Greatest Classical Works & Best Recorded Performances - Music Diaries

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Added best recorded performance selections for the following:

Diabelli Variations - Ludwig van Beethoven (1823)
Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major "Alla Turca" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (circa 1783)
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Added best recorded performance selections for:

Symphony No. 9 in C Major "The Great" - Franz Schubert (1826)
Symphony No. 2 in D Major - Johannes Brahms (1877)
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor - Johannes Brahms (1876)

Revised best recorded performance selection for:

Symphony No. 3 in F Major - Johannes Brahms (1883)
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Revised best recorded performance selections for:

Symphony No. 8 in B Minor "Unfinished" - Franz Schubert (1822)
Winterreise - Franz Schubert (1828)
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corenfro

Been going through you 9.5 list (& others)

You seem to be a fan of the Berlin Philharmonic - any particular reason?

I've always loved Beethoven's 9th - I also really love his 2nd and it doesn't seem to get much love from the internet critics from what I've seen.

The Beethoven string quartet didn't blow me away - but I admittedly didn't give it my full attention.

Listened to Brahams 3&4 and they were very neat, I see why folks call him a perfectionist, I hear him as being similar to Beethoven and even Bach in a sense (I'm no expert in either) but certainly interesting in his own respect. The 2nd listen his music grew on me.

Mahler was a freaking wild ride, definitely worth a repeat listen. He seems borderline modernistic I suppose but also very pleasing in some way. I could probably listen to that recording you mentioned 1000 times and find something new each time. I will probably give that one another listen tonight (in a dark room with headphones on and eyes closed - the only way to roll when it comes to classical IMHO) I want to listen to more Mahler but I don't know where to go from there. When it comes to the 20th century onward it's hit or miss for me. With Philip Glass I love some of his compositions (glassworks, koyaanisqatsi), but others (sections of Einstein on the Beach) I think "what a load of garbage" - same with Penderecki - some of the stuff is wonderful but others I'm like "uhh you can't just make a bunch of clacky noises and call it a masterpiece" - but again I'm no expert in any of these genres, just an explorer mostly.

Your list is kick ass so far though. I'm well on my way of incorporating it into my "to be listened" spreadsheet" Wish someone would start a "besteverclassical.com"

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

corenfro wrote:

Been going through you 9.5 list (& others)

You seem to be a fan of the Berlin Philharmonic - any particular reason?

I've always loved Beethoven's 9th - I also really love his 2nd and it doesn't seem to get much love from the internet critics from what I've seen.

The Beethoven string quartet didn't blow me away - but I admittedly didn't give it my full attention.

Listened to Brahams 3&4 and they were very neat, I see why folks call him a perfectionist, I hear him as being similar to Beethoven and even Bach in a sense (I'm no expert in either) but certainly interesting in his own respect. The 2nd listen his music grew on me.

Mahler was a freaking wild ride, definitely worth a repeat listen. He seems borderline modernistic I suppose but also very pleasing in some way. I could probably listen to that recording you mentioned 1000 times and find something new each time. I will probably give that one another listen tonight (in a dark room with headphones on and eyes closed - the only way to roll when it comes to classical IMHO) I want to listen to more Mahler but I don't know where to go from there. When it comes to the 20th century onward it's hit or miss for me. With Philip Glass I love some of his compositions (glassworks, koyaanisqatsi), but others (sections of Einstein on the Beach) I think "what a load of garbage" - same with Penderecki - some of the stuff is wonderful but others I'm like "uhh you can't just make a bunch of clacky noises and call it a masterpiece" - but again I'm no expert in any of these genres, just an explorer mostly.

Your list is kick ass so far though. I'm well on my way of incorporating it into my "to be listened" spreadsheet" Wish someone would start a "besteverclassical.com"

Re: going through my list ... Thank you, I appreciate you giving these works the attention they deserve!

Re: Fan of Berlin Philharmonic ... Except for possibly the Vienna (aka Wiener) Philharmonic, they are probably the greatest orchestra, as in, most talented musicians, highest standards, best recording quality, often have the very best conductors directing them.

