classical advise please

smy--why not get ahold of the CD of Mozart's Symphony No. 35,40, and 41 by The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell on Sony/Columbia. Cost is very minimal, playing and music wonderful. While you are at it see if you can get another Sony CD of Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4/Mozart Piano Concerto No.25 played by Leon Fleisher with the Cleveland Orchestra, again conducted by George Szell. Can't go wrong with these as starters. If you don't like these, you don't like classical music! Don't hesitate to order from Amazon or somewhere if you have to. Just a couple of can't miss pieces that came to mind off the top of my head. I think it is best to start with orchestral pieces and certainly get a classic piano concerto like this one. Good listening!

There have been various good threads along these lines. Search for Fredrik's wonderful 'first concertos', 'first symphonies' and 'first piano'. I think we also did one on Choral works. I don't think we did a chamber one, so....

Also take a look at this:

http://forums.naim-audio.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38019385/m/1222941996/p/1

And in particular my post 4th from bottom.

And finally (for now) my all purpose classical recommendation. I don't think anyone can dislike the Beethoven symphonies so pick up the Mackerras cycle (at £15 for all five discs you can't go wrong - and there's some great choral stuff at the end).

regards, Tam

thanks lads, thats great.
going straight to amazon to have a hunt.
keep em coming !

Those threads of Fredrik's I mentioned earlier (some of them were started by me, but I was just copying him).

Piano

Concertos

Symphonies

Choral

Opera


regards, Tam

Dear smu,

A little bit of searching in the Archive (using the find tool at the top of the page) will give you a feel for approachable starting points.

I quite agree that buying CDs can be fraught with problems. A good record shop that will allow you to try a recording first is an increasingly rare thing. After 36 years of buying music on records I am lucky to still have one! I use it as far as is possible.

Places to start (and maybe base a search on) would be Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Haydn. As a perfect first disc I would recomend the CD of Beecham conducting Schubert's Symphonies 3, 5 and 6 on EMI. If that does not delight you I would be very surprised!

I am not well at all, so sorry for this rather low key reply. Fredrik

quote:

Originally posted by Fredrik_Fiske:
I am not well at all, so sorry for this rather low key reply. Fredrik

Sorry to hear that. Hope you feel better soon.

regards, Tam

this is great lads,i had a hunt there on amazon but i need more info on discs.
composer
performer
conductor
orchestra
label name
catalogue number

sorry to be a pain,hope your feeling better soon fredrik.

many thanks, smu.

Really? With the example I gave first (the Mackerras Beethoven), typing just that 'Mackerras Beethoven' will bring it up (at the top of the list, for just £12).

I would expect the same to be true for the other stuff (typing in just the conductor and composer normally finds me what I'm after). So for Oldnslow's suggestions you might type 'Szell Mozart' or if you're still getting too many results, stick in the one of the symphony numbers, i.e. 'Szell Mozart 41'. Also, make sure you set Amazon to be searching classical.

regards, Tam

Dear smu,

Another very enjoyable disc might be Beethoven Symphonies 5 and 7 on DG, played by the Vienna Philharmonic under Carlos Kleiber. It has tremendous energy, and will certainly draw you in!

Have a hunt through the archive here. There really are a good spread of recomendations and discussions. It is hard to provide a very long list of suggestions as the list would be enormous, and even then hardly representitive or especially useful! If you want an enormous list then find A Record Library, where I listed almost all my own library. Tam did too, and hopefully pe-zulu is going to add to it.

My properly edited version [of the library] only appears on page two, as I am useless at typing. I have just retreaved it from obscuruty for you.

Welcome to a massive world of treasures!

Also if you look at my library, it contains many less than stella examples of Hifi recording techniques, so I would caution against simply basing paurchases on it! If you get an idea of the repertoire, I am sure that many here, including myself, will provide recomendations on fine modern recordings of top flight music making for you to consider.

All the best from Fredrik

woops ! i typed it in as 'beethoven mackerras' i'll try again.
cheers tam.

i found and ordered, schubert symphonies 3 5 6 on EMI by beecham.

Hmm. Shouldn't make any difference which way round (anyway, there's a link straight to it in my last post).

regards, Tam

I found this recently, which recommends both music and recordings. http://www.musica.co.uk/

I have to say that I am a real fan of the el-cheapo 'Naxos', where you get to try things for very little money. No top names, but, blow me, some of them are simply SUPERB recordings.

I have a particular interest in chant, early music, and church music, and I have had some wonderful recordings for a fiver!

My own favourite Naxos recording ('English Choral Music' series) is 8.554791 Britten, Rejoice in the Lamb, Hymn to St cecilia and Missa Brevis.

Other Naxos I would recommend are:
8.550574 Byrd Masses for Four and Five Parts
8.555861 The Mass of Tournai and St Luke Passion
8.553176 Poulenc Stabat Mater, Gloria, etc.

Also, if you would like to develop your range of earlyish music, I would wholehearetdly recommend ANYTHING on the Gimmell label involving the Choir of Westminster Cathedral or Winchester Catherdral, or anything directed by David Hill!! Vittoria (Victoria), Palestrina, etc. Quite wonderful.

Happy listening,
James

For Piano Concertos I don't think you'll beat Stephen Hough playing Rachmaninov 2 & 3 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (on the Hyperion label). Admittedly it's not the cheapest but it won't break the bank and it's one hell of a recording.
You can buy a lot of rubbish recordings of clasical music for a pittance.
Choose the tracks you particularly like and consult "The Classical Good CD and DVD Guide" to pinpoint a decent recording. This approach has rarely failed for me. Of course it is subjective and you have to make your own chioce...but that's half the fun.

Can you get Fanfare magazine where you live? It's a wonderful bi-monthly collection of interviews and massive reviews. The reviewers usually mention available alternates to the piece they're currently considering and they're filled with insight. I've bought many happy pieces they've recommended. Plus, now as a subscriber, you can go to their online archive which is in depth.

I believe you can access the Fanfare Archives without being a subscriber just by going to their website, at least I do. It is very helpful and pretty comprehensive.

THANKS EVERYONE for all the replies.
i only buy one cd a week so theres enough info here to keep me going for many months.
cheers again lads.

kind regards, smu.

if you like the 4 seasons you might like Handel's Water Music