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Classical Music for Aficionados

I would like to start a thread, similar to Orpheus’ jazz site, for lovers of classical music.
I will list some of my favorite recordings, CDs as well as LP’s. While good sound is not a prime requisite, it will be a consideration.
  Classical music lovers please feel free to add to my lists.
Discussion of musical and recording issues will be welcome.

I’ll start with a list of CDs.  Records to follow in a later post.

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique.  Chesky  — Royal Phil. Orch.  Freccia, conductor.
Mahler:  Des Knaben Wunderhorn.  Vanguard Classics — Vienna Festival Orch. Prohaska, conductor.
Prokofiev:  Scythian Suite et. al.  DG  — Chicago Symphony  Abbado, conductor.
Brahms: Symphony #1.  Chesky — London Symph. Orch.  Horenstein, conductor.
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat. HDTT — Ars Nova.  Mandell, conductor.
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. Analogue Productions. — Dallas Symph Orch. Johanos, cond.
Respighi: Roman Festivals et. al. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.

All of the above happen to be great sounding recordings, but, as I said, sonics is not a prerequisite.


128x128rvpiano
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
I have the Ashkenazy/Maazel recording on London, but haven't listened to it in ages.  Pulled out and up for listening soon.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
Beat you to it twoleftears. I just listened to my Maazel/Askenazy  version on Decca's CD.  It too has been on the shelf too long I think. It is an excellent performance and in good sound too. I do not have Pontien's so I cannot comment on the differences but I do find the disc mates on Ashkenazy's CD preferable. I have a Hyperion CD with Scriabin's PC combined with Tchaikovsky's PC. Played by Nikolai Demidenko and the BBC SO.  I give it a listen out of curiosity.
craigl59
307 posts
 

newbee

Owe you a thanks for the Stanford recco you made above. My set came in last week and have been listening for a couple of days. Stanford is very strong in compositional technique and if you can accept his tendency to borrow and use popular Irish tunes his compositional skill makes all sound major league -- no second rate tendencies at all.

Enjoy the 6th Rhapsody (solo violin) and the piano concerto. The latter does owe rather a lot to Rachnaninoff.


schubert
7,386 posts
 
I’ve been doing some serious listening to Alwyn the last few days largely because of comments on here .
Of course as a non-musician its hard for me to understand what’s going on
that makes his music so fresh and original .
As best I can understand  he keeps melody and rhythm moving together
nearly all the time, uses 3-4 phrases used by soloists and gives them to whole sections, moves same small bits of music here and there in different
compos , resolves nothing and doesn’t move forward .
What IMO he is trying to do is just make music as beautiful and organic as he can , and he succeeds in that .
His masterpiece is his Harp Concerto which is on Chandos and Naxos .
I have a tendency to get freaky over composers I like but right now I’d put
on a level with Sibelius .

I would really appreciate wiser people correcting me .

craigl59
307 posts
 
No correction needed to your analysis; I agree with it completely after spending some time with the symphonies. Need to get the harp concerto.
What I notice in particular with his melodic style is that he likes to share the line between several orchestral sections. His orchestration skills accomplish this in a natural fashion. As I suggested above, the Sinfonietta shows this method immediately in the first movement.
Found some of his chamber music available on a Naxos release funded by the "William Alwyn Foundation." Wonder if this is run by his daughter who writes some of the notes on the LSO/Hickox release.
You will not be surprised that the chamber music is very strong. Like the Winter Poems written for string quartet.
More to discover