Classical Music for Aficionados

For cello lovers, there’s an incredible, but pricey, set by my favorite cellist called the “Art of Maurice Gendron” on Decca. He was certainly one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century, with a tone like liquid gold.  The set contains both his solo and concerto recordings.  He was like none other with the possible exception of Emanuel Feurman, with whom I believe he studied.

charles1dad,
Schubert did more piano duos than any other great composer.
A 4CD set by two fine pianists . Christoph Eschenbach and Justus Frantz
on Brilliant Classics 92858 from HMV originals gives you 4 hours of the best at a cheap price .ADD CD
A dark horse with Evgeny Kissin and James Levine on RCA 8287669283-2
sounds good to me, A DDD recording .one CD .

A cello piece that might be interesting to a jazzman like yourself is Takemitsu's  "Orion " a beautiful piece with piano pizzicatos , very modern classical piece  that could be called avant jazz IMO .

Charles1dad 12-10-2017
I particularly like cello and piano duets and would appreciate all recommendations of this type.

Charles, cellist Janos Starker and pianist Gyorgy Sebok recorded three Bach sonatas (S. 1027, S. 1028, and S.1029, which may also be identified as being in G Major, D Major, and G Minor respectively) on the great Mercury Living Presence label many decades ago.  I have it on an original LP, and I don't know if it has been released on CD or incorporated into a CD set or compilation.  But if it has been, and you can find it, I guarantee you will be delighted!

Best regards,
-- Al
   

I can believe this - I just spent half an hour posting and when I hit the post button it was lost, and guess who's sorry! 

Anyway - gs5556, Re your Schubert recommendation, until I heard Mackerras and the OAE  doing the 9th (and 8th) I don't think ever really appreciated it that much. I just love this version and prefer it to all others. Previously I always felt it was a bit too "Great". I felt the same way about a lot of performances of Beethoven's until I heard Harnoncourt's performances of the symphonies, just not a strongly.

Re Mahler's 7th - I like Geilen's 7th, and his others as well, however for some reason I always come back to Levine's 7th. For me his experience in the theater influenced it - it is just more dramatic, mysterious, etc.

Charles1dad, I just can't resist recommending Maria Kliegel's work. A not so well known cellist but unjustifiably IMHO. For a sample check out 'Romantic Cello Show Pieces', Virtuso Cello Encores', 'Virtuso Cello Showpieces', and Sonatas of George Onslow. 

And then there is Janos Starker doing 'Romantic Cello Favorites', the music of David Popper on Delos.

And for something a bit difference check out 'Our American Roots' on Delos. Music of Gershwin, Barber, Walker and Copland. Mostly arrangements for Cello and Piano.

My contribution today is the solo piano music of Ivan Moravec. Two of his records that are just outstanding are his Beethoven Sonatas and a compilation of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahams. This level of pianoship should not be missed by anyone who cares!  He was a giant! He has a limited recorded  output but these are a dozen or so more should you agree 

Thanks so much for all of the recording recommendations, just fantastic. I have a lot of purchasing, discovery and listening ahead of me. I am looking forward to it with much enthusiasm and anticipation.
Charles