Favorite Discoveries of 2008

[ChamberNut]

2008 was an incredible year of discovery (and re-discovery).  Composers such as Bruckner, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Haydn were the greatest of the highlights (with Bruckner being a re-discovery of sorts).  And I can't forget Shostakovich!

Also, certain composers received a greater appreciation on my behalf, as some of the works started to germinate interest on my behalf, namely Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Bartok, Franck & Faure, just to name a handful.

The most shocking and surprising of all was my discovery and great liking of Wagner's operas, namely The Ring Cycle.      My ears never heard such powerful, gripping music and sound as Solti's Ring Cycle.  Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal are the other beaufitul operas of Wagner's that I've had the pleasure of experiencing (at least audibly).

Bruckner's symphonies grew on me like a rocket soaring through the stratosphere, to the point where I place him above my beloved Beethoven as my favorite symphonic composer.  Symphony No. 8 and No. 5, in particular, had the greatest impact on me.

Richard Strauss' tone poems were another incredible discovery.  In particular, "Eine Alpensinfonie" and "Don Quixote" made an impression, but several others are great, and too many in number to mention them all.

The flavour of Bartok's quartets started to do something rather unique to my palette and taste buds!     SQ No. 2, No. 1 and No. 4 made the greatest impressions on me.

In the world of my beloved chamber music, it was without question a year of discovery in the area of Russian, French and Eastern European string quartets, piano & string combination works.  Haydn's impact on me increased ten fold!  He can never be revered too highly, in my opinion.

Mozart's piano concerti, and string quintets made their way happily into my collection.

For my beloved Beethoven, probably re-discovering the tremendous beauty of the piano sonatas were the major highlight, and also the string trios.  The Hammerklavier Sonata was my Beethoven re-discovery of the year.

Brahms' solidified his near # 1 ranking, just behind LVB.   

I made a mild attempt to learn how to play the cello, but alas I gave up after a few months.  Perhaps I will re-visit again at another time.

Notable mentions on newly discovered composers include Taneyev, Onslow, Chausson, D'Indy, just to mention a few of many.

The public library continued to be an incredible resource for my listening and discovering new pieces for me along with Naxos on-line library.

GMG became my main on-line forum for discussion.

A great year was 2008, and with it, I anticipate an incredible 2009 journey into the known and unknown.

[some guy]

2008 was more about adding for me than discovering, more Kutavičius, more Sessions, more Yoshihide.

But there were a few very tasty discoveries--what year could go by without?

Doug Theriault for sure, who lives here in Portland (OR), and whose Interface album is on the player even as I type. Truly multifarious and visceral live electronics.

Gráinne Mulvey. Not the first contemporary Irish composer I've heard (that would be Frank Corcoran), but the first one I heard in 2008. Heard her Akanos at the Gaida/ISCM festival in October last year. Very dense and exciting orchestral music. And she's very cool herself. Anyway, I've listened to a recording of Akanos several times since, and it gets better with each listen. That's a good sign.

In 2008, I got some excellent suggestions for more turntable music. The discs I bought didn't start coming in until 2009, though. But they're pretty good, so far. Yasunao Tone, more Yoshihide, Martin Ng (Australia is full of talented new music folks, you know?), Jason Talbot, Philip Jeck, and Martin Tétreault (Canada is full of talented new music folks, too, come to think of it).

Oh, and Harrison Birtwistle. Not a discovery, per se. But I did watch a DVD of Minotaur around Christmas time, loved the music, so got out my old Collins CDs of Birtwistle that I'd never liked (but had fortunately kept), and this time really liked everything. Good times!

[Ugh!]

Fairly quiet year on the classical music front. Mayuzumi's Nirvana Symphony was a great discovery never the less....

