gustavmahlerboard.com
General Category => Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions => Topic started by: Ben on November 24, 2012, 02:21:31 PM
-
I'd like to get board members opinions on their favorite recordings of any repertoire. What recordings do you feel are some of the best ever made? You know, those recordings where the stars aligned, conductor and orchestra were completely in sync, and magic happened. It doesn't happen all the time, or even that often, but I think we can agree that when it does, it's an amazing experience.
Some of mine:
Shostakovich 7/Bernstein/CSO - Live recording (the finale is absolutely awe-inspiring; I still keep hope a video was made...)
Brahms 2/Kleiber/VPO - Live recording on DVD
Beethoven 5/Kleiber/VPO - A classic forever
Tchaikovsky 5/Gergiev/VPO - Live, one-off recording
I guess I seem to be a little VPO heavy...
So, what are some of your ultimate recordings ever made?
Ben
-
Here is my list, and I may append it from time to time:
Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra (Reiner/CSO) (1954 recording - in very early stereo)
Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (Reiner/CSO) - also very early stereo
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (Reiner/CSO)
Orff: Carmina Burana (Jochum/Deutsche Oper Berlin) - 1967 recording
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4-6 (Mravinsky/Leningrad Philharmonic) - 1960 recordings
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Bernstein/NYPO) - 1963 Sony/Columbia recording
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Horenstein/LSO) - 1959 Albert Hall live recording
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (Ferrier, Patzak, Walter/VPO)
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra (Reiner/CSO)
Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 5 (Bernstein, NYPO) (1959 recording)
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Beecham, ORTF) (either the mono or the stereo one recorded subsequently)
Wagner: Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung (Solti/VPO) (I don't think that the Walküre and the Siegfried in this particular Ring cycle are as good as the other two)
Wade
-
Wow - what a long topic this could be. Let me just say that my favorite orchestral work is Kodaly's "Peacock Variations". Any good sounding, modern recording of it works just fine for me.
I would have to rate Dudamel's DVD of Mahler 8 right up there. I also really like the Preiser recording of Beethoven's 9th in the Mahler 'retuschen'. Also along those lines, I would also highly rate Chailly's recording of the four Schumann symphonies, which are also in the Mahler 'retuschen'. I'm also really liking the BIS recording of Bruckner 4, which is in the 1988 revision. I'm not sure I'd put it at the top of my list though. I would rate the Jurowski/LPO recording of Tchaik's "Manfred" symphony right up as well.
-
Klemperer/NPO/EMI Bruckner 5th, 6th
Klmeperer/NPO/EMI Mahler 2nd
Bohm/VPO/Decca Bruckner 3rd, 4th
Bohm/VPO/DG Bruckner 7th
Karajan/BPO/DG Beethoven 4th, 7th (70s)
Bernstein/NYPO/Sony Mahler 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th
Bernsetin/NYPO/Sony Sibelius 2nd
Horenstein/LSO/Unicorn Mahler 3rd
.....
-
I could add a good bit here, but I'll stick with the recording I find most important to mention. Abbado on RCA did an original Mussorgsky's version Night on Bald Mountain. This is a mega performance in every way. The flair and sensationalism fits perfecto with what I'm fairly sure Mussorgsky had in mind. Unbelievable disc, would of thought it remaster reissued over and over, but... The disc also includes a good deal of music from Khovanshchina, having its own 'powerhouse moments' also.
-
I could add a good bit here, but I'll stick with the recording I find most important to mention. Abbado on RCA did an original Mussorgsky's version Night on Bald Mountain. This is a mega performance in every way. T
Yes, Abbado did a similarly sensational Debussy Nocturnes with the Boston SO on DG, recently reissued, at about the same time. One of the few recordings he made with the BSO.
Other 'ultimates' of mine:
Liszt: Sonata, Zimerman/DG
Rachmaninov: Paganini Rhapsody, Wild/Chesky
Debussy: La Mer, Haitink/Philips
Bruckner: Symphony 2, Wakasugi/Arte Nova
-
I could add a good bit here, but I'll stick with the recording I find most important to mention. Abbado on RCA did an original Mussorgsky's version Night on Bald Mountain. This is a mega performance in every way. The flair and sensationalism fits perfecto with what I'm fairly sure Mussorgsky had in mind. Unbelievable disc, would of thought it remaster reissued over and over, but... The disc also includes a good deal of music from Khovanshchina, having its own 'powerhouse moments' also.
The fact that I hadn't owned or listened to the above mentioned recording in many years was simply too much a bummer, I recently bought it from Amazon. Not only the Bald Mountain but almost everything else on the record was very nostalgic, Joshua and the Scherzo in particular, awesome beyond words!
Way back I'd also had the Liszt Sonata with Pollini on DG, it was La Lugubre Gondola I most listen to on the album, and therefore got a mp3 of; Also a mp3 of Mephisto Waltz orchestral version with Masur, it is a fine performance, but not exactly the Karajan recording of my youth I knew so well, I had to get it as well.
