Nice classical pieces

[fuwen 0]

Hi! cmk, this post for the Dvorak.

 

Symphony No. 9 'New World'

New World refering to America, where the composer stayed there for some time, a little bit home sick.

 

I have 3 versions with me.

 

DG 474 266-2 (2 CDs 'Karajan/The collection' series) 1964 recordings

Karajan/Berlin

in this 2 CDs set u also get:

Sym. no. 8, 5 Slavonic Dances and Schezo Capriccioso

 

and also from the composer Smetana

The Moldau, 3 dances from 'The Bartered Bride'

 

Good value for money.

 

 

DG 439 009-2 Karajan/Wiener 1985 recording

with Dovrak Sym 9 and Smetana Die Moldau

 

 

Decca 430 702-2

with Dvorak Sym 9 conducted by Kirill Kondrashin/Wiener and

American Suite conducted by Antal Dorati/Royal Phiharmonic

 

The same Dvorak recording is also available in the Decca budget series 452 439-2

 

 

'American' Quartet; string quartet no. 12 in F major, op 96

Strongly recommend the version by Emerson Quartet

DG 445 551-2

Masters series with Tchaikovsky String Quartet no.1 and Borodin String Quartet no. 2.

Every notes of American quartet are nice. For Borodin listen to the 3rd movement.

 

 

 

Dvorak Cello Concerto

I have the versions by Fournier, Starker, Yo yo ma, Rostropovich and Jacqueline duPre.

Would recommend DG 413 819-2 Rostropovich/Karajan/Berlin. Just by looking at the soloist/conductor/orchestra I cannot stop myself from collecting this recording.

 

You may also consider EMI Classics 5 55527 2

Jacqueline du Pre

Dvorak and Elgar Cello concerto

This particular CD was recommended for the Elgar performance, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli with London Sym Orch.

Jacqueline played (always) with great emotion and tension and dynamic. She unfortumately died fairly young. I will quote what one of my friend said about her performance: she put in 120% effort!

 

 

 

Thanks for your patient.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fuwen 0]

Some other recommendations:

 

DG 400 038-2

Tschaikovsky and Dvorak String Serenades. Performed by Karajan and Berlin.

Very famous 2 serenades, but not as easy to understand as Mozart's.

 

 

DG 457 711-2 (CD version)

DG 471 648-2 (SACD version)

Chopin Polonaises played by Maurizio Pollini

If you like Chopin shoud go for the SACD version. Playable on conventional CDP.

 

 

Philips 400 021-2

Scheherazade (Symphonic Suite after 1001 nights) by Rimsky Korsakov

Herman Krebbers: solo violin

Kiril Kondrashin conducting Royal Concertgebouw

 

There is a budget version under the '100 Classics' series 454 550-2

 

 

As for piano, have you try Mozart Piano concerto no. 21?

The version I have is DG 447 436-2

with Concerto no. 17, 21 and 6.

Soloist and conductor: Geza Anda

 

Listen to no. 21 2nd movement. Wow!

Edited April 19, 2004 by fuwen

[cmk 0]

hi fuwen

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll need time to chase up on those pieces - too many at one go.

 

Pls do continue to add to the list. I hope it will continue to grow and stimulate further interest.

[Zuerst 0]

Check out Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto played by V. Horowitz under the direction of Reiner. It is IMO, the best Rach 3rd performance, but being that it was recorded quite a while ago the recordings sounds... well, dated. But with many classical music it's hardly a big deal.

[cmk 0]

For Dvorak's New World Symphony, I got this instead, and its very, very good, both in terms of performance and recording quality :

 

 

The Romeo and Juliet Overture is also very well performed.

Edited April 27, 2004 by cmk

[fuwen 0]

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

 

One of the most brilliant of Rachmaninov's compositions for piano and orchestra.

 

Written based on Paganini's famous Violin Caprice in A minor, and for this Rhapsody he composed 24 variations from the Paganini's theme.

 

A very nice and famous one is the no. 18 variation, where Rachmaninov made use of the same Paganini's theme but played in the revese order, and how nice a tune it became! Who on earth will think of playing a tune in reverse!

 

Can consider the version played by Vladimir Ashkenazy as soloist, under the label DECCA.

