[RRod]

  Maybe they went with Lenny because he was American. Nothing screams "The West" more than the USA. Bringing down the wall and ringing in the freedom is pretty American I reckon, lol.
On the subject of Lenny, I'm fairly new to classical and I don't yet have a Bernstein CD, can anyone recommend me a great Lenny performance and the sound quality to go with it? Just a normal CD, not SACD or anything.

 
His Mahler 5 with Vienna is always a good starting point. I also like his CD of Copland's 3rd with Quiet City. And his Beethoven 9 with Vienna. And his Mozart Linz with the 15th Piano Concerto... and lots of other stuff. He really was great.

 

[Claritas]

On the subject of Lenny, I'm fairly new to classical and I don't yet have a Bernstein CD, can anyone recommend me a great Lenny performance and the sound quality to go with it?

Haydn. "Paris" Symphonies (nos. 82-87). Recorded 1962, '66, '67. New York Philharmonic. Sony.
Mahler. Symphony no. 6. Recorded live 1988. Vienna Philharmonic. DG.
Shostakovich. Symphony no. 5. Recorded 1959. New York Philharmonic. Sony.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

  Maybe they went with Lenny because he was American. Nothing screams "The West" more than the USA. Bringing down the wall and ringing in the freedom is pretty American I reckon, lol.
On the subject of Lenny, I'm fairly new to classical and I don't yet have a Bernstein CD, can anyone recommend me a great Lenny performance and the sound quality to go with it? Just a normal CD, not SACD or anything.

I love Bernie's "Le Sacre du Printemps", a wonderful recording for headphone listening!

 

[Seifer01]

   
His Mahler 5 with Vienna is always a good starting point. I also like his CD of Copland's 3rd with Quiet City. And his Beethoven 9 with Vienna. And his Mozart Linz with the 15th Piano Concerto... and lots of other stuff. He really was great.

 
 

Haydn. "Paris" Symphonies (nos. 82-87). Recorded 1962, '66, '67. New York Philharmonic. Sony.
Mahler. Symphony no. 6. Recorded live 1988. Vienna Philharmonic. DG.
Shostakovich. Symphony no. 5. Recorded 1959. New York Philharmonic. Sony.

 
 

 
I love Bernie's "Le Sacre du Printemps", a wonderful recording for headphone listening!

 
Thanks for these suggestions, now I can begin to properly ween myself off Beethoven haha. I started getting into classical a couple of years ago. My first classical purchase was Fricsay's 1958 Beethoven 9th. Now I have a few Beethoven discs... From Karajan, Fricsay, Toscanini, Furtwangler, Chailly, the Cluytens cycle. There have been a few non Beethoven things, Karajan's Brahms symphonies from I think the 70's. Karajan's re-mastered Sibelius symphonies. One Friscay Dvorak 9th. One Borodin disc.
But it has been mostly Beethoven symphonies, and I'm getting a tad tired of them lol, so the above suggestions are great, all from Lenny of course, I'll end up with some Lenny Beethoven though, but not just yet, lol, thanks again
 
PS, I forgot to add Kleiber (Carlos) to the list of Beethoven, how could I forget Kleiber's excellent 5th and 7th on DG?! The Cello's (I think that's what they are!) are too thin sounding in the 3rd movement of the Fifth though, whereas Fricsay's are full and deep and kind of mind blowing.

 

[SunTanScanMan]

You can never have enough Beethoven symphonies, but that's just me 

 
Regarding Bernstein, there is also this

Despite not listed on the cover, included also are the symphonic dances from 'West Side Story' as well as the symphonic suite from 'On the Waterfront'. They're the real highlights of the recording IMO.
 
Going to check out some of the other recommendations myself too

 

[Seifer01]

  You can never have enough Beethoven symphonies, but that's just me 

 
Regarding Bernstein, there is also this

Despite not listed on the cover, included also are the symphonic dances from 'West Side Story' as well as the symphonic suite from 'On the Waterfront'. They're the real highlights of the recording IMO.
 
Going to check out some of the other recommendations myself too

 
Thanks That CD kind of looks like it would be rare for some reason lol. What is the availability of this disc? And the ones above for that matter? I like finding older discs, I bought a Star Wars Trilogy disc the other day (1990 Sony) the sound is excellent. It sounds much better than The Lord of the Rings discs to my ears.

 

[SunTanScanMan]

   
Thanks That CD kind of looks like it would be rare for some reason lol. What is the availability of this disc? And the ones above for that matter? I like finding older discs, I bought a Star Wars Trilogy disc the other day (1990 Sony) the sound is excellent. It sounds much better than The Lord of the Rings discs to my ears.

Actually not rare at all. Not sure where you are located, but it is available on amazon. You can hear samples there too. Can also be streamed on spotify and qobuz. I stream most of my music due to the convenience of the large library. It gives me a chance to hear before purchasing. Buying CDs I go with amazon, again due to the convenience and availability, as well as price.

 

[HPiper]

I am back looking for some recommendations again. First in the Beethoven section, a good box set of all 5 piano concertos, and a good violin concerto. Then the following, a good box set of Brahms Symphonies and also piano concertos and violin. Schubert Symphonies. Bruckner Symphonies. That will do it for now. One other thing on a more fun note. What is your favorite violin concerto of them all, any composer, any orchestra and conductor. I love listening to a well recorded and well played violin followed by cello and then piano.

