Greatest Classical Works & Best Recorded Performances - Music Diaries

AfterHours

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

RoundTheBend wrote:

You know I teased my ratings have nothing in common with you, but really there's nothing I can strongly disagree with on this.

Sometimes it's hard to read all in one go (but how else would you do it?) - but really nice to search for something I'm already familiar with to see if there's a recording I haven't heard, etc. I did come across some post-modern stuff I've never heard of, so totally added that to my list.

Thanks for the contribution! Also glad to see the Ring cycle to be added so high. I'm a bit of a fan boy because I took a class on it and nearly crapped myself learning about all the stuff that went into that work.

Oh tip for those who are finding it hard to read - read the top works, then search for the recordings associated.

Thanks man! Yeah, The Ring is somewhere between 9/10 and 36/10 so I guess... 9.4??? Think

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EyeKanFly
Head Bear Master/Galactic Emperor

Age: 33
Location: Gotham

I just happened upon this thread and wow, this is incredible. Thank you AfterHours for your years of listening, rating, and cataloging work. This is such an incredible resource.

I'm only a few entries into reading it, but I appreciate that Karajan seems to be the go to for Beethoven symphonies. Only problem is my computer is so shitty that it can't load the whole first page at once haha. Well, I'm looking forward to delving deeper into this! Thank you so much for your hard work on this.
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AfterHours

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

EyeKanFly wrote:

I just happened upon this thread and wow, this is incredible. Thank you AfterHours for your years of listening, rating, and cataloging work. This is such an incredible resource.

I'm only a few entries into reading it, but I appreciate that Karajan seems to be the go to for Beethoven symphonies. Only problem is my computer is so shitty that it can't load the whole first page at once haha. Well, I'm looking forward to delving deeper into this! Thank you so much for your hard work on this.

Thank you, glad you like it and hopefully it loads one of these days! Laughing

When Karajan was in top form (particularly early to late 60s; 70s are debatable) he could be tough to beat but I also have several other conductors chosen for Beethoven's other symphonies. You will find that there is a huge variety of conductors/recordings (both older and more recent) as you journey through it.
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AfterHours

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

For fans of Mahler's 5th Symphony (one of the masterpieces of the 20th century)...

I've come across an incredible performance of this work that I am somewhat surprised I'd never heard before a few days ago. But after several listens I would rank it as probably the most astonishing performance of Mahler's 5th ever recorded, and have now ranked it as such on my list here. This is perhaps his most difficult of his symphonies to play well with the fewest top tier performances (especially relative to how many recordings there have been), so if you are a fan of this work then this rendition must be heard! Loosen up your jaw lest it fall to the floor!

Hans Rosbaud - Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester (1951) ... Check out my "best recordings" list on this thread which shows you what it looks like on Spotify and provides a link to it on Youtube.

I also recently listened to a new (to me) recording of Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto, which seems like it could take its place among the best. It is a fresh take on the work (without losing "Beethoven"). Very highly recommended!

Olli Mustonen - Tapiola Sinfonietta (2009)

Spotify as follows: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71r...SS500_.jpg

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsDyQBw4LLs
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Red0510

1. Symphony No. 7 in C Major "Leningrad" was complete in December 1941 and performed in March 1942.
2. Can't call this list complete without piano works by Rameau and Satie.

AfterHours

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

Red0510 wrote:

1. Symphony No. 7 in C Major "Leningrad" was complete in December 1941 and performed in March 1942.
2. Can't call this list complete without piano works by Rameau and Satie.

Thanks! Both Satie and Rameau probably have positions waiting for them. List is very much "incomplete/in-progress". All Ive included so far are (mostly) the most obvious/famous ones as a foundational/starting point.
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AfterHours

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

I've now re-organized this massive list to where the classical works are ordered by date UNDER their composer's last name, which are all now ordered alphabetically (instead of all the works being ordered "by rating"). (FIRST PAGE OF THE THREAD)

So you will find all the listed works of a composer in one place (ex: all of the listed Beethoven works are under his name in date order). It is also now divided into 4 separate posts instead of all on one. 1st is the main list of classical works plus the guide to how the "best recordings" are rated. The 3 below that are separated alphabetically by composer's (ex: A-G; H-Q; R-Z) with the listed classical works under the names.

