Building a Classical Music Library (My Version)

[tcoy777]

Originally Posted by stingo

Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7
Vienna Philharmonic
Carlos Klieber, conductor
Deutsche Grammphon SACD

What do you get when you put together one of the world's great orchestras with one of the world's great albeit reclusive conductors with a pair of the greatest works in the symphonic literature? The answer, thankfully, has been recorded on this wonderful SACD. Klieber takes us through both symphonies with a very sure hand, and Vienna Philharmonic responds beautifully. He strips off all the dross and varnish that has accumulated to the 5th over the years, infusing it with an energy that is unforced yet vital. The 7th fares equally well - those who remember the funereal music as used in Mr. Holland's Opus may be disappointed as Klieber takes it at Beethoven's indicated tempo (allegretto) rather than the slow tempo on the version used in the film.

There is much to delight the ear here, mine (on this listening) being drawn to the woodwinds, as they provide the needed character and contrast to bring the score alive. Also, I'm not sure if it's the orchestra, or the recording or both, but I heard details in this interpretation I've missed in others. That said, this mid 70's recording really blossoms with the SACD layer - as the sound expands the virtual concert hall in which they play.

Beethoven of course is a composer who, if you're into classical music, you really can't ignore. (You know you'll end up owning all nine symphonies and his other works as well.) And like any great composer he wrote music for which perfection in performance is impossible, but excellence is expected. You may find things you prefer in other performances of these works and vice versa, but as far as these readings go, they go a long way to fulfilling the promise of Beethoven's score.

Basic Library (Repertoire and Performance)

Audio Samples, Beethoven

I put my itunes on the classical station at work today and had the pleasure of hearing Beethoven's Symphony No 5. Impressive.

[stingo]

I'm listening to your Naxos Rachmaninov Piano Concertos (Rhapsody has a lot of Naxos CDs in its library). I think you'll be pleased with your selection. And as a side note, did you know that Rachmaninov idolized Tchaikovsky?

[stingo]

WGBH in Boston has an all-Classical stream available. I'm listening to a delightful and different quartet for flute, guitar, violin and cello by Schubert. They also feature an excellent podcast (updated weekly) with chamber performances that are very good as well.

[stingo]

Elgar: Cockaigne Overture; Cello Concerto; Sea Pictures
Jacqueline du Pre, cello
Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano
London Symphony Orchestra
John Barbirolli, conductor

This is one of my all-time favorite recordings, both for performance and repertoire, though my older version does not have the Overture on it. (Apart from increasing the music to $ value ratio, I'm not sure why the Overture is on the disc, as it's a total opposite in mood from the other two works with which it is coupled.) Still, it's quite well played and entertaining in its own right - well worth the hearing.

Once past the general good humor of the Cockaigne Overture lies one of Elgar's master works, his Cello Concerto. Written just after the end of World War I, to me it represents the passing away of the world that Elgar knew. It is by turns, angry, melancholy, nostalgic, and resigned. And none played it like Jacqueline du Pre. All of 20 years old when she made this recording, it sounds like she's channeling a much older soul. Her opening solo is remarkable - a truly soul-rending experience, and it just goes on from there. While she makes many technical mistakes, she's dead on for the feeling and mood the piece is attempting to convey. Some find her performance histrionic, but I'm not one of those - this is one for the record books. She also recorded this work with her husband, Daniel Barenboim, and again some prefer that performance. But this is the one that made her a star in her all too brief career, as she was felled by multiple sclerosis at the age of 42.

While it's hard to imagine an encore for such a performance/piece, Janet Baker's rendition of Sea Pictures is quite a worthy followup. The lyrics may not always be first rate, but the music Elgar wrote for it surely is. It also gives us a chance to hear the pre-war Elgar, as he composed these just at the end of the 1800's. These are large scale (in their orchestral arrangements) romantic songs, and Ms. Baker is in very fine voice for them. Admittedly they may sound quaint/old-fashioned to some, but I like them for that reason.

Cockaigne Overture - Worth Hearing (Repertoire), Basic Library (Performance)
Cello Concerto - Basic Library (Repertoire and Performance)
Sea Pictures - Worth Hearing (Repertoire), Basic Library (Performance)

Audio Samples, Elgar

[tcoy777]

Originally Posted by stingo

I'm listening to your Naxos Rachmaninov Piano Concertos (Rhapsody has a lot of Naxos CDs in its library). I think you'll be pleased with your selection. And as a side note, did you know that Rachmaninov idolized Tchaikovsky?

One cd just came in. I must have made a mistake and ordered the Sonatas 1 and 2 and then the Concertos 2 and 3. I still have some money left on my itunes gift card for Christmas. So when I get home I will buy the Naxos Concertos 1 and 4. Its actually cheaper on itunes then direct from them.

