Performances that move you to tears

[Renfield]

Karajan 1988 Bruckner 8th. DG - WOW what a coda in the finale. Probably greatest ending of any music of any kind on any kind of recording, ever.

Indeed.

[George]

Karajan 1988 Bruckner 8th. DG - WOW what a coda in the finale. Probably greatest ending of any music of any kind on any kind of recording, ever.

Thanks. I need to spin this soon, got it awhile back but haven't checked it out yet. 

[MISHUGINA]

this:



or this:



worth mentioning: Furtwangler's Beethoven 9th Lucerne recording. Absolutely incandescent.

[canninator]

Karajan 1988 Bruckner 8th. DG - WOW what a coda in the finale. Probably greatest ending of any music of any kind on any kind of recording, ever.

Yes, the Bruckner 8 has a fantastic coda but I put Giulini, Wand, and Boulez over Karajan.

BUT, for the greatest spine-tingling Bruckner coda of all try the Celibidache (MPO on EMI) recording of the 4th. Unlike his turgid recording of the 8th, this is where the treacle-like pace works to fantastic effect adding tremendous tension to the coda rather than just making it long.

On topic, the following pieces seem to blow specks of dust in my eye.

Vaughan Williams-Tallis Fantasia
Shostakovich-Violin Concerto
Faure-Reqiuem
Sibelius-Symphony 5 (transition in 3rd movement)
Barrios-La Catedral
Dowland-Fantasy Number 7
Rodrigo-Aranjuez Adagio (but only the Bream 1963 recording)
Radiohead-OK Computer
and I don't know why but Liszt's Transcendental Etudes can also get me going.

[Lethevich]

Edit: Oh, and to answer the thread question: none.

Yes, the Bruckner 8 has a fantastic coda but I put Giulini, Wand, and Boulez over Karajan.

BUT, for the greatest spine-tingling Bruckner coda of all try the Celibidache (MPO on EMI) recording of the 4th.

The wonderful 6th!!! The 1st movement coda is the best part of it

[Mark]

Barenboim conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin in Beethoven's 'Eroica' Symphony brought me to tears. No, sorry ... that should be 'bored me to tears'.

[Bonehelm]

Thanks. I need to spin this soon, got it awhile back but haven't checked it out yet. 

Make sure you are in a spiritual mood, free of worries when you do sink yourself into it!

[George]

Make sure you are in a spiritual mood, free of worries when you do sink yourself into it!

Will do.  0:)

[Keemun]

Karajan 1988 Bruckner 8th. DG - WOW what a coda in the finale. Probably greatest ending of any music of any kind on any kind of recording, ever.

I've not heard this recording yet, is it really that superior to other recordings of Bruckner's 8th?  I have that one and the Giullini/VPO on my wish list for this work.  I'd like to get both, but the Karajan is expensive and the Giullini is out of print and equally expensive.  Boulez/VPO is my favorite of the recordings I have, but I haven't listed it in this thread. 

[Bonehelm]

I've not heard this recording yet, is it really that superior to other recordings of Bruckner's 8th?  I have that one and the Giullini/VPO on my wish list for this work.  I'd like to get both, but the Karajan is expensive and the Giullini is out of print and equally expensive.  Boulez/VPO is my favorite of the recordings I have, but I haven't listed it in this thread. 

Yes, the difference is HUGE. Maybe it's because Karajan was in his 2nd last year of his life, the music just sounds as if Karajan was giving his final words and foreseeing heaven at the same time. It's intensity is simply unparalleled; I don't know if it's because I adore the conductor and everytime I listen to his late recordings I think "this is what's left, gotta treasure it" or maybe it's just because Karajan's musical vision just broadened to beyond measurable in his late years. If you want to compare his earlier DG recording of the symphony, you can CLEARLY tell the later one is superior in every way. This 1988 one is with the VPO, and many reviewers have said that the string playing is richer and lusher in the 1988 recording, than the BPO strings. I have to agree...maybe it's because VPO knows Karajan is not going to live for very long, so they gave their best effort into this particular recording. 

