must-have classical recordings?

[arch0wl]

I just recently started getting into actually buying classical CD's (I listened to a lot of midis and uh... "differently" attained stuff) so I was wondering, since my funds are limited as I'm only 16, what recordings are neccessary? I obviously have glenn gould's goldberg variations from both 1981 and 1955, but what else?

Here's my list so far

Glenn Gould - A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981)
Ronald Smith - Alkan: Piano Works
Robert Marcellus, George Szell - Mozart: Flute Concertos, Clarinet Concerto
Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

[stevie]

go for hamelin for alkan, always the best bet

also, get cziffra's liszt, especially the hungarian rhapsodies.

get some horowitz playing scriabin and rachmaninov too, essential stuff.

[da jake]

Naxos historical has some insanely cheap but genuinely great stuff (like Rachmaninov playing his own concerti).

[JCarey]

Arrau - Beethoven, The Complete Piano Sonatas and Concertos
Ashkenazy - Prokofiev, Piano Concertos 1-5
Emerson String Quartet - Mozart, Dissonance Quartet
Karajan - Brahms, The 4 Symphonies
Karajan - Saint-Saens, Organ Symphony... and everything else
Ohlsson - Busoni, Concerto for Piano, Orchestra, and Male Chorus
Orozco - Rachmaninoff, Works for Piano and Orchestra
Penderecki - Penderecki, Anaklasis etc.
Powell - Sorabji, Sonata #4
Rachmaninoff - A Window in Time, Rachmaninoff Performs Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Others
Rostropovich - Shostakovich, Symphony #5
Solomon - Sorabji, Le Jardin Parfume

[brewtality]

Naxos historical has some insanely cheap but genuinely great stuff (like Rachmaninov playing his own concerti).

yep, its amazing that they can get people like Marston and Obert-Thorn to do the restoration and it still only costs 10 bucks.

Whenever I listen to Smith's Alkan I can't help but notice the technical difficulties he experienced. Its usually something that doesn't bother me, but after listening to Hamelin's effortless playing Smith's struggles are blatantly obvious. His interpretations are nice (though not all the time).

I personally feel that all of Hofmann's recordings are essential, certainly not cheap (the set on VAI & Marston) but definitely worth the money.

[arch0wl]

any others, or emphasis on ones I should get?

[mlsmithz]

Your mileage may vary on this, but I'd like to nominate Argerich's recording of the Prokofiev Concerti Nos.1 and 3 and the Bartok Concerto No.3 with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal under Dutoit.  The two third concerti are must-haves anyway, but this recording not only brings both of them together but does so in the hands of a brilliant pianist.  Also, it's rather a large investment but I swear by my recording of the first thirteen Shostakovich string quartets by the original line-up of the Borodin Quartet (Dubinsky, Alexandrov, Shebalin and Berlinsky) - there's an excellent recording of the last two quartets by the Glinka and Beethoven Quartets if you want to hear all fifteen.  Also any recording of his Op.87 Preludes and Fugues by Tatiana Nikolaeva (again, rather a large investment but worth it).  And Marc-Andre Hamelin playing almost anything - Alkan, Busoni, Godowsky, Medtner, Reger, Sorabji, etc.

[practicingnow]

Desert Island List:

Delarrocha (sp?) playing Goyescas by Granados

Lazar Berman - the Liszt Transcendental Etudes

Cliburn - the "My Favorite Chopin" album

Gould - Goldberg Variations

Horowitz - Assorted Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Scarlatti, + his usual encore pieces

[stormx]

It is probably soooo obvious that nobody mentionned it  ,
but you should get ALL Beethoven's symphonies !!!

And, if you really like them (who doesnt?), and you love piano, NAXOS catalogue has Schervakov (sp?) playing the Liszt´s piano transcriptions wonderfully. 

[brahmsian]

Horowitz- Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto
Any Gould recording (except for the Chopin Sonata, it's too.... interesting)
Helene Grimaud- Brahms Piano Works Op. 116-119
Karajan- Complete Beethoven Symphonies
Yundi Li- Chopin Scherzi
Angela Hewitt- Bach Toccatas
Accardo- Paganini Violin Concertos 4 & 5

I second the Argerich CD. Amazing recrording.

[BoliverAllmon]

anything gould and anything horowitz.

[xvimbi]

anything gould and anything horowitz.

I assume Horowitz to see how it's done and Gould to see how it's NOT done

[BoliverAllmon]

I assume Horowitz to see how it's done and Gould to see how it's NOT done

horowitz to see how it is done and Gould to see how to think for yourself. I think if Gould was the first person you heard playing a specific piece, you would like it. But we have already heard most of these pieces numerous times all performed in roughly the same way, therefore anything different sounds wrong or weird.