[ChamberNut]

ChamberNut's personal 2008 Classical Music Award nominees and *winners

Composer of the Year

*Bruckner
Wagner
R. Strauss
Haydn
Shostakovich

Box set of the Year (5 or more CDs)

*Wagner - Solti's Ring
Bruckner - Nine Symphonies
Strauss R. - Orchestral Works
Mozart - Piano Concerti
Tchaikovsky - Symphonies Box Set

Album of the Year (small set - 4 CDs or less)

*Mozart - String Quintets
Taneyev - String Quartet 1 & 3
Brahms - Cello Sonatas
Beethoven - String Trios
Coleridge-Taylor - Piano Quintet, Ballade, Violin Sonata

Orchestral Work of the Year (Symphony or Concerto)

*Bruckner - Symphony No. 8
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5
Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1
Mahler - Symphony No. 2
Dvorak - Cello Concerto

Chamber Music Work of The Year

Franck - Violin Sonata
*Taneyev - String Quartet
Coleridge-Taylor - Piano Quintet
Schubert - String Quintet
Dvorak - String Quartet No. 10

Solo Instrument Work of the Year

Bach - Sonata No. 1 for solo violin
Bach - Partita No. 2 for solo violin
*Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 29, "Hammerklavier"
Schubert - Fantay in F minor for 4 hands
Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 3

Opera of the Year

Mozart - Don Giovanni
Strauss, R. - Salome
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Wagner - Parsifal
*Wagner - Siegfried

Prelude or Overture of the Year

Mozart - Don Giovanni
Wagner - Das Rheingold - Act I
*Wagner - Die Walkure - Act I
Wagner - Siegfried - Act II
Wagner - Parsifal - Act I

Sacred Work of the Year

Berlioz - Requiem
Faure - Requiem
Mozart - Requiem
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem
*Bruckner - Te Deum

Live performance attended of the Year

Mendelssohn - Octet
*Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian"
Mahler - Symphony No. 5
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5
Schumann - Piano Quintet

Purchase of the Year

Wagner - The Ring (Levine/Met)
*Strauss, R. - Orchestral Works (Kempe/Staatskapelle Dresden)
Mozart - Piano Concertos (Anda, DG)
Tchaikovsky - Symphonies (Muti, Brilliant)
Mozart - 4 Great Operas (Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, Marriage of Figaro, Magic Flute) - (Mackerras, Scottich CO)

[Opus106]

2008: The Year of the Behemoth?

Sure, why not?

[karlhenning]

 

[marvinbrown]

The most shocking and surprising of all was my discovery and great liking of Wagner's operas, namely The Ring Cycle.      My ears never heard such powerful, gripping music and sound as Solti's Ring Cycle.  Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal are the other beautiful operas of Wagner's that I've had the pleasure of experiencing (at least audibly).



Richard Strauss' tone poems were another incredible discovery.  In particular, "Eine Alpensinfonie" and "Don Quixote" made an impression, but several others are great, and too many in number to mention them all.

Chambernut make sure you check out Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.  Indeed this "comic" opera has some of the most beautiful light hearted music in the entire operatic repertoire. 

  With regards to Richard Strauss please, please, make sure you check out his operas.  A lot of GMG members speak of R. Strauss' orchestral music. As much as I enjoy Strauss' output in this field, it is his operas that really caught my attention and it is his operas that I often listen to.  Make sure you check out Der Rosenkavalier (EMI GROTC with Karajan/Schwartzkopf), Salome, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten.  There are many others but these 5 are personal favorites of mine.

  marvin

[Brian]

K, I like ChamberNut's idea up there, so I am going to blatantly steal it.    My biggest discoveries of 2008 were Atterberg in the spring, Antill's "Corroboree" over the summer, and Janacek over the summer and fall. I also devoted a great deal of time to Dvorak, Brahms, and to rediscovering the Beethoven symphonies, which I was once cool on but which now are reclaiming the place they deserve on my favorites list.


