An excellent idea, CAJames!

As you being one of our notable classical afficionados, I will be very interested in your input.

I only dabble, compared to most I know who listen to not much else besides classical music, ever.

But, I am building a collection. Mostly LP, but some on CD as well.
I rip through every used bin I find. I've even found wonderful albums at Goodwill, Salvation Army, St Jude Charity stores and sometimes a pawn shop.
I almost never pass up a Deutsche Grammophon edition from how ever old it is, as long as the LPs are good. Often they look like they have never been played.

It is amazing what people will toss out as just more of Grandpa's old junk.

I have recently come across this small set (maybe 60 or so albums) of German Archiv Produktion digital recordings that have impressed me with the recording quality. All are late '80s and '90 mostly.

Have you experienced any of these recordings?

The other end of the spectrum (if not the alphabet) from Bach:



On CD

Modern, but not unpleasant, and like most Mercury Living Presence recordings it sounds phenomenal, in spite (or perhaps because) of being older than I am.

Last time I took my system up for a romp, I chose Tchaikovsky, too. I went with Symphony No. 6  "Pathetique"
Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic.
Deutsche Grammophon release on LP in a set including Symphonies No. 4 and No. 5.

I can't find it on Discogs to "borrow" a pic, but this version is made in Italy and instead of three discs, this one has four.

I also have that same Bach, Mass In B Minor, but with a different look in the way the same illustration was done.


Apparently I can not upload an image anyway. Not sure why, yet.

For seven years or so since I moved back to Ohio and before my Dad spent almost a year and a half bed-ridden and before he passed a year and a half ago. . . I used to listen to classical music with my Dad. When I was his caregiver hours and hours at a time. . . when I would visit him several times a week at his assisted living home afternoons . . . .

I treasured those hours, as I should, and it's really been hard to listen to classical music for the last year and a half or more. I've sampled it a bit now and then and selected music that I didn't share with him mostly when I do.

This thread has me attempting again. I'm listening to a Debussy collection on SACD, part of the Royal Philharmonic Collection on Membran.

https://www.discogs.com/release/6351604-Debussy-Debussy



From the shelves

I dabble in opera. Its not my favorite thing on the menu but I'll order it sometimes. This is a weird story that I don't understand or even care that much about. I just put it on and let the music wash over me. It is a fantastic late romantic soundscape.




16/44 FLAC rip from CD

Some classical music that my father and I were just beginning to listen to together: the music of Brazilian composer Villa Lobos.

I really like his string quartets. This is disc 3 of this set:

I've learned to like all the Villa Lobos I have heard, but the string quartets are my favorite (a favorite classical music form in general). For about 20 years I've enjoyed learning about and listening to Brazilan folk and pop music so this final frontier of their classical repretoire seems a natural to explore. My father had been spending a lot of time listening to Brazilian music as well before his decline and it was fun to share the exploration with him. It's mostly stalled since then on my part.

I can really attach a love for a music with a person, a pattern with me. It's hard to listen to a lot of classical after my Dad's decline and passing. It was really hard to listen to a lot of pop and rock music that my late first wife and I enjoyed listening to. And my best friend and I share a three decade long love of listening to and talking about jazz and jazz history, and it's a strong bond between us. I hope that lasts for more decades!

More magnificent late Schubert. I'm not that big into opera but I love me a good mass. In this case with the St. John's College Choir lead by George Guest.



On CD.

I'm on a bit of a late Schubert roll ATM. Since I watched the Sibelius speakers guy review of the Torii I got his video on Schubert's last piano sonata the other day:

https://youtu.be/Y2vU1he4EoU?si=c7UXaAyIaLqZ4q4G

which was intriguing. I listened to Richter this morning, it is a different performance.



On CD.

And it truly begins at the bottom of the abyss. But it is journey from darkness to light and ends in a much more affirming place. Richter is one of the great pianists of the twentieth century. He could play anything, but also had a very individual, highly emotional style. It's been said that his performances are more about Richter than the composer, which you can take any way you want.

I also have D960 by Pollini, Perahia and Kempff to follow.

My problem with string quartets was not the quartet format, I'm all in for jazz quartets, wind quartets, or whatever. It was violins. Outside of an orchestral violin section I'm just not crazy about the sound of the instrument, and string quartets are typically violin-centric. That was hill I needed to get over before I could love sting quartets.

I love that Richter concert, the Prokofiev 6th sonata is one of the all time great performances of anything IMO. Another favorite of mine, and definitely more about Richter than Bach is:



On CD.

Congrats Dom!

On of the great things about a masterpiece like the finalSchubert sonata is it is open to a variety of interpretations.

Murray Perahia has a lovely lyrical feeling that is perfect for Schubert (and Mozart). He doesn't plumb the tragic depths like Richter, he plays to the more melodic aspects of the piece.



On CD.

Pollini goes for a more dramatic interpretation, but still finds room for a beautiful melody.



On CD.

And then there is Wilhelm Kempff, who has a little more clear eyed view of the piece. You can call it cool or aristocratic, but Schubert doesn't need any help from the interpreter to be interesting.



On CD.

That's an awesome box Lon!

On my very short list for "The most beautiful 7 minutes in music" is Perahia playing Schubert's Impromptu Op. 142 No. 2 in A-flat.



On CD.

The whole CD is yet more fantastic late Schubert, but that piece has been a favorite since a very simplified version of the opening melody was part of my piano lesson when I was 10 or 11. My brother played some bits of it at my wedding.

