Classical Music for Aficionados

To my hears the greatest rendering of "Symphonic Dances "Is on DG 477 9505 with the Russian National Orch
with Pletnev, It’s in a 4 CD of all his Symphonies which are Russian to the
core , ending of the Dances is an explosion !
A simple one CD is Ashkenazy with the great acoustics of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw .


IMO Rachmaninov’s greatest work is his Vespers Op 37.
A fantastic recording is HM Chant du Monde RUS 788050 St.Petersburg Capella , Chernuchenko
The perfection of the ensemble and blend of the sheer beauty of tone is beyond words .
There are many , many Russian choral works but in Russia itself THIS is considered the greatest of them all !

Schubert,

Yes,  I believe the two greatest Rachmaninoff conductors today are Pletnev and Ashkenazy, both extraordinary pianists as well. (Although Ashkenazy just retired.)

Rachmaninoff's Vespers - FWIW

Re music recommendations vs audiophile recommendations, to paraphrase rvpiano, one must be aware of your audience's priorities when making recommendations. Fortunately, in this case it really is a win/win proposition.

Schubert recently made a recommendation for Vesper's, more correctly known as All-Night Vigil, but called both, and it is hard to find fault with his recommendation. The music in this recording is simply magnificent. The opening with the basses just grabs you and on you go. If it's the only version you have, great. Very Russian I think. I wouldn't be without it!

However, for folks who are audiophiles, such as we have in this forum, there are other recordings which present a valid alternative,  performance wise as well as recording quality. 
The one I have in mind is All-Night Vigil by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir led by Paul Hiller (Harmonia  Mundi 907384). Apart from the differences in performance, which I will pass on discussing here as those differences are, as always, a matter of personal preference, the acoustic and presentation of the voices, for both the choir members and soloists, has much greater clarity and the recording has a greater sense of transparency and openness. 

Personally I could be happy with either!  

I just rediscovered a wonderful version of the Symphonic Dances by an old colleague of Rachmaninoff’s: Eugene Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra.Really outstanding performance.  Maybe my current favorite version.
On my system, the sonics are much better on this cheapo Sony Essential Classics label than on the super highly touted Reference Recording label with the Minnesota Orchestra. 

 Pardon me while I digress into audiophilia. I don’t know how others feel, but I, for one, have never liked the sound of Reference Recordings, no matter how good my system gets.
i find the sound perspective distant and Ill defined. The opposite of Mercury Living Presence, which may to some be a little too close up, but which I greatly prefer.
Please forgive my rant!

I listen to Classical Music because it lifts up my heart and soul in a way that nothing else does . I have ZERO doubt if I had not just
stumbled into it, I would be a FAR worst person than the sinner I am still.


It is what it is , the Greatest Achievement of Western Civilization .I know it , I say it and will till the day I die !Educated and not so educated folks in every corner of the world also know this , try and get a Symphonic ticket in Tokyo .



Of course good sound is nice but is secondary at the end of the day unless you vomit .
I’ve heard of the Ormandy, I shall look again .




P.S . the opinion of a first class musician is scarcely a rant .