GMG Members' Personal Essentials Lists

Started by DavidRoss, September 07, 2010, 08:06:33 AM

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TheGSMoeller

Quote from: canninator on September 08, 2010, 06:40:44 AM
15. Faure-Requiem (Willcocks-Cambridge College Choir)

Quote from: karlhenning on January 03, 2013, 11:29:44 AM
Interesting selections, recordings-wise.

Karl, this recording of Faure's Requiem uses a male treble, it's so innocent and natural, puts many of those other diva's to shame.  ;)
The whole performance is quite good.

Karl Henning

Makes sense, Greg. In the score for the Symphony of Psalms, Stravinsky inscribes a preference for boy trebles in the chorus; as you note, it's quite a different tone-color. What I had in mind (as only a general caution on my own part) is that many English choral recordings of a certain era strike me as a bit frowsty of sound . . . .
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Octave

Re: MI's updated essentials list:
I love the idea of revised lists, since I think that's the way taste works (and it's a good thing, too!); but I'd really like to see "old/outdated" lists left up on the thread.  In this case, it's for selfish reasons, since I was too lazy to copy-paste all the lists into a portable txt; but it might also be interesting for newcomers like me to see a couple different snapshots of a GMG veteran's tastes and priorities over a span of time.  Just 2 cents!
Help support GMG by purchasing items from Amazon through this link.

Karl Henning

Quote from: Octave on January 04, 2013, 05:21:05 PM
Re: MI's updated essentials list:
I love the idea of revised lists, since I think that's the way taste works (and it's a good thing, too!); but I'd really like to see "old/outdated" lists left up on the thread.  In this case, it's for selfish reasons, since I was too lazy to copy-paste all the lists into a portable txt; but it might also be interesting for newcomers like me to see a couple different snapshots of a GMG veteran's tastes and priorities over a span of time.  Just 2 cents!

I agree, so call it 4¢
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Mirror Image

Quote from: Octave on January 04, 2013, 05:21:05 PM
Re: MI's updated essentials list:
I love the idea of revised lists, since I think that's the way taste works (and it's a good thing, too!); but I'd really like to see "old/outdated" lists left up on the thread.  In this case, it's for selfish reasons, since I was too lazy to copy-paste all the lists into a portable txt; but it might also be interesting for newcomers like me to see a couple different snapshots of a GMG veteran's tastes and priorities over a span of time.  Just 2 cents!

Now, I feel bad for deleting my old list! :( I should've kept it up, but once I hit the "remove post" button it's bye-bye old post unless there's a way to revive a post, which I don't think there is.

Octave

No problem, of course; a lot of those original desert island items of yours are floating around in my Amazon cart/wishlists.  The main reason I thought "old" lists might still be super useful for beginners like me, is that even items tossed off the desert island might be quite a bit more interesting than the alternatives that I'd otherwise come up with reading recent issues of GRAMOPHONE.  <brat emoticon>
Seriously, all the trouble, time, and expense that veteran listeners have gone to...honestly, I think lists of ~100+ items are as welcome as they are necessary!  Says the guy who couldn't come up with a list. :-X
Help support GMG by purchasing items from Amazon through this link.

Mirror Image

Quote from: Octave on January 06, 2013, 06:56:03 PM
No problem, of course; a lot of those original desert island items of yours are floating around in my Amazon cart/wishlists.  The main reason I thought "old" lists might still be super useful for beginners like me, is that even items tossed off the desert island might be quite a bit more interesting than the alternatives that I'd otherwise come up with reading recent issues of GRAMOPHONE.  <brat emoticon>
Seriously, all the trouble, time, and expense that veteran listeners have gone to...honestly, I think lists of ~100+ items are as welcome as they are necessary!  Says the guy who couldn't come up with a list. :-X

All of the composers I love are essential to me. Selecting a recording is what is difficult, but I'm quite happy, for the most part, with my recent selections. Of course, this could be updated to something completely different next week. :)

DavidRoss

Quote from: Octave on January 04, 2013, 05:21:05 PM
Re: MI's updated essentials list:
I love the idea of revised lists, since I think that's the way taste works (and it's a good thing, too!); but I'd really like to see "old/outdated" lists left up on the thread.  In this case, it's for selfish reasons, since I was too lazy to copy-paste all the lists into a portable txt; but it might also be interesting for newcomers like me to see a couple different snapshots of a GMG veteran's tastes and priorities over a span of time.  Just 2 cents!
Thank you, Octave. As I recall, the original purpose of this thread was not just to introduce music that might interest classical music newbies, but also to introduce forum newcomers to the tastes of other participants, helping them to distinguish contributors likely to prove useful guides for them from those less likely to be helpful.

