[randerson3024]

1. Beethoven's 9th - Solti
2. Beethoven's 5th & 7th - Kleiber
3. Beethoven's 3rd - Abbado
4. Rimsky Korsakov - Scheharezade
5. Ravel - Bolero
6. Mozart's 40th & 41st
7. Wagner - Ring Highlights - Solti
8. Franck - Symphony in D-Minor
9. Shostakovich - 5th Symphony
10. Stravinsky - Firebird Suite

 

[BAwig05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by randerson3024 /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. Beethoven's 9th - Solti 2. Beethoven's 5th & 7th - Kleiber 3. Beethoven's 3rd - Abbado 4. Rimsky Korsakov - Scheharezade 5. Ravel - Bolero 6. Mozart's 40th & 41st 7. Wagner - Ring Highlights - Solti 8. Franck - Symphony in D-Minor 9. Shostakovich - 5th Symphony 10. Stravinsky - Firebird Suite

To fill in some gaps with recommendations

1. Beethoven's 9th- Great choice, and Wand (RCA)
2. Beethoven's 3rd- I have to disagree. Bohm (DG), Karajan (DG '63), Bloomstedt (Brilliant)

Beethoven's 5th/7th-- No argument from me

3. Rimsky K Scherzade- Reiner (RCA)
4. Ravel's Bolero- Martinon (RCA, Chicago) or Martinon (EMI) or Munch (RCA)
5. Mozart Late Symphonies-- Marriner (Decca) Mackerras (Telarc), Bohm (DG)
6. Wagner-- Again, agreed
7. Franck's Symphony-- Monteoux (RCA)
8. Shostakovich 5-- Bernstein
9. Stravinsky-- Stavinsky (Sony Classical)

 

[randerson3024]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAwig05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif To fill in some gaps with recommendations 1. Beethoven's 9th- Great choice, and Wand (RCA) 2. Beethoven's 3rd- I have to disagree. Bohm (DG), Karajan (DG '63), Bloomstedt (Brilliant) Beethoven's 5th/7th-- No argument from me 3. Rimsky K Scherzade- Reiner (RCA) 4. Ravel's Bolero- Martinon (RCA, Chicago) or Martinon (EMI) or Munch (RCA) 5. Mozart Late Symphonies-- Marriner (Decca) Mackerras (Telarc), Bohm (DG) 6. Wagner-- Again, agreed 7. Franck's Symphony-- Monteoux (RCA) 8. Shostakovich 5-- Bernstein 9. Stravinsky-- Stavinsky (Sony Classical)

I just got the Reiner Scheherazade on SACD - absolutely an amaing recording. Good call on the conductors. There are so many.

 

[sugarinthegourd]

Just found this old thread, and unfortunately, the OP's links to Tower are broken. Anyone care to update them?

thanks!

 

[Tyson]

Someone pointed out that all my old links in the original post were broken, so I've updated them all, plus revamped some of my original recommendations. I think this version is even stronger/better than the last one. Hope others find it useful.

 

[Assorted]

It's a nice list but I just think the Baroque/Pre-classical selection could use a little more beef. Within sub-full price per album category requirement, I think these albums can add a little variety to the meaning of Baroque:

http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Music...8100375&sr=1-3

Discover the Baroque Era - Various
Why: This is a great sampler of the Baroque for the money. Covers keyboard to voice, choral to sonata. Extremely cheap and very common. Gives a great idea of the variety and extravagance of the Baroque without having to spend money on multiple albums.

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Organ-Wor.../dp/B0006ZFQMQ

Complete Organ Works by Bach - Karl Richter
Why: This set of album covers many Bach organ favorites including the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the great Fantasia in G minor, the great Passacaglia, and others; the repertoire shown here sums up the genre of the Baroque organ category from Canon to Choralpartita. While the instrument may not be considered period (at least to the extent of my knowledge), Karl Richter's playing is very moderate without many spin offs or super improvisation, which makes it less disturbing for the newer individual who might be looking at this list.

http://www.amazon.com/Vivaldi-Strava...8100876&sr=1-1

La Stravaganza Concertos by Vivaldi - St Martin in the Fields
Why: The fast paced rhythm contrasted with the expressive slow movements can get people hooked onto the Italian orchestra, beyond the four seasons. Analogue-y orchestral texture of modern instruments with clear articulation into efforts of the Vivaldi insights make this set of dual discs a nice run for the money.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...8101090&sr=8-4

