If you like Gould's recording of the Goldberg Variations, you should try The French Suites, The English Suites, Partitas, Preludes & Fugues, The Two & Three Part Inventions, Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (Well Tempered Clavichord), and Italian Concerto.

It's all awesome. I have never heard a Gould recording of Bach that I did not like. Any music that continually has me going "WOW!" is worth my listening to it, even if it is from the 1700's.

Kempff is wonderful. He isn't a showman, but a human being. His playing is excellent, but not flashy, is thoughtful and is phrased excellently. He stressed lyricism and humanism in his performances and shines in some of the more intimate pieces. His interpretation of the Pathétique is quite spectacular and definitely in my top two (I think the other recording I like just as much is the Gilels). Enjoy that CD, Mike.

My first suggestion would be the Dennis Brian and Karajan.

Glad to hear you appreciate that recording of the Rite of Spring. Also, it's nice to know there are other people that think Tchaikovsky is overrated.

Gould was a phenomenal Bach performer. Definitely his forte. Everything Bach I've heard by Gould has been remarkable.

Not just his forte, but his pianoforte as well.


Sorry, just couldn't resist the musical pun.

:happy102

Bravo.

I picked up the Mozart Piano Sonata cycle by Eschenbach and have been listening to it lately. His interpretation is very good on most of the piano sonatas - there was only one thus far that I thought could have been a lot better (K.545/Piano Sonata No.16).

One of my favorite pieces is Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings performed by the St. Louis Symphony conducted by Slatkin. It's a very simple, but extremely amazing piece. Anyone familiar with it?

So my anniversary is coming up, and part of my gift is going to be some more classical music. I am trying to decide what to get next, and wanted to see if there were any opinions. Here is what I am considering:

Mozart -
String Quintets or Violin Concertos with Grumiaux

Beethoven -
String Quartets - I am leaning towards the middle or late quartets. Any thoughts? And what performers are best for these?

Any opinions will be helpful.

My updated collection

So, thanks to my local Meijer having iTunes gift cards on sale buy 2 get 1 free, my wife got me 3 $15 cards, and I added some more music to the collection. This is where my collection now stands:

• Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos – Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
• Beethoven: Violin Concerto and Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 – Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra/Eugen Jochum
• Beethoven: Piano Concertos #4 & 5 – Wilhelm Kempff, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Ferdinand Leitner
• Beethoven: Moonlight, Pathétique & Appassionata Sonatas – Daniel Barenboim
• Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, 14, 21 & 23 – Wilhelm Kempff
• Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 – Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Carlos Kleiber
• Beethoven: Violin Sonatas No. 5 & 9 – Itzhak Perlman & Vladimir Ashkenazy
• Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 59, Nos. 1, 2, & 3 and Op. 74 – Takács Quartet
• Beethoven: The Late String Quartets – Emerson String Quartet
• Mozart: Horn Concertos No. 1-4 & Quintet, K. 452 – Dennis Brain, Philharmonia Orchestra/Herbert von Karazan, Colin Horsley, Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble
• Mozart: The Great Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 (Nos. 19, 20, 21, 23, 24) – Alfred Brendel, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Sir Neville Marriner
• Mozart: Requiem – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert von Karajan
• Mozart: Symphonies #40 & 41 – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Karl Böhm
• Mozart: Die Zauberflöte – Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra/Otto Klemperer, Gedda, Janowitz, Berry, Unger, Popp, Frick, Schwarzkopf, Ludwig, Pütz, Höffgen, Crass
• Mozart: Complete String Quintets – Grumiaux Trio, Arpad Gérecz, Max Lesueur
• Mozart: Concertos for Clarinet, Oboe & Bassoon – Leister, Koch, Piesk, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert von Karajan
• Wagner: Tristan und Isolde – Placido Domingo, Nina Stemme, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House/Antonio Pappano, Chorus of the Royal Opera House

Right now, the only other recording I really want to pick up is Beethoven's late piano sonatas, performed by Pollini.