I also just reserved 2 books on Rachmaniov and should be in this week. I had read some where that he did idolize Tchaikovsky, so I am thinking he will be my next to study.

[tcoy777]

What an amazing piece of work Rachmoniov's Piano Concerto 1 is. From the triumphant horns and string builds to the subtle piano notes that bring such emotion to this work. The movements continue to build and build taking moments to show his amazing piano creativity. The final movement ends in such a inspiring and moving way. So far this is my favorite piece by him. No. 4 is more subdued and darker. From what I have read I have a feeling why, as No 1 was written before his 1st Symphony was deemed a flop by his critics. There was more of free will imposed in the 1st Concerto as in the 4th it seems like was playing it safe, if there is such a thing in composing.

[stingo]

Props to the musicians on this one!

[RacerBill]

Hahahahahaha!!!!! I have a new favorite YouTube clip!!!

Thanks, Tom! That was priceless!

[Mahler]

That was his network, wasn't it?

[stingo]

Mahler: Symphony No. 8
Juliane Banse - soprano
Christine Brewer - soprano
Jane Henschel - mezzo soprano
Soile Isokoski - soprano
John Relyea - bass
Birgit Remmert - mezzo soprano
Jon Villars - tenor
David Wilson-Johnson - baritone
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus
City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus
London Symphony Chorus
Toronto Children's Chorus
Simon Rattle, conductor
EMI CD or DVD-A

After so much has been written about it, I figured I'd add a few more words about Mahler's 8th Symphony. Its nickname is the 'Symphony of a Thousand' due to (some say) the number of musicians needed to perform it. It's scored for (very) full orchestra, a huge chorus, a children's chorus and 8 soloists. Mahler himself said of the work, "Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. These are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving." So yes, this is very, very big music.

For all that, it's written in two movements, the first a setting of a Latin text "Veni Creator Spiritus" attributed to Hrabanus Maurus, a 9th century cleric. The second is a setting of the last part of Goethe's Faust, where Faust's soul is carried by angels to heaven. A performance takes roughly an hour and a half, with the first movement taking about half an hour and the second lasting about an hour. Still, with all that time, I've never felt bored with the piece. Hard to be bored when the assembled forces (including a massive organ) simultaneously erupt into song, imploring the presence of the Creator Spiritus. I could go on and on about this first movement but suffice it to say, two of my favorite parts are the Infirma nostris corporis, where the soloists get a chance to shine with some absolutely drop dead gorgeous harmonies (this is particularly true in the present recording), and the Accende lumen sensibus, when the vocalists (soloists and choruses) sing it in unison - just mind blowing (perhaps the most rousing version I've heard was Tennstedt's but Rattle does fine enough). As a side note, our very own Mahler (John) told me something I didn't know - that Mahler always let the orchestra have the last word in any of his pieces. The chorus gets that honor in the first movement, but not so the second.

The second movement starts with an orchestral introduction of about 12 to 15 minutes, and is intended to indicate a journey through a dark wood, with appropriate lyrics sung by the male chorus members (as acolytes who live in the wood). The rest of the movement is again mainly for the vocalists, with the soloists each having a particular part to sing, right up to the very end of the 'Alles vergaengliche is nur ein Gleichnis' (All transitory things are but parables) sung by the Chorus Mysticus. The orchestra however, true to Mahler's compositional form, gets the last word, while the orchestra continues the theme of the Alles vergaengliche, and an offstage brass choir intones the Veni Creator Spiritus theme.

Interestingly, there are two characters in the second movement that typify (to me) the approaches taken toward this massive symphony. The first is the ecstatic (after Pater Ecstaticus), which is quick, intense and riveting. Sir Georg Solti's recording on Decca Legends is probably the best example of this approach. With driving rhythms and intense drama, the symphony moves at a fast clip (if that can be said of a typically 80 minute work). The second is profound (after Pater Profundis), where tempi are slower, details a bit more in evidence and the good bits are drawn out for their full effect (the way Tennstedt and his musicians land on the Accende lumen sensibus is transcendent, and rarely fails to bring a tear to my eye). The present recording under the baton of Simon Rattle is a good mix of these two approaches - tempi are fast enough that the work fits onto one disc, but it doesn't feel rushed. The soloists are great, particularly (as mentioned above) in the Infirma nostris corporis, another tearjerker for me. The choruses (especially given the size of them) do well enough with the diction, but are quite enthusiastic, as is the orchestra.