[mikey6]

If you're talking standrad repertiore and i'm assuming you're a pianist, you'd probably want the Mozart concerti!!!!!!! (no. 19 onwards for starts) - Perahia, Brendel or Uchida have done the complete sets.  The Well Tempered Clavier possibly!!!! Gould or Tureck maybe.  Lot's of Brahms chamber music - piano quintet, clarinet sonatas, violin and cello sonatas.  The Chopin sonatas, etudes, preludes (and all the other sets eventually). Debussy preludes, Ravel gaspard and concertos.

[arch0wl]

I actually am not a pianist (not good enough to call myself a "pianist" plus I started late & can't afford lessons as they're $100/month here) but I am fascinated by this music. This is pretty much the best board for that!

I would like to stress though that my funds are really limited. I mean, 20 CDs is a lot to *purchase*. Saying "anything by ____" is like saying "yeah just go out and buy a ton of stuff". I know people are just trying to spread that particular music but I really just need the must haves even the obvious ones. Every "must have classical works" is just a bunch of well-known tracks by the famous composers and not really must haves. If I took everyone's suggestions on here that would end up being like over a thousand dollars, and really, I am just looking to get around 10-20 CDs but I am going to look into every single recording that every person has suggested getting!

[hodi]

I just recently started getting into actually buying classical CD's (I listened to a lot of midis and uh... "differently" attained stuff) so I was wondering, since my funds are limited as I'm only 16, what recordings are neccessary? I obviously have glenn gould's goldberg variations from both 1981 and 1955, but what else?

Here's my list so far

Glenn Gould - A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981)
Ronald Smith - Alkan: Piano Works
Robert Marcellus, George Szell - Mozart: Flute Concertos, Clarinet Concerto
Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Ronald Smith's technique isn't great, even isn't CLOSE to great, and his alkan playing suffers accordingly. if u want alkan, get cd's of hamelin.

[mwarner1]

arch0wl --

You need start with the standard repertoire. Don't worry about Alkan right now. You need to start with the basics. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, etc.

Try this link, I promise it will help more than any of these posts or anything I could personally recommend.

https://www.good-music-guide.com/essential/index.htm

And while you're at it, check out their forum if you want to learn a lot about classical music in a short amount of time. Enjoy.

[dmk]

Ronald Smith's technique isn't great, even isn't CLOSE to great, and his alkan playing suffers accordingly. if u want alkan, get cd's of hamelin.

Hamelin is an excellent exponent of Alkan, but certainly not the only good exponent.

Have a listen to these if you get the opportunity, I think you'll be pleasently surprised

https://members.iinet.net.au/~tallpoppies/t2.cgi?055

BTW...I would not class Alkan as a 'much have' classical recording.

If your talking classical piano, I would think something like Schnabel's Beethoven Sonatas would be essential, even if you don't like them, they are a landmark.

[pita bread]

You need start with the standard repertoire. Don't worry about Alkan right now. You need to start with the basics. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, etc.

It's bad enough almost every aspiring pianist plays the same repertoire, now you're saying we need to listen to the standard repertoire?

[brewtality]

It's bad enough almost every aspiring pianist plays the same repertoire, now you're saying we need to listen to the standard repertoire?

exactly, besides Alkan is pretty tuneful and easy to appreciate.

[pianistimo]

i think there are recordings of barber playing his own stuff.  i have recently fallen in love with 'souvenirs.'  they are a collection of short dances put together randomly, i believe, but very lovingly.  you can listen on amazon. com.

[pita bread]

Barber's Souvenirs are six tuneful pieces in the "salon" spirit. They're fun and playful but also have this air of sophistication to them.

I have a recording of Barber's songs, where Barber himself is the accompanist. The highlight of the recording, though, is the voice + orchestra Andromache's Farewell. Simply Amazing.

I also recommend the recording of pianist Jean Yves Thibaudet playing transcriptions of Duke Ellington's music, fantastic jazzy pieces.

[arch0wl]

Don't worry about Alkan right now.

I really like Alkan though; I particularly enjoy "le chemin de fer" and "comme le vent" among many of his other works.

Anyways, I don't plan to play the "standard repetoire" so don't worry about that pita bread XD

[pita bread]

Anyways, I don't plan to play the "standard repetoire" so don't worry about that pita bread XD

You command respect.

[mwarner1]

i'm not saying he has to play the standard repertoire -- i'm saying that if you are new to classical music and want to buy CDs that will get you introduced to the basics, THEN GET THE BASICS! Start at square one. If you already know and enjoy Alkan, then by all means buy more Alkan. But you should also hear much of the standard repertoire to get yourself familiar with classical music. Just my 2 cents peoples.

[arch0wl]

Yeah, I know! I plan to get the standard stuff too. I plan to listen to it too, along with everything else I enjoy. I've never disregarded anyone's suggestions here =o

In fact, I'm thankful for your post more than any for that. Is there any other "basic" stuff that I should be aware of? I have just explored classical without much direction, so I listened to Sorabji's Opus Clavicembalisticum before I listened to say, Mozart's clarinet quintets.