-
In some respects this will of course come down to personal preference, but trying to be as objective as I can here are a few more:
- Shostakovich Symphony No.5 - Czech Philharmonic / Ancerl
- Shostakovich Symphony No.7 - Bournemouth Symphony / Berglund
- Beethoven Symphony No.5 - Vienna Philharmonic / Kleiber
- Rachmaninov Symphony No.1 - Concertgebouw / Ashkenazy
-
This thread is a great idea, there are some great non Mahler suggestions thanks for the Kodaly, Barry, I'm listening to it now on YouTube. I'll add some of my own tonight.
-
This is not the greatest piece of music, but I bought this CD on Berkshire Record Outlet over 10 years ago and it has brought me many hours of listening joy. It's always nice to hear something different.
Svetlanov Piano Cto: very interesting it is very Russian sounding, a bit cheesy, but a joy nonetheless. You can find the 1st mvt on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymu_V1LHRTQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymu_V1LHRTQ)
This is the CD, can't find it online anymore.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/evgeni-svetlanov-piano-concerto-the-red-guelder-rose-preludes-symphonic-reflections-mw0001542388 (http://www.allmusic.com/album/evgeni-svetlanov-piano-concerto-the-red-guelder-rose-preludes-symphonic-reflections-mw0001542388)
-
In all honesty, many of my favs are simply favs because they've made a very distinct impression on me, I can't fairly say otherwise. In many cases I've simply listened to certain recordings so often and having been so impacted, I often find other rendition make me feel alienated from a piece of music that I love, a slight difference in color or phrasing and I get so moody; I ask myself, 'Why did I even bother buying this?'
I know this forums is mostly involved in talk on new releases. and it is not as though I'm adverse to new things, but I bet many can relate, either pocket book wise, or the fact that, like me, it is tedious work getting reacquainted with yet another interpretation, not that I'd rather be digging ditches.
-
Klemperer/NPO/EMI Bruckner 5th, 6th
Klmeperer/NPO/EMI Mahler 2nd
Bohm/VPO/Decca Bruckner 3rd, 4th
Bohm/VPO/DG Bruckner 7th
Karajan/BPO/DG Beethoven 4th, 7th (70s)
Bernstein/NYPO/Sony Mahler 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th
Bernsetin/NYPO/Sony Sibelius 2nd
Horenstein/LSO/Unicorn Mahler 3rd
.....
Great list. Horenstein's 3rd is definitely on my list, also. A desert island disc!
+
WAGNER Das Rheingold [1958] Solti
MONTEVERDI L'Orfeo [1987] Gardiner
MAHLER Symphony 6 [1967] Barbirolli
MAHLER Symphony 7 [1969] Horenstein
BRUCKNER Symphony 8 Karajan, VPO - my first Bruckner recording.
Still looking for my favourite M5...it's EMI's Barbirolli, maybe...
-
This is not the greatest piece of music, but I bought this CD on Berkshire Record Outlet over 10 years ago and it has brought me many hours of listening joy. It's always nice to hear something different.
Svetlanov Piano Cto: very interesting it is very Russian sounding, a bit cheesy, but a joy nonetheless. You can find the 1st mvt on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymu_V1LHRTQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymu_V1LHRTQ)
This is the CD, can't find it online anymore.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/evgeni-svetlanov-piano-concerto-the-red-guelder-rose-preludes-symphonic-reflections-mw0001542388 (http://www.allmusic.com/album/evgeni-svetlanov-piano-concerto-the-red-guelder-rose-preludes-symphonic-reflections-mw0001542388)
I kind of take it back, there really is nothing wrong with this piece! I just bought a new recording on Amazon of this performed by Ovchinnikov at piano with the St Petersburg Academic Symphony, I'm listening to it now, it's on a label called Water Lily Acoustics. The performance is good, what strikes me is the sound!
Never heard of this label, the first page of the liner notes lists the technical details of the recording and monitoring equipment used. I brushed off my 12 year old Sennheiser HD 600's which at their time were considered cream of the crop, and I'm no audiophile, but the sound really is amazing. I will have to check out this record label some more.
But back to the music - this piano concerto is just great, I wish more people knew about it.
-
Water Lily Acoustics have been around for a long time; they tend to record off-beat literature (as you've discovered) or mainstream literature performed by less-well-known artists. The sound they achieve is generally quite impressive through the use of purist microphone techniques: coincident and quasi-coincident arrays—often Blumlein stereo (two bi-directional microphones oriented at 90 degrees). Two microphones in the right place in a good hall simply can't be beat.
James
-
Water Lily Acoustics have been around for a long time; they tend to record off-beat literature (as you've discovered) or mainstream literature performed by less-well-known artists. The sound they achieve is generally quite impressive through the use of purist microphone techniques: coincident and quasi-coincident arrays—often Blumlein stereo (two bi-directional microphones oriented at 90 degrees). Two microphones in the right place in a good hall simply can't be beat.
