[Brent Hutto]

I agree with the DuPre suggestion for Elgar. In fact if you like exciting, emotive music that isn't at all a dry intellectual exercise Elgar/DuPre is probably a great starting place for cello appreciation.

As for the Bach suites, they are famously a fertile ground for interpretation so it would be hard to say exactly what is the "best" artist to choose for a single instance of the Bach. Each great player will bring a lot of himself or herself into the equation IMO.

Regarding taking up cello study for the purpose playing the Bach suites if you're an adult with zero prior bowed string instrument background and do not happen to be a latent musical prodigy, that is a very daunting goal. Starting at age 10 one might reasonably assign an expectation of a few years diligent practice to the point of attempting to master one or more of the suites. Starting at age 30 from no background, very few people would ever stick with it long enough to perform a credible version of an entire Bach cello suite. It's possible, for sure, but we're talking many years of extremely harsh and frustrating work to get even the basics into your hands and ears when you start ab initio as an adult.

Interesting topic. Just last night I undertook my latest "broadening of horizons" attempt. Gave a first listen to Rachmaninov cello sonata Op. 19 with tonight's enlightenment being the Shostakovich Op. 40 and tomorrow's the Prokofiev Op. 11 to round out the adventure. I've never been able to get the least bit into Russian music but what the heck I like cello and piano chamber music so this is my chance to change opinions on the matter. I will say the two inner movements of the Rach sonata were very fine and resulted in a pleasing sense of getting lost in the music at moments. The final movement was a comparative disappointment although I did take a break halfway through it to grab a dish of chocolate ice cream which always puts a better gloss on things...

 

[DCofficehack]

I am profoundly in love with Beethoven's sonatas for cello and piano. I used to love the Casals/Serkin recording--which is a fantastic performance--until I got nice headphones and found the mono sound intolerable.  Now I listen to Yo Yo Ma/Emanuel Ax, and it's fantastic.  All things being equal, I'd take Casals over Ma, but Ma is certainly no slacker, and the sound quality makes the Ma/Ax discs the better choice.
 
Start with Sonata 3, Op 69.  It will lift your heart. And the beginning of the third part, the adagio cantabile will melt it.
 

 

[Brent Hutto]

'hack,

Were the Casals/Serkin recordings mono or remastered into fake stereo. You can improve the sound just a bit (for headphone listening) in the latter case by using iTunes or whatever method to re-sum it into mono. I love hearing R. Serkin play Beethoven.

 

[rroseperry]

I realized that I sounded pretty dismissive of Ma, who is a great performer. I think I probably have more of a problem with his non-canonic choices than his actual playing.
 
Another interesting 20th century cello work is Barber's Cello Concerto. I've got a recording by Wendy Warner. It's sort of the last gasp of romanticism (definitely small r variety).

 

[c540]

There has been a lot of research in the past several decades on brain function and expert performance, including in depth studies on musicians and students studying to be professional musicians.
 
According to the research, it is generally agreed that 10,000 hours of "Deliberate Practice" is required to become a "world class" expert musician.
 
If anyone is interested in reading an paper by K Anders Ericsson, a leading researcher in this field of study, here is link to the Harvard Business Review article,  "The Making of an Expert" :
 
http://www.coachingmanagement.nl/The%20Making%20of%20an%20Expert.pdf

 

[juman231]

Wow, thanks for the great music recommendations. it surely will be an enjoyable ride!

 

[Brent Hutto]

juman,

Apropos the contents of your .sig line let me mention three words about listening to cello music.

HD650
Asgard
Wonderful

I'm just sayin'...

 

[DCofficehack]

I think it's straight up mono, but I'll check when I get home. I don't think it will help much, though. Too much is missing from the sound. It's a pity, for the performance itself is spectacular.  It's a must for cello-heads, even if the Ma/Ax version makes for better listening.
 
Quote:

'hack,

Were the Casals/Serkin recordings mono or remastered into fake stereo. You can improve the sound just a bit (for headphone listening) in the latter case by using iTunes or whatever method to re-sum it into mono. I love hearing R. Serkin play Beethoven.

 

 

[DCofficehack]

What's Asgard?
Quote:

juman,

Apropos the contents of your .sig line let me mention three words about listening to cello music.

HD650
Asgard
Wonderful

I'm just sayin'...

 

 

[Brent Hutto]

I've got some old jazz recordings from 1959-60 or so that were remastered by hard-panning the horn to the left, the guitar to the right and putting the bass dead center. On headphones it makes you want to claw your ears off after a while. An MP3/AAC file with the channels summed into mono sounds a thousand percent better than a lossless rip of the original. It also tends to cancel out some of the tape artifacts in a way that I can't quite comprehend.

No idea if it'll work as well on classical music. I did the same trick on a fake-stereo recording of Serkin doing the Beethoven sonatas and I thought the improvement was very modest but noticeable. Although I must say that was a very listenable CD anyway and of course was a solo instrument that wasn't panned to pieces.

 

[juman231]

Quote:

juman,

Apropos the contents of your .sig line let me mention three words about listening to cello music.

HD650
Asgard
Wonderful

I'm just sayin'...

 
Haha at this point I'll be happy if I have the HD650...but i'll do some research on the asgard to add to "amps I want to try" section of my profile. =P
 
Quote:

I've got some old jazz recordings from 1959-60 or so that were remastered by hard-panning the horn to the left, the guitar to the right and putting the bass dead center. On headphones it makes you want to claw your ears off after a while. An MP3/AAC file with the channels summed into mono sounds a thousand percent better than a lossless rip of the original. It also tends to cancel out some of the tape artifacts in a way that I can't quite comprehend.

