The Classical Music Guide Forums

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BRUCKNER: Symphony n. 5 / Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Volkmar Andreae (1953) A superb version, with a remarkable cohesion in special in the first and 4th movements. To me, this is one of the greatest interpretations of the work, with Furtwängler (Berlin, 1942) and Jochum (Concertgebow, 1964). Andreae...

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hangos
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I rate Barshai's Cologne recording of the 4th as the best I've ever heard - what don't you like about it?

I prefer a more dramatic approach in the first movement and more contrasts in the 3rd. More fantasy and imagination.
I still prefer Kondrashin or Rozhdestvensky.

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Beethoven's Sonata opus 106 by Emil Gilels.

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Let's not forget Barshai's version of Shostakovitch's 15 Symphonies, with the WDR Sinfonieorchester (WDR) (1992/1998). With some exceptions - in special the 4th - it is a very beautiful version, detailed, not to dramatic or sentimental, with great moments in the 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 14th.

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To me, most of Brahms masterpieces are in his chamber music, the most beautiful between Schubert and Bartok. My suggestion to someone that wants to enter this wonderful paradise of beauty, is to start with: 3rd Sonata violin/piano, by David Oistrakh and Yampolski. The two Sonatas for clarinet and pi...

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Melchior was in my opinion the greatest interpreter of Tristan and Siegmund. His only rival, Max Lorenz was perhaps a better Siegfried. The others, Suthaus, Svanholm, were very far from them. We are talking about a kind of extinguished art. Their voices, for sure, but also the style, the intelligenc...

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I love the recent (2007) version of this opus IV, by Lorenzo Ghielmi with the Divina Armonia Ensemble. It is very, very beautiful. The quality of the recording is also amazing.

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VARÈSE: Octandre, Offrandes, Density 21,5, Intégrales / Ensemble Intercontemporain, Boulez A different aspect of Varese's music, far from the violence of Amériques or Arcana. Octandre, Intégrales are elegant works, with a subtle poetry and as wonderful sense of instrumental color. Density 21,5 remin...

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I am one of those that only know Rustic Wedding Symphony and the violin Concerto (Perlman/Previn). To be honest, I was not impressed by those works.

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To me, Debussy's piano music is at the level of Schumann or Chopin. The Images, Préludes, Études, Estampes, L'Isle Joyeuse, Masques, Pour le piano are wonderful masterpieces. There is a remarkable imagination regarding the harmony and the form seems more free that in many composers of his time, Schö...

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My favorite version: Gilels with Leopold Ludwig.

Other versions I admire:

Serkin and Toscanini.

Backhaus and Isserstedt.

Gieseking, Karajan.

Kempff, van Kempen.

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I have Gedda singing the tenor part in several operas. Benvenutto Cellini, La Damnation de Faust, Carmen, A Life for the Czar. He was also good in some oratorios, in special L'Enfance du Christ. Perhaps his best recordings are the ones he made of Berlioz music, with Colin Davis or Cluyens.

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I have no doubt that it is a mature work. More than that, it is a masterpiece. The Lied "Ich hab'ein glühend' Messer" is the most violent and expressionist of Mahler's Lieder, until the opening Lied of Das Lied von der Erde. Fischer Dieskau left several versions. The one with Furtwängler is very imp...

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I prefer the first version of Jochum, for DG. The second one, EMI, wirth the Staatskapelle Dresden doesn't seem as natural and inspired, with the exception of the 3rd Symphony. The best version of the 5th that Jochum recorded was with the Concertgebow Orchestra (1964, live). A few days ago I receive...

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The first version I heard of this work, many years ago, was conducted by Ristenpart with the Orchestre de Chambre du Sarre. I would like to find it again in CD.

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To me, and this a question of personal taste, Schumann's piano music is the best, with Debussy, composed after Beethoven. Carnaval, Fantasiestücke opus 12, Etudes Symphoniques, First Sonata, Kreisleriana (his absolute masterpiece), Fantasia, Humoresque, Nachtstücke, Waldszenen, Gesänge der Fruhe, ar...

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The Mosaiques are my favorite in the opus 20 and 77. The Lindsays recorded splendid versions of the opus 33, 54 and 55, full of life and energy. Regarding the beautiful opus 50 my preference goes to the version of the Festetics. In the 3 Quartets opus 71 I have some doubts: the Lindsays ot the Amade...

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To me, Hugo Wolf is one of the greatest composer of Lieder in German language. The "Spanisches Liederbuch" - a great masterpiece - the Italian Liederbuch and, above all, the Lieder he composed on poems of Möricke. The box with 6 CD, with Fischer Dieskau and Barenboim and the recital of Schwarzkopf w...

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DUTILLEUX: Tout un monde lointain CAPLET: Epiphanie / Marc Coppley (cello), Liege Philharmonic Orchestra, Pascal Rophé A very good version of Dutilleux cello concerto and a splendid interpretation of Epiphanie, a very lyrical work of Caplet. This recording includes a CD with a long interview with Du...

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To me, Arkhipova was one of the greatest mezzos of the XX century. She was an extraordinary Marfa in the version of Kovantchina conducted by Khaikihin. I also remember her version of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, with the pianist Wustman. It was the best version I ever heard of this master...

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Romeo and Juliet and Les Troyens are extraordinary works. He was one of the first masters of the orchestra with a remarkable sense of the color, as we can see in the Symphonie Phantastique and in some moments of La Damnation de Faust (in special, "La course à l'abime"). He also created moments of su...

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HUGUES DUFOURT: Le Cyprès Blanc / Surgir / Gerard Caussé, Luxembourg Orchestra, Valade Dufourt composed "Le cyprès blanc" in 2004 and it is one of his best works, the best I have heard since "Les Hivers". The work is mysterious, poetic, with some dramatic moments in the central part, and with the sa...