There is still a lot of (mostly tedious) formatting to do, and at least 1/2 the entries are not yet that close to being fully updated with the proper selection of "best recordings" under them. This is all still in-progress, but as it is now, it should be much easier to navigate and should also load faster and scroll more smoothly. In the meantime I am also revisiting a fairly sizable helping of classical works and the various recordings of those works, and there should be ratings updates forthcoming from that.
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

AfterHours wrote:

I've now re-organized this massive list to where the classical works are ordered by date UNDER their composer's last name, which are all now ordered alphabetically (instead of all the works being ordered "by rating"). (FIRST PAGE OF THE THREAD)

So you will find all the listed works of a composer in one place (ex: all of the listed Beethoven works are under his name in date order). It is also now divided into 4 separate posts instead of all on one. 1st is the main list of classical works plus the guide to how the "best recordings" are rated. The 3 below that are separated alphabetically by composer's (ex: A-G; H-Q; R-Z) with the listed classical works under the names.

There is still a lot of (mostly tedious) formatting to do, and at least 1/2 the entries are not yet that close to being fully updated with the proper selection of "best recordings" under them. This is all still in-progress, but as it is now, it should be much easier to navigate and should also load faster and scroll more smoothly. In the meantime I am also revisiting a fairly sizable helping of classical works and the various recordings of those works, and there should be ratings updates forthcoming from that.

Nice! Well done!

I've attempted something like this past the periods I already have listed and somehow it's impossible for me. Actually not somehow, more like it's a ton of work, and after about 30 minutes, something else seems immediately more appealing to do. Same reason I haven't really changed any of my charts in like 4 years.

Anyway, kudos to you for ever refining and codifying like this. It's a ton of work.

AfterHours

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

RoundTheBend wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

I've now re-organized this massive list to where the classical works are ordered by date UNDER their composer's last name, which are all now ordered alphabetically (instead of all the works being ordered "by rating"). (FIRST PAGE OF THE THREAD)

So you will find all the listed works of a composer in one place (ex: all of the listed Beethoven works are under his name in date order). It is also now divided into 4 separate posts instead of all on one. 1st is the main list of classical works plus the guide to how the "best recordings" are rated. The 3 below that are separated alphabetically by composer's (ex: A-G; H-Q; R-Z) with the listed classical works under the names.

There is still a lot of (mostly tedious) formatting to do, and at least 1/2 the entries are not yet that close to being fully updated with the proper selection of "best recordings" under them. This is all still in-progress, but as it is now, it should be much easier to navigate and should also load faster and scroll more smoothly. In the meantime I am also revisiting a fairly sizable helping of classical works and the various recordings of those works, and there should be ratings updates forthcoming from that.

Nice! Well done!

I've attempted something like this past the periods I already have listed and somehow it's impossible for me. Actually not somehow, more like it's a ton of work, and after about 30 minutes, something else seems immediately more appealing to do. Same reason I haven't really changed any of my charts in like 4 years.

Anyway, kudos to you for ever refining and codifying like this. It's a ton of work.

Thanks! Im with you on that. Gawd was it tedious, and still so much to do, let alone getting to the ACTUAL updates of more classical works, new and revised ratings and filling out the selected recordings...
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mianfei

Gender: Male
Age: 46
Location: Carlton North

A few days ago, when I bought Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s box set The Warner Recordings, I was particularly impressed by his recording of Charles Ives’ Piano Sonata No. 2 (Concord) – a piece I had not actually heard of before and was not what I bought the set for.

I am curious as to what recording of Ives’ Concord Sonata you would recommend yourself? I had a listen to Herbert Henck’s 1980s recording and was impressed to consider it myself, but there are so many recordings available that I want to ask.