Nice collection. If you like the Mozart Horn Concertos, you may like Flanders and Swann's Ill Wind. Please note. The video is "different", but this is the only one by them I could find on YouTube. The video must have been created after this was recorded.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UamttAjGfm4

Nice stuff there, Mike. Sorry I didn't respond with recommendations about the Beethoven Quartet performance. The Emerson recording is a solid one, so you made a good choice there and the Takács Quartet is another very good choice.

The recording of Beethoven's violin sonatas with Ashkenazy and Perlman is phenomenal. Normally, I stay away from Ashkenazy's work (Perlman is always good), but I will tip my hat to the man for his recordings with Perlman.

I'm curious as to your thoughts on the Mozart symphonies conducted by Böhm.

The Pollini CD you want to pick up is top notch. No one does late Beethoven piano sonatas like Pollini.

Disclaimer: I don't grok music very deeply, so this is probably mostly personal preference.

Are you familiar with Anonymous 4, at all? Vocalists who focus mostly on sacred stuff, their work is gorgeous.

Tallis wrote some outstanding reformation-era choral works.

Bach (and yes, ditto on Gould), Handel, Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven, Sibelius all delight me.

Thanks,

I found recommendations for most of these from either you guys, or from a couple other sources - a website with recommendations for building your classical collection, and browsing through the Penguin guide at my local Barnes and Noble.

I quite like the Bohm Mozart symphonies. Honestly, I was familiar with the Jupiter symphony already, and thought it would be my favorite, but after listening to this CD more, I find I prefer the 40th symphony. I enjoy the recording. I'll have to admit that I don't have others to compare it to, but I think it is well done. The sound is very clear, as well, although I read one review that didn't like this particular way it had been presented by DG.

Keep in mind, though, that this is coming from someone still learning the ropes in terms of classical music.

I am finding that the string chamber music is the most appealing to me - I thought I would prefer the symphonies.

If you like chamber music, take a look at some of Schuberts Quartets and Quintets.

Found this just now and thought I'd post it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuU00Q3RhDg

Other than you guys on here, a lot of the ideas I have gotten for which recordings to look for comes from this website:
http://www.classicalcdguide.com/main/intro.htm

I don't know how authoritative it is, but it gives me a good jumping off point. I usually find the music on there, then go to iTunes and listen to samples of the music to see if I like it or not. So far it has worked well for me.

I added a few more to my library:
Bach - Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould (1981)
Beethoven - The Late Piano Sonatas - Pollini
Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Mozart - Piano Sonatas 8, 11, 16, 18 - Uchida

I have been listening to samples of chamber music from Schubert and Brahms, and might add some of that next. At first I thought I would want to get the remainder of Beethoven's symphonies, but I really am enjoying the concertos and chamber music more.

Right now, if you had to force me to pick my favorites, it would be Beethoven's violin sonatas and his violin concerto, as well as his piano sonatas. Mozart is nice when I am in the mood for something lighter, but Beethoven just does it more for me. I am liking what I am sampling from Brahms, though. I will say, though, that Beethoven's late string quartets have me listening to them over and over. I don't necessarily prefer them to his middle period work, but it is really amazing to hear the transformation he underwent between these periods. The Grosse Fuge is powerful, but I can see why audiences at the time might have rejected it and wanted something more easily digestible.

I listened to a bit of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" and it was a little too heavy for me.

In working my way through Beethoven's late piano sonatas, I was a bit surprised when I heard the second movement of his 32nd piano sonata. So did Beethoven envision jazz before there was jazz? Very interesting and surprising to hear this in a piece written back in the early 19th century.

Been a metalhead since '83 but I enjoy some classical now and then.
Prefer Russian and Eastern European stuff.
Easier to listen to for long periods of time.
A lot of the Western European stuff is either too pompous or too flowery for me.
Shostakovich FTW.

The Bach and Beethoven recordings you picked up are exceptional and Uchida is a constantly good performer. Glad you're enjoying the new hobby .

