Forums - Classical Music Thread

CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 3084	Re: Classical Music Thread Reply #1200 - 02/04/26 at 15:08:35 Beethoven day, hitting some of the big ones like the Moonlight Sonata. On CD Wilhelm Kempff's mono sonata cycle is over 70 years old now and still a reference.
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CAJames

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Re: Classical Music Thread
Reply #1201 - 02/05/26 at 17:40:08

The biggest finale in classic music? My vote is for the final movement of Bruckner's 5th Symphony, and specifically the gigantic coda which puts an exclamation point on the massive fugue Bruckner played out for the previous 25 minutes.

One of the great Bruckner conductors of the 20th and into the 21st century is Stanisaw Skrowaczewski, and his Bruckner cycle with the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony, as be was pushing 80 years old is magnificent. The 5th is no exception.

On CD

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 3084	Re: Classical Music Thread Reply #1202 - 02/05/26 at 20:42:25 And we're back to probably my favorite Beethoven symphony, the fourth. Paul Kletzki's Beethoven with the Czech Philharmonic is one of my favorites, and his fourth is one of the best of the bunch. The fourth has one of the best bassoon parts in all of symphonic music, is this really gets played for all it's worth. On CD
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CAJames

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Re: Classical Music Thread
Reply #1203 - 02/06/26 at 21:07:05

A different take on the Bruckner 5th, Eugen Jochum's late 50s recording with the Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks aka the Bavarian Radio Symphony. Brisk, with pointed rhythms this performance really bounces along. Until the final coda where Jochum savors the great choral and the Bayerishen brass blow the roof off the join.

On CD.

I've had this disc for a while but never got around to hearing it. Which was a major oversight on my part.

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 3084	Re: Classical Music Thread Reply #1204 - 02/08/26 at 01:06:46 The recording Ferenc Fricsay and the Berlin Philharmonic made of Smetana's Vltava, aka The Moldau, is very simply one of the most beautiful recordings of anything ever. That is all. DSD rip from SACD
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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 3084	Re: Classical Music Thread Reply #1205 - 02/09/26 at 15:20:20 IMO Handel's keyboard music should be as well known and frequently played as Bach's. Generally I prefer it on modern piano, and Bridget Cunningham's performance on harpsichord doesn't change my mind. But it is well worth hearing and the sound on this recording is top shelf. 16/44 FLAC download
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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 3084	Re: Classical Music Thread Reply #1206 - 02/11/26 at 15:44:38 Martin Jones recorded a ton of piano music for Nimbus in the early days of CD, similar to Jeno Jando on Naxos. The resonant, slightly diffuse acoustic of the recordings is not to my taste, but his Brahms is certainly worth hearing. 16/44 FLAC download I was enjoying the early f minor piano sonata, which is genius.
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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 3084	Re: Classical Music Thread Reply #1207 - 02/12/26 at 21:18:59 In general I prefer the modern concert grand to the harpsichord, mostly because it has a much larger tonal and interpretive palate. But Zuzana Ruzickova finds such a wide variety of sound and feeling in her Bach recordings that they are among my favorites regardless of instrument. On CD
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CAJames

Seasoned Member

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Re: Classical Music Thread
Reply #1208 - Yesterday at 03:25:17

I well remember listening the Juilliard Quartet playing Mozart's Haydn Quartets a few years ago on my (non-Decware) 300B amp and thinking the sound was beautiful, maybe too beautiful. Because it is was so lush and juicy it didn't seem real. Esp. for a group like the Juilliards whose tone is transparent and lean almost to the point of analytic. Listening to the same recording tonight and it just sounds amazing. Huge and complex with both the beauty and bite you get from real violins. And of course the music itself is spectacular, regardless of sound.

on CD

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CAJames

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Re: Classical Music Thread
Reply #1209 - Yesterday at 21:43:22

In my opinion the two undeniably great Bach pianists (not to be confused with pianists who have made great Bach recordings) of the late 20th/early 21st century are Andres Schiff and Angela Hewitt. And Hewitt's complete Bach recordings have recently been issued in a convenient box or download. I have a few of her recordings already, but at like 2 bucks a CD I bought the download and it is outstanding. If I were to compare I would say Hewitt is more lyrical and singing, Schiff is a little more rhythmic and danceable. But both are outstanding and essential.

16/44 FLAC download

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