[brpaulandrew]

I've loved Strauss' Four Last Songs for many years, with the September movement and the huge crescendo at the end.

[Keemun]

Yes, the difference is HUGE. Maybe it's because Karajan was in his 2nd last year of his life, the music just sounds as if Karajan was giving his final words and foreseeing heaven at the same time. It's intensity is simply unparalleled; I don't know if it's because I adore the conductor and everytime I listen to his late recordings I think "this is what's left, gotta treasure it" or maybe it's just because Karajan's musical vision just broadened to beyond measurable in his late years. If you want to compare his earlier DG recording of the symphony, you can CLEARLY tell the later one is superior in every way. This 1988 one is with the VPO, and many reviewers have said that the string playing is richer and lusher in the 1988 recording, than the BPO strings. I have to agree...maybe it's because VPO knows Karajan is not going to live for very long, so they gave their best effort into this particular recording. 

Thanks.  I really like his Bruckner 7 from the same era, so I'll have to check out the 8th.

[knight66]

A second vote for Janet Baker singing "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".

Kathleen Ferrier singing "Blow the Wind Southerly"

David Daniels singing "Scherza infida" from Ariodante

The Final Trio from Der Rosenkavalier (Schwarzkopf, Ludwig, Stich-Randall)

The final scene from Otello (Vickers)

Almost any of Callas's tragic roles, but, in particular:-

"Ah non credea" from La Sonnambula
"Amami Alfredo" from the La Scala/Giulini La Traviata and the whole of the last scene from the 1958 Covent Garden performances.
"Mira o Norma" from Callas's 2nd studio performance of the opera with Ludwig
Final trio from Norma - this time from the 1955 La Scala performance with Del Monaco and Zaccaria.
The final scene from Madama Butterfly from Butterfly's entrance to the end, not only in Callas's performance, but also in those by De Los Angeles and Scotto.

The Sanctus from Beethoven's Missa Solemnis

The slow movement of Elgar's cello concerto (Du Pre/Barbirolli)

And, maybe surprisngly, Elgar's "Sospiri" (Barbirolli)

The minute I post this, I've no doubt I'll think of a load more.

All of those also appeal to me. I add Handel's Theodora; Sung by David Daniels Dawn Upshaw and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

The first movement of Mahler's 9th symphony, Barbirolli.

The closing ensemble in Marriage of Figaro, Bohm.

Mike

[Novi]

Janet Baker's 'Des Abschied,' Das Lied Von Der Erde (with Kubelik). Oh my, the tears do (almost) flow ...

[Tsaraslondon]

The closing ensemble in Marriage of Figaro, Bohm.

Mike

I'd go with that too (though in the Giulini recording). In fact I usually get a lump in the throat at the moment the Countess forgives the Count, that wonderful phrase on piu docil io sono. Schwarzkopf somehow manages to convey, in those few notes, the sadness of knowing that, though she forgives him now, she is also aware that he will stray again.

[George]

The first movement of Mahler's 9th symphony, Barbirolli.

Thanks, Mike. I'm puttin' that on now.

[The new erato]

Shostakovich Vn concerto nr 1 in most good performances. Goldberg variations.

[Harry Collier]

Almost any (good) performance of Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony.

p.s Is Tchaikovsky's Pathétique symphony the greatest of all symphonies outside the best of Mozart and Beethoven? Discuss.

[cx]

I've not heard this recording yet, is it really that superior to other recordings of Bruckner's 8th?  I have that one and the Giullini/VPO on my wish list for this work.  I'd like to get both, but the Karajan is expensive and the Giullini is out of print and equally expensive.  Boulez/VPO is my favorite of the recordings I have, but I haven't listed it in this thread. 

Didn't want to derail this thread. (How nice of me.)

[George]

Almost any (good) performance of Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony.

p.s Is Tchaikovsky's Pathétique symphony the greatest of all symphonies outside the best of Mozart and Beethoven? Discuss.

Indeed.