I agree that there's merit in seeing how others' tastes change as the result of more exposure and experience. And witnessing the paths taken by other newcomers like Mirror Image might prove very helpful in finding kindred spirits whose journeys of discovery might inform your own.

Sharing your enthusiasms along the way can be contagious -- not just for other newbies but for old farts as well, sometimes enticing us to revisit works and composers we might have neglected for decades. If we have continued growing and not just marked time, then our life experiences in the interim might have prepared us to hear things in a completely different way than we heard them years ago. (Thus, for instance, in the past decade or so I've learned to love Brahms, Sibelius, Schubert, and Vaughan Williams, none of whom I was able to appreciate in my youth.)

And, finally, newcomers' posts about the joys of discovering "new" music often prove much more engaging and exciting and fun than the bickering over interpretative nuances that characterizes the posts of some old-timers who haven't challenged their own entrenched musical tastes in decades.  ;)
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

Brian

#128
Hmmmmmm.

J.S. Bach - Brandenburg concertos, overtures, and more (Cafe Zimmermann, Alpha) 6 CD BOX
J.S. Bach - Cello suites (Pierre Fournier, Archiv)
Beethoven - Most of the piano sonatas (Emil Gilels, DG) 9 CD BOX
Beethoven - Piano sonatas Nos 30-32 (Penelope Crawford, Musica Omnia)
Beethoven - "Razumovsky" string quartets (Vermeer Qt, Warner)
Beethoven - Symphony No 3 (Swedish CO, Dausgaard, Simax)
Beethoven - Symphonies 5, 7 (Vienna PO, Kleiber, DG)
Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique (New York PO, Bernstein, Sony)
Brahms - Symphony No 4 (Vienna PO, Kleiber, DG)
Chopin - All but two nocturnes (Ivan Moravec, Nonesuch/Supraphon)
Dvorak - Cello concerto, Dumky trio (Queyras & friends, Harmonia Mundi)
Dvorak - String quartets (Pavel Haas Qt, Supraphon)
Dvorak - Symphony No 7; Smetana - Moldau (New York PO, Bernstein, Sony)
Handel - Water Music, Fireworks Music (Le Concert, Savall, Alia Vox)
Haydn - Twenty-one symphonies (Tafelmusik, Weil, Vivarte) 7 CD BOX
Janacek - Glagolitic Mass, Taras Bulba (Czech PO, Ancerl, Supraphon)
Martinu - Symphonies (BBC SO, Belohlavek, Onyx) 3 CD BOX
Mozart - Symphonies 35, 36, 38-41 (Scottish CO, Mackerras, Linn)
Prokofiev, Ravel - Piano concertos (Argerich, Berlin PO, Abbado, DG)
Schubert - String quintet D956 (Raphael Ensemble, Helios)
Shostakovich - Symphony No 10 (Royal Liverpool PO, Petrenko, Naxos)
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes & Fugues (Alexander Melnikov, Harmonia Mundi)
Sibelius - Symphonies (San Francisco SO, Blomstedt, Decca) 4 CD BOX
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No 5, Tallis Fantasia (Royal PO, Previn, Telarc)
Vivaldi - Four Seasons etc. (Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Virgin)

Wow, that was hard.

I shall now proceed to edit in explanations.

Some of these albums are here because they had to be. I play them too much. For instance, my log for 2012 indicates I listened to Bruno Weil's Haydn symphonies box set 56 times, or roughly twice per symphony. The Cafe Zimmermann Bach is getting close to that number of plays, since it conveniently assembles so many great works in great performances. Emil Gilels' Beethoven received one hundred listens, mostly on commutes to and from my previous job.

Many of my choices are classic recordings, like Carlos Kleiber's universally-admired Beethoven and Brahms, or Ivan Moravec's peerless Chopin, but some are newcomers to the stage. Penelope Crawford furnishes my go-to readings of the last three Beethoven sonatas, and Thomas Dausgaard enlivens the Eroica Symphony with the energy of a third rail on a train-track. Intensive comparison listening left Vasily Petrenko at the top of my list for Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, followed closely by Jansons and Sanderling. The Pavel Haas Quartet CD is my favorite - for every piece the Pavel Haas Quartet has recorded! And, to be fully honest, Mackerras' Scottish Mozart is so joy-giving, so life-affirming, that if I had to give up all the rest of my Mozart I'd be okay.

