My favorite classical recordings

Been listening and collecting for decades, so this is an impossible task.  I just retired and having a lot of fun pullinhi lot of fun pulling CDs of the shelves that haven’t been played for years.

  I’ll suggest a current favorite: Aldo Ciccolini 5 disc set of Debussy Piano music

One thing that interests me is how my tastes have changed.  For example my first exposure to the Mozart Symphonies were the recordings of Klemperer and Walter.  Having revisited this recently, having primarily listed to HIPP versions for the last few decades, while I felt a nostalgic appreciation, I don’t think that I will return to these very often.

  Many violin concertos from the golden age of recording, such as Heifetz/Reiner collaborations, the soloist is miked so loud relative to the orchestra that it always disappoints when Igo to a concert and the balance is natural 

The early HIP recordings, particularly Harnoncourt Merry Band, could be a trial to listen to due to the steely string tone , squawks obes, and the tempos that sounded as though everyone was taking crystal meth.  The dogma espoused by the HIP crowd was also hard to take.  Now we have had several generations to master historically informed instruments, many musicians have a music stand in both camps, and the tempos are by and large more realistic, allowing the music to breathe.  I still wince when a superbly played piece of music hits a patch of squally string tone, but those moments are now outliers, for the most part.

I like the way that Rachmaninov treats the theme as a Rhapsody, rather than a Theme and Variations.

I have to add Beatrice Rana playing Stravinsky and Ravel.  Marvelous playing and thrilling recording quality 

I just bought her  Goldbergs.  It’s really excellent particularly in the first 12 Variations.  She tends to lose the line a bit in the Black Pearl and some of the longer variations, but it’s still a great disc.  I would like to hear play them again in a few years