1978 telecast (Vickers/Scotto/MacNeil), which was finally released commercially just last year on the Met's own label (so maybe there's still some hope for the Berg telecasts).

[Sergeant Rock]

The new BSO release of Ravel's Daphnis & Chloé is sumptuous.

I have his earlier recording with the Vienna Phil. I like it but it didn't please the critics much. Maybe the wrong orchestra for the job? Anyway, I'll have to check out the Boston performance.

Sarge

[DavidW]

I can't recall any symphonic recordings from Levine in my collection, but I like all of the opera recordings I have with him, most of the DVDs from DG and the Met.  I also have a recording of him playing piano for a performance of the Mozart and Beethoven Piano and wind quintets, which is quite nicely done.

+1 especially all things Mozart.