There are some gaps. Tchaikovsky, for one. Opera, for another. Scarlatti, for another other. Many things by Ravel. Strauss' Four Last Songs. Beethoven's Ninth, incredibly. Some more solo piano music by Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms. But hey - this is hard.

North Star

I'll make it somewhat easier and limit myself to one recording per composer.
(I would have liked to include the complete Ravel & Debussy editions, and the Decca box of Janacek's piano, chamber, orchestral and choral works, but I'll not bend the rules)

1. Alkan: 12 Etudes in the minor keys etc., Gibbons
2. Bach: Art of the Fugue, Fretwork
3. Bartók: String Quartets, Belcea Quartet
4. Beethoven: Late Sonatas, Pollini
5. Berlioz: Colin Davis & LSO box, LSO
6. Brahms: Chamber music, Hyperion
7. Chopin: Mazurkas, Luisada (RCA)
8. Debussy: Orchestral works, Martinon
9. Dvorak: Symphonies, Tone Poems & Overtures, Neumann & CzPO
10. Elgar: Cello Concerto & Sea Pictures, du Pré, Baker & Barbirolli
11. Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76, Quatuor Mosaïques
12. Janacek: House of the Dead, Neumann
13. Mahler: EMI 150th anniversary
14. Martinu: Chamber music, Dartington Ensemble
15. Mozart: Piano Concertos, Barenboim & ECO
16. Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas & solo piano pieces, Raekallio
17. Rachmaninoff: All-night Vigil, Paul Hillier & Estonian Chamber Choir
18. Ravel: Piano Trio & Sonatas, Capucons & Braley
19. Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder, Craft
20. Schubert: String Quintet, String Quartets nos 14 & 15, Belcea Quartet
21. Shostakovich: Symphonies, Jansons
22. Sibelius: Symphonies, Maazel & WP
23. Stravinsky: Boulez's DG box
24. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 & Serenade for Strings, Gatti, HM
25. Tippett: Concertos & Fantasia Concertante, Barshaï, Tippett, Ogdon
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Mirror Image

Quote from: North Star on January 07, 2013, 12:41:55 PM
14. Martinu: Chamber music, Dartington Ensemble

I was looking through my Martinu collection and realized I didn't own this 2-CD set. I remedied that very quickly. :)

Rhymenoceros

This is going to be hard.  From Bach to Sibelius:

1. Bach's WTC Book 1 by Till Fellner
2. Bach's Goldberg Variations by Glenn Gould
3. Bach's Violin Concertos by Hilary Hahn
4. Bach's Art of the Fugue by the Emerson String Quartet
5. Bach's Toccata in C Minor, Partita No. 2, and English Suite No. 2 by Martha Argerich
6. Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin by Henryk Szeryng
7. Beethoven's 9 Symphonies by Harnoncourt (HIP)
8. Beethoven's Piano Sonatas by Emil Gilels
9. Beethoven's Spring and Kreutzer Violin Sonatas by Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy
10. Brahms' Piano Concertos by Emil Gilels
11. Brahms' 4 Symphonies by Otto Klemperer
12. Brahm's Violin Sonatas by Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy
13. Brahms' Cello Sonatas by Mstislav Rostropovich and Rudolph Serkin
14. Chopin's Ballades by Krystian Zimerman
15. Chopin's Etudes by Maruzio Pollini
16. Handel's Keyboard Suites by Sviatoslav Richter and Andrei Gavrilov
17. Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 by Hilary Hahn
18. Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, Ravel's Piano Concerto, and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit by Martha Argerich
19. Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos by Vladimir Ashkenazy
20. Ravel, Debussy, and Faure's String Quartets by Quatuor Ebène
21. Schubert's String Quintet by Mstislav Rostropovich and the Emerson String Quartet
22. Schubert's Last Four String Quartets by the Quartetto Italiano
23. Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues by Keith Jarrett
24. Sibelius' Violin Concerto by Anne-Sophie Mutter
25. Sibelius' Symphonies by the Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Vol. 1 + 2)

Karl Henning

Quote from: Rhymenoceros on January 16, 2013, 10:37:56 AM
This is going to be hard.  From Bach to Sibelius:

[...]
2. Bach's Goldberg Variations by Glenn Gould
[...]

But . . . which?

(j/k)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Rhymenoceros

Quote from: karlhenning on January 16, 2013, 11:12:30 AM
But . . . which?