Edited April 29, 2004 by fuwen

[cmk 0]

This is very good :

 

Composers

Sibelius, Walton

 

Artists

Akiko Suwanai, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

470 622-2 PSA

[fuwen 0]

Super Double-bass

 

The Artistry of Gary Karr

Label Lim XRCD24

 

Was thinking to post this under audiophile CD thread or here.

 

This is a very nice CD, and for those classical fans who know about double bass u will be very surprise what a double bass can actually do!

 

I quote from the CD

'Listening to large scale compositions .... can certainly be overwhelming. The power of the symphonies and the grandeur of the concertos are captivating indeed. However, we may not wish to listen to such repertoire all the time. There are moments when we prefer to listen to something light, delicate, exquisite and brief. ..........'

 

The album is generally slow and relax in nature, but u can be delighted to hear the double bass in quick tempo for example track 2 Menute from Notenbuch, track 10 Joshua fit the battle and track 12 the entertainer.

 

The last track Adagio in G minor, normally played by small esemble, now play by the double bass, is very nice and touching.

 

Gary Karr played a 1611 Amati and piano/organ accompany by Harmon Lewis.

 

Available in XRCD24 version selling about $50

Edited May 3, 2004 by fuwen

[cmk 0]

Hi fuwen

There is another serious collector of classical music, Ian on the echoloft. I think we can/should arrange a meet for fellow classical music lovers.

 

What do you think?

[fuwen 0]

Hi! cmk

 

Well, do u notice I have not attended any sgheadphones meet? I am a father of a 3-year old boy and a 2-year old girl. We are looking after the kids ourselves. So u can see I am not able to spend that type of time probably for many years to come, and also that is the main reason why I ended up playing with headphones.

 

Nevertheless, a half day affair at somewhere maybe still possible but must have something to keep my kids' interest for that long.

 

Or if organise a party at my house I will be very comfortable but that will mean the gathering cannot be too big a group. But I guess there isn't a very big group of classical fans, right?

 

Cheers!

[fuwen 0]

Brahms Symphony No. 4

Wiener Philharmoniker

Carlos Kleiber

 

I mentioned this before. This morning I listened to the performance again and felt that Brahms lover/supporter should seriouly consider collecting this version. Fantastic performance. Recording to me is OK although there are comments that the recording is average.

 

My version is DG 400 037-2. There is a DG 'The Originals' version in the market and I guess it should be the latest available version.

[fuwen 0]

I have briefly mentioned this in my Pentatone SACD thread.

 

Paavo Jarvi conducting Stravinsky

Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie

 

I quite like this collection of Stravinsky works for small ensemble. I like to use track1 for A/B equipment because u get to hear a fair bit of instrumentation solos and the duration of track1 is only 2 minutes.

 

In fact most of the music in this CD are light hearted and cheerful, and short and sharp. Not very difficult to listen.

 

Anyway, Pentatone Classics is definitely a good choice for those who like classical music and looking for more SACD material.

[cmk 0]

Fuwen, check out the Mozart Piano concerto #23 and #4. I have the complete Piano concertos by Ashkenazy. Last time we talked about #21. 23 is especially good.

[fuwen 0]

I mentioned before Dvorak String Quartet no.12 'Ãmerican'. Here I posted the CD which I think is very well worth collecting.

 

In this CD there are a total of 3 nice string quartets:

 

Dvorak String Quartet No. 12 in F major

Tchaikovsky String Quaret No. 1 in D major

Borodin String Quartet No. 2 in D major

 

Played by my favourite Emerson String Quartet.

 

DG 445 551-2 Masters series

 

Emerson String Quartet is based in USA. I have most of their recordings with DG. They are fast, energetic, and technically perfect.

 

American string quartet is very well written with full of nice and touching melodies and can easily be accepted by non-classical fans. Classical fans if have not tried American quartet you are unlikely to go wrong with this.

Edited May 25, 2004 by fuwen

[adhoc 0]

a bit late in joining this thread - but i would recommend:

 

rach's 2nd piano conc. the one by jando on the NAXOS (aka cheap ) label is my fav.

 

rach's symp no.2. imo the best version is on emi angel (aka the Great Recordings of the Century Series).

 

chopin's 19 nocturnes by rubinstein are good too - go for the remastered (and slight ex) stereo version on RCA.

 

for string quartets, i prefer the new budapest qtt on the hyperion label - and hyperion ships things REAL fast too.

 

and for dvorak, personally my fav piece by him is the cello conc on dg with rostropovich.