 

[RRod]

  I am back looking for some recommendations again. First in the Beethoven section, a good box set of all 5 piano concertos, and a good violin concerto. Then the following, a good box set of Brahms Symphonies and also piano concertos and violin. Schubert Symphonies. Bruckner Symphonies. That will do it for now. One other thing on a more fun note. What is your favorite violin concerto of them all, any composer, any orchestra and conductor. I love listening to a well recorded and well played violin followed by cello and then piano.

 
Fleischer/Szell is good for LvB piano concertos. Also Levin/Gardiner for a period approach. For violin, Szeryng/Schmidt-Isserstedt is one I really like, or Tetzlaff/Zinman for a more modern approach and with the cadenzas from LvB's own piano arrangement. Everyone else will just say get Heifetz. For Brahms 1-4, Levine and Abbado I both like, as much as I can like Brahms symphonies ^_^ I won't recommend on the piano concertos b/c I can just never get into them. For violin, Szeryng/Monteux (ok I like Szeryng); everyone else will say get Heifetz. Schubert complete I don't really have a rec for, as they're not all so great that I always want to buy them all. For Bruckner, Tinter's set on Naxos is a cheap way to get a decent recording of them all. The more famous ones, of course, have a glut of choices available. You should probably own at least one 8th and 9th by Wand.
 
Favorite violin concerto is the Sibelius, and my Lin/Salonen recording has always done me right. Everyone else will just say get Heifetz.

 

[Claritas]

I am back looking for some recommendations again. First in the Beethoven section, a good box set of all 5 piano concertos, and a good violin concerto. Then the following, a good box set of Brahms Symphonies and also piano concertos and violin. Schubert Symphonies. Bruckner Symphonies. That will do it for now. One other thing on a more fun note. What is your favorite violin concerto of them all, any composer, any orchestra and conductor. I love listening to a well recorded and well played violin followed by cello and then piano.

Beethoven piano concerti: Fleisher; Szell, Cleveland.
Violin concerto: too many good ones, but see below.
Brahms symphonies: Walter, Columbia Symphony; followed by Szell, Cleveland.
Brahms piano concerto no. 1: Serkin; Szell, Cleveland.
Brahms piano concerto no. 2: Richter; Leinsdorf, Chicago.
Brahms violin concerto: too many decent ones, but see below.
Schubert symphonies: no set, but be sure to hear Walter's "Unfinished." Beecham's 5th stands out too.
Bruckner: no set, but no one can touch Furtwängler.

My favorite violin concerto: the Mendelssohn. Heifetz; Munch, Boston. Followed by the Sibelius with Heifetz (later version). Just buy the set called "Jascha Heifetz plays Great Violin Concertos." All the major concerti on 6 discs for $20 at Amazon.

 

[icebear]

...  
Favorite violin concerto is the Sibelius, and my Lin/Salonen recording has always done me right. Everyone else will just say get Heifetz.

 
NOPE

Get this one :
Brahms Violin Concerto, Szeryng, Dorati

 

[bigshot]

  Everyone else will just say get Heifetz.

 
And for good reason! Heifetz makes this concerto his own. He really knocks it out of the park.
 
I have a theory about Sibelius. It's really easy to just play the notes on the score and leave it at that. But Sibelius requires a lot more than that. It's "nice" when it's played plainly like that, but it's best when a performer is able to grab ahold and mold it into something alive and vivid. It's like seeing an MGM musical like American in Paris on a tiny B&W tube TV, and then seeing it on the big screen in Technicolor. There aren't many conductors and performers who can do Sibelius right. I went through a dozen different symphony recordings before I found Kajanus. The Heifetz made me sit up and pay attention just like that. It's like a light switch turning on in the music.

 

[SunTanScanMan]

You can't really ignore Heifetz IMO with regards to violin concertos. The tone of his instrument is lovely.
 
Another violinist I end up coming back to is Arthur Grumiaux, namely his Bach (New Philharmonia Orchestra/Les Solistes Romands ...) and Mozart (London Symphony Orchestra) violin concertos on the Philips label. The tempo he plays at in those recordings are perfectly judged IMO, so I don't get distracted from enjoying the music.

 

[RRod]

  You can't really ignore Heifetz IMO with regards to violin concertos. The tone of his instrument is lovely.
 
Another violinist I end up coming back to is Arthur Grumiaux, namely his Bach (New Philharmonia Orchestra/Les Solistes Romands ...) and Mozart (London Symphony Orchestra) violin concertos on the Philips label. The tempo he plays at in those recordings are perfectly judged IMO, so I don't get distracted from enjoying the music.

 
Of course you can't. I knew he would be brought up, so I gave other options ^_^ Heifetz sound and tempi aren't to everyone's tastes, after all.

 

[SunTanScanMan]

   
Of course you can't. I knew he would be brought up, so I gave other options ^_^ Heifetz sound and tempi aren't to everyone's tastes, after all.

Yep I agree with this

I should say too I don't like everything of his. Some of the Piatigorsky concerts (Mendelssohn Octet and Mozart quintet) sound too polite and dare I say dull.
But there is a welcome time and mood when you put one of his tracks on and it feels like all of life's cobwebs are blasted away.