Classical Music for Aficionados

For the last month I’ve been listening to,almost exclusively, what I consider one of the least heard masterworks of the man I consider the greatest of all modern composers , Bela Bartok . .His "Mikrokosmos", which is a series of 153 progressive solo piano pieces written as a didactic work for the edification of his son much in the same manner as Bach did with his" Klavierbuchlien ", and IMO written at the same level .
.I have all 153 on CD and half on LP all played either by Bartok himself or
his student , friend and greatest interpreter, Gyorgy Sandor .I also have the entire 6 volumes of the scores which I study before I listen to a piece and try to follow as they play . I get perhaps 10% of what a trained
musician does but I find , even at my level, getting even just a glance at what a great composer is trying to do increases my joy over the music greatly and gives me personal gratification at doing my best , weak as it is .
The incisive rhythms and percussive tones while pushing the melody to its limits at the same time using systematic changes of register bring together the music of both Eastern and Western Europe in his unique way .Bartok is less concerned with supple fingering than introducing the mind and ear to the free rhythms , bold dissonances and complex harmonies he championed .

Much of the music is just plain beautiful and can just be listened to as that .Piece (97)" Notturno" has a tender melody that would make Schubert jealous and is in a perfect synthesis of diatonic and chromatic , to me right up there with any piano music I have ever heard .

Schubert, FWIW, mainly because  your moniker suggests a special interest, a recording of some Schubert's music for solo piano that I can't resist listening to fairly often when I'm in the mood for Schubert, "Le Voyage Magnifique" by Maria Joao Pires on a DG CD. This is a two CD set which includes Impromptus D899, Impromptus D 935, and Drei Impromptus Aus Dem Nachlass D946. 

For anyone who enjoys the Piano Concertos by Chopin, you must hear those by Krystian Zimerman, Carlo Giulini, and the LA Phil, on DG. The music is crystal clear and lyrical. Just beautiful to hear. These easily replace my long time favorites by Claudio Arrau.

twoleftears, Re Boleros - Yep! Note in another thread there is a post by Granyring on the thread ’What used speakers rarely come up for sale to which I responded. Mine aren’t going anywhere. After 7 years they remain my eminent piece of audio gear. Interesting that they have outlasted most Silverline models yet you rarely see them used/for sale. They are for sale now (demo’s) for half of list on A-Gon. What the heck buy them unheard. If you want something that really is "musical - whatever the hell that is, :-), buy them unheard. At worst, they still look pretty.

Re Chopin - glad you have heard them and share my appreciation.

I do have Lupu’s Brahms, and I do like them, quite a bit in fact. I also greatly enjoy two volumes of Brahms solo piano music by Antonin Kubalek on Dorian. Some of the music duplicates Lupu’s but I wouldn’t be without them. I’ve got a lot(!) of Brahms piano music and chamber recordings but these two ’sets’ get nearly all of my attention.

newbee, I have my moniker because when I started to buy on here it seemed like I was the ONLY person on here that loved classical and
I doubted anyone would have a clue . Bit embarrassed now that I had the gall to use the name of one of the greatest composers who ever lived .
My favorite solo piano pieces are by Schubert, Brahms and Schumann .The latter two said that they were influenced by the former and you hear that in their music.There are so many great recordings of all three but to be honest, Radu Lupu is my go-to on all three ! With Imogen Cooper a close second on Schubert and Schumann and Nicholas Angelich and Ivan Moravek on Brahms .