One last note, the recording is available in two formats - regular CD, or a surround sound DVD-A (yes, I have both). While there's an awkward layer change, the sound is (to my ears) much better in this very difficult to record work. However, since the CD is about a third of the price of DVD-A that might be a factor in the purchase. Still, quite a bargain for some truly world (or is it universe) encompassing music.

Basic Library (Repertoire and Performance)

[Mahler]

Tom,
I have been listening to this recording all week. Truly one of the best interpretations.
Yet, nothing beats a live performance.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Mahler

Tom,
I have been listening to this recording all week. Truly one of the best interpretations.
Yet, nothing beats a live performance.

Agreed, though I note that Christine Brewer (as Magna Peccatrix in both productions I'd imagine) was also in Philadelphia, and wow, what a voice.

[stingo]

It's been a while since I've updated this thread, but I learned of this website on another forum. Priceless, not only for the music but also for the people who write and play it. The opening "Glimpse" alone is priceless.

[stingo]

Stumbled across a youtube of du Pre playing the Elgar Cello Concerto's first movement. The video portion is a series of still shots of the cellist, many with her then husband Daniel Barenboim (who at the time was a pianist, but who has since become a conductor). An cellist of astounding talent, she eventually lost her ability to play the cello, and eventually her life to multiple sclerosis.

[stingo]

Charles Ives: Symphony No. 2, Central Park in the Dark, The Unanswered Question, and other Orchestral Works
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein

As part of my ongoing attempt to revisit CDs I already own, I've managed to unearth this gem of a recording. Full disclosure here: Ives is one of my all time favorite composers, so I've a bit of a bias when it comes to his work. That said, the present disc is a great introduction to his orchestral art. It's got 2 of his greatest hits (music that appears in just about any compilation with Ives' name on it) - Central Park in the Dark and The Unanswered Question. The reason I'm including it in my survey though is for the wonderful Symphony No. 2. Depending on who you talk to, Ives wrote about 3 or 4 symphonies, and they get progressively experimental. No. 2, as you might expect, is still rooted firmly in the European Romantic tradition, but Ives also incorporates some of his experiments into the mix. He always put in themes from well known American songs of the time (such as Columbia, Gem of the Ocean) into his music, and this is no exception. He also sets two rhythmically and thematically different musics against each other, which makes for some interesting and dissonant harmonies. One of the best parts though is the very end of the symphony, which I will let the listeners discover for themselves.

Ives was ever the rebel - though his training was in music (at Yale, no less) he became an insurance man by day (and a very successful one too), while at night he would compose his music. The disc includes some of his experiments like Tone Roads 1, Hymn for Strings, Hallowe'en, The Gong on the Hook and Ladder, but the best known are Central Park in the Dark and The Unanswered Question. The former is what you would think it would be, Ives' impressions of Central Park in the early 1900's. A very evocative piece, it starts out quietly, bringing to mind the oncoming dusk. Snippets of popular tunes at the time can be heard in the distance from the nearby saloons or others passing by, including a ragtime war between two player pianos. A mad dash by a breakaway horse and cart erupt through the soundscape, and the darkening silence signals that it's time to go home. The Unanswered Question is a more philosophical piece, but haunting nonetheless. The Question in this case is the perennial question of Existence... The trumpet intones the question, and various combinations attempt to answer it, each more frenetic than the last. Finally, the trumpet repeats the question one last time before the music dissolves into silence. (The background strings, symbolizing the Universe, play in G major, but the Question is atonal - Ives was ahead of his time in experimenting with atonality and bitonality (having no tonal center in the first case, and playing in two different keys simultaneously)).

Of course, this would be purely academic without a great performance by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was always known for his more histrionic take on the classics, the best known of which are his cycles of Mahler symphonies, and he fails to disappoint here. Symphony No. 2 in particular really shines with his approach - the slow movement is languorous and beautiful, and he really swings for the fences in the finale. Great playing and attentive support from the orchestra makes this a great CD from an often times overlooked composer. It's sort of ironic though in that Ives was a composer who experimented with atonality in a time when tonality was king, and Bernstein composed tonal music at a time when atonality was the 'in' thing - at least with academics.

Symphony No. 2 - Basic Library (Repertoire and Performance)
Central Park in the Dark - Basic Library (Repertoire and Performance)
The Unanswered Question - Basic Libary (Repertoire and Performance)
Tone Roads 1 - Worth Hearing (Repertoire), Basic Libary (Performance)
Hymn for Strings - Worth Hearing (Repertoire), Basic Libary (Performance)
Hallowe'en - Worth Hearing (Repertoire), Basic Libary (Performance)
The Gong on the Hook and Ladder - Worth Hearing (Repertoire), Basic Libary (Performance)

[stingo]

Here's the 3rd movement of the 2nd Symphony - as performed by the Nashville Symphony under the direction of Kenneth Schermerhorn. (Schermerhorn used a new performing edition of the symphony, and it too is a great performance.)