Brian's personal 2008 Classical Music Award nominees and *winners

Composer of the Year

*Janacek
Dvorak
Beethoven
Sibelius
Chopin

Album of the Year (any quantity of discs)

Janacek - Sinfonietta (Ancerl / Czech PO)
Brahms - The Symphonies (Kubelik / SOBR)
Dvorak - Cello Concerto (Queyras / Prague Philharmonia)
Beethoven - Symphonies 4 and 5 (Hogwood / Academy of Ancient Music)
*Antill - Corroboree (Judd / NZSO) [also my new CD of the year from the "Best of '08" thread]

Orchestral Work of the Year (Symphony or Concerto)

Antill - Corroboree
Brahms - Symphony No. 4
*Janacek - Sinfonietta
Atterberg - Symphony No. 3 "West Coast Pictures"
Bruckner - Symphony No. 7

Chamber Music Work of The Year - no nominees

Solo Instrument Work of the Year

*Chopin - Ballade No. 4
Scriabin - Sonata No. 5
Rachmaninov - the complete Preludes
Beethoven - Sonata No. 21, "Waldstein"
Beethoven - Sonata No. 32

Opera of the Year - by unanimous vote, George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

Sacred Work of the Year - by unanimous vote, Janacek's Glagolitic Mass

Live performance attended of the Year

EUGENE YSAYE | The Six Sonatas for Solo Violin
Eric Siu, Rice University graduate student, violin
The idea of these pieces being performed live is incredible; seeing them played this fantastically, with this much panache, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

[marvinbrown]

K, I like ChamberNut's idea up there, so I am going to blatantly steal it.    My biggest discoveries of 2008 were Atterberg in the spring, Antill's "Corroboree" over the summer, and Janacek over the summer and fall. I also devoted a great deal of time to Dvorak, Brahms, and to rediscovering the Beethoven symphonies, which I was once cool on but which now are reclaiming the place they deserve on my favorites list.


Brian's personal 2008 Classical Music Award nominees and *winners

Composer of the Year

*Janacek
Dvorak
Beethoven
Sibelius
Chopin

Album of the Year (any quantity of discs)

Janacek - Sinfonietta (Ancerl / Czech PO)
Brahms - The Symphonies (Kubelik / SOBR)
Dvorak - Cello Concerto (Queyras / Prague Philharmonia)
Beethoven - Symphonies 4 and 5 (Hogwood / Academy of Ancient Music)
*Antill - Corroboree (Judd / NZSO) [also my new CD of the year from the "Best of '08" thread]

Orchestral Work of the Year (Symphony or Concerto)

Antill - Corroboree
Brahms - Symphony No. 4
*Janacek - Sinfonietta
Atterberg - Symphony No. 3 "West Coast Pictures"
Bruckner - Symphony No. 7

Chamber Music Work of The Year - no nominees

Solo Instrument Work of the Year

*Chopin - Ballade No. 4
Scriabin - Sonata No. 5
Rachmaninov - the complete Preludes
Beethoven - Sonata No. 21, "Waldstein"
Beethoven - Sonata No. 32

Opera of the Year - by unanimous vote, George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

Sacred Work of the Year - by unanimous vote, Janacek's Glagolitic Mass

Live performance attended of the Year

EUGENE YSAYE | The Six Sonatas for Solo Violin
Eric Siu, Rice University graduate student, violin
The idea of these pieces being performed live is incredible; seeing them played this fantastically, with this much panache, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  Again Brian I shall comment on Janacek in much the same way I commented on R. Strauss.  It is the operas of Janacek that caught my attention and it is the operas of Janacek that I often listen to.  Jenufa, the Cunning Little Vixen, Vec Macropulous, Kata Kabanova and From the House of the Dead are personal favorites of mine! Check out the reordings with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Sir Charles Mackerras conducting.

  marvin

[ChamberNut]

ChamberNut's personal 2008 Classical Music Award nominees and *winners

Composer of the Year

*Bruckner
Wagner
R. Strauss
Haydn
Shostakovich

Box set of the Year (5 or more CDs)

*Wagner - Solti's Ring
Bruckner - Nine Symphonies
Strauss R. - Orchestral Works
Mozart - Piano Concerti
Tchaikovsky - Symphonies Box Set

Album of the Year (small set - 4 CDs or less)

*Mozart - String Quintets
Taneyev - String Quartet 1 & 3
Brahms - Cello Sonatas
Beethoven - String Trios
Coleridge-Taylor - Piano Quintet, Ballade, Violin Sonata