Re: Beethoven's 2nd ... It's a great work. People often give it less attention because he completely revolutionized the genre with his 3rd, then a few more times over with succeeding symphonies.

Re: Beethoven's String Quartet (presumably 15) ... A very very personal work from him, very experimental and challenging to comprehend. I wrote a little reaction to it and commented on it's emotions/themes conveyed, in a paragraph somewhere -- on my Top 10+ of the Week I think. It might help, though it's not intended as a thorough analysis. Maybe I'll write a little something that's better organized and it's points more concisely laid out.

Re: Brahms 3 & 4 ... Yes, spot on, he definitely employs Bach's fugal structures and Beethoven's titanic urges/emotions, but in a way he is also assimilating Beethoven's late String Quartets into symphonic music (and predicting Mahler), in its complete re-write of harmonic and tonal confluences, and it's freedom from simple structure while still remaining within the classical structural tradition. The key to Brahms is that his Symphonies are both highly powerful/impactful but also have a massive torturous urge, a heavy monumental struggle in their compositions and momentum. Like Beethoven's late works they have an profound underlying intelligence and experience guiding them, so that they seem to be being immersed in the deepest, heaviest contemplation no matter how immense or forceful they become.

Re: Mahler ... Yes, very very modern. Completely mature in his concepts and emotional outpourings. Few can touch his symphonic output, and you can't go wrong with any of them. His 5th is incredible, the rest aren't too far behind.

Re: 20th Century, hit and miss ... Agree agree agree, noise is noise unless it has a purposeful concept/emotion behind it Smile

Re: Wish someone would start a "besteverclassical.com" ... Isn't that what we're doing right now? Wink

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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

I added my selection for the best recorded performance for the following:

Ein Deutsches Requiem - Johannes Brahms (1868)
Requiem - Gyorgy Ligeti (1965)

I revised my selection for the best recorded performance for the following:

Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749)

Yes, it seems the legendary Gardiner recording from 1985 was finally surpassed after 26 years.
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

I added my selections for:

Grande Messe des morts - Hector Berlioz (1837)
Requiem Mass in D minor - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1791)

For Mozart's Requiem, I may decide to add best recordings of other editions too. For now I went with the primary, most recognizable and recorded edition (the Süssmayr), which is probably my favorite. However there are outstanding recordings available of other editions, in which cases even if such editions may be slightly inferior (debatable), there are recordings that are probably as good (better?) than Marriner's Süssmayr (maybe not equal/better overall, but perhaps equal/better as a recording/performance relative to the edition they're reproducing).
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

I added my selection for:

Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1785)

I could've posted this selection some time ago, but I just couldn't believe that such an utterly unknown and unheralded recording was the best, so over the last several weeks I've been sporadically scouring youtube and spotify for the "best", only to come back to this one, which might be the only recording ever to capture in full bloom the vibrant spontaneity, and -- simultaneously -- both the "operatic singing", communicative unification of piano and orchestra, as well as manage the balance and continual "upending" between protagonist (piano) and antagonist (orchestra) along with an unbroken, effortless virtuosity and illuminating, enthusiastic momentum. Apparently this is a virtually impossible concoction. Mozart has a facade of utter simplicity but the simultaneous harmony and emotional duality of his greatest works are maybe the most difficult to accurately reproduce because it requires total perfection as if one was Mozart himself.
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

I added selections for the following:

St. Matthew's Passion - Johann Sebastian Bach (1727)
Symphony No. 8 in F Major - Ludwig van Beethoven (1812)
Symphony No. 6 in F Major "Pastoral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1808)

These are listed under the main list in a new section titled:

PROBABLE SELECTIONS FOR CLASSICAL WORKS THAT WILL BE ADDED BUT ARE CURRENTLY UNRATED:

These selections aren't as "official" as those listed in the rated list. They do mean that these have stood out above other recorded performances to me and currently are the ones I would choose.
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

I added the following selections to the main list, (including a brand new revision of my choice of recording for the 6th):

Symphony No. 6 in F Major "Pastoral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1808)
Symphony No. 8 in F Major - Ludwig van Beethoven (1812)
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