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I never liked Richter conducting the Suites. Too heavy, dense, no dynamic. But in the Cantatas there are many good moments. The orchestra has remarkable soloists, and sometimes the vocal soloists are also remarkable (Mathis, Häfliger). The versions of the BWV 44 or 96, among others, are perhaps the ...

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To me, it was the most beautiful tenor voice of the century, with Bjorling and Schipa. I have his versions of Ballo in Maschera, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliaci. He had, not only a glorious voice but also a sort of grace, of presence, that gave the characters a deep life. Of course, I am talking a...

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BRUCKNER: Symphony n. 7 / Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi This was a surprise to me. I was not expecting from Paavo Jarvi an interpretation of this Symphony with such a quality. A perfect balance, tension, eloquence. After Karl Böhm, unique in this work, this version will stay, with the versi...

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My absolute favourite is the version with Ivan Petrov, and the Bolshoi, under the direction of Melik-Pachaev. But it is the version of Rimsky-Korsakov. Among the versions that use Mussorgsky's original score, I would mention the version of Claudio Abbado. The interpretation, with a mediocre Boris an...

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I love this opera. Not only the music but also the libretto, with French humour at its best.

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Christa Ludwig

Kathleen Ferrier

Janet Baker

Irina Arkhipova

Giulietta Simionato

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Maria Callas

Kirsten Flagstad

Gundula Janowitz

Elisabeth Schumann

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n. 44 (Tafelmusik, Bruno Weil)

n. 82 (NYP, Bernstein)

n. 86 (NYP, Bernstein)

n. 92 (Cleveland, Szell)

n. 93 (Cleveland, Szell)

n. 104 (London Philharmonic, Jochum)

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I cannot imagine work more morbid than Schoeck's "Lebendig begraben". It is a cycle of Lieder, but the singer seems already dead or, at least, burried alive. There is a very good version with Fischer Dieskau, and the Orchestra of Radio Berlin is conducted by Fritz Rieger.

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Beethoven.

JS Bach.

Wagner.

Brahms.

Mozart.

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Regarding the Cello Concerto, my choice goes to Pierre Fournier, with Sargent or with Fricsay. In both cases a superb eloquence and a perfect balance.

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I suggest two great masterpieces of Buxtehude. I don't think they are as painful as you want, but they are very, very beautiful: the Organ Preludes in E minor and G minor, BuxWV 143 & 149.

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For a soprano, I think Elektra is the most difficult. But Turandot, Isolde and Renata (Fiery Angel) are also terrible.

For a tenor, I have no doubts: Tristan.

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Cortot would be my first choice.

The second: Nikolai Lugansky, with a very beautiful CD (ERATO) recorded in 1999.

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I only saw them, in a concert with Berio's Symphony, and I was very impressed.

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There are many important works that I need to listen. Regarding the ones I know, the most impressive are: Opera - Julietta, a masterpiece, even if the libretto is not very appealing. The Greek Passion, another splendid work, although less personal than Julietta. Cantata - Gilgamesh. As far as I know...

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Not an extraordinary moment, but I was impressed by Peppings "Passionsbericht des Matthäus", composed in 1950.

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ERNST PEPPING: "Passionsbericht des Matthäus" / Rundfunkchoir Berlin, Parkman This Passion has little to do with the German tradition that started with Bach. It seems closer to Renaissance music or to the Passions of Schütz. Very severe, almost abstract in some moments, with no soloists and two choi...

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I never liked much those versions of Karl Böhm. The best is perhaps the 4th movement of the 9th Symphony, conceived more as an opera than a movement of a symphony. The great problem of this versions, at least to me, is the poor dynamic and the lack of tension, when compared to Furtwängler, Monteux, ...

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My choices would be Artur Schnabel, the first to record the 32 Sonatas, and Friedrich Gulda. But to have a more complete perspective of this extraordinary masterpieces, I suggest also Backhaus, Kempff (1951), Arrau and Brendel (VOX or PHILIPS). I certain works I would also chose Serkin (sonatas opus...

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I like the SONY version recorded in 1996, by the Westminster Abbey Choir directed by Martin Neary. It includes the Cantata "Rejoice in the Lamb" and "Abraham and Isaac".

Among the soloists we find Michael Chance and Ian Bostridge.

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I never liked Beethoven's Lied "Adelaide". Until I heard Peter Anders. It was sublime.

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CAVALLI: L'ORMINDO / Soloists, Les Paladins, Jerome Correas

The opera has beautiful moments, but the libretto is too conventionel. We are very far from the life of La Calisto.

The interpreters are decent, in special Crook and Visse.

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Last night I heard again Bach's Christmas Oratorio in the Harnoncourt version.
The work is a miracle of enthusiasm, poetry and, above all, joy.

Harnoncourt is almost ideal, with the quality of the Concentus Musicus, of the Wiener Sangerknaben and Equiluz and Nimsgern.

It was an wonderful night.

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Joyous and Life-affirming? Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia". Or Janacek's Sinfonietta. Or Bach's "Christmas Oratorio". or ... or ... All composers wrote depressed music and joyous music. Mozart's string Quintet K 516 is depressed, sad, even tragic, but the Symphony 41 is an hymn to life. There is...

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Regarding the complete Quartets, my favorite version is the one of the Juilliard Quartet (1964/1970). The perfect balance, eloquence, good dynamic. For individual versions, there are some extraordinary interpretations: The Italiano Quartet in the opus 18/1 & 6, 74, 127 & 132. The Capet Quartet in th...

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SCHUBERT: The Andante of the Trio D 929.

DVORAK: The Poco Adagio of the Trio opus 65.

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My favorite is perhaps the opus 34/2, in A minor.

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