Orchestral Work of the Year (Symphony or Concerto)

*Bruckner - Symphony No. 8
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5
Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1
Mahler - Symphony No. 2
Dvorak - Cello Concerto

Chamber Music Work of The Year

Franck - Violin Sonata
*Taneyev - String Quartet
Coleridge-Taylor - Piano Quintet
Schubert - String Quintet
Dvorak - String Quartet No. 10

Solo Instrument Work of the Year

Bach - Sonata No. 1 for solo violin
Bach - Partita No. 2 for solo violin
*Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 29, "Hammerklavier"
Schubert - Fantay in F minor for 4 hands
Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 3

Opera of the Year

Mozart - Don Giovanni
Strauss, R. - Salome
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Wagner - Parsifal
*Wagner - Siegfried

Prelude or Overture of the Year

Mozart - Don Giovanni
Wagner - Das Rheingold - Act I
*Wagner - Die Walkure - Act I
Wagner - Siegfried - Act II
Wagner - Parsifal - Act I

Sacred Work of the Year

Berlioz - Requiem
Faure - Requiem
Mozart - Requiem
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem
*Bruckner - Te Deum

Live performance attended of the Year

Mendelssohn - Octet
*Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian"
Mahler - Symphony No. 5
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5
Schumann - Piano Quintet

Purchase of the Year

Wagner - The Ring (Levine/Met)
*Strauss, R. - Orchestral Works (Kempe/Staatskapelle Dresden)
Mozart - Piano Concertos (Anda, DG)
Tchaikovsky - Symphonies (Muti, Brilliant)
Mozart - 4 Great Operas (Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, Marriage of Figaro, Magic Flute) - (Mackerras, Scottich CO)

I forgot a final category:

New Work of the Year by a Living Composer

*Henning - The Mousetrap
Tan Dun - Water and Percussion Concerto
Golijov - Oceana

[ChamberNut]

K, I like ChamberNut's idea up there, so I am going to blatantly steal it.   

Absolutely, Brian!    0:)

[ChamberNut]

Chamber Music Work of The Year - no nominees

Ahem, Brian.   

You had the gall to use my idea, and not even come up with any nominees for Chamber Music?  Phooey! 

I sentence you to spend the entire 2009 exploring chamber music!   

[ChamberNut]

Chambernut make sure you check out Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.  Indeed this "comic" opera has some of the most beautiful light hearted music in the entire operatic repertoire. 

  With regards to Richard Strauss please, please, make sure you check out his operas.  A lot of GMG members speak of R. Strauss' orchestral music. As much as I enjoy Strauss' output in this field, it is his operas that really caught my attention and it is his operas that I often listen to.  Make sure you check out Der Rosenkavalier (EMI GROTC with Karajan/Schwartzkopf), Salome, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten.  There are many others but these 5 are personal favorites of mine.

  marvin

Marvin,

With regards to 'Meistersinger', I've been hesitant due to my own idiotic preconception that Wagner is a "dramatic" opera composer, and I'm not sure how I'd warm up to a comedic opera by RW.     I will definitely check it out in 2009, and I'm sure I'll most likely be pleasantly surprised.

As to Richard Strauss, I have indeed listened to Salome, and enjoyed it tremendously.  I will have to consider more listens to that work, as well as some of the others you mention.

I will also keep in mind to listen to Janecek's Jenufa.

[Anne]

Did you know that R. Strauss made enough money from Salome that he was able to pay for his house?

Comedy in opera does not necessarily have to mean "knee-slappingly"funny.  It can also be a comedy if the main characters do not die.  This latter definition applies to Wagner's Die Meistersinger i.e. it has a happy ending.  With no one helping you at all, you will quickly learn to enjoy the 3 act.  I needed help with the 1st and 2nd acts.  There are motifs in them just as Wagner's other operas have motifs.  Find the motif for David. Once you hear it, you'll see how many times it is repeated throughout the entire opera. 

[Brian]

Ahem, Brian.   