Mozart is a tricky composer. He's not as light as you'd think. While in college, all of my music professors lauded Mozart, and I couldn't figure out why. I was constantly told by the head of the department that you "begin with Mozart and end with Mozart". During my senior year, I began to see what the fuss is with Mozart. Keep listening to him - as you become more analytical and experienced with the genre, you'll surely realize why he's so great. I still prefer Beethoven, though.

What do you think of the "Große Fuge"?

Hello there. Welcome aboard!

I do enjoy Shostakovich when the mood strikes. Do you enjoy Stravinsky? And have you listened to Stockhausen or Ligeti?

I definitely prefer Beethoven, and right now, I am partial to his middle period works. I am starting to appreciate his later works, though. The middle works are very easy to enjoy. But the late works seem to reward a bit more when you "get" them.

I didn't know what to expect with the Grosse Fuge (by the way, how do you get the esszett in your typing?). I read a bit about it, and how controversial it was at the time, forcing Beethoven to write an alternate ending to that quartet. It is really in your face. At first, it seems like musical chaos, with the various instruments at odds with one another. But the more I listen to it, the more I hear them actually working together. It's evolving for me.

Mozart has several pieces that I really enjoy - The Magic Flute, Requiem (I still need to find another version than the Karajan one I currently have, but right now I am trying to add new stuff, as opposed to different versions of what I already have), and his 11th and 16th piano sonatas, as well as the Serenade in G Major (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik). But Beethoven just has so much more I love to hear - perhaps I prefer romantic era music to classical era. There was a time I prefered baroque, but now I really don't find myself craving much beyond Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations.

I did add Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" to my collection - John Eliot Gardiner conducting. I couldn't decide between that version and the Klemperer version, but I liked the clarity of the sound a bit more with Gardiner. Brahms may very well be the next conductor I move to - either him or Schubert.

My uncle has begun to school me in classical music. He has given me a large set of encyclopedias covering classical music and a selection of cds to get me started. So far I've enjoyed pieces by Bach, and I have especially enjoyed Chopin (Minute Waltz, Waltz C sharp minor 64/2) and Mozart (Turkish March). Given these pieces can some of you knowledgable people recommend other composers or pieces I may enjoy?
It is exciting to think that there is a rich vein of music out there that I have yet to tap into.

Pete

It can be an addictive thing to get started with. I am also getting into it, although I have always enjoyed it. It isn't like other music where you just buy an album - here you also need to consider who is performing the music, the quality of the recording, whether you want it played in a contemporary manner, or in the style, and with the instruments that would have been contemporary to the composer.

If you like Mozart's piano music, there are a couple routes I would steer you. I don't know what work you have of Bach's, but you might want to consider his Goldberg Variations, performed by Glenn Gould. My absolute favorite piano music (sonatas) is Beethoven's work - I particularly enjoy his Moonlight, Pathetique, Appasionatta, and Waldstein piano sonatas. The performance by Wilhelm Kempff is in my rotation. You might also enjoy Mozart's piano concertos - Phillips has a 2 volume collection of them out, with Alfred Brendel, Sir Neville Marriner, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields performing. Beethoven's middle piano concertos are also beautiful, and I enjoy the recording I have where they are performed by the Takacs Quartet. If you find Beethoven to your liking, I would also look into Brahms - right now, if I had to choose a single favorite piece (for the time being), it would have to be Brahms Piano Trio No. 1 - my recording from Suk, Katchen, and Starker is wonderful.

I prefer the chamber music, particularly the sonatas, trios, quartets, and a few quintets, over the concertos and symphonies. Sometimes, though, I like the big sound of a symphony. That is when I turn to Mozart's 40th Symphony (Karl Boehm), Beethoven's 5th (Carlos Kleiber) and 9th (Herbert von Karajan, 1962 recording) symphonies, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante (Perlman, Zuckerman, Mehta).

I could go on and on. I may make a second post under my shave den link to a list of my classical music collection. You might be interested in my selection, as I started out in much the same spot as you.

Thanks for that Mike, I appreciate the advice. The hardest thing about starting out has been finding some direction to follow. I will print off your post and begin to aquire the composers/performers you listed and see how I like them. Thanks again!

Pete