Moving on from Schubert, for now. Ralph Vaughn Williams reminds me of Villa-Lobos: both are closely associated with their home country, England for RVW. And both have well known shorter works, in RVWs case the Fantasias on Greensleeves and  the Theme by Thomas Tallis and Lark Ascending, while his larger works are less know. His 2nd Symphony (London) is one of my favs.



On CD.

But they are all interesting and highly individual.

Delightful modern music that sounds like it could have been written 200+ years ago. Because it was inspired by 200+ year old music.



Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite - Prokofiev: Classic Symphony, 16/44 FLAC Download.

IMO Stravinsky is at his best when he is ripping off someone else, which he did frequently and without shame. In this case for many years people that it was an 18th century Italian, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi but it turns out to be more complicated than that. Prokofiev (who, along with Bartok, is my favorite 20th century composer) said his "Classical" symphony was written the way he imagined Haydn or Mozart might write if they were alive at the time.

The Prague Chamber Orchestra plays with great panache, and all the wind colour you would expect from an Eastern European band.

Leon Fleisher and George Szell go together like chorizo and eggs: perfectly. This is just one of the most perfect performances I can imagine.



HDTT DSD Download

The recording isn't great, but it sounds pretty good as a HDTT download.

For a lot people Spanish (classical) music is flamenco riffs and exotic harmony. But for me it is back to the bad old days of the Spanish Inquisition and some of the most magnificent choral music ever written.



16/44 FLAC Download.

Yet more fabulous choral music.



DSD rip from SACD

This sounds like it could have been written 500 years ago, but is in fact from the 20th century. Track 3, "Blessed is the Man" is also in the running for the 7 most beautiful minutes in music.

I struggle with Shostakovich. I absolutely respect and admire his contributions to 20th century music, but generally I just don't like it that much.  But if I did have a favorite it would be his 5th symphony, which is very famous. To me, the great 20th century 5th symphony is by Prokofiev.



HDTT DSD Download. This recording, and at least a few others by Herbert von Karajan, is no longer available from HDTT so I can't download the cover, this is the CD I have.

Karajan is rather controversial for a conductor, both politically and musically. Politically because the was a Nazi but would not talk about it after the war. And musically because, while he saw himself as the heir to the German classical tradition of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, a lot of people, myself included, find find him much more convincing in Russian music like Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. With a couple exceptions I don't care for his Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert or Brahms at all. In addition to the Russians I like a lot of his Sibelius, Strauss and Brucker.

In case you are wondering, the winner of "The 7 most beautiful minutes in music" is the slow movement of the Mozart Clarinet quintet. Just time stoppingly beautiful, YMMV. And this is the most beautiful of the many recordings I have of the piece.



DSD rip from SACD

To my mind Mozart was unsurpassed at writing the singing vocal line. And he was at his best in opera and concertos where he could write for the solo instrument like it was a singer. To the benefit of clarinetists for the last 200+ years clarinet was one of this favorite instruments, and this quintet (essentially a concerto but with quartet accompaniment rather than orchestral) and the clarinet concerto he wrote at the very end of his life are two of his finest works.

Honestly, a lot of Mozart is not very deep. Perfectly crafted and lovely, but nothing more. It wasn't until later in his life, after his friendship, and friendly competition with Haydn, and his discovery of J.S. Bach that he started stretching his genius to produce works that were more profound. His later operas, the concertos for horn and the last half dozen or so piano concertos are some examples. Of course nothing wrong if they don't speak to you.

There are many excellent recordings of the Mozart Piano Concertos. Murry Perahia is an obvious choice, but for the stormy (for Mozart), proto-romantic K. 466 in D minor I like Clifford Curzon.



On CD.

Mozart, Beethoven...and Haydn. The Big 3. Beethoven is at the top of a lot of people's mountain, including mine. Mozart is considered a miracle of western art. But what to make of Papa Haydn, the nice guy in the powdered wig? Many of us know he invented the string quartet and the symphony but respect his place in history rather than actually listen to his music. I know I mostly felt like he wanted to be Mozart when he grew up, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

That all changed when I decided to make Haydn one of my COVID projects. I listened to all the symphonies and all the string quartets and it turned my musical world upside down. Now my position is he is not just important but as interesting, creative and inventive as any composer who ever lived. JMO, but you'd be crazy to disagree . He was famously friends with Mozart, and they clearly and great respect for each other. And the thing with Haydn is, in addition to everything else he was a very shrewd judge of talent. When he heard Mozart's piano concertos and operas he stopped writing his own, because he knew he couldn't compete. He also knew Mozart's symphonies and string quartets (some of which were dedicated to him), and continued to write his own until the very end of life, because he knew his were every bit as good (if not better...).

Pick a few "random" symphonies and you'll likely be amazed at how individual, creative and just plain good they are.



On CD, from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Box. Anything the OCO has recorded is well worth listening to.

 

Very interesting Geno. I’m on the road ATM hoping to get pictures of the eclipse, but when I get home I clearly need to explore BnF.

Geno wrote on 10/14/23 at 16:27:55:


E. Power Biggs. . . I got to meet him as a kid. Biggs wrote the Forward to my father's bio of my great great great great great grandfather, one of the first American pipe organ builders, David Tannenberg.

He was a big deal at the time. I remember later much being made of the fact that he was involved with and played an organ where there were amplified speakers involved instead of pipes I believe. Seemed weird when you were someone who traveled around to hear the remaining pipe organs built by his ancestor, and even got to pump the bellows of a few.