[gmahler2u]

 
 
 

 
 
I realize this sort of thing is not for everyone BUT,
for those of you for whom it is your sort of thing, listen at night in the proper mood and spirit.

 

Thank you for finding this!!!  this is treasure!!!  love it very much.
 

 

[perhapss]

  Thank you for finding this!!!  this is treasure!!!  love it very much.
 

 
My pleasure!
 
I find it fascinating that several decades ago I had to travel several hours to a major city to a  specialized record store to buy this and here it is online in 5 seconds search for free....

 

[analogsurviver]

   
My pleasure!
 
I find it fascinating that several decades ago I had to travel several hours to a major city to a  specialized record store to buy this and here it is online in 5 seconds search for free....

+1.

 

[LugBug1]

  The Hungarian folk element is the only thing in Bartok that I really like.

Hmmm.. for me it can get a little stale. Certainly not in the later orchestral works where he incorporated elements within, but his piano works for instance can almost seem like he is obsessed with it rather than utilising it. He takes folk dances and plays around with them - exploring different angles till he exhausts them and sometimes they really sound exhausted! Problem with folk music is that it is very limited when used in blocks by itself. Lots of composers use folk elements in their works but elements don't restrict in the same sense as using them fundamentally and/or as a whole. You end up 'walled in' so to speak. But it was a route that he took and he was committed to it like the great artist he was. 

 

[chrisjackson]

BIS recording Eva
 

 

[bigshot]

I never get tired of folk music. That's the purest and most adaptable kind of music there is. It's at the heart of just about every kind of Western music, and it manifests itself in a million different ways from bluegrass to Hungarian dances. If there is a truly universal kind of music, folk music is it.

 

[john57]

Last night I saw a performance of Michael Haydn Requiem in C Minor with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra. It is a piece rarely performed. The brass section was very bright and pungent. During the original premier of this piece written in  December 1771 Mozart was the second violist at the time. Mozart and his dad heard this piece at least 4 times and maybe more. 20 years latter Mozart wrote his own requiem.  Michael Haydn Requiem is quite refreshing to hear and should be part of anyone's collection.
 

 

[liamstrain]

Currently listening to the Decca Records, Solti directed Ring Cycle... 
 
It's just... phenomenal. So engrossing. One of the best recordings of any operatic work I've heard - both from a technical standpoint, and musical. 
 
And honestly - are there any more dramatic opening notes than the single double bass droning in the pitch black to start the prelude to Das Rheingold? It is just pregnant with the power of the river it represents. 

 

[CJG888]

Quite, there is no better Ring, period. For Tristan, I recommend Böhm, and for Parsifal, Karajan...

 

[liamstrain]

I've been very happy with my James Levine Parsifal (Jessye Norman and Placido Domingo, at the Met) - but I'll take a look at the Karajan. Thanks. 

 

[gmahler2u]

You can also see Knap's Parsifal is good...
 

 

[CJG888]

Yes, Knappertsbusch's recording is also a magnificent achievement. You really want both...

 

[CJG888]

Btw, John Culshaw also wrote a book about his experiences producing the Ring. Definitely recommended reading:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-Resounding-The-Recording-Nibelungen/dp/1845951948/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411402333&sr=8-1&keywords=culshaw+ring+resounding

I hope posting links to Amazon is allowed... If not, I apologize.

 

[SunTanScanMan]

 
Only a brief mention of Dvorak's string quartets in this thread. The folksy melodies are really gorgeous. Had not heard the Prague String Quartet before. I really enjoy their playing and the sound quality is great too.
 
Anyone know other full collections worth a listen? They seem few and far between.
 

 

[Trebbleclef]

As to the 60CD RCA Living Stereo Set Vol. 1 check out Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony performing Saint-Seans Organ Symphony #3.  Recorded in !959 it's a sonic blockbuster and sets the standard for the performance.  Another to check-out are  Respighi's Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome, Frrtz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony (a 1959 recording) with incredible sound and an outanding performance.