Handel's Messiah - The English Concert, The English Choir
Why: This is one of the more moderately and consistently tempo'ed Messiah without losing any of it's grand. Orchestra-choir relation is clearly established with good acoustics and victorious soli passages without the rush (my preference, for example Paul McCreesh), or extra slow movements then extra fast movments (like Harnoncourt) . Least disturbing to the audience foreign to the Messiah apart from the Hallelujah.

http://www.amazon.com/Jean-Baptiste-...8101712&sr=1-2

collection of Lully orchestral - Le Concert de Nations
Why: The lack of French vocal not withstanding, Jordi Savall and the Le Concert de Nations in this album portrays the French Baroque with excellent dynamics, the heavy homophonic ouvertures and the joyous airs. Again like most of his albums, excellent acoustic with the right amount of sound from every instrument.


Of course I can add more albums but that would defeat the purpose of staying low priced and newbie friendly.

 

[sugarinthegourd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Someone pointed out that all my old links in the original post were broken, so I've updated them all, plus revamped some of my original recommendations. I think this version is even stronger/better than the last one. Hope others find it useful.

Excellent! Thanks!!

 

[Facade19]

Faure's Pavane IMO is just ethereal.
Recommend his piece definitely.

 

[Steve Cat]

I was just thinking about this the other night while listening to the '81 performance of the Goldberg variations. How do we know what Bach was supposed to sound like. I'm in way over my head here, but to me music notation contains only a very limited amount of information as to what the music was supposed to sound like. My initial exposure to Bach left me with the impression that his music was "surgical" in it precision, and somewhat sterile. Magnificent, but sterile. Is this the way Bach played harpsicord, or just the way the harpsicord played his music, was he a master musician? Is this how music of the time was played in general? How do we know? Are there music theory/technique books from the time. That tell a person how to play. I know that blues for example cannot be accurately notated. I could be wrong but has there ever been such a technically gifted pianist as Glenn Gould? Would people of the time play differently it they were better technically. Who could add a certain swing and phrasing surprise that one doesn't normally hear in baroque music. Whatever, he takes me to places no other pianist does, and I am glad for what he gave that was in Bach to us.

QUOTE=JayG;2554177]Because Gould's performances are pretty far from what Bach wrote. I'm not saying his interpretations are bad or not valid; I'm just saying that when you listen to Gould play Bach, it's sometimes hard to hear Bach. It's never difficult to hear Gould.

-Jay[/QUOTE]

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Facade19 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Faure's Pavane IMO is just ethereal. Recommend his piece definitely.

x2 Faure is one of my favorite composers. I love this album, although it doesn't have Pavane since it is a piano album

Gabriel Fauré: The Complete Music for Piano

 

[Tyson]

Updated the list based on some recent experiences with newer (and some older) recordings.

 

[ukrneal]

Overall, this is a pretty good list for someone just starting out.

I would make a few changes personally:

Dvorak - the Kertesz set of symphonies has long been popular and for good reason. At half the price of the Kubelik, this is well worth it. I do love Kubelik on the Slavonic Dances though!

Wagner - Solti is great, but that set is not economical. For an equally good version, also in good sound, I would suggest the Janowski set (at $100 cheaper). The only downside is a weaker Brunhilde, but everyone else is great (besides each set has some weakness of its own). What is invaluable as well is the 2 disc set with Deryck Cooke's commentaries and explanations of the motifs of the Ring (sold separately with SOlti excertps) . This is a very useful resource.

Mozart - I also like the Brendel version (Piano concertos). A cheaper (by about $20), and also good, version is the Perahia set.

Tchaikovsky - There are quite a few great Piano Concerto #1's. but I would recommend Piano Concertos 1-3 with Pletnev on Virgin. At $7 for 2 discs, you will have a hard time beating this value, considering the quality of the playing. Most people never hear Concertos 2 or 3, and these are really wonderful pieces of music in their own right.

 

[saint.panda]

I bought quite a few recordings from the old list. Can't wait to try some of the newer suggestions. Thanks a lot for this great service.

 

[Gollie]

Bookmarked...

 

[Tyson]

Updated the list again, took out some of the old recordings and replaced them with new recs for recent recordings with better sound quality. Also, tried to get away from big box sets and focus more on smaller, less expensive selections.