(j/k)


Luckily, we don't have to choose since the 1955 and 1981 recordings come in the same set!

flyffdzd

Sounds,very good!
Rameau Pieces de Clavecin Ross (Still)
Delalande Grands Motets Christie (HM)
Lully Armide Laurens/Herreweghe II (HM)
Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice Jacobs (HM)
Mozart Piano Concerto No.24 Haskil/Markevitch (Philips)
Beethoven Sonatas 30-32 Richter (Parnassus)
Schubert Impromptus Zimerman (DG)

Dancing Divertimentian

#135
Here goes...for a friend.... :)


Martinů - 3rd Symphony (Bělohlávek/Czech PO)
Brahms - 3rd Piano Quartet (Menuhin Festival Quartet)
Schumann - Symphonic Etudes (Richter)
Bartók - Piano Concertos (Kocsis/Fischer)
Schubert - Piano Sonatas (Lupu)

Debussy - Images for orchestra/Nocturnes (Monteux/LSO)
Janáček - Male Choruses (Veselka)
Handel - Agrippina (Gardiner)
Schoenberg - Die Jakobsleiter (Nagano)
Chopin - 3rd Piano Sonata/Impromptus (Momo Kodama)

Prokofiev - Piano Sonatas (Raekallio)
Liszt - 3rd book of Années de Pèlerinage (Kocsis)
Rachmaninoff - Études-Tableaux for piano (Ovchinnikov)
Bruckner - 9th Symphony (Kubelik)
Stravinsky - Petrushka (Rosbaud)

Bach - Cantatas (Herreweghe)
Berg - Lyric Suite (Arditti Quartet)
Mozart - Così Fan Tutte (Solti II)
Wagner - Meistersinger (Jochum)
Shostakovich - String Quartets (Danel Quartet)

Saint-Saëns - 2nd Piano Concerto (El Bacha/Verrot)
Sibelius - 5th Symphony (Barbirolli)
Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit (Thibaudet)
Berlioz - Requiem (Davis/LSO)
Britten - Canticles (Britten)


EDIT: Okay, looking back, I see lists stretching it to thirty. So...


Scriabin - 2nd Piano Sonata (Kocyan)
Lutosławski - String Quartet (Arditti Quartet)
Beethoven - Cello Sonatas (Gastinel/Guy)
Schnittke - 1st Violin Sonata (Kagan/Lobanov)
Mahler - 2nd Symphony (Fischer)



Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Octave

Man, can we get an admin to add the :::RockOn::: emoticon yet?

I know that is a true labor of sacrifice to pare down one's loves and traveling companions to ~30 or less, DD.  I only exempt myself from the stress of all this because I am learning too much too fast, even just about what I like.  I love these lists!  Thanks to everyone for them.
Help support GMG by purchasing items from Amazon through this link.

Dancing Divertimentian

Quote from: Octave on February 09, 2013, 06:56:31 AM
Man, can we get an admin to add the :::RockOn::: emoticon yet?

I know that is a true labor of sacrifice to pare down one's loves and traveling companions to ~30 or less, DD.  I only exempt myself from the stress of all this because I am learning too much too fast, even just about what I like.  I love these lists!  Thanks to everyone for them.

Yep, definitely tip of the iceberg. :)


Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Karl Henning

Quote from: Brian on January 07, 2013, 11:50:30 AM
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes & Fugues (Alexander Melnikov, Harmonia Mundi)

Brian!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

xochitl

after much deliberation these are the ones i could not possibly part with

bach: goldberg variations - rodarmer
bach: cello suites - mork
bach: art of the fugue - goebel/koln
bach: violin sonatas & partitas - mullova [onyx]
mozart: piano concertos - schiff/vegh
beethoven: symphonies - bruggen I
beethoven: piano concertos 4&5 - schoondenwoerd
beethoven: string quartets - emerson quartet
beethoven: piano sonatas - brautigam
brahms: symphonies - abbado
brahms: piano concertos - brendel/abbado
brahms: trios -  eroica trio
bruckner: symphonies - wand/koln
mahler: symphony #1 - abbado/bpo
mahler: symphony #5 - barshai
mahler: symphony #6 - abbado/bpo
mahler: symphony #9 - bernstein/israel
tchaikovsky: symphonies 4-6 - karajan/bpo '70s [dg]
bartok: works for piano solo 1 - kocsis
bartok: violin concerto #2 - shaham/boulez
janacek: sinfonietta, glalolitic mass - mtt/sfso
nielsen: symphonies - blomstedt
sibelius: symphonies - blomstedt
stravinsky: le sacre [+bartok & mussorgsky] - salonen/lapo
villa-lobos: solo guitar - kraft [naxos]
reich: music for 18 musicians
adams: dharma at big sur
arnold: symphonies 7&8 - handley/rpo
piazzolla: la camorra
partch: delusion of the fury