Best of...Chicago Symphony Orchestra

[MISHUGINA]

Hey folks. I've recently been smitten over and over by what I regard as the greatest orchestra in U.S of A(IMHO). I don't think it's famous solely because of it's brass sections, but in terms of all-rounded quality it's pretty underrated. Of course they have the best brass section in the whole damn universe!  ;DCare to share your choices of five best CSO recordings? Here is mine:

1. Hindemith: Concert music for strings and brass conducted by composer himself (available also on video DVD)

2. Mahler: Symphony no. 7 conducted by Claudio Abbado

3. Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 conducted by Carlos Kleiber

4. Mahler: Symphony no. 9 conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini (listen to some of greatest basson playing ever caught on record, no kidding Sherlock!)

5. Bartok: The Wooden Prince conducted by Pierre Boulez

[hornteacher]

Levine's CSO recording of Dvorak's 7th is fantastic, especially the last two movements.

[BorisG]

Reiner Scheherazade, Solti 1970's Beethoven 9, Lin/Slatkin's Bruch VC.

[MichaelRabin]

3. Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 conducted by Carlos Kleiber

Huh! Unless this is a pirated live recording?

[MichaelRabin]

My violin teacher likes the Schumann Konzertstucke for 4 horns Op 86 (Barenboim on DG).

[MDL]

2. Mahler: Symphony no. 7 conducted by Claudio Abbado

5. Bartok: The Wooden Prince conducted by Pierre Boulez

These two are great. I would also add:

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring/Solti/Decca
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite/Abbado/DG
Mahler: Symphony No.2/Abbado/DG
Mahler: Symphony No.7/Solti (Abbado's recording is better, but Solti's is an interesting alternative)

[MISHUGINA]

Huh! Unless this is a pirated live recording?

It is and I'm afraid it's not commercially available. Like Giulini's Bruckner 9 with RCO and Lenny's Mahler 9 with Boston SO.

[dirkronk]

Huh! Unless this is a pirated live recording?

Don't know if it's pirated, but I too have Carlos Kleiber with Chicago doing the LvB 5th on a 2-CD Memories label set (purchased at Berkshire RO), along with Weber Freischutz, Schubert sym.3, Butterworth English Idyll #1, Mozart sym.33 and Brahms sym.2. And yes, all live. Nice set, though not one of my own "top 5" for Chicago. Which at the moment (opinions subject to change depending on mood) would probably include:

- Tchaikovsky violin concerto w/ Milstein, Stock conducting. Ancient sound, but captivating presentation of the work.
- Rimsky Scheherazade w/ Reiner. Virtuoso playing by everyone throughout the piece, with that last movement particularly breathtaking.
- Rossini overtures w/ Reiner. One trombonist acquaintance of mine claims that there's a gaffe in one particular passage in one of the overtures (wrong trombone entry point or some such thing), but that's about the only complaint I've ever heard from anyone about the performances here, which offer extraordinary and exciting playing throughout. My all-time favorite single recording of Rossini (yes, even ahead of Toscanini, I think, since Reiner offers speed and power but stops short of mania). I'd give anything for a clean copy of the master tape in analog, since you could tell that the original sonics were great but the transfers during the vinyl era were hazy even on the earliest shaded dog LPs. Luckily, the Gold Seal CD remastering finally scrubbed up the sound quite well--and I keep waiting for BMG to put out a Living Stereo CD or SACD edition of this one.
- Mussorgsky Pictures w/ Reiner. Beautifully paced, powerful and virtuosic all the way through.
- hmmm...I could keep listing Reiner-conducted performances, but maybe I should put in a good word for Bernstein's Shostakovich sym. 1 & 7 on DGG. At least, I was rather wowed by the performance the first time I heard it--time to go back and listen again to see if my early impressions still apply.

Cheers,

Dirk

[Sergeant Rock]

Of course they have the best brass section in the whole damn universe! 

Having heard the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatskapelle Dresden live within the last year, I would dispute that assertion    And if we're talking about just American orchestras, I've always preferred the Myron Bloom-led horn quartet from Cleveland.

But, yeah, I love the Chicago Orchestra too. In my youth the only orchestras I heard live were the Three Cs: Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati; the sound and styles of Cleveland and Chicago became my standard. I've heard dozens of other orchestras since then but still retain an admiration for those American orchestras while admitting the obvious allure of the more mellow, darker sound produced by the "east" German bands.

To answer your question: here are some of my favorite Chicago recordings:

Mahler Third Symphony - Levine: Since buying this about twenty years ago, Levine/Chicago has taken on all comers (including new kids on the block Chailly and Boulez) and whooped them all. What tips the scales for me: Levine's "bim bam" fifth movement has a very disturbing undercurrent. It's not the usual happy and banal kiddie interlude but something much darker.

Mahler Sixth Symphony - Solti: a blitzkrieg of a performance that takes no prisoners; the agogic distortion just prior to the launch of the first movement's coda, perfection

Ives Holidays Symphony - Tilson Thomas: hands down the best version of this work ever

Saint-Saens Organ Symphony - Barenboim: the way Barenboim juggles tempi in the closing pages is unforgettable

Shostakovich Fourth Symphony - Previn: yes, the Chicago brass is simply awesome here

Schmidt Second Symphony and Third Symphony - Järvi: these performances opened up a whole new world to me


Sarge

[Bonehelm]

Solti : Brahms Four symphonies on Decca
Solti : Mahler nine symphonies on Decca
Solti : Beethoven nine symphonies on Decca
Solti: Dvorak nine Symphonies on Decca

Do we start to see a pattern here?

[Brian]

Solti: Dvorak nine Symphonies on Decca

Wait, what?!

[Sergeant Rock]

Wait, what?!

I long to hear Solti's Dvorak First...perhaps the FIFTH will share it with us 


Sarge

[hautbois]

Schmidt Second Symphony and Third Symphony - Järvi: these performances opened up a whole new world to me

And Jarvi's Kodaly album with CSO, BREATHTAKING.

Howard