Classical Music
Exceptional CD recordings
by Roland Herrera, Jan 2001
I am going to list the most highly recommended recordings that I
have ever come across. Out of 4000-5000 classical recordings (many LPs are now
on CD ) I have only included the very best. Often a great musician will
specialize in a particular composer or style, and here I list typical instances,
only naming recordings which have become widely respected and regarded by
musicians throughout the world. In other words, these are the best recordings
available, and though other fine editions may exist, readers are well advised to
seek out and order these gems before they disappear. So many recordings are
made, nowadays, but "any" recording of a piece just will not do. There
is a huge difference between one performance and another, and we are not just
talking about DDD versus AAD ! Here is my recommendation for your listening
enjoyment and experience. The list is especially important for young listeners
and music students. Leave your mouse on the CD covers for extra information.
A note about the sound WAV files
that you can listen to : 20-30 second samples have been taken of some of the CDs
mentioned. They have been highly compressed into MPEG Layer-3 16 kBit/s 16,000
Hz mono WAV files which can be played on Media Player 7 ( available free
from Microsoft's site for Window PCs ). On my PC Explorer 5 is set to bring up
Sound Recorder and I just press play. The quality is very low, but does allow
a quick idea of the music involved. I recommend pre-auditioning longer samples
sometimes available on Amazon, and of course buying the CDs themselves.
Our
first master we can all listen to is Glenn Gould, a true genius and
Canadian Pianist who was contracted to record every keyboard work of Bach by CBS
(which he did do, in such a truly magnificent fashion !) His phenomenal
recordings left us with a unique testimony of sublime Bach playing. I will pick
out The English Suites by J.S.Bach (BWV 806-811) as one of my many prized Glenn
Gould CDs. On a double (CBS M2K 42268) these were later re-mastered for
high definition sound and issued by SONY as SM2K 52 606. Gould's first
and last recording ( and the only work he recorded twice ) were the Goldberg
variations. This last recording is available soon on DVD video in the US and UK,
and I cannot think of words to describe this playing from "another
world". Listen to this excerpt from the Allemande
of the third English Suite. Other good Bach pianists are Tatiana Nikolayeva,
Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Wilhelm Kempff and Grigori Sokolov.
More
Bach with the Brandenburg Concerti. Karl Richter was the organist of the
Leipzig Thomaskirche, the same church where Bach himself was Cantor for over a
quarter of a century. Kapellmeister Karl Richter conducting his Munchener
Bach-Orchester recorded the 6 Brandenburg Concerti in the 1960s. They
are published on 2 Galleria Archiv produktion Stereo 427 143-2 A GA2.
This is the best Modern Bach orchestral playing I have come across, and you can
also get all of the Cantatas by Richter and the Munich Bach Orchestra (which he
founded) on the Archiv Produktion label. The Easter Cantatas are on 5 Cds 439374-2
A x5 and were recorded in the late 60s and into the 70s, and the singers and Munchener
Bach-Chor are all superb. Listen to the start
of the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto, and a chorus
from the St Matthew Passion (Archiv 439 338-2 Ax3). I will not
discuss the so called authentic baroque styles and original instrument trends,
because I don't want to contaminate my list ! Other pieces by recorded by
Richter include the Mass in B minor, Handel's Concerto Grossi, and several fine
Organ works performed by Richter himself.
The
great organist, Helmut Walcha, incurably blind since childhood, recorded
all Bach's organ music using authentically restored organs for Archiv Produktion.
In 1956 he made the first stereo recording of the Art of Fugue for Deutsche
Grammophon. This is an excerpt from
Trio Sonata Bwv 527. His polyphonic playing reaches so deeply into Bach's
music that listening to it leaves one almost feeling closer to God ! The 12 Cds
were recorded from 1957-1971 on Archiv 419 904-2 Ax12.
The Russian, Nathan Milstein recorded the 6 solo Sonatas and Partitas for
violin twice. The first is a Mono recording from 1956 on EMI classics ZDMB 64793
2 3, and the second, which has been issued twice (and is considered superior
according to Milstein himself) , was recorded in his 60s for Deutsche
Grammophone 2 Cds 457 701-2 G OR2. Listen to the start
of the Tempo di Borea in B minor. I have other sets, by Kagan, 2 by Szyerng,
Szigeti, Enescu, Grumiaux, Ayo, Kremer, and many others, but Milstein's is my
favourite.
Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists of all times, made a
digital recording of the Bach Cello suites for EMI on 2CDs 7243 5 55365 2 5,
(and may still be available on VHS video.) Listen to some
of the Gavotte from the 6th suite. Mischa Maisky, a former student of
Rostropovich has also recorded these suites twice for Deutsche Grammophone (415
416-2 Gx3).
Maisky's first set is probably the more accessible. The best idea if you want
the Rostropovich is to get Maisky playing the accompanied
Cello sonatas with Martha Argerich on 415 471-2 GH. We are fortunate to have
such good recordings of Bach's music.
Next,
I will mention perhaps what I consider to be the greatest Beethoven Sonata
recordings. First up are the David Oistrakh and Lev Oborin 1962
recordings of all 10 violin and piano sonatas on 4 Philips CDs 412 570-2. Among
my many other sets I'd like to mention the Grumiaux / Haskil mono recordings on
old LPs and the Kreisler / Rupp transfers on CD by Pearl. Listen to the delightful
scherzo from the spring sonata.
Mstislav Rostropovich and Sviatoslav Richter gave their slightly
earlier 1961 account of the 5 cello and piano sonatas by Beethoven on 2 Cds
issued by Philips 412 256-2. This recording surely set the
standard by which all others are judged ! Listen to the start
of the 5th sonata.
A magnificent recording of all the Beethoven Piano sonatas equal to those above
comes from Wilhelm Kempff's set of 1965 issued on 9 Deutsche Grammophone
CDs 429 306-2 Gx9. Here is a demonstration of superb texturing in an excerpt
from Piano Sonata number 18.
String
quartets come next. There are many so many good quartets : The Quartetto
Italiano on Philips and The Amadeus quartet on Deutsche Grammophon. I remember one of
the members of the Amadeus Quartet telling me how some of their initial
inspiration came from the example of the Busch Quartet. I will start by
mentioning The Busch Quartet playing
the presto from a late Beethoven Op.130 on SONY ( CBS ) MPK 47687,
The Smetana Quartet playing the start
of Mozart's D minor "Haydn" quartet on Denon 38C37-7003 published
in 1982 (this might be hard to find but look for similar recordings like
Smetana playing the Dissonance : Testament SBT 1118), and the Budapest
Quartet ( the old Budapest, with Russian cast ! ) playing Alla
Marcia (mono 40s recordings) from Beethoven's late Op.132. Younger listeners
will prefer Beethoven's Op.18 or Raumovsky Quartets, as the Late quartets are
quite perplexing at first.
I will discuss Mozart symphonies
next. It's hard to find the right recordings of these, but I have listed the
best ones here. Josef Krips and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra,
Amsterdam have recorded Symphonies 21 - 41 on a set of 6 Philips CDs. 426
973-2. 426 974-2. 426 063-2. 422 974-2. 422 476-2. 422 978-2. It seems to be
missing symphony number 37 but you get a CD of a live rehearsal of Symphony n33
as a bonus. Listen to Krips conduct number
21 and the minuet from
number 41. What a light touch to these recordings! Another great Mozart
conductor was Karl Bohm, here conducting Symphonies 31-41 with the Berlin
Philharmoniker on 2 Deutsche Grammophon LP re-issues on CDs 447 416-2
G OR2. Listen to the poised tempo in this
opening of Symphony n40 ; what a lesson to all those who rush their Mozart !
There are other recordings to add, however. For example, listen to this
supremely Mozartean rendering of his 33rd
symphony by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Eugeny
Mravinsky on Erato 2292-45758.
Violinist Arthur Grumiaux made many recordings (the
following are all for Philips), filling important gaps (think of the standard
violin repertoire) which I will talk about. As a Franco-Belgian violinist he is
the authority on Vieuxtemps's Violin concerti numbers 4 and 5 on Philips 416
889-2. Here is some of
the Scherzo from the 4th. I heard Grumiaux and Castagnone live playing the
12 Corelli Op.5 sonatas (2CDs 462 306-2). Listen to this exquisite
staccato bowing from the Allegro in E. Also, the 6 Handel Op.1 sonatas (420
267-2) are perhaps the only ones I would recommend (with little or no
competing recordings available).
Now
for some Symphonies. Children love Haydn, and though Dorati's complete
recordings with the Philharmonia Hungarica (on 40 ?CDs) is now available
separately (such as the double
Decca of the London symphonies vol.1 452 256-2 DF2) - I will present Eugen
Jochum's 70s recordings of the London symphonies with the London
Philharmonic Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon on 4 CDs (437 201-2 Gx4).