[Mahler]

Tom,
You certainly don't talk down to or underestimate your audience. Ives is pretty challenging music for a novice to wrap his mind around, but well worth the effort and the Symphony No. 2 is a great launching point.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Mahler

Tom,
You certainly don't talk down to or underestimate your audience. Ives is pretty challenging music for a novice to wrap his mind around, but well worth the effort and the Symphony No. 2 is a great launching point.

Thanks John - glad to know someone other than me still reads this thread. As for Ives, as I said he's one of my favorites - any discussion of my musical library would have to include him.

[RacerBill]

Originally Posted by stingo

Depending on who you talk to, Ives wrote about 3 or 4 symphonies, and they get progressively experimental.

I don't know anyone who says Ives wrote anything other than four symphonies. Care to name names?

Ives is certainly one of the most interesting and quirky composers. Great listening choices there. I'm not always a big fan of Bernstein but he certainly has a knack for American music.

[stingo]

I was under the impression the Universe symphony was left unfinished...?

[stingo]

Actually that should be 4 or 5 as I forgot the Holidays Symphony. If you consider reconstructed versions of No. 4 (Universe Symphony) as proper Ives compositions, then it's 5, if you don't, then it's 4.

[Mahler]

I've always just considered the numbered symphonies as a done deal and the "Holidays" being like Tchaikovsky's "Manfred." The "Universe" Symphony is far too fragmented, from what I know if it (only in writings) to be considered. I am not aware of a performing version which attempts completion, such as we have with Mahler's 10th although some of the fragments have been assembled for performance. Sadly, I have never heard any of the music.

[stingo]

I'll have to check my recording of it (Universe Symphony) to see what exactly is on it.

[RacerBill]

Ah, got it.

I can't really say Ives "wrote" the Universe symphony. He messed around and made sketches and fragments, but didn't really write enough that it could be fully realized in a performing edition. But the idea is tantalizing enough that a few have attempted to put the fragments together.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by RacerBill

Ah, got it.

I can't really say Ives "wrote" the Universe symphony. He messed around and made sketches and fragments, but didn't really write enough that it could be fully realized in a performing edition. But the idea is tantalizing enough that a few have attempted to put the fragments together.

Yup, there's a recording on the Centaur label that I have - I'll have to look for it and give it a spin.

[Mahler]

Originally Posted by RacerBill

Ah, got it.

I can't really say Ives "wrote" the Universe symphony. He messed around and made sketches and fragments, but didn't really write enough that it could be fully realized in a performing edition. But the idea is tantalizing enough that a few have attempted to put the fragments together.

It kind of fits into that category of tantalizing pieces that one wishes the composer had lived long enough to realize. The "Mysterium" by Scriabin is another of those.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Mahler

It kind of fits into that category of tantalizing pieces that one wishes the composer had lived long enough to realize. The "Mysterium" by Scriabin is another of those.

The one that always comes to mind for me is Mahler's 10th Symphony (which will be performed this coming season as Eschenbach finishes his traversal of M's symphonies).

Of course, now that I think about it, Mozart's Requiem should fit this category too.

[RacerBill]

Kinda selfish of me, but I always think of the oboe concerto that Samuel Barber started but didn't finish. The slow movement has been published, and it's really beautiful. Last I knew, there was only one recording and it's out of print.

[Mahler]

Originally Posted by stingo

The one that always comes to mind for me is Mahler's 10th Symphony (which will be performed this coming season as Eschenbach finishes his traversal of M's symphonies).

Of course, now that I think about it, Mozart's Requiem should fit this category too.

I was going to mention the 10th, but that was almost a given with my screen name. LOL Although, I think Mahler left far more to work with than Ives or Scriabin. His sketches for most of the syphony were quite extensive although we have little to work with in the way of orchestration, except the passages he had already worked out.

You are right about the Mozart. A valiant attempt to complete it, but we will never know Wolfgang's final thoughts on it.

Yet another, the concluding scenes of Puccini's "Turandot."
Also, we will never know how Bruckner would have really capped off his 9th Symphony, having specified the use of the Te Deum, an earlier work, as the final movement, on his deathbed. Did he really envision a choral ending, ala the Beethoven 9th? The stuff of speculation.

When you think about it, there are quite a few such "what if" works. How about the Elgar 3rd, the Tchaikovsky 7th? Or, what if Brahms had decided to keep the material of the first piano concerto as the syphony that he had originally planned?

[stingo]

Indeed but we're lucky enough for the finished gems they left behind.