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Buidling a Classical Library - MUST HAVES!

I started a r2d4 thread last week and am so impressed with the depth of music knowledge on this site that I'm going to start this one too. My knowledge of great classical recordings is so limited it's embarrassing to call myself a music lover. I've tried following some of the reviews in Stereophile, TAS and Golden Ear, but they all seam to have some agenda other than great sound, great performance and great material in mind. The fact that my system can resolve the subsonic activity of an earthquake during the highschool bands performance of Nutcracker or what ever Stereophile is about does nothing to help me find great music. My request, if you choose to accept it, is to identify the must have recordings to build library from scratch. PLEASE CONSIDER SONIC QUALITY, PERFORMANCE AND MATERIAL EQUALLY. As a lover of music I believe all three should be superior. Also, in the spirit of my last post, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM CRITICIZING OTHERS SELECTIONS. IF YOU WANT TO ARGUE A SELECTION START A THREAD, LEAVE THIS ONE FOR KNOWLEDGE FOR THOSE OF US WHO NEED IT. THANK-YOU. Finally, please list a maximum top ten and even if your favorites already appear, list them anyway. This will help me figure out the first ones to buy. Vinyl and/or digital are acceptable as long as the material is still avalible.
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elgordo
530 posts
 
Since you like Russian music, don't forget Rachmaninov.
dar's avatar
dar
51 posts
 
I'll take your post literally and recommend some warhorses, mostly in boxes today (and therefore especially suitable for building a library from scratch). These seem to me very mainstream, eminently safe choices, but, if you are building from scratch, an "interesting, if flawed" recording of the eighth best known 19th century Albanian composer's Second Suite for Kazoo and Chainsaw is likely of limited interest: 1. The Solti Ring of the Nibelung (the 1950 Furtwangler is a better performance by some, but worse sound by more). 2. The Rubinstein Chopin recordings (here, there are more modern performances that offer better sound, but at too great a quality loss). 3. The Bernstein Mahler symphonies, original recordings. For all of Lenny's chicken fat, everyone needs to be grateful for these. 4. Any one of the Heifetz recordings of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto. In my view, the greatest solo instrumentalist of the recorded era in a piece that lets him show what he can do.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
If you like Stravinsky check out the Live recorded Rite of Spring with Ben Zander and the Boston Philarmonic. If you can't find it, it can be bought directly from them. Web site is .org -- In the first post, I do not know which Rachmaninoff / Ashkenazy CD that is, but from a performance standpoint the Rach #2 to own is the Ashkenazy conducted by Andre Previn. There is good live recording of Shostakovich #1 & #7 Berstein on DG. And Shostakovich #5 along with the cello concerto (Yo Yo Ma) also Bernstein. Also Shostakovich #10/Karajan. -- And that NPR booklet I mentioned above has at least three recommended recordings for each piece, so there is a choice.
alandoe
11 posts
 
Living in the Seattle area we are blessed with a wonderful classical FM station KING FM. They are also on the internet at www.king.org. I suggest that you go to their site as it contains a wealth of information that will be helpful.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Correction: The Shostakovich #5 is live in Japan, Bernstein conducting, but the Yo Yo Ma playing the Cello concerto is with Ormandy / Philadelphia. Some do not care for live recordings, but it is for some "the real thing".
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