You had the gall to use my idea, and not even come up with any nominees for Chamber Music?  Phooey! 

I sentence you to spend the entire 2009 exploring chamber music!   

I was thinking of spending this year exploring not-classical music, actually.   

[Senta]

I like this thread! 

Without question this was the year of Bruckner and Brahms for me. Continued collecting of anything John Adams, and a new fascination with Bartok. More adoration of Ravel. And as always more explorations into new contemporary music which have yielded some great finds.

The nomination list is fun so here's a go for mine:

Composer of the Year:
Adams
Bartok
*Brahms
Bruckner
Ravel

(I shudder to think how many times I've played those 4 symphonies this year....)

Orchestral Work of the Year:
Adams: Naive and Sentimental Music
Bartok: Miraculous Mandarin Suite
Brahms: Symphony No. 1
*Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin

New Music of the Year:
Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony
Ades: Tevot
Golijov: Oceana
Lindberg: Violin Concerto
*Salonen: Piano Concerto

Opera of the Year:
Adams: Doctor Atomic
(No other nominees, this one absolutely captured me and held my attention most of the year in two interesting productions!)

Operatic Role of the Year:
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer - Gerald Finley
(The man is a god! Who else could sing this role now even!)

Live Performance Attended of the Year:
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 - Spano/Atlanta
Mahler - Symphony No. 2 - Graf/Houston
*Mahler: Symphony No. 5 - van Zweden/Dallas
Stucky: August 4, 1964 - Van Zweden/Dallas
Tchaiκ: Symphony No. 2, DSCH: PC No. 1 - Graf/Houston

(Really not fair to pick, as each of these were so outstanding in different ways. A narrow win by sheer derring-do and sonic thrill!)

Fav Record of the Year:
Lindberg & Sibelius Violin Concertos
Lisa Batiashvili/Oramo, Finnish RSO
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben
Luisi/Staatskapelle Dresden
Adams: Harmonielehre
Robertson/St. Louis SO (iTunes)
Schoenberg & Sibelius Violin Concertos
Hilary Hahn/Salonen, Swedish RSO
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6/Dumka
Eschenbach/Philadelphia Orchestra

(No winner - can't pick!)

Conductor/Orchestra of the Year:
Eschenbach/Philadelphia Orchestra
*Luisi/Staatskapelle Dresden
Rattle/Berliner Philharmoniker
Spano/Atlanta SO
Van Zweden/Dallas SO

(Live or recorded I like what I heard from these 5 lately, but the small bit I've heard or seen of Luisi is fascinating - can't wait to hear more from him!)

[greg]

Bruckner's symphonies grew on me like a rocket soaring through the

I could say the same about Bruckner right now....... so it's him for the last half of 2008 and I guess, Shostakovich for the first half of 2008 (which is when he really started to grow on me.stratosphere

[ChamberNut]

Did you know that R. Strauss made enough money from Salome that he was able to pay for his house?

Comedy in opera does not necessarily have to mean "knee-slappingly"funny.  It can also be a comedy if the main characters do not die.  This latter definition applies to Wagner's Die Meistersinger i.e. it has a happy ending.  With no one helping you at all, you will quickly learn to enjoy the 3 act.  I needed help with the 1st and 2nd acts.  There are motifs in them just as Wagner's other operas have motifs.  Find the motif for David. Once you hear it, you'll see how many times it is repeated throughout the entire opera. 

Thank you, Anne.  I love Wagner's use of motifs, so that makes me even more eager now to check out Die Meistersinger.   

[Guido]

Have discovered so much great new music this last year - far too much to mention. Getting to kow the work of Janacek, Sibelius, Ravel, Debussy, Gershwin, and Adams much better has been a great joy. I have just been listening to Rebecca Clarke's Viola Sonata again which I first heard early last year - a truly fantastic piece.

[Bu]

Gained a deeper appreciation of Scriabin, Schubert, Copland, Ligeti, and Handel.  Also was able to fully explore more of the recordings of Richter (which helped me gain greater affinity for some of those composers just mentioned).