No idea if it'll work as well on classical music. I did the same trick on a fake-stereo recording of Serkin doing the Beethoven sonatas and I thought the improvement was very modest but noticeable. Although I must say that was a very listenable CD anyway and of course was a solo instrument that wasn't panned to pieces.

Mono-recordings would mean only one mic was used for the recording? Does this mean I hear the same sound on both sides while stereo allocates different parts of music onto left and right? How is the fake stereo created that it results in such low quality? Is it the hard panning that annoys you?
 

 

[Brent Hutto]

The hard-panning is really, really annoying with headphones. Especially when listening to small ensembles.

But even for solo instruments or if they forgo the panning they do various "simulation" tricks to try and give some stereo width to the auditory image even when the original source was just one channel. Sometimes there would have multiple microphones used in making the original recording, all reduced to a single channel. Other times a mono mic arrangement. It's the after-the-fact trickery that sounds so awful though. In my opinion the simulated and/or panned stuff also makes the hiss and other tape artifacts more noticeable/annoying.

DCofficehack,

I just skimmed around on the 'net for some sample of Rostropovich's playing. You're right, he is an incredibly compelling performer even in short snippets of poor audio quality. He was a mentor to David Finckel who I've been listening to lately and in fact was the dedicatee of the CD to which I was listening last night.

http://schiit.com/products/asgard/

 

[melomaniac]

while I second @LFF's suggestion of the Janos Starker rendering of the Bach cello suites, I would also like to recommend Paul Tortelier on the same.
 
more recently, for solo cello, I like the recordings of Britten, Bach, and other works by Jean-Guihen Queyras and by Truls Mork - both fantastic.
 
from Piatigorksy to DuPre to Ma, what you sometimes get in cello literature is a very romantic take; others, like Pierre Fournier or Heinrich Schiff, have a more modern take.
 
and for those in this thread who like the instrument's sound but who aren't into classical music, try Erik Friedlander's music: all good stuff.
 
he's also a gifted pedagogue, and gives useful tips for players: http://www.erikfriedlander.com/cello.htm
 
by contrast, I would avoid Matt Haimowitz' recent cello projects, I always end up disappointed with the results. meh

 

[juman231]

Quote:

I listen to a lot of cello and viola de gamba, etc.
The AH-D7000 (especially with your good solid state rig) will knock your socks off. Unlike many of the other cans around, the solidity and sonority of the D7000 can not be equaled, while preserving the clarity and accuracy in the reproduction of the recording.
The D7k makes acoustic instruments come to life as it duplicates not just the notes but the resonant body. If you can find and afford it, this is the direction you need to go.
I have often referred to the M50 as the baby brother of the D7k, so if you appreciate the M50 and how it does things... imagine something similar but much better. More clarity, better mids, tighter bass, etc.
 
Good luck.

After reading what you wrote, D7000 interests me very much. Although I'm a little bothered by the metallic highs of the M50, I think it's rather bass heavy nature helps with a very full bodied reproduction of cello. Does D7000 improve on this aspect?  Does the D7000 also have the slight metallic tinge the M50 has? Can't wait until I can these recordings sounding BETTER than they already do...

 

[juman231]

I think I finally came down from my revelatory moment just right now.... I was in such euphoria...Anyway, I'm now going through the recommendations...For anyone else that are interested, I've compiled all of the advices on further listening here:
 
------------------------------------------------------
 
Takenobu - Introduction
 
http://listen.takenobumusic.com/album/introduction
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyjZ1_4c_bk&feature=related
 
Break of Reality - Spectrum of the sky
 
http://www.breakofreality.com/the-band/spectrum
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zob5O3nyqYI
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Ma is an ok entry point for cello, but for classical it's hard to beat Casals for Bach's solo work and Du Pre on the Elgar Cello Concerto.
 
For modern stuff, it's Zoe Keating all the way.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Actually, my favorite cellist is Anner Bylsma. Then maybe Tanya Tompkins. Of course Jordi Savall & Hille Perl... but that's another story.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
For Cello, although I'm not a huge fan of the sound of the instrument (I like though lol, just not in love with) there's a Dave Holland solo album I bought years ago and haven't revisited in quite a while, but most of you Cello lovers surely will appreciate the sound quality, technical performance and emotional inspiration of the work. Look out for Life Cycle on the ECM catalog.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 Sonata 3, Op 69.  It will lift your heart. And the beginning of the third part, the adagio cantabile will melt it.
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Another interesting 20th century cello work is Barber's Cello Concerto. I've got a recording by Wendy Warner. It's sort of the last gasp of romanticism (definitely small r variety).
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
while I second @LFF's suggestion of the Janos Starker rendering of the Bach cello suites, I would also like to recommend Paul Tortelier on the same.
 
more recently, for solo cello, I like the recordings of Britten, Bach, and other works by Jean-Guihen Queyras and by Truls Mork - both fantastic.
 
from Piatigorksy to DuPre to Ma, what you sometimes get in cello literature is a very romantic take; others, like Pierre Fournier or Heinrich Schiff, have a more modern take.
and for those in this thread who like the instrument's sound but who aren't into classical music, try Erik Friedlander's music: all good stuff.
 
he's also a gifted pedagogue, and gives useful tips for players: http://www.erikfriedlander.com/cello.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I'm off to do some listening!