Here is a delightful excerpt from
n.93. Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra playing
Tchaikovsky's symphonies 4, 5 and 6 for Deutsche Grammophon (2Cds 419 745-2
GH2) is exceptional. Listen to the cellos
soar in this Patetique excerpt. I bought all Mahler and Dvorak's symphonies
in the Czech republic, as they have all been recorded by Supraphon, with Vaclav
Neumann conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Here is an excerpt
from Mahler's 1st "Titan" symphony on Supraphon 11 1970-2 011.
A great secret among musicians is "play Romantic music with a classical
tempo !" - well listen to this beautifully restrained tempo ! Another set
of great symphonies is Bruno
Walter's Columbia
Symphony Orchestra recording of the Brahms symphonies . These have also been
re-mastered from the CBS CDs to SONY's new super bit mapping procedure.
The 4th is on Sony SMK 64 472. Pavavo Berglund's recordings of the
Sibelius Symphonies with the Helsinki Philharmonic are also worth mentioning on
2 double EMI classics.
Now
for some oldies ! Fritz Kreisler's 20s recordings were David Oistrakh's
favourite. Biddulph have transferred all the electrical Victor and acoustic HMV
recordings onto double CD sets (though you can buy Kreisler's pieces on EMI CDH 7
64701 2) In all my life I have never heard such angelic (devilish?) playing
of this Chopin Mazurka on Biddulph LAB 019-20. Listening to the
beautiful (similar to kreisler) sustain of the Desplanes's
Intrada played by cellist Maurice Maréchal on Fono Enterprise S QT
99-256 makes one realize that our present day standards don't come close in
terms of musical expression to those of past eras. Pianist Arthur Rubinstein,
as a great Chopin player comes to mind. Here he plays an excerpt
from the C sharp minor Waltz on EMI classics CHS 7 64491 2 recorded
in the 30s. There is also a lovely 3 Cd set of Mazurkas, Scherzi and Polonaises
on EMI classics 7 64697 2. I think it was Rubinstein's comment I
remembered when he said "play Chopin like Mozart, and Mozart like Chopin
!"
Great
Concertos next. David Oistrakh's complete Mozart Violin Concerti on 2 EMI
CDs with the Berliner Philharmoniker are highly recommended. This
minor key excerpt for the 3rd Concerto is sure to appeal to children (CDM 7
69176 2). The disc with the 4th and 5th concerti is the more important one,
perhaps (EMI CDM 7 69064 2). Elgar's romantic
Cello concerto has always been associated with Jacqueline Du Pré,
conducted by Barenboim with the Philadelphia Orchestra here on CBS MK 76529.
Mozart is also served well by Murray Perahia, who has recorded all of the Piano
Concerti for CBS with the English Chamber Orchestra. This CD of numbers 17 and
18 is CD 36686. Listen to this
Allegretto.
Some
modern Cellists now (other than Rostropovich !) Mischa Maisky has
recorded a beautiful Schubert Lieder CD with Daria Hovora for Deutsche
Grammophon (449 817-2 GH) listen
to this lied ! Another encore CD by these 2 artists on the same label is
called "Cellisimo" 439 863-2 GH. The St. Petersburg Cello-Ensemble directed
by Anatolj Nikitin are an extraordinary group. Their 2 King Record Japanese CDs
are worth seeking out. The showcase CD is King Records KICC 117. Listen
to the start of Handel's
Passacaglia. Leonid Gorokhov can be found on USSR label Melodiya SUCD
11-00304 or here is a sample
of a Davydov encore piece from Olympia OCD 641 entitled "Russian
Discoveries".
This second half of recommended recordings will be presented in
a different way. Move the mouse over the picture to see in order ; who plays
what and on what label.
Well, how could we leave out Quartets Such as The Talich, The La
Salle and The Beethoven quartet playing Beethoven ? answer ; we can't ! And
there's Honegger conducted by Jean Matinon, entire CDs of great string players
like Piatigorsky and Primose and singers like Vishnevskaya and Casals. We would
like to mention more of Mozart's Operas, Verdi and Fauré's requiems or Haydn's
Quartets and Trios... but if you find any of the above recordings, you may be
inspired to investigate further into the world of classical music. There will be
other pages on specific areas, like Violinists, Cellists or Pianists, and
Quartets, and even a page on the 20 or so recordings we have of Mendelssohn's
violin concerto alone. Eventually pages about Jazz and Light music may appear !
Happy listening... and remember go for the best recordings of the best music !