James
The sound was so detailed and so lifelike, it was amazing.
Haha, I just checked out their site, they have a recording of Mahler 5 and Shosti 7 I'm going to try off of Amazon. On Amazon the review for the Mahler 5 praises the performance but absolutely thrashes the sound quality, how ironic. This should be interesting.
-
Jack Sheldon: "Listen Up"
Jack Sheldon: "Freaky Friday"
Art Pepper +11 (w/ J.S. on trumpet)
Curtis Counce Group: "Carl's Blues" (also w/ J.S. on trumpet)
Cutris Counce Group: "You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce" (also w/ J.S. on trumpet)
Beatles: "Rubber Soul"
Beatles: "Revolver"
Shelly Manne: "My Fair Lady" (arranged by John Williams, with vocals by Irene Kral and Jack Sheldon. You can only find this on vinyl). This is not to be confused with the more famous Andre Previn "My Fair Lady" release (which isn't nearly as good, in my opinion).
Art Blakey "Jazz Messengers" (the one on Columbia that has Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream", with Donald Byrd on trumpet and Hank Mobley on tenor)
Hoarace Silver: "Cape Verdean Blues"
Herbie Hancock: "Canteloupe Island"
Herbie Hancock: "Speak Like A Child"
Tony Bennett and Bill Evans together (there were two albums)
Columbia's Jo Stafford box set
Door's Greatest Hits
Herbie Mann: "Great Ideas Of Western Mann" (with Jack Sheldon on trumpet and H.M. playing bass clarinet - which he plays far better than Eric Dolphy)
anything with Monozil Brass (an outrageously great brass ensemble from Austria)
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (anything with John Fletcher on tuba)
Floyd Cooley: "The Romantic Tuba"
Roger Bobo, tuba: "Bobissimo! - The Best of Roger Bobo"
Samuel Jones: Sym. 3/Tuba Concerto (Chris Olka, tuba; Gerard Schwarz/Seattle S.O./Naxos)
John Coltrane: "The Gentle Side of J.C."
John Coltrane: "Blue Trane"
Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane together (especially "Lush Life")
Sonny Rollins "Way Out West"
Sonny Rollins "Saxophone Colossus"
"Art of the Vienna Horn" on Naxos (Wolfgang Toemboeck, Viennese horn in F)
Vienna Horns (self titled disc, now out-of-print)
"The West Coast Jazz Box - An Anthology of California Jazz" (label: Contemporary)
Mary Erickson, tuba/John Sheridan, piano: "My Very Good Friend" (THE best jazz tuba cd I've yet to come across)
Sinatra: "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning" (the only Sinatra disc I truly love)
Diana Krall: "All For You - Tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio" (D.K. in just a trio setting, no strings)
Also, a dvd that I have of old "Mersey Beat" artists performing 'live' for some public television fundraiser (not sure what it's called now). I like all that old Mersey side stuff.
. . . anyway, "these are a few of my favorite things", other than Mahler
-
On Amazon the review for the Mahler 5 praises the performance but absolutely thrashes the sound quality, how ironic.
The type of recording made by Water Lily Acoustics—two high-end microphones placed properly to cover the entire orchestra—can sound stunningly real when played back on a properly set up, high-end system (or even on your Sennheisers), but often disappoint the owner of a mid-fi (or worse) system used to hearing typical multi-miked, heavily EQed commercial recordings. Perhaps that's what's going on here.
-
On Amazon the review for the Mahler 5 praises the performance but absolutely thrashes the sound quality, how ironic.
The type of recording made by Water Lily Acoustics—two high-end microphones placed properly to cover the entire orchestra—can sound stunningly real when played back on a properly set up, high-end system (or even on your Sennheisers), but often disappoint the owner of a mid-fi (or worse) system used to hearing typical multi-miked, heavily EQed commercial recordings. Perhaps that's what's going on here.
I was thinking the same thing as well, the reviewers didn't make any mention of their equipment or setup like most would do in an audio quality review of a recording. Based on the Svetlanov I got today, I'm going to get both recordings just out of curiosity. Plus both are great pieces!
Are you much of an audiophile? The farthest I've ever went is with headphones, once you get into speakers and whatnot it can get quite pricey.
-
Since we'd opened into non-classical:
Lonesome Road - Earl Hines and his Orchestra version - on album - 'A Monday Date'
Much Coltrane is just too morose for me, I do love Equinox and Central Park West on his Rhino hits collection.
It is often lighter jazz I fancy, A favorite would be Dorian Dance from Brubeck's 'A La Mode'
-
I've enjoyed this album quite a bit over the past few years:
http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Song-Oscar-Peterson-Japan/dp/B00005NF5X (http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Song-Oscar-Peterson-